Foundations of Montessori Courses
Learn Montessori while you teach your child.
You don't need years of Montessori teacher training before you begin homeschooling.
We offer thoughtful guidance that helps you understand your child, the Montessori method, and the purpose behind each lesson.
Our self paced Foundations of Montessori courses help you grow into a confident Montessori guide while teaching your child one lesson at a time.
Learn the Montessori method as adapted for homeschooling at your own pace.
Becoming a Confident Montessori Homeschool Guide
Many parents fall in love with Montessori long before they feel confident teaching it.
You may wonder...
Am I introducing lessons at the right time?
What if I don't have every Montessori material?
How do I know I'm making the right choices for my child?
The Foundations courses were created to answer these questions.
Rather than preparing you for a Montessori classroom, they prepare you for real life homeschooling.
You'll learn Montessori philosophy, child development, observation, lesson presentation, and teaching techniques while using the curriculum with your own child. The goal isn't to memorize presentations.
It's to help you understand why Montessori works and how to apply it naturally at home.
Learn From an Experienced Montessori Educator
Every lesson in the Foundations of Montessori courses is taught by Aubrey Hargis, co-founder of Child of the Redwoods.
For more 25 years, Aubrey has helped thousands of families bring Montessori into their homes through professional development workshops, curriculum, online courses, and live coaching.
As an experienced, Montessori certified educator (AMS), former public school Kindergarten teacher, full time homeschooler, and curriculum designer, she has a gift for taking Montessori's rich pedagogy and making it clear, practical, and approachable for real families.
Parents often tell us they feel like they're learning from a trusted mentor.
Aubrey Hargis, M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction, and instructor of your Foundations of Montessori courses
Throughout the courses, Aubrey combines Montessori philosophy with real examples, classroom experience, lesson demonstrations, and years of supporting both teachers and parents.
You'll understand not only what Montessori is, but how to confidently put it into practice with your own child.
You’ll be learning from someone who has dedicated her career to advocating for the authentic Montessori method both in person and online, helping both classroom teachers and families incorporate Montessori into their real lives in their own way, on any budget.
25+ years teaching Montessori to parents, teachers, and homeschoolers
Many thousands of homeschooling families supported
3,000+ Montessori lessons created in a comprehensive, multi-age Montessori curriculum
Hundreds of live coaching sessions given to homeschoolers in every continent (except Antarctica!)
Long before Montessori homeschooling became as widely discussed online as it is today, Aubrey was helping parents adapt Montessori for real family life. Her goal has always been the same: make authentic Montessori accessible, practical, and joyful for every family who wants to learn.
Montessori can sometimes feel intimidating.
You may have heard that you need every classic material.
That you have to deliver every lesson with exactness and precision.
That one mistake or Barbie or Paw Patrol toy or messy area in your house means you aren't really "doing Montessori."
You won't find that here.
Instead, Aubrey teaches the principles behind Montessori so you understand why the method works. You'll learn how to make thoughtful decisions for your own family, whether you're using classic Montessori materials, homemade resources, or a combination of both.
Parents often describe Aubrey's teaching style as calm, encouraging, and refreshingly free of judgment.
Rather than focusing on perfection, Aubrey helps families build confidence one step at a time, overcoming impostor syndrome, so Montessori feels like something they can truly live, not just admire.
After all, as a homeschooling parent, your goal isn't to create a perfect Montessori classroom!
It's to help your child love learning, and to help you take the journey together.
What’s Included in the Foundations of Montessori Courses
Each course includes:
Engaging video lessons on Montessori theory
Demo videos of key Montessori lessons
Practical assignments to do with your child
Check in quizzes for every unit
Downloadable Learning Journals
Observation Templates (Primary)
Work Plan Templates (Elementary)
Certificate of Completion
10 Core Subject Areas
Throughout the courses, you'll gain a deeper understanding of all 10 core Montessori subject areas.
Aubrey explains the philosophy behind each subject, how it supports your child's development, and how to confidently guide your child’s learning at home.
By the end of the courses, you'll see how every subject fits together to create one beautifully connected Montessori education.
Explore the Course of Study
The Foundations of Montessori courses are designed to help you grow into a confident Montessori guide one step at a time.
Rather than overwhelming you with Montessori theory all at once, each unit builds naturally on the last. You'll explore child development, Montessori philosophy, lesson presentation, and practical teaching techniques that you can immediately apply in your homeschool.
Choose the course that matches your child's stage of development, then learn at your own pace.
Ages 2 through 6
Learn the Montessori philosophy and method for the early years with our Foundations of Montessori: Primary course. This course introduces the core principles of Montessori while helping you confidently guide your child's earliest years.
You’ll learn:
How young children experience the world sensorially
How to present authentic Montessori lessons
How to create a peaceful, engaging homeschool
If you're new to Montessori, this is where to begin.
Rather than memorizing lessons, you'll build a deep understanding of why Montessori works. You'll discover how young children develop, why they repeat activities, how to prepare your home, and how to guide your child with confidence.
By the end of the course, you'll understand the principles behind every lesson in your curriculum and feel equipped to use them with purpose.
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Build a peaceful rhythm for your homeschool.
Discover what makes Montessori different, how children learn through purposeful work, and why rhythm and routine help your days feel calmer.
Highlights include:
The Montessori Work Cycle
Rhythm and Routine
Purposeful Work
A Good Education
…and more.
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See your young child through Montessori eyes.
Understand the remarkable ways young children naturally learn and how to support them during these important years in the Sensorial subject area.
Highlights include:
The Absorbent Mind
Sensitive Periods
The Power of Silence
The Importance of the Hand
…and more.
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Help your child grow in independence.
Learn how Practical Life experiences, Grace and Courtesy, and purposeful work build confidence that lasts a lifetime.
Highlights include:
Real Work
Giving a Lesson
Grace and Courtesy
Practical Life
…and more.
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Build joyful readers and writers.
Explore Montessori's playful approach to language development through games, movement, and meaningful communication.
Highlights include:
Phonemic Awareness
The Sandpaper Letters
The Moveable Alphabet
The Clue Game
…and more.
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Discover why Montessori math feels so intuitive.
Understand how children naturally build mathematical thinking through concrete experiences before abstract ideas.
Highlights include:
Golden Beads
The Stamp Game
Establishing Quantity
Assessing Readiness
…and more.
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Raise a curious, compassionate citizen of the world.
Learn how Montessori weaves together science, imagination, creativity, and peace education.
Highlights include:
Big Questions
The Sciences
Imagination
Why We Study Peace
…and more.
Ages 6 through 9
Elementary Montessori is unlike any other educational approach.
The Foundations of Montessori: Lower Elementary course combines Montessori philosophy with practical demonstrations, helping you confidently guide your child's growing curiosity through science, history, geography, language, mathematics, music, art, and geometry.
You’ll learn:
How to partner up and collaborate with your elementary child
How to present the classic Montessori Great Lessons
How to offer your child a vast depth of study across subject areas
Throughout the course, Aubrey demonstrates key Montessori presentations while explaining the philosophy behind them, so you understand not only what to teach, but how and why.
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Understand the remarkable elementary mind.
Discover why children between six and twelve learn differently and how Cosmic Education transforms their understanding of the world.
Highlights include:
The Human Tendencies
Cosmic Education
The Planes of Development
Second Plane Readiness
…and more.
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Spark a lifelong love of the natural world through experiments.
Experience Montessori's First Great Lesson and discover how it inspires years of curiosity about our universe.
Highlights include:
The First Great Lesson
The Clock of Eras
Layers of the Earth
Laws of the Universe
…and more.
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Explore the incredible diversity of life.
Help your child investigate plants, animals, and living organisms through storytelling, observation, and classification.
Highlights include:
The Second Great Lesson
Botany
Zoology
Inquiry Based Learning
…and more.
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Help your child understand humanity's story.
Discover how geography, history, anatomy, and culture come together through Montessori's study of humankind.
Highlights include:
The Third Great Lesson
Fundamental Needs of Humans
Political Geography
Human Anatomy
…and more.
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Nurture creativity through music and visual art.
Explore Montessori's joyful approach to artistic expression and creative thinking.
Highlights include:
Music Theory
Solfege
Visual Art
Color Mixing
…and more.
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Develop confident readers, writers, and storytellers.
Support rich literacy experiences through Montessori's integrated approach to language.
Highlights include:
The Fourth Great Lesson
Phonograms
Creative Writing
Building a Good Library
…and more.
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Make grammar meaningful instead of mechanical.
Learn Montessori's concrete approach to understanding language.
Highlights include:
Parts of Speech
Sentence Analysis
Grammar Symbols
Word Study
…and more.
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Bring elementary mathematics to life.
Guide your child through Montessori's elegant progression from concrete materials to abstract mathematical thinking.
Highlights include:
The Fifth Great Lesson
Place Value
The Checkerboard
The Decimal Board
…and more.
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Discover the beauty of geometry.
Help your child explore shapes, measurement, patterns, and spatial reasoning through stories and hands on experiences.
Highlights include:
Constructive Triangles
Parallel Lines
Polygons
Measuring Angles
…and more.
Learn at Your Own Pace, Earn a Certificate
There isn't a deadline or schedule except your own.
Complete one lesson today and another next week, or binge through all the videos at once and work on your Learning Journal during the year.
Your progress is saved, making it easy to return whenever you're ready.
The courses are designed to be completed alongside the curriculum, not before it, so you can immediately apply what you're learning with your own child.
After you have completed the unit quizzes, you’ll receive a certificate.
Example certificate from the Foundations of Montessori Elementary course.
While this does not certify you as a Montessori classroom guide (we suggest a high quality Montessori Teacher Education Program such as AMI or AMS for that), it is certainly a comprehensive body of self study you can be very proud of!
This certificate demonstrates your knowledge of the foundations of Montessori at home in each developmental stage: Primary and Elementary. We are proud of you, too, and we are honored to be part of your Montessori journey as an educator.
When you are finished with each course, we recommend printing out your certificate and keeping it with your legal homeschooling documents or in your homeschool portfolio.
This is proof of your personal and professional development as a qualified Montessori homeschool educator.
How Families Use the Foundations of Montessori Courses
When you're brand new to Montessori.
Learn the philosophy and teaching techniques that help everything else make sense.
When you're wondering why a lesson matters.
Discover the developmental purpose behind the lessons you're teaching instead of simply following directions.
When you're ready to grow alongside your child.
Move through the courses at your own pace while homeschooling, allowing your understanding to deepen naturally over time.
When you're introducing a new stage of development.
Begin with the course that matches your child's age. Take Primary if your child is 2 to 5 and Elementary if your child is 6 or older.
When you're looking for practical guidance.
Video lessons, reflections, demonstrations, journals, and downloadable resources help you put Montessori into practice right away.
When you want to become a more confident guide.
The courses do not require you to memorize any presentations.
They help you observe more carefully, respond more thoughtfully, and trust yourself more fully as your child's guide.
Works Together With the Rest of Your Membership
Explore More Curriculum Features
Every part of the Child of the Redwoods curriculum is designed to work together. Explore the tools that make planning, teaching, and tracking your homeschool feel simpler every day.
Parents often tell us the courses change the way they think about Montessori.
Instead of wondering whether they're "doing it right," they begin understanding why the lessons work.
Instead of trying to memorize presentations, they learn how to observe, adapt, and respond to their child's unique development.
That confidence doesn't happen overnight.
It grows one lesson, one reflection, and one homeschool day at a time.
Thousands of real Montessori homeschooling families have taken our Foundations of Montessori courses over the years, and behind the scenes, we have received hundreds and hundreds of thank you letters. Every message received is a treasure for us.
Here is a small sample of what they tell us about their experience after taking the courses.
Why Families Love the Foundations of Montessori Courses
“I feel much more relaxed about it, and feel equipped to educate my children”
“It answered both my practical ‘how’ questions and my deeper philosophical ‘why’ questions.”
“Helped me feel organized - my biggest challenge.”
“We went from questioning to confident homeschoolers!”
“It broke down Montessori in a great way, with lots of reassurance that it doesn’t have to be perfect!”
“My biggest a-ha was that even if my kids go to school, they are still going to need supports and manipulatives to interact and engage with at home. It’s so much more than just homeschool. ”
“I saved up for this course & I am SO glad I chose it. I feel confident now as a parent, and don’t need to worry about purchasing unnecessary materials because Aubrey provides such detailed & genuine explanation that I FULLY trust her & would take her word over anything! ”
“I was so discouraged and taking this course shed so much light and wisdom and now I can see myself homeschooling!
I realized that I can do it. It was empowering and helped clarify so many questions I had about Montessori homeschool.
The internet can be overwhelming and I was spending so much time attempting to plan out activities that my daughter didn’t really engage in which was frustrating.
I thought I was inadequate because I did not have a teaching background and was very close to giving up completely.
Now I am slowly regaining momentum because I understand the process and what I need to do to help my child learn.
It really has changed my life.”
- Catherine
You Might Be Wondering
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No. The courses were designed specifically for homeschooling parents, including those who are brand new to Montessori.
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Please don’t. The courses are designed to be completed alongside the curriculum so you can immediately apply what you're learning.
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Not at all.
One of the biggest misconceptions about Montessori is that you need a classroom full of beautiful wooden materials before you can begin. You don't.
Many lessons use everyday household items you likely already have, and we always encourage families to start simple.
If you decide to invest in classic Montessori materials over time, wonderful. The Child of the Redwoods curriculum will show you exactly how and when to use them.
Every Teaching Guide includes a complete materials list for that level, so you can easily see which materials are recommended and which lessons use them.
We believe the most important part of Montessori isn't owning every material. It's understanding your child at each age and offering meaningful experiences at the right time.
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No. And that's intentional.
The Child of the Redwoods curriculum includes over 2,000 Montessori lessons across the foundational curriculum and Theme Library. Recording a separate demonstration for every single lesson would create an enormous video library that would actually make the curriculum harder to navigate.
Instead, we focus on what helps families the most.
The Foundations of Montessori courses include demonstrations of the most important Montessori presentations and materials, along with the philosophy behind them. You'll learn the techniques that apply across hundreds of lessons, giving you the confidence to present new activities naturally.
Many Theme Pack lessons are also fully scripted, so you know exactly what to say and do without needing a separate video.
For foundational lessons, you'll find clear, step by step teaching guides that walk you through each presentation in an easy to follow format.
Our goal isn't to have a video for every lesson.
Our goal is to help you become a confident Montessori guide who understands the method well enough to teach beautifully, even when there's no video to follow.
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Start with the course that matches your child's current stage of development. Families with younger children are encouraged to begin with Foundations of Montessori: Primary before moving on to Elementary.
Ready to Grow Into a Confident Guide?
You don't have to know everything before you begin.
You simply need the willingness to learn alongside your child.
The Foundations of Montessori courses were created to help you understand the principles behind the lessons, trust your instincts, and enjoy the journey of homeschooling with confidence.