What I’m Actually Doing to Get My Students Kindergarten-Ready

 

In this video, I’m sharing exactly how I’m preparing my students for kindergarten—especially when many of them are coming in without letter sounds or early reading skills.

This is not a perfect Montessori classroom. This is what it looks like when you have to build a literacy plan in real time.

I walk through:

How I assess letter names and sounds (ASMT)

What I do when children aren’t blending My daily structure (one-on-one + whole group) How I’m using simple, sometimes non-traditional materials

What I do when progress is slow

How I’m planning forward in weekly letter groupings I also share honestly about: Making materials quickly (not always “beautiful”)

Using Teachers Pay Teachers to fill gaps What happens when parent support isn’t consistent

Why I shifted to protected one-on-one time (Tonekeeper)

If you are a teacher trying to meet real children where they are—this is for you. I’m happy to share materials and brainstorm better systems together—just leave a comment.

✨ I write more deeply about Montessori leadership and teacher sustainability on Substack: 

👉 https://creativityandwonder.substack....

Are you needing some support with how to structure your classroom? As a Montessori teacher, I understand that feeling of overwhelm! I have created a detailed lesson plan to 'hold your hand' through each day.  These lesson plans can either be used to jump start how to create the rhythm of the classroom (monthly) or I have a full year plan that can then be used for a 3 year cycle.

Montessori Daily Lesson Plans 

Montessori INSPIRED Lesson Plans 

 

LOOKING FOR ART LESSONS FEATURING DIFFERENT ARTISTS? 

Link to my FREEBIES

 

When Everyone Gets a Ribbon

 

This week at school, we celebrated Kindness Week.

Our school doesn’t celebrate holidays in the traditional sense, so instead of Valentine’s Day parties, we focused on something we could stand behind — noticing kindness in the classroom.

The plan was simple:
When a child demonstrated an act of kindness, we would acknowledge it at the end of the day and give them a ribbon. As they left campus, they would tie it to the fence in front of the school. By the end of the week, the fence would be covered in ribbons — a visible display of goodness in our small community.

It was, in many ways, a beautiful idea.

And then I learned:

Every child needed to receive a ribbon.
Every single day.

Because at some point, each child had done something kind.

That’s when the tension began.

---

The Quiet Discomfort

If you’ve been in education long enough, you know this feeling.

The moment where something good begins to slide into something automatic.

The moment where recognition shifts into distribution.

The moment where you wonder:
Are we honoring something… or are we managing optics?

READ MORE

Are you needing some support with how to structure your classroom? As a Montessori teacher, I understand that feeling of overwhelm! I have created a detailed lesson plan to 'hold your hand' through each day.  These lesson plans can either be used to jump start how to create the rhythm of the classroom (monthly) or I have a full year plan that can then be used for a 3 year cycle.

Montessori Daily Lesson Plans 

Montessori INSPIRED Lesson Plans 

 

LOOKING FOR ART LESSONS FEATURING DIFFERENT ARTISTS? 

Link to my FREEBIES

 

 

A Week in the Life of a Montessori Teacher | Hard Moments, Small Wins & Finding My Calling

 

This week was a reminder that teaching is never just about the classroom. In this video I’m sharing a real week in my life as a Montessori teacher — the good, the difficult, and the moments that make you pause and reflect on why you do this work in the first place.

We talk about:

 • staying consistent with the gym and getting back into running

• classroom challenges with dysregulated children

 • handling difficult incidents with honesty and accountability

• the difference a supportive assistant teacher can make

• small classroom joys like a Lunar New Year dragon craft

• revamping our outdoor Montessori environment

• reselling finds from the Goodwill outlet

• discovering a beautiful small business candle company

• books I’m reading and reflections on calling, purpose, and vocation

Teaching young children is meaningful work — but it’s also complex, exhausting, and deeply human. I committed to sharing the good, the bad, and the messy middle, and this week definitely had all three.

 Toward the end of the video I also reflect on something that has followed me for years: Why do I keep coming back to teaching when it’s so difficult?

A passage from Joan Chittister’s writing helped me understand the idea of calling in a new way, and I share that reflection here.

If you're a teacher, educator, or someone trying to understand your own path in life, I hope this conversation encourages you. Sometimes purpose doesn’t look easy — but it can still be real.

📚 Books Mentioned

• The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake — Amy Bender

• Following the Path — Joan Chittister

 🕯 Small Business Mentioned Mbur Candle Company (woodwick beeswax candles)

If you enjoy thoughtful teacher life content, Montessori reflections, and honest conversations about work and purpose, feel free to subscribe. Let me know in the comments: What keeps you going when your work gets hard?

If you’re a teacher navigating invisible labor, aesthetic standards, and trying to build a life outside of work… you’re not alone. ✨ I write more deeply about Montessori leadership and teacher sustainability on Substack: 👉 https://creativityandwonder.substack....

Are you needing some support with how to structure your classroom? As a Montessori teacher, I understand that feeling of overwhelm! I have created a detailed lesson plan to 'hold your hand' through each day.  These lesson plans can either be used to jump start how to create the rhythm of the classroom (monthly) or I have a full year plan that can then be used for a 3 year cycle.

Montessori Daily Lesson Plans 

Montessori INSPIRED Lesson Plans 

 

LOOKING FOR ART LESSONS FEATURING DIFFERENT ARTISTS? 

Link to my FREEBIES