Record keeping is essential for Montessori teachers to observe and guide students. Observing and tracking each child’s skills and progress is crucial for individual consideration. It helps teachers and parents track progress and make informed decisions about which lessons can be next presented or materials child can work on.
It also allows teachers and parents to identify skills that the child is gaining mastery in and areas where they may need additional support. By keeping detailed records of a child’s work, teachers can use this information to create personalized lesson plans that take into account each child’s unique strengths and challenges.
How Record Keeping in Montessori is Done
Record keeping in Montessori is done in a variety of ways, including written observations, checklists, and/or digital records through online platforms. Teachers and parents could keep detailed notes on each child’s progress, noting their interests, level of concentration, and areas of challenge. These observations are then used to create individualized learning plans for each child, which help to guide their progress and development over time.
In addition to written observations, teachers may also use audio or video recordings to capture important moments in a child’s learning journey.
There are different ways you can do this but you’ve got to check out what’s best for you – something that meets your needs and fits your budget, your busy schedule, and is easy to use. I’ve come up with this list of Montessori Record Keeping resources. Let’s get started!
General Montessori Classroom and Homeschool Record-Keeping Printables
MindSprout
Keep track of what your child does each day and take note of what the child did in actual (objective observations) and your comments and notes to look back on (subjective observations). There’s also a space to indicate the level of mastery and concentration of the child for each activity.
Price: FREE
Teach Learn Montessori – TPT
“This is a conference record form I used when I taught in public school. Each child’s name is written in one of the columns across the top. Jot observation or conference notes in each box and identify a next step for the following conference. This helps to organize the plan of action for each student on a weekly basis. It will also let you see if you haven’t met with a child within a week or (hopefully not!) two.”
Price: FREE
Vicki Thompson – TPT
“This is a simple pdf to use when record keeping in a Montessori Classroom. Presentations can be charted by date and students.”
Price: FREE
Montessori Helping Hand – TPT
“Simple and colourful editable lesson plan templates for the Montessori directress and assistant. Can also be used for your teaching practice.”
Price: FREE
Primary Level Montessori Record Keeping Printables
My Montessori Corner – TPT
“This is a simple, concise, one-page sheet for monthly record keeping for Montessori students. For homeschoolers, can also be used for planning or tracking which works are available on the shelves. Editable.”
Age: 3-6 years
Price: FREE
Montessori Gals – TPT
“This record keeping page was to better track and follow up on the lessons taught on a daily basis. This can also be used to track which works students are doing on a daily basis. Great for planning new lessons, reteaching, parent communication, and progress reports/report cards.”
Age: 3-6 years
Price: FREE
My Montessori Maker – TPT
“This document is intended to help the child record their work as they complete it, including “non-school” type activities (like museum visits, documentaries, etc.). The purpose of this document is to help the child notice all the learning that happens in their week, both formal and informal.”
Age: 2.5-5 years
Price: FREE
My Montessori Journey
Includes a monitoring record sheet for Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Math, Art, and Cultural activities. It’s good for one-glance recording and suitable for classroom use but missing lots of other activities in the Montessori albums.
Age: 3-6 years
Price: FREE
Montessori Print Shop – Etsy
Includes 11 Pages of Exercises of Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Math, and Culture intended for each student’s 3-year progress, but missing extension activities and other key lessons. Perfect for homeschoolers.
Age: 3-6 years
Price: $3.85
Montessori Recipes and More – TPT
Includes an editable excel recording file for teachers to record each student’s work progress. It provides a list of Practical Life, Language, Sensorial, and Math activities for the primary level. It lists the breakdown of the Pink, Blue, and Green series for reading & writing.
Age: 3-6 years
Price: FREE
Lisa Steele – TPT
Includes lists of Language Arts, Math, Writing, Sensorial and Practical Life activities that the teacher can use to monitor lesson presentations and the child’s progress but missing extension activities and some other activities for preparation to transition to elementary.
Age: 3-6 years
Price: FREE
The Montessori Garden – TPT
Includes lists of Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Math, Cultural activities for Primary level. This is useful to monitor presentation and child’s work progress, but missing extension and some other activities for preparation to transition to elementary.
Age: 3-6 years
Price: FREE
MindSprout – Etsy
Here is a comprehensive scope and sequence of Montessori Language Arts, Sensorial, Practical Life, and Math activities (including different stages of presentation and extension activities) based on the AMI Montessori Album.
These Montessori record sheets help you monitor each child’s progress and the adult presentations over the span of 3 years. These can be useful for either homeschooling parents or teachers in creating individualized plans for each child.
Age: 3-6 years
✨ FREE ✨ Montessori activities for 3 to 6 year olds
Considering the other free and paid options out there, this Montessori Record Keeping Sheet is the BEST option if you’re:
- Needing a monitoring record sheet you can use throughout the 3-year cycle.
- Going towards a different approach in teaching reading and writing in Language that is not PBG.
- Believing that Cultural activities in Primary are embedded in each learning area and does not need to be separated.
- Looking for a budget-friendly alternative for getting ALL of the activities included in the AMI Montessori curriculum for Primary.
I’ve listed free Montessori albums that you can use for reference in understanding the theories and learning the prescribed way/s to present each of the activities here. These are sufficient especially for homeschoolers.
Elementary Level Montessori Record Keeping Printables
Mainly Montessori
Lowel EL | Upper EL – TPT
“This document is intended to help the child record their work as they complete it, including “non-school” type activities (like museum visits, documentaries, etc.). The purpose of this document is to help the child notice all the learning that happens in their week, both formal and informal.”
Age: 6-12 years
Price: FREE
Tie Tuesday Teacher Weekly Work Plan – TPT
“This is a very simple weekly workplan which can be edited to meet the needs of your classroom. It is designed to be flexible, yet consistent. You can edit a workplan for each student and print it off, or you can make one per week to copy for each student. Attach one to a clipboard and have the students keep a pencil tucked in the clip and you are good to go. It is simple, paired down, and visually uncluttered. It is so simple. I have been using a version of this for decades. It is so simple- yet so helpful.”
Age: 6-9 years
Price: FREE
Mandie’s Montessori Materials – TPT
Includes an excel file containing all record keeping needed for each child in the elementary Montessori classroom. Aside from the activities for Language, Math, Culture and more, there are also teacher forms for parent or child communications.
Age: 6-12 years
Price: $12.99
Montessori By Day – TPT (Math only)
“If you need to see all of a students’ progress in one place for MATH, then this could be your answer. Created using Google Sheets (also compatible with Microsoft Excel), this is a digital document to track individual students as they progress through the math lessons. As with all Montessori lessons, feel free to edit as you “Follow the Child”. Easily rearrange for your preferred sequencing.”
Age: 6-9 years
Price: FREE
Online Montessori Classroom Record Keeping Apps or Softwares
MRX or MontessoriRecordsXpress
They offer unique features such as integration of different lesson lists for AMI, AMS, training centers or others. They also provide topnotch customer support and makes it accessible over different gadgets and through different languages. For amazing features for record tracking and parent communications, they offer a flat rate of $325/year per classroom, with 3-months free trial.
Montessori Compass
Offers list of lessons in-app for monitoring each student’s progress and provides features for easier parent communication. It also includes other tools for classroom and school management. They offer monthly and yearly plans ranging from $18-24/year per student.
Montessori Workspace
Features easy progress tracking and reporting, as well as lesson plan creating and sharing. They offer free forever pricing for the first 5 students and just $0.5/month for the other students.
Transparent Classroom
So many features and customization options! Love that this is intentionally created to meet the needs of fellow Montessorians. Easy to use for record-keeping (for students’ work and even for other records) and for parent communications for just $1.25/month per student.
Obserfy
Relatively new against competitors but they’re continuously working to improve the overall UI to make it simple and speedier for every user. It’s very affordable at $4/month per user (not student!) to record observations, create lesson plans, track curriculum progress for unlimited number of students! It also allows parents to keep track of their child’s progress through their parent dashboard. Surely worth the try! Grab their 30-day free trial now.
Conclusion
So there you have it, the best tools to help you win at Montessori record-keeping! By using these resources, you can keep track of each child’s progress and effectively guide their development over time.
Remember, record-keeping is key for Montessori teachers to observe and guide students. It helps teachers and parents track progress and make informed decisions about which lessons can be next presented or materials child can work on.
With these tools, you can make the most of your time and ensure that every child is receiving the individualized attention they need to thrive. Happy record-keeping!
