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...

First of all, when I say weaning I am referring to introducing solid food, not to weaning off of breast milk.  Calvin still nurses at least twice daily at 17 months, and I don't see that stopping any time soon! The weaning process, like all aspects of Montessori, should promote independence.  This is why instead of a high chair, Montessori parents use a baby-sized weaning table and chair.  Once the baby is mobile, he is able to get in and out of the chair by himself.  A stool is placed beside the table for an adult to offer assistance as needed.  We rarely need to sit by Calvin to help anymore. The weaning table: Calvin's table and chair are the TAG Child's First Table and Toddler Chair .  He began using them at 6 months, as soon as we began introducing him to solid food.  Next to the table is a small shelf with bibs and cleaning cloths.  At six months old, Calvin was not yet crawling, so we put him in his chair.  It was not long af...

I am a Montessori teacher for ages 3 to 6. Enter my (or any Montessori) classroom, and you might be surprised to hear all the vocabulary that the children use. A 5-year-old has mastered the map of Europe and can tell you the name of any country--Norway, Ukraine, Italy. A 3-year-old is beginning work with the geometric solids--sphere, cube, cylinder. A 4-year-old has learned all the parts of an insect--thorax, abdomen, forewings.  Why all the fancy language when so many sources of entertainment, and even education, for young children use simplified language? Dr. Maria Montessori observed the “absorbent mind” of the child ages 6 and under, meaning that they effortlessly absorb all the language around them like a sponge--so why not expose them to as much real language as possible? From before birth, a child benefits from all the language she is exposed to. When I was pregnant I purchased CDs with songs in 9 different languages (from Michael Olaf) to expose Calvin not onl...

The very first materials Calvin used were mobiles. While I was setting up Calvin’s nursery, I made the decision to forego a cute mobile that would match the nursery (even though I found this super cute Winnie the Pooh one that would have been perfect!) and instead use purposeful Montessori mobiles to aid in his development. I am so glad we used these mobiles because he was mesmerized by them. Montessori mobiles are, like all Montessori materials, simple in style. They don’t light up or make music or any noise. The simplicity helps develop a baby’s concentration. A flashy mobile (or toy) may seem to hold the baby’s attention, but in reality the child can be overstimulated and overwhelmed by this kind of mobile or toy. Montessorians developed a series of mobiles designed to help develop the newborn’s concentration, eyesight, and other important skills. The Munari Mobile The first mobile in the Montessori visual mobile series is the Munari mobile. The black and white shapes are high...

Most mom friends of mine were excited to set up the perfect nursery for their firstborn child. It’s a natural part of the nesting phase before welcoming a new baby. I was no different, but the nursery I created looked nothing like the nurseries of my friends. One of Maria Montessori's key concepts was the importance of having child-sized furniture at a child’s level. A traditional nursery is set up largely for the convenience of the adult, while a Montessori nursery is truly set up for the child. The floor bed: I have already shared a post about the most striking difference between a Montessori nursery and a traditional nursery--the lack of a crib! We have a mattress right on the floor which Calvin was able to get in and out of on his own soon after he began crawling. The changing area: No changing table in a Montessori nursery! Ideally, the changing area should be in the bathroom so that the baby associates toileting with the bathroom from early on, but we have a...