Turn on the Montessori framework, load a lesson library, map it to your classrooms, and learn how to navigate the Lessons page. These are the first steps before you begin planning lessons and tracking children's progress in Illumine.
What does the Montessori framework do?
The Montessori framework organizes lessons by area, sub-area, and sequence, rather than displaying them as a flat list. This helps staff plan lessons and track each child's learning journey through the Montessori curriculum.
Each lesson can move through the following stages:
Stage | Meaning |
Planned (P) | The guide intends to present the lesson on a chosen day or at a later time. |
Introduced (I) | The lesson has been presented to the child. |
Practiced (Pr) | The child chooses and repeats the work independently. |
Mastered (M) | The child performs the work with control and understanding. |
Not started (+) | No progress has been recorded yet. |
Some lessons are marked Ongoing (∞). These are practice-only activities, such as Walking on the Line, that can be Introduced and Practiced but do not progress to Mastered.
Understanding the Montessori sections
Illumine has two main menus for managing the Montessori curriculum:
Learning & Progress: Access the day-to-day tools used by staff to plan lessons, record progress, and document observations.
Curriculum Setup: Configure the lesson library, map lesson sets to classrooms, and manage the curriculum structure.
Page | What you can do |
Lessons | Browse and manage lessons by area, sub-area, and sequence. |
Lesson Plan | Plan lessons for individual children for the day or week, with the next lesson in sequence suggested. |
Progress Grid | Track lesson stages and milestones for an entire classroom in one grid. |
Progress Board | View an individual child's progress across curriculum areas, including milestones. |
Observations | Record observations linked to a child, lesson, stage, and milestones. |
Conference Reports | Prepare and share end-of-term reports using recorded information. |
Step 1: Enable the Montessori framework (Admin)
Before staff can start working with Montessori lessons, an admin must enable the framework for the center.
Navigate to Settings → Lesson Settings.
Locate the Montessori Framework card.
Under Prefill the lesson library from, select the required library: Montessori Foundation, AMS, or AMI.
Confirm your selection and wait for the lesson library to load.
Check that the framework status displays Enabled.
The selected library loads the lessons, areas, sub-areas, and milestones for your center.
Maintain your lesson library
Once the library is enabled, you can use the following options:
Refresh lessons: Updates lesson photos, order, group structure, and descriptions from the latest library while preserving children's progress and planned lessons.
Re-import library: Deletes the current lessons, groups, and children's lesson progress for the center before loading the library again. You must acknowledge the data loss before proceeding. Use this option only when the center has not started recording progress.
Alternatively, you can start with an empty library and create your own lessons using New Lesson or AI Lesson on the Lessons page.
Step 2: Map lesson sets to classrooms (Admin)
A lesson set is a collection of lessons from a particular library or curriculum sequence. Mapping connects each lesson set to the classrooms that use it.
This ensures that staff see the appropriate lessons for their classroom in the Lesson Plan, Progress Grid, and Progress Board.
To map a lesson set:
Navigate to Curriculum Setup → Lesson Set Mapping.
Find the lesson set you want to assign and click Edit.
Select the classrooms that should use that lesson set.
Save your changes.
Each classroom can belong to one lesson set. If a classroom follows a different curriculum or sequence, click Add lesson set to create another set and map it to the appropriate classroom.
Important: If a classroom has not been mapped, the Progress Grid displays a Map your classrooms to lesson sets message, and staff may see This classroom isn't mapped to a lesson set yet on the Lessons page. Only admins or users with the appropriate permissions can update the mapping.
Step 3: Explore the Lessons page
Once the framework is enabled and classrooms are mapped, navigate to Learning & Progress → Lessons.
The page header displays the number of lessons in the library and the lesson sets currently in use. The classroom selector at the top determines which classroom's lesson set you are viewing.
Browse areas and sub-areas
Areas: Listed on the left, with the number of lessons in each area. Select an area to view its sub-areas.
Sub-areas: Displayed as expandable sections containing lessons.
Lesson sequence: Lessons appear in sequence order. Use the handle on the left to drag and reorder lessons when needed.
Extensions: Lessons that extend another lesson are identified with an EXT prefix and appear under the lesson they extend.
Search and filter lessons
Use Search to find a lesson by name within the selected area. Use Filters to narrow the results by labels, age band, and other available fields.
Manage lessons and curriculum structure
Lesson row menu (⋮): Use the menu to edit, share, or delete an individual lesson.
Page menu (⋮) at the top right: Opens Manage areas & groups, where you can add, rename, and reorder areas, sub-areas, and groups.
Step 4: Understand the lesson detail panel
Select any lesson to open its detail panel. The panel allows you to review the lesson and access related progress and observation information.
The detail panel includes the following sections:
Details: View the lesson description, assigned rooms, type, trimester, cycle, areas, groups, milestones, and available media or files.
Progress: View each child's current stage for the selected lesson.
Observations: View observations associated with the lesson.
Plan this lesson: Open the Lesson Plan with the selected lesson already chosen, so you can add it to one or more children's plans.
Lesson menu (⋮): Access options such as Edit lesson, Share with students, Download PDF, and Delete lesson.
Note: Deleting a lesson removes it for every child and cannot be undone.
Milestones
A milestone describes an observable skill or behaviour that demonstrates a child's progress with a lesson.
For example, a milestone might state that a child can build a tower using cubes from largest to smallest, demonstrating an understanding of size gradation.
Library lessons may already include milestones. When creating your own lesson, you can add milestones through the lesson form under the relevant area. You can also manage the master milestone list under Curriculum Setup → Milestones.
Milestones can be recorded for individual children through the Progress Grid, Progress Board, and Observations pages. Refer to the relevant guides for instructions on each page.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a teacher see "No lessons here" on the Lessons page?
The selected classroom may not be mapped to a lesson set. An admin can map it
under Curriculum Setup → Lesson Set Mapping.
What should I do if lessons look out of date after a library update?
Go to Settings → Lesson Settings and click Refresh lessons. This updates the library content while preserving children's progress and planned lessons.
Can two classrooms use different lesson sequences?
Yes. Create an additional lesson set and map each classroom to the appropriate set under Curriculum Setup → Lesson Set Mapping.
Why does every lesson stage change create an observation? Can I turn this off?
Yes. Go to Settings → Lesson Settings and enable Don't create an observation when a lesson plan status changes.
What's next?
Once the Montessori framework is enabled, the lesson library is loaded, and classrooms are mapped, staff can begin using the Lesson Plan, Progress Grid, Progress Board, and Observations pages to plan lessons and track children's progress.