FREE Daily Tasks Checklist for Elementary Students in Montessori Classrooms

We’ve just finished the first month of the school year. I couldn’t be more pleased with how things are working.

My husband and I spent the entire summer planning and preparing for the new year knowing that we needed to tweak a few things.

Our favorite tweak has been the Montessori-inspired Daily Tasks Checklist for our kiddos and friends.

Everyone is following the elementary curriculum (ages 6-12) this year so documenting progress is more important than ever. Elementary students need to show growth in all subject areas to meet state and district academic standards.

Montessori-inspired Daily Tasks Checklist for Elementary Students

Five friends are joining us for our Montessori co-op a couple mornings each week.

On days our friends aren’t here, Dinomite, Bulldozer and Princess receive lessons and continue with their Montessori work.

And yes, you read that correctly, Princess has rejoined us at home and will not be returning to public school this year. (That’s a story for another post.)

When Sunshine comes home from school and completes her afternoon routine she also chooses Montessori work from the shelves to complete. She looks forward to this every day.

The Montessori-inspired Daily Tasks Checklist works for everyone with the few variations provided in the printable.

Before I go into more details I wanted to be sure to explain the composition of our class and why we designed the Montessori-inspired Tasks Checklist the way we did.

Meeting Special Needs in the Montessori Classroom

If you’ve been following the blog for a while then you know that Dinomite, Bulldozer, and Sunshine are autistic. We also have one other autistic boy in our co-op.

The Montessori-inspired Tasks Checklist is the perfect visual for autistic students to guide them through their work. 

There’s a beginning and an end which my neurodiverse students love in a Montessori environment. 

It also helps break things down to minimize feelings of being overwhelmed. 

I also love that this checklist gives them choices and stays aligned with the Montessori philosophy.

Dinomite, Bulldozer, and Sunshine also have ADHD. One of our other friends also shows ADHD characteristics.

The Montessori-inspired Daily Tasks Checklist helps children with ADHD stay focused. 

When they get distracted, all they have to do is take a look at their checklist and they get right back on track.

Dinomite and Princess have anxiety disorders. One of our other students also struggles with anxiety. Anxiety can lead to students feeling overwhelmed in the classroom easily.

This Montessori-inspired Tasks Checklist helps keep anxieties in check with ways to celebrate every success.

Princess and Sunshine have Reactive Attachment Disorder. The more control they have over their own schedule the better.

The Montessori-inspired Daily Tasks Checklist gives children with trauma issues the control they need. They know exactly what they’re supposed to do and can do it without constant teacher and student interaction.

Four of my students are still not able to read and write independently. Still, these students love the checklists just as much as the older kids do. 

They may need help filling the checklist out, but they’re memorizing what each box says over time. Eventually they will be completely self-sufficient.

If you're looking for more tips and ideas to meet the needs of neurodiverse kids in the classroom, be sure to read the post below.

The Best Tips for Montessori Homeschooling

  

Now let’s get into the details of how this checklist works!

How the Daily Tasks Checklist Works in a Montessori Classroom

Each box on the checklist corresponds to shelves we have in our homeschool classroom or required daily tasks.

Students are asked to complete one task for each box. They can go in any order they’d like. A teacher or parent signs off each task box as it’s completed.

Students do not need to fill in every box each day, but we want to see a variety of work being completed over the course of each week.

Lessons count towards completing the Montessori-inspired Daily Tasks Checklist. For example, if a student receives a lesson in language, I sign off that box on their checklist.

Documenting Work Progress with a Teacher's Signature

Our Montessori-inspired Daily Tasks Checklist includes a place for a teacher’s signature in each box.

Now, you may be thinking what? Why would a teacher have to sign off on each task?

Here’s why.

I have some students who get really distracted while working. The end of task check-in is crucial to helping them stay focused. Sometimes we do middle of task check ins.

For some of our neurodiverse students the end of task check in is a cue to show us their work and celebrate the completion of a task.

I have some students who will take any shortcut they can to complete a task. Knowing that each task requires a signature encourages students to slow down and work more effectively.

As students become more comfortable with the Montessori model, develop a love of learning, and are self-motivated to complete tasks accurately, we only need to take a glance at a completed task. In some cases students approach us at the end of the day and we sign everything off at once knowing they were working diligently the entire time. It just depends on the student.

Required Daily Tasks

Montessori elementary education is a little bit different that Montessori preschool in that students are required to learn, practice and master specific skills to pass off state mandated curriculum requirements.

There are five required daily tasks for our kiddos.

1. Math Review

2. Language Review

3. Writing Assignment

4. Reading

5. Self-Care Tasks

Math Review

Each day I write a “Math Problem of the Day” on the whiteboard in our homeschool classroom. Each kiddo is required to complete the problem in their math notebooks. 

I give a “Math Problem of the Day” to ensure that the kiddos don’t regress and that they’re constantly reviewing things we’ve learned throughout the year.

Language Review

The language review task usually consists of writing letters and/or words. Our co-op friends are still working on letter formation. My kiddos are progressing with their cursive. Each kiddo has a white board where I lay out their language review task.

Writing Assignment

For those who have been following me for a long time, you know I’m a huge fan of daily journal writing in the classroom. Each of my kiddos and their friends have writing journals. All are required to answer a question in their journal each day.

For each grade they’re in they add a sentence to their answer. My first graders are writing one sentence answers. My fourth grader is writing four sentence answers.

Reading

My young and emerging readers are working through the BOB Book Series. Each of them works through sets 1 through 5. We read one BOB Book a day. When they’re able to read it correctly without assistance we move on to the next one.

My older students who are seasoned readers receive a reading list at the beginning of the year. This list is tailored to their interests and reading abilities.  

They are asked to read one chapter of the book they’re currently working on. 

 If they’ve just finished a book they work on a book report instead. At the end of every book they write a book report.

Self-Care Tasks

We eat breakfast with our co-op friends when they arrive. This results in our kiddos not having completed all of their self-care tasks before friends come. 

 It is incredibly easy for my kiddos to forget their daily tasks with the excitement of having friends over. We’ve added these tasks to the checklist for that very reason.

Other Tasks on Checklist

The other tasks on the checklist correspond to shelves in our classroom.

Science, history, and geography materials and activities each have their own sets of shelves.

We have two sets of math and language shelves.

Each kiddo selects one activity from each set of shelves each day. They are welcome to do more once they’ve completed the checklist.

If they don’t get to a subject area or task box because they’re working on a bigger project that’s okay. There is no penalty for not finishing the checklist. It’s only a guide to lead them through their work period.

The biggest thing for me is that I have documentation of what each kiddo is working on and that I can see a variety in their selections during a work cycle.

Student Binders

I store the daily checklists in binders for each of the kiddos. This way I can look back and see what they’ve accomplished.

If I have questions where they left off after a long break, I can use the checklists as a reference.

At the end of the school year I have documentation of all the work that each kiddo has done.

I also keep other charts in their binders like their letter formation checklists and BOB Book checklists. (Also included in the printable.)

Clip Boards

Each kiddo and friend has a clipboard where their daily task checklists are stored. They carry their clipboard around with them each day. When they're finished they return them to their spot.  

In our homeschool classroom I’ve color coded everything. Each student has a different color except for Bulldozer having dark purple and Diamond having light purple or see through purple.

Free Printable

I’ve debated sharing these checklists as I know they’re very specific to our kiddos’ needs. But no matter how your classroom is set up, a version of the checklists should still work. (I’ve included four in the free printable.)

Please remember these are for Montessori elementary classrooms and are not recommended for preschool students.

If you do decide to download the checklists, I hope you enjoy them as much as we have. They have worked better than I could have ever imagined to help my kiddos and their friends stay on task.

Source: The task checklist for elementary students in a Montessori classroom is a subscriber only freebie. For your copy, follow the directions below.

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