10/01/2026
Happy New Year from me Cala, The London Montessorian.
It has been the childrenās 1st week back at school for 2026 and also my 1st week of tutoring for the new year. Some families are still enjoying an extra week off, but this week I was so happy to welcome 1 new child. Next week I will be welcoming 1 returning child from last spring, plus a new child joining for a taster session, which I am really looking forward to.
This week I have worked with 2 x 7-year-olds, 1 x 9-year-old and 1 x 12-year-old. A lovely mix of ages and stages, and a reminder that learning is never one size fits all. Every session is shaped around the individual child and their abilities, so this carousel shows a mix of maths and English and practical life skills.
One of my 7-year-olds explored singular and plural, building meaning first: singular means 1, plural means more than 1. We focused on the early plural pattern of adding s and the childās reaction said it all: āI really like this activity, it was so much fun.ā We also explored place value and static addition (addition without change), alongside early reading and double sounds.
My other 7-year-old is new to the Montessori approach and began their journey with place value using the golden beads. They said it was āa bit trickyā and āa bit challengingā, but also ālots of fun.ā
With my 9-year-old, we focused on reading comprehension through discussion, inference and retelling, then used the small bead frame to strengthen place value and accuracy in multiplication.
With my 12-year-old, we focused on practical life and fine motor development to support independence in everyday tasks and build concentration, using smaller transferring, tong work, opening and closing containers, and careful hand work such as hammering and painting.
Here is to a new year of purposeful work and children feeling proud of themselves.
PrimaryMaths ReadingComprehension PlaceValue StaticAddition GoldenBeads BeadFrame PracticalLife FineMotorSkills LearningThroughPlay IndividualisedLearning BackToSchool NewYearNewTerm