Free Resources
Free tools for Montessori leaders and educators.
These resources reflect the same commitments as the paid tools — clarity, justice, sustainability, and belonging. No lead capture. No hustle. Just useful things.
Twelve free downloads organized by audience: six tools for school leaders (strategy, operations, and culture) and six for guides and educators (literacy, curriculum, and professional development).
For School Leaders
Strategy, operations, and culture tools.
E-books, templates, and operational tools for Montessori school leaders — from financial sustainability and fundraising to staff culture, onboarding, and professional development planning.
Growing Your Montessori School
Strategic frameworks for Montessori school leaders navigating growth — enrollment, program expansion, facilities, and the organizational structures that make sustained growth possible without sacrificing mission.
What’s inside
- —Understanding the growth readiness of your school
- —Enrollment strategy grounded in Montessori values
- —Building infrastructure for sustainable expansion
- —Leading through organizational change
Fundraising for Montessori Schools
A practical, honest guide to fundraising for Montessori schools — written for leaders who may not have a development background but understand that financial sustainability is a justice issue, not just an operations issue.
What’s inside
- —The case for fundraising in Montessori schools
- —Building a donor relationship culture
- —Annual giving, major gifts, and capital campaigns
- —Fundraising without compromising access or equity
Creating Strong Financial Structures
Financial management basics written for Montessori school leaders — not accountants. Covers budgeting, reserves, tuition modeling, and the financial decisions that determine whether a school can live its mission over the long term.
What’s inside
- —Budget frameworks for Montessori school operations
- —Building and protecting financial reserves
- —Tuition modeling and financial accessibility
- —Financial governance and board oversight
New Staff Onboarding Checklist
A comprehensive Montessori-specific onboarding guide for guides, assistants, and administrators. Covers operations, curriculum, assessment, community, materials, and professional development — with space for notes and completion tracking.
What’s inside
- —Operations, HR, and building basics
- —Curriculum, materials, and Montessori practice
- —Assessment, record keeping, and documentation
- —Professional development and coaching structure
Staff Meeting Agenda Template
A Montessori-specific meeting structure for guides, directors, and leadership teams. Designed to keep meetings focused and brief — 45 to 60 minutes — while ensuring two-minute updates, goal tracking, agenda items, and action items all get documented.
What’s inside
- —Two-minute updates and goal tracking
- —Structured agenda with PIC and due dates
- —Action items table
- —Meeting notes page
Staff Appreciation Letter Templates
Three ready-to-adapt letters for Montessori school leaders: a letter to a staff member's loved one (unexpectedly powerful), an end-of-year recognition letter, and a new staff welcome letter — all with guidance on making them specific enough to matter.
What’s inside
- —Letter to a loved one (unexpected, high-impact)
- —End-of-year staff recognition
- —Welcome letter for new staff members
- —Notes on specificity and when to send
Looking for the full Toolbox?
Premium toolkits for hiring, leadership transition, board alignment, and more.
For Guides & Educators
Literacy, curriculum, and professional development tools.
Free resources from Montessori Makers Learning — for guides working with reading materials, Great Lessons, and justice-centered curriculum.
Reference Guide
Phonics Sequence Reference Guide
A one-page reference mapping the Montessori reading materials sequence to the corresponding decodable text levels. For guides setting up a reading program or explaining the sequence to families.
- —Montessori material → phonics level mapping
- —Pink / Blue / Green series alignment
- —Decodable book integration points
- —Guidance notes for guides and literacy leads
Checklist
Reading Assessment Observation Checklist
A printable checklist for documenting phonics skill development during individual reading conferences. Organized by skill level from Pre-Reading through Fluency. Complements — but does not replace — the full Reading Assessment Hub.
- —Pre-reading through fluency skill tracking
- —Individual student observation format
- —Print concepts, decoding, and comprehension
- —Conference-ready, printable format
Worksheet
Great Lessons Audit Worksheet
A structured worksheet for evaluating your current Great Lessons presentations against current science and justice-centered criteria. Helps identify where existing materials need updating.
- —Scientific accuracy review criteria
- —Justice and representation audit
- —Narrative voice and tone assessment
- —Action items and follow-up tracking
PDF Reading
Science of Reading: What Every Montessori Guide Needs to Know
A concise reading covering the current state of reading science and its specific implications for Montessori guides — without requiring background in cognitive psychology or linguistics.
- —The Simple View of Reading and Montessori
- —Phonological awareness and explicit instruction
- —Structured literacy in the Montessori environment
- —Where Montessori is strong and where gaps exist
Framework Guide
Justice in Montessori: A Starting Framework
A practical framework for evaluating and improving the justice dimensions of Montessori curriculum and materials. Not a checklist — a way of thinking.
- —Five dimensions of justice in curriculum
- —Representation, narrative, and power
- —Classroom culture and belonging
- —Practice prompts and reflection questions
Sample PDF
Origins Series: Sample Lesson Excerpt
A sample excerpt from the Origins of the Universe suite, including the narrative guide opening and one visual anchor card. Shows the format, tone, and depth of the full lesson reconstructions.
- —Narrative-first lesson structure
- —Justice-centered framing of Great Lessons
- —Visual anchor card format
- —Elementary guide voice and tone
Ready for the full curriculum?
The Decodable Book Series, Origins Suites, Reading Assessment Hub, and courses.
Related Paid Resources
Montessori Makers Toolbox
Premium leadership toolkits
The Leadership Operations Playbook, Hiring & Selection Toolkit, Leadership Transition & Succession Toolkit, Board Onboarding, and more. Downloadable resources for Montessori school operations.
Browse the Toolbox →Montessori Makers Learning
Courses, books, and assessment tools
The Decodable Book Series (96 books), Origins Series (justice-centered Great Lessons), Reading Assessment Hub, and professional development courses — including the 7-hour Montessori Meets Science of Reading.