Montessori Flowers

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...

In my last post, I talked about the Montessori floor bed. Part of the reasoning behind a floor bed is to give the child freedom of movement, allowing him the independence to get in and out of bed. For the same reason, Montessorians try to avoid restricting the child’s movement in other ways as well. We try not to have the child in any sort of seat or confined space which he cannot get out of when he chooses. This means no playpens, no Bumbo chairs, no bouncy seats.  From birth, we tried whenever possible to have Calvin on the floor so that he was free to move his arms, legs, and head around. One week old Calvin on his Topponcino, placed on his movement mat next to a mirror.  Here he is looking at his Munari mobile. Of course, there are situations in which we must confine our child. In the car, for instance, a car seat to keep a child safe is obviously important. However, we chose a car seat that is permanently in the car rather than one that can pop out of a base...