Montessori Flowers

Babies and toddlers need to move!  It is exhausting keeping up with Calvin right now at 17 months.  He might stop for a few moments to listen to a book or use some work from his shelf, but the majority of the time he is on the move.  Dr. Montessori recognized the need for gross motor opportunities  not only for their importance in developing the large muscles of the body, but also in their role in healthy brain development.  Children (and adults for that matter) do not learn optimally when they are sitting and listening, reading, or writing all day.  To engage the whole mind, the whole body must be engaged!  The need for gross motor activities is especially important in the toddler age when children are hitting gross motor milestones and first developing skills such as walking, running, climbing, and jumping. We don't necessarily need to provide specific materials to support a child's gross motor development.  A child looking to pull up on somet...

Should children be required to do housework?  At what age should a child be required to do "chores"?  Trick question!  If a young child (toddler or even younger) is given the opportunity to participate in housework, he will most likely be happy to help! Children want to do what we do.  This is why instead of toys, Montessori classrooms are filled with real-life items.  The practical life area is made up of three main components--care of self, care of environment, and grace and courtesy.  Today I will focus on care of environment!  Dr. Maria Montessori observed that children don't just want to play.  They want purposeful work. When I created Calvin's weaning area, I included a stack of cleaning towels on a low shelf.  A six-month-old is a very messy eater, so in the beginning, I used them constantly to wipe up Calvin's table, chair, and sometimes even the floor and walls around his weaning area. One day when Calvin was around 11 mon...

Calvin has officially moved from his nursery to his "big boy room"!  My dad made the room for him in May.  It was a completely unfinished space before (didn't even have insulation or drywall), and it was a lot of fun creating the space with Calvin in mind.  After the construction was done, I had the fun of completely furnishing and decorating the room.  I have tried to set up the room to promote independence. Within the past few months, Calvin has been spending an increasing amount of time in the room playing and reading.  Last weekend he slept in the room for the first time! Here's a little tour of his new toddler room! Calvin's toddler wardrobe: This is an Ikea Kallax unit that I modified using a hack I saw on Of The Moon and several other Montessori blogs. Four drawers on the left and I left the shelf off the right side and instead installed a tension rod for a toddler-height closet rod!  To start, I am just putting out two shirts for Calv...