So, you’re interested in presenting the world to your children using Montessori methods, and you want to have an album at home to guide you step-by-step. With the help of some other Montessori moms, we’re going to attempt to compile a comprehensive list of English-language Montessori albums available for purchase, as well as online teacher training programs. The albums listed are either FREE or for purchase. Some are digital, others are available in print.
- If you notice I’m missing something, share it in a comment and I’ll update this post, thanks!
- If you have reviewed an album on your own blog, let me know so I can link to you.
- And if you sell albums and want a full-length feature article, drop me a note and we’ll get it done.
A free wiki of album presentations is available at MontessoriAlbum.com.
I also want to share this in-depth post about albums by Lori at Montessori For Everyone, and also the list to free guides provided by TheLittleList. And once you have your own wonderful album, and you start to feel overwhelmed by all the possibilities, get a copy of my Curriculum Organizer to help you stay sane! Drum roll, please…
Albums for use with approximate ages 0-3:
My Montessori House offers albums broken into specific ages for about $40 each, from infancy through first grade, with discounts when you buy more than one. (They also have a blog here.) You can view the indices for all of the albums on their website.
Montessori Research & Development (R&D) offers a variety of albums for infants and toddlers, early childhood, and elementary. I admit to not liking their website, but they do give you the indices and sample pages to view for each individual album. The albums look very thorough, and if you’re looking for one subject, for one age in particular, this might be a great route to go.
The North American Montessori Center (NAMC) offers a large assortment of albums, and their price-sheet is here. Most individual albums are about $150. Albums and materials (like training DVD’s and blackline masters) are grouped by ages (0-3, 3-6, 6-9, and 9-12), and significant shipping fees apply (although I’ve been told if you call them you can request cheaper USPS rates). In addition, NAMC has recently began marketing a homeschool program for $540 with shipping which includes curriculum guides as well as materials. Detailed information is available on the website, and Lori gave an extensive review here.
Albums for use with approximate ages 3-6:
InfoMontessori.com offers FREE online AMI albums which are illustrated in color and supplemented by how-to videos. I think this is a fantastic resource, and the perfect place to start learning Montessori basics. There are the 4 basic primary albums available, plus a forum to have discussions or ask questions, including a homeschooling category.
The Montessori Teachers Collective (Monteaco) is a site put together by volunteers, and everything is FREE. For ages 3-6 there are math and culture albums, and for ages 6-9 there are math, history, geometry, biology, and language albums. There are other free resources on the site as well.
Montessori By Hand is a FREE members-only Yahoo group to share Montessori files, and entire primary albums are available. (If you are interested, there are other Yahoo groups to join and share Montessori ideas. Search here.) Thanks, Veronica!
Cultivating Dharma is the website of a Montessori teacher, Jonathan Feagle, who provides his albums as downloads FREE here. The site owner hasn’t blogged since April, but how awesome of him to share his albums!
Shu-Chen Jenny Yen‘s albums are also provided FREE online. “Probably the world’s first Montessori Teacher Albums on the Internet!” The albums are for ages 3-6 and include the 4 basics, practical life, sensorial, math, and language. Awesome!
The albums of Karen Tyler are the only full albums I own. They are currently selling through Alison’s Montessori here. Twelve albums for ages 2 1/2 -6, which are emailed as pdf. files, cost $299. Individual albums are available for $25. The entire table-of-contents for each album is available to view on the Alison’s site. The albums can be built for less if you sign up for Karen’s training program. (See below.)
You can read about the supplier Nienhuis here. I admit to have never purchased anything from Nienhuis because of the prices; however, I think they have realized (finally) how large the potential market is for materials desired by homeschooling parents. They are offering a selection of materials at a decent discount right now, and their printed catalog is gorgeous. They sell a great album for ages 3-6 called Montessori Matters for just $28.60. The math ($24.90), language ($26.90), and history albums ($21.90) are for ages 3-9. I don’t own these, but I’ve borrowed them from a friend in the past, and they are timeless. If you combined them with online searches for pictures of materials, you’d be just fine.
My Montessori House offers albums broken into specific ages for about $40 each, from infancy through first grade, with discounts when you buy more than one. (They also have a blog here.) You can view the indices for all of the albums on their website.
New Child Montessori offers classroom “guides” based on the 4 seasons, and you can view sample pages on their website. They have a page of information specifically for homeschooling parents here. The guides are $35 or all 4 for $100. All products and prices are listed here. The guides are intended primarily for the age 3-6 classroom, but according to the author can also be used for older ages with adaptations. I have heard that these are wonderful guides, except that the “fall” guide is really supposed to be used first – not so handy if you are starting at some other time.
Montessori Research & Development (R&D) offers a variety of albums for infants and toddlers, early childhood, and elementary. I admit to not liking their website, but they do give you the indices and sample pages to view for each individual album. The albums look very thorough, and if you’re looking for one subject, for one age in particular, this might be a great route to go.
The North American Montessori Center (NAMC) offers a large assortment of albums, and their price-sheet is here. Most individual albums are about $150. Albums and materials (like training DVD’s and blackline masters) are grouped by ages (0-3, 3-6, 6-9, and 9-12), and significant shipping fees apply (although I’ve been told if you call them you can request cheaper USPS rates). Their website states that their age 3-6 classroom guide “is the most extensive Montessori 3-6 ‘How to Teach’ manual ever published.” In addition, NAMC has recently began marketing a homeschool program for $540 with shipping which includes curriculum guides as well as materials. Detailed information is available on the website, and Lori gave an extensive review here.
The North American Montessori Teachers Association (NAMTA) sells a journal which explains in detail the Muriel Dwyer technique for teaching language. This is a Montessori alternative to the “pink, blue, green” approach. (Thanks, Tracey!)
Montessori-Book.com sells a set of 5 basic albums for ages 2 1/2 – 6 as e-books for $39.90. The 5 albums printed cost $75 but have insane shipping fees of $65. They offer one-page samples of each book. (The one I saw looked okay, but had a grammar error in it.) Hands-down the least appealing website.
The “other” religion album you can buy is the Home Catechesis Manual by Moira Farrell available from Our Father’s House. I do own this one, too – it’s a HUGE blessing for those of us who cannot do the CGS training (below) and do not live near any CGS atria. A version for older students is also available.
Albums for use with ages 6 and up:
The Montessori Teachers Collective (Monteaco) is a site put together by volunteers, and everything is FREE. For ages 3-6 there are math and culture albums, and for ages 6-9 there are math, history, geometry, biology, and language albums. There are other free resources on the site as well.
Elizabeth Papandrea sells lower and upper elementary albums for $20 each. Elizabeth is an AMI trainee. For samples or tables of contents, email her at: elizabethpapandrea@yahoo.com.
Jessica at Keys of the Universe has albums for teaching ages 6-12 that will be available by the first of the year. Five subjects are currently available to those who sign up for her training program (see below), and you can view complete indices and samples of each album on her website.
Montessori Research & Development (R&D) offers a variety of albums for infants and toddlers, early childhood, and elementary. I admit to not liking their website, but they do give you the indices and sample pages to view for each individual album. The albums look very thorough, and if you’re looking for one subject, for one age in particular, this might be a great route to go.
The North American Montessori Center (NAMC) offers a large assortment of albums, and their price-sheet is here. Most individual albums are about $150. Albums and materials (like training DVD’s and blackline masters) are grouped by ages (0-3, 3-6, 6-9, and 9-12), and significant shipping fees apply (although I’ve been told if you call them you can request cheaper USPS rates). In addition, NAMC has recently began marketing a homeschool program for $540 with shipping which includes curriculum guides as well as materials. Detailed information is available on the website, and Lori gave an extensive review here.
Lori at Montessori For Everyone has a Natural Science album – botany and zoology – for ages 6-9. Regular price is $29.99 but it has been on sale for less.
ONLINE MONTESSORI TRAINING PROGRAMS:
The Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE) website offers a list of accredited ONLINE programs here – I think all of these programs include a residency component and are intended for people who want to teach at a Montessori school.
Karen Tyler offers online training at World Wide Montessori Online for teaching ages 2 1/2 – 6. Fees range from $150 to $240 for the entire program and the 12 albums. Karen also allows you to pay $10 per month, and stop at anytime.
Jessica offers online training at at Keys of the Universe for teaching ages 6-12. Fees are $320 for the entire course and albums, with a $20 discount for paying up-front.
The Center for Guided Montessori Studies has an online program for teaching ages 3-6 and 6-12. The completely online version ($4500) results in an “associate certificate,” however if you can swing the 3-week residency requirement, their full certificate ($5900) is accredited by the IMC. (Thanks, Carmen!)
The North American Montessori Center offers online training programs for 4 different levels (0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12.) Fees are $2000, $2200, $3000, and $3000, respectively, and include all of the albums.
The United Montessori Association offers online training for ages 3-6. Fees are $2775 plus $150 for registration. You would think for that cost they would include hard copies of albums, but they don’t.
Montessori For The Earth.com informal training program; fees are listed as $13 to $90.
For religion education, there is my favorite, the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. (This training is not online, sorry, I just had to include it.) To find the course nearest you, click here.
[Of course, if you want to teach beyond the borders of your own home, there are many, many Montessori teacher training programs in the States. Their tuition will be considerably higher than the programs is listed here.]
Okay, shoot me a comment and let me know what I’ve missed, what you’ve used, or what you recommend!
Helping Children Learn 
Montessori for Everyone has a biology album now too 🙂 Just sharing!
I know that another online training option that is MACTE accredited is Age of Montessori with Mary Ellen Maunz as the primary instructor. They are primarily online, with 5 weeks during the summer, then an internship at a local Montessori school. They also offer an option for homeschooling parents who want more info, but don’t want the Montessori certification. Check them out!
Great tip, thanks Karen! Here’s the link:
http://ageofmontessori.org/
Thanks for this list. I know Montessori Print Shop has a set of albums and they are supposed to be good. Have you heard of these?
I am wracking my brain trying to figure out which ones if any I should get. I have a 5yr old and a 2yr old I am considering starting Montessori at home with. Your site has been so helpful to me, but it is still extremely overwhelming. I have also looked into Classical Education, trying to decide if that would fit us any better.
Hi Melissa, I know it is overwhelming to have so many options and to feel a need to “do it all.” I want to stress that Montessori is primarily an attitude towards children, a philosophy about how they learn and how we can provide a great environment for them to develop in. The materials (and albums that explain them) are secondary. We all have different budgets and different spaces within our homes to work with, so it really is hard to make recommendations. However, for the sake of your 2yo, I might recommend starting out slowly with just a primary practical life album while you focus on enjoying your children and involving them in your day-to-day tasks.
What kind of jobs can I get with a Certificate of Achievement in Child Development?
Do the My Montessori House albums and the Keys to the universe/KHT Montessori albums differ in approaches or styles from your experience?
I have no experience with MMH. I have the Keys of the Universe theory album and in general have high opinions of the writer and her theories. The only other albums I own are Karen’s 3-6.
Based on experience of those I know with each type of album:
MMH is supposed to be AMI-influenced; provides daily lesson plans which isn’t “follow the child”; and is organized in different age groupings than the Montessori-observed planes of development.
Keys of the Universe is AMI, sticking very close to training but modified for homeschool use. Keys of the Universe is intended for elementary (ages 6-12, with some overlap into early adolescence). Keys of the World is also available which covers 2 1/2-6.
KHT is AMS. Covers 2 1/2-6.
The biggest difference here is that AMS uses the pink/blue/green reading system which was not developed by Dr. Montessori. AMI utilizes an exploration of language approach which covers all the various methodologies of exploring one’s language – the children write first, then read, using substantially fewer materials and fewer steps, with more time to explore and learn and enjoy.
Just adding 😉 Keys of the World is now available for the 3-6 year old age group.