Are you ready to stop trying to ‘reinvent the wheel’ when it comes to explaining Montessori to parents, assessors or even your own educators?
    
Maybe we can help! 

We know from experience that one of the most frustrating parts of a Montessori educator’s day can be the amount of time devoted to documentation. Not only is it important to record the individual progress of each child through the Montessori Curriculum, but it is also a requirement of the National Quality Framework that educators are able to articulate the linkage of their programs to the Early Years Learning Framework. Montessori educators also face the additional challenge of ensuring that parents develop knowledge about the value of the Montessori lessons and materials.

What is Montessori GPS?

Montessori GPS consists of six individual albums to cover the fundamental lessons of the Montessori Early Years curriculum.

The albums cover the curriculum areas of;

• Infant/Toddler
• Practical Life
• Sensorial
• Maths
• Literacy
• Culture

Each album provides the fundamental scope and sequence of the curriculum area and contains a set of detailed lesson plans. For each material/lesson you will find;

• The purpose(s), points of interest and control of error of the material,
• An outline of a suggested presentation,
• Links between the material/lesson and the EYLF Learning Outcomes,
• Indicators of progress and mastery to prove Assessment for Learning (a practice of the EYLF),
• Suggestions for variations and extension activities,
• Ideas for parents to try at home to support their child in this learning area.

How can I use Montessori GPS in my school or service?

This product is now available on USB (as a series of PDF’s) for purchase or licensing to schools, centres or individuals. 

It also has the potential to be integrated into existing digital portfolio platforms so you can keep using a familiar App with the added bonus of an embedded Montessori guide!

The digital portfolio program KeptMe (www.keptme.com) has already integrated Montessori GPS into their App. If you’re looking for a brand new program to use, with Montessori GPS ready to go, this is a great place to start!

Montessori GPS is a document that can be individualised and adapted according to centre needs.

Where did Montessori GPS originate?

For several years, the educators at Jescott Montessori Pre-school were using three different digital record keeping Apps for their record keeping and parent communication. One app was used for tracking a child’s progress through the Montessori curriculum, one for developing group lesson plans and another for sharing photographs with parents. All of this and still there was more work to be done in regularly writing about our links with the EYLF and often sourcing more detailed information for parents about Montessori.

The Director, Jessica Langford, was frustrated by the situation and was seeking a way to streamline all the different elements of record keeping into one place. She set about writing a comprehensive guide to the fundamental lessons of the Montessori curriculum, including links to the EYLF, while consulting with a company called KeptMe to develop a way of embedding the Montessori guide into a digital portfolio. This collaboration combined a rich and detailed guide to the Montessori early years with a simple way of tracking a child’s progress through that curriculum and sharing information easily with parents.

Montessori GPS was written to guide educators and parents through the Montessori Early Years curriculum, to clearly present the links between Montessori and the Early Years Learning Framework and to share detailed, inspiring and empowering information with parents.

What does Montessori GPS look like embedded into an I.T. Platform? 

KeptMe (www.keptme.com) is a digital portfolio that is already using Montessori GPS successfully. They have created ‘KeptMe Montessori’ as part of their suite of tools on their existing Application for computer or Ipad use. Montessori GPS has been embedded into their digital program in a way that can easily track a child’s progress through the Montessori Curriculum, produce progress reports, link progress to the EYLF and produce wonderful portfolios. It offers instant communication to parents through shared photos throughout the day. The parent “owns“ their child’s album and they can add their own photos and postings at any time. This platform also allows parents to offer feedback to the educators and so meets the requirements of the NQS regarding communication with families. When an educator shares a photo of a child with their parent, (with accompanying comments if they wish) the parent can choose to simply appreciate the photo as it is or look into the value of the photo more closely by opening the link to find out about the lesson presentation and the purpose of the material.

Educators are able to use the presentations as a reference on how to introduce the lessons and as a guide to what to plan for next. The App also allows educators to enter reflective planning data and prompts the educator to plan, evaluate, reflect and complete the "what's next" part of the cycle of planning for each child.         

• The KeptMe Montessori App was used during Jescott Montessori Pre-school’s recent centre Assessment and the Authorised Officer was very impressed. The centre received a rating of ‘Exceeding’ in all areas, most pleasingly in the area of Educational Program and Practice which seems to be an area that ACECQA has identified as being the most challenging for centres across Auatralia. The NQS Assessor commented specifically on the quality of the information contained in the Montessori GPS section of the KeptMe Montessori App.
• Jescott educators really like the program and find that it is easy to use and far less time consuming than previous record keeping programs. 
• The parents at Jescott Montessori have responded extremely well to this program and are active in using the App as a communication tool
• Portfolios and progress reports can be easily printed at any time
• School reports are easy to produce as the child’s progress records and photographic evidence over several years can be accessed and incorporated into a meaningful format for parents to keep.

IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING USING KEPTME MONTESSORI TO ACCESS MONTESSORI GPS then you may decide whether you wish to subscribe to KeptMe Montessori instead of purchasing digital copies here or if you'd like to do both. Please note that subscribing to KeptMe allows you to access, read and share Montessori GPS within the app but it does NOT grant you a license to download and keep it (your access is revoked if/when you end your subscription to KeptMe). It is up to you to decide whether to invest in the 'best of both worlds' or to stick with just a subscription with KeptMe (without unlimited access) or just a purchase here (without integration into an app)!

Go to www.keptme.com for more information or to request a subscription.

Montessori GPS may look different in other I.T Platforms.

Where to find out more?

Contact: Jessica Langford, jessica@samontessori.com.au

How do we invest in Montessori GPS? 

You can purchase Montessori GPS as a Full Series or by individual Album. Alternatively you can enter into a ‘License to Use’ Agreement (if you wish to integrate it into an electronic program/App). Prices for these options are listed below.

Full series (6 Albums, 84 Lessons*)

*Each Lesson plan is approximately 8 pages or 2500 words.

Postage extra (TBA)

Sold separately

Postage extra ($12)

License to Use Agreement

Price By Negotiation

What Montessori GPS is:

• Montessori GPS is a Guide through the Montessori curriculum for educators, parents and interested parties (such as NQS Assessors). It informs educators about how to Present the Montessori lessons and allows educators to Share this information with parents.

• Montessori GPS is a bridge between the Montessori school, the family and NQS Assessors as it showcases the Montessori curriculum and its links to the home and the EYLF in a way that is convenient for the educator and authentic to the Montessori philosophy.

• Montessori GPS is an exploration of the relationship between Montessori and the Early Years Learning Framework.

• Montessori GPS is a basis for internal professional development for teaching teams.

• Montessori GPS is a record of the most common and/or foundational lessons in the Montessori curriculum, presented in a way that communicates their purpose and value to educators, parents and NQS assessors alike!

• Montessori GPS is a way to release Montessori educators from the burden of having to ‘reinvent the wheel’. Instead of each centre, or educator, having to cross-reference their Montessori program to the EYLF, or repeatedly explain materials to parents, the information is all contained in one convenient package.

It’s comprehensive, holistic, informative and authentic and it is ready to go!

It is our aim that Montessori GPS will provide;

• A comprehensive revelation of the deep, strong links between Montessori and the principles, practices and outcomes of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF).

• The opportunity for Montessori educators to place their full focus on what is important - the child - rather than begin distracted by the regulatory and record-keeping requirements of trying to independently link Montessori to the EYLF.

• A framework for groups of educators who wish to communicate more effectively with one another about the progress of children through the Montessori continuum.

• A springboard for educators who may be encountering Montessori for the first time and who, having seen the tip of the pedagogical iceberg through these digital albums, may be inspired to undergo formal Montessori teacher training.

• An invitation for a continued dialogue between Montessori educators and the families who have chosen this method of education.

• A way to demystify Montessori lessons, and make them more accessible and understandable for parents (and new-to-Montessori educators).

• The roots of an ever-growing tree as you add new branches and foliage in the form of creating your own lesson pages to add to your albums.

What Montessori GPS is not:

• These guides are not intended as a substitute for formal training. Access to lesson guides is not considered sufficient ‘preparation of the adult’ and an educator should not consider (or claim) himself/herself “Montessori trained” simply because he/she has access to these guides.

• These guides are not an attempt to comprehensively detail every single potential lesson in the Montessori curriculum. The full extent of the potential curriculum is simply too vast and detailed to cover in its entirety. Furthermore, each Montessori context is unique in terms of its character, its resources and its teaching team. As such, it is preferable for each school or centre to supplement Montessori GPS to reflect the materials, lessons, experiences and cultural considerations of their own unique situation.

• The Lesson Albums are not definitive, unquestionable doctrines. They are guides to the materials and suggestions of presentations based on the training, knowledge and experience of the authors. They are not verbatim reproductions of Maria Montessori’s work, or of any official training body.They should be treated as suggestions or reminders but not as prescriptions.

• This program is not a finite, generalised product. It is an ongoing process that is open to continuous improvement. We cannot guarantee that your version will always reflect the most up to date variations.

The photos below show how Montessori GPS is embedded into KeptMe. This is just one example of how the curriculum could be integrated into a range of platforms or programs, such as Xplor's Playground.