Montessori Is All Around

Last summer, I spent part of my summer vacation in Paris. 

The Eiffel Tower At Night

As this was not my first visit to France I had earmarked some time to look for French teaching resources and items that I could bring back to share with the children at our little yellow school. Before I left home, I did some research and found a few stores that I wanted to visit. While wandering about in an enormous bookstore in the Latin Quarter, I came across the following display. Can you see what the display is about? (Click on the image to make it larger.)

A Montessori Display

It was a display of Montessori books and actual Montessori materials all in French! 

A Close Up 

Could I really walk away from this display without taking something home with me?  Of course not!  If you enlarge the first image and look at the bottom left shelf, you will see what followed me home.

French Classified Cards

 It is a box of French Classified Cards!  I was so excited to have found these as they are both French and Montessori! (Classified Cards are used throughout the three year Montessori preschool program.  They can be used for vocabulary, classification, reading and writing.)  The box contains Classified Cards for plants and animals.  The drawings are stunning!  Madame D. will begin using them this term. 

Inside the Box

The Stunning Cards

Animals and Insects

Fruits and Plants

So many graduates of our three year Montessori preschool programme go on to attend French Immersion programmes. Our French programme is an integral part of our little yellow school and our students receive French daily.  Our four and five year olds are constantly using various French Classified Cards that we have made.  Here is a child working with Les Vetements (clothing) Classified Cards.

Setting Out The Classified Cards

Matching the Picture Cards

Reading the Word Cards

The cards have all been set out and matched.

Making a Booklet

A Page From a Booklet

Here are some of the other goodies I brought home from Paris.

The  book of comptines (nursery rhymes) has such delightful little songs.  While we already sing many of them, there is a lovely little song about a coccinelle (ladybug) that we plan to sing at our end of year concert.