Now that Lila has started Kindergarten, we’re down to just one student in our Montessori homeschool preschool room — my 3.75-year-old, Nora.  I’ve spent the past week resetting the room to both reduce the total number of works on the shelf and tailor it to Nora’s current interests and needs, and I’m finally finished!  At first glance, it still looks like there’s a lot of works on the shelves.  However, what I’ve noticed is that while Lila would usually only complete 2-3 works during a work cycle, Nora will complete 8-12 in the same amount of time — because her works are smaller and less involved at this age!

Here is what our current Montessori homeschool preschool room looks like as it’s set up for our almost 4-year-old!

My husband built all of our shelves and tables, but you can get beautiful options for your own home from Sprout Kids — 10% off with my referral link!  The work mats we use are actually these kitchen rugs, but they’re far cheaper in Ikea stores and also available without stripes there.  Most of my trays were found in the Target bargain bins.

Our homeschool room is set up the way you would typically find a regular Montessori classroom, with separate shelves/sections for language, geography/science/cultural, sensorial, math, art, and practical life.  We have a couple of tables set up around the room while leaving plenty of floor space for work rugs, and the flow of the room works well for us.

Let’s look at each section one by one, and I will share what materials are currently available for my 3.75-year-old daughter!

 

Language

Our language shelf currently has a bit of a  fall theme as well as all of the phonics materials that Nora is currently working on.  On the red shelf, we have:  pumpkin nomenclature cards (cut from a farmer’s market magazine); harvest theme art puzzles; Seasonal Activity Sorting Cards; Mammal Who Am I Cards; a sandpaper letter/beginning sounds basket; the movable alphabet; and a lowercase letter tracing board.  On the table to the left, I have: our pink series picture and word cards; some sight words; pink series phrase booklets; and book number one of these phonics readers.

I rescued this old desk from the side of the road with full intentions of refinishing it, but I haven’t quite gotten around to it yet.  For now, it serves as our writing materials shelf — it contains: book making materials; extra paper; a clipboard; pencils; and dry-erase boards.

Our reading nook is right across from our language area in the only area of natural light — the single attic window!  I had my husband build this bookcase with a forward-facing section on top, then we went crazy making the coziest reading nook we could imagine.  My favorite part — those posters and the twinkle lights!

Also pictured — our window washing work, since that is where the only window is!

 

Geography/Cultural/Science/Themed Studies

This catch-all shelf is also part of our language section, as many of the materials in it contain language elements.  We are moving from our continents studies to a study all about mammals, so here’s what’s currently on the shelf:  planet ordering work; Montessori continents globe; Montessori continents felt map; introduction to vertebrates nomenclature cards; a box with a bunch of mammal figures; some parent/baby mammal sorting cards; mammals of the continents sorting cards; parts of a dandelion 3-part cards; carnivore, herbivore, omnivore sorting cards; and behavioral adaptations of mammals sorting cards.  In the box to the left, we have our human felt skeleton.

 

Sensorial

Next is our Sensorial section!  We have:  red rods and pink tower (made by my husband); a blindfold; color box 3 tablets; advanced color identification cards; butterfly matching cards; handbells; and mammal body covering matching cards.  Our short bead chains are also over here, as this was the only wall space available for hanging.

 

Math

Math is directly related to sensorial, so I’ve placed that shelf in the same little nook.  We currently have:  the colored bead stair; more bead bars; bead bar addition clip cards; the hundred board (only 1-30 tiles set out); the teens board; introduction to the decimal system; and the golden bead material (the “bank”).

 

Art

To keep myself from getting bogged down with the risk of mess, I put down plastic floor protectors in this section so the carpet at least won’t get damaged.  On the top of our art shelf, we have: a paper holder containing all of the paper refills for the other works; a bucket full of paintbrushes to be put on individual trays as needed; a pencil sharpening work; and colored pencils.  Below that, we have:  bleeding tissue paper work; fall stencil painting work; and hole punching work.  At the easel, I’ve set out the chalkboard side with some chalk and a paintbrush for tracing over the chalk writing with water.

 

Practical Life/Fine Motor

I also made sure to put our water works in the same area as the floor protectors so spills are easily wiped up!  Our homeschool preschool room is in the attic, so there’s no sink up here.  The source of water for all our water works is that water dispenser!  I put a bucket underneath to catch any drips. None of the water work trays actually have water in them while they’re sitting on the shelf.  The child must carry the tray to the table, take the container that holds the water (bowl, pitcher, etc) to the water dispenser to fill it, then return to the table and use the work.  When she’s finished, she dumps the water into the bucket, then returns the tray to the shelf dry.

We currently have on the shelf:  wood sanding work; hand gestures cards; water pouring to the line; a braiding board; pin-pushing work; wood polishing work; a hand broom; a new balancing work with marbles on golf tees; and a tree branch for stringing pasta on the limbs.

The corner next to that shelf has: some washcloths for wiping up spills; child-sized cleaning tools; drying racks for art work; and a hanging drying rack for wet washcloths.

 

Circle Area

There’s a long radiator along one wall of our homeschool preschool room, so we can’t put shelves there.  Instead, this is where we set up our Circle Time area.  You can read more about what we do at Circle Time HERE.  Our calendar is new, and I found it HERE.

 

Nature Shelf

This chair is now too small for my girls to sit in, so we’re using it as a nature shelf!  The girls bring their nature finds here to explore.  We currently have a cicada shell, one butterfly wing, and a magnifying glass.

 

Movement Shelf

Nora is my mover, so a few months ago I put together a movement section of our classroom for her!  You can read more about that HERE.

And that’s our Montessori Homeschool Preschool Room set up for an almost 4-year-old!  If you are interested in learning how to do Montessori homeschool preschool with your own child, check out my e-course!