No album page or lesson plan or curriculum can plan for every interest!
ETA: No album page SHOULD be complete, because of this very reason given just above. Album pages are designed to introduce a concept, introduce a material, pique an interest -- guiding the adult in doing each of these things. Then the adult and child together, more and more the child as the years go on, come up with "what next". Will it be some of the suggested follow-ups on the album page? Another idea? What local resources do you have? What educational resources are on hand or can be made accessible. Only YOU the local person can determine YOUR local situation.
Any album that suggests that it will provide everything for your child's complete education, implying that your child will not need ANY other resource besides these albums and materials presented to him by you... is NOT a Montessori album.
Montessori albums are guides. They are your structure and your foundation for a life-long learning, a cosmic education.
If an alleged Montessori album provides every last detail and instruction, then it becomes your slave-driver; rather than following the child and the unique situation of life in front of you, you are obeying a merciless master who will make you feel inadequate when things are not done at the proper time in the proper order - and your children will not be learning how to learn, enjoying learning, establishing cosmic education within their own souls.
Now, that does not mean we introduce unnecessary novelties; it does not mean that we do not go as deep as possible with the materials at hand before bringing in other resources.
It simply means that we present the album presentation, pique the child's interests, cull the depths of the material at hand with resources at hand, then work with the child to see where to go next. Encourage the child to create the materials he needs whenever possible, when it is an interest of his.
As the children get older, they can be involved in assisting to procure even the core materials - creating, helping with the ordering process, unpacking, cleaning up, repairing - whatever is needed. This sort of activity goes beyond the album page without introducing unnecessaries.
Follow-Ups for every album page:
- Child-planned Goings Out
- Invite a visitor on a related topic
- A timeline or chart or drawing or diagram
- Original artwork
- Write a story about this topic
- Teach this topic to another child
- Repeat however long necessary and desired to learn the concept at hand
What other follow-ups can you add to this list that would be present for ALL album pages?
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