how we montessori

The Octahedron Mobile

There is something new in Otis's room. 

At six weeks it was time to introduce the Octahedron mobile. 

 

"The octahedrons are designed to lay the foundations for future understandings of geometric proportion, relationships and patterns. They are named for the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato" At Home with Montessori. 

I hope that you are interested in mobiles, because I intend on showing you each one that we use. Yes, I may indeed have a liking for these Montessori mobiles!

 

 

Edited 21 May. A new video (taken on iPhone) showing the Octahedron in action. 

 

 

 

Black and white images for baby

Thank you for your suggestions to add some black and white images to Otis's room. I thought it was a great idea. 

We went to work straight away. Caspar and I experimented with lots of different images and materials. Then we tested the images on Otis. He liked them all!

We decided on some cut out shapes. We finished off the look with black and white frames. What do you think? He has responded to them really well and we like them a lot.   

Sleeping. Day versus Night.

Dr Montanaro writes that at around 6-8 weeks old (at the end of the symbiotic period) the child starts on our solar pattern and begins to sleep longer at night.

"The newborn simply does not have any experience of night and day and takes a certain time to enter this solar routine. The child must experience this difference for a certain amount of time before the problem is naturally corrected."

At a month old I want to encourage Otis to observe our solar pattern and sleep longer at night (he currently sleeps for longer periods and more soundly during the day and wakes more frequently at night). 

To encourage him to observe our solar routine I have taken the following steps. Of course it's too early to determine if it is at all effective, but I'm giving it a go.

1. Allow the child to experience night and day. Expose the child to daylight, spend time outside everyday with fresh air and sunshine, open curtains. For daytime sleeps the room is darkened but not entirely, allow sunshine to peep in (as in the above picture). Allow the child to experience night, don't stimulate or use bright lighting at nighttime. 

2. Prepare the child for nighttime. 

Establish a routine. Let the child know what will happen next, let him know that night time is coming. We will attempt to be regular and to commence our night time ritual at the same time every night (as reasonably possible).

Establish ritual. Do the same things every night (as reasonably possible) in the same order, in preparation for night time sleep (bath, massage, quiet play, feed, bed).

3. Allow the child to relax. A warm bath, massage, quiet play and milk are all good ways to relax before sleep. Check the child is comfortable, check clothing and for warmth. 

Do you bathe your child like this? We have been using a baby bath but Otis really resisted. Above is a picture of Otis in a normal/adult sized bathtub. There are two thick towels underneath him for comfort and support and a small cloth on him to keep him warm. There is only an inch or two of water in the bath. He is free to move and kick as splash as much as he likes. He now really enjoys the experience and is much more relaxed.

 
Massage has always been important to us and is great for relaxation. As an added benefit the oil also moisturises Otis's dry skin. I didn't massage Caspar at such a young age so I wasn't sure on what medium to use, I decided on almond oil and it's working really well. 

4. Allow the child to detach from the breast themselves. We know the fats that aid sleep are in the latter part of the milk, therefore when possible let the child empty the breast. And as Dr Montanaro says to allow the child to derive the full pleasure from breastfeeding. 

5. Be present. At such a young age the child still needs it's mother (points of reference) to be near and attend to their needs. 

It sounds so simple. Wishing you a good nights sleep. 

 

Otis's Montessori Room

Want to take a peek inside Otis's room? Come on in... 

For this room I wanted to achieve

• an atmosphere of calm
• a sense of order
• an environment to facilitate a child's movement
• an environment to engage the child
• a balance between challenge and support for the child
• separate sleep, play and change areas 
• a room a child would want to be in

The main features of this room include

• A movement area consisting of a large soft blanket, wall mirror and mobile. Otis is a month old so we are using the Munari mobile. I have written about the Munari mobile here and the wall mirror here. I decided to make the movement area separate from the sleeping area, creating distinct different areas, one for sleep one for work/play. 

• Low shelves. These shelves contain some of the materials Otis will use when he is a little older. The shelves are low enough that when he is crawling he can reach them himself and stable enough that he can pull himself up on them. The books on the shelves are among those we read to him. 

• Low artwork. Most Montessori rooms would have prints of fine art. I have hung some of Caspar's (my three year old) artwork, not only is it really colourful but it allows Caspar to contribute to the room. When Otis is older I will change this and add images from real life, or add some watercolour paintings of animals that I have picked out. 

• A low chair. He will be able use this chair not only to sit in but to pull himself up on. I have written more about the chair here.

• A large window. I chose this room for Otis because of this large window, from this window you can see our main outdoor play area and our dog's favourite sleeping spot. I anticipate Otis using the window sill to pull himself up to see outside and to cruise along. Caspar and I have decorated the window with stars made from kite paper. 

 

• A floor bed. We have used a standard (firm) mattress on the floor. Otis only sleeps in here (among other places) during the day. As he is only a month old (for my own comfort) he sleeps in our main bedroom at night. The floor bed allows him visual access to the entire room and allows him freedom of movement. 

• Shelving and a change area on the floor. When he is older more materials/toys will be placed on these shelves. At the moment they only contain two baskets, one of blankets and one of clothes. To reduce clutter nappies and other additional items are stored in the wardrobe next to the shelves. The change mat on the floor will allow him once crawling to participate in change time. We do have another change area on a desk in our room for late night changes. 

If you are looking for more Montessori room inspiration please check out Montessori ici. The Montessori infant room is the nicest and most practical that I have ever seen, and while you are there check out the entire Montessori infant series. I have a lot to learn from this family!

I want to note I have briefly researched grammar rules and have decided to go with Otis's over Otis'. If you disagree please correct me but name your source. I would love to know more about this.

How to talk to a newborn

Otis is nearly four weeks old and I feel like I need a refresher... it's too easy to forget or get distracted by the busyness of everyday life. 

My key points for talking to a newborn:

Do                          

• speak to your child from the start, slowly and calmly
• use good grammar and clear pronunciation
• look into the child's eyes when speaking
• let the child see you speak, speak face to face
• expose the child to adult (and sibling) language and conversation
• recognise that tone conveys a message and emotion to a child
• talk about what you are doing, name body parts and household items
• talk to the child about what you are about to do (before you do it) as in "I am going to pick you up"
• associate voice with pleasure as with singing, humming
• recognise the newborn's points of reference include a mother's voice and will therefore give the child security and comfort (and can be used to calm a child) 
• read to your newborn         
• remember the importance of a positive atmosphere and that positive language contributes to the positive atmosphere of the home environment

Don't

• use baby talk
• raise your voice
• use oversimplified language
• use artificially high pitched voice (commonly used by adults when talking to infants)
• use music or television as background noise

Also

• listen (truly listen) to music together
• enjoy silence together

When the child is older

• engage the child in conversation, imitate the sound the child makes back to the child
• ask the child questions and give the child choice whenever possible. 

 

The Munari mobile

 
As Otis is now two weeks old we put up our Munari mobile. The mobile is hung over his movement area. We were thrilled as he focused on it straight away. 

He has been spending a lot of his awake time in his movement area looking at the wall mirror and having tummy time. Adding the mobile gives him another area of interest. 

We chose the Munari mobile because it

• is the first in the Montessori Visual Mobile series

• is black and white to provide the greatest contrast suitable for the infant's developing vision

• is developmentally appropriate not overstimulating or overwhelming

• encourages focus and uninterrupted viewing time builds concentration

• helps develop tracking as the mobile moves gently in the room

• provides the infant the opportunity to do his first work

We purchased this mobile from At Home with Montessori and highly recommend them.  At Home with Montessori is also a really good source of information on the Munari and whole lot more.

I also really, really enjoyed Sara's recent post Cultivating Independence in Children where she gives her son independent time interacting with his mobile.

Love it!

 

 

 

Wall mirror

   

It wasn't until recently that I became aware of Montessori's work regarding infants. Previously I thought Montessori was only about activities for preschoolers and the Montessori Method of education. Certainly this is where a lot of her work is but she also had so much to say about newborn and infant children. In setting up our home environment for our second child I have really tried to follow and understand her work in this area. 

In his bedroom we have installed a low wall mirror. Underneath the mirror is a soft blanket to create his movement area. This is where he is starting to spend his limited awake/active time. It is also where he has his tummy time. 

Initially I thought about not installing the mirror. It took us a long time to put it up and it was a bit of a hassle. It would have been easier to forget about it. But now I am so glad that we persisted. When I first put him on the blanket and he saw his reflection he was instantly engaged.

The wall mirror provides the chld 

• the opportunity to see and study their own reflection, study their own movements and connect their movements with that of the reflection, this also helps the child (over time) to control their own movements
• another way of seeing the room
• encouragement to lift their head especially during tummy time, "controlling the head is the beginning of his mastering of the environment."

The movement area gives the child lots of space for moving around, which a child requires from the start "infants can slither from birth".

Now that we have experienced time spent using the wall mirror and this movement area I can see how beneficial it is and how easy it would have been to overlook it. Certainly it is something I would recommend to anyone setting up an environment for a newborn or infant. It is worth the hassle.

I think as Otis gets older he will spend more time in this movement area. My next step is to put up his mobile and over time introduce some materials for him to use. 

 

Quotations are from Understanding the Human Being - Silvana Quattrocchi Montanaro

His birth story

This isn't a Montessori post. I think a Montessori birth would be a home birth surrounded by the closest of family. His birth wasn't like that. 

We had planned to give birth at our local hospital. To be honest when I mentioned a home birth (for Caspar and Otis) my husband totally freaked out. It wasn't for us. 

Last Sunday I experienced some unexpected bleeding. I telephoned the hospital who suggested to come in. The doctor did a thorough examination and determined the baby was fine and there was no need to worry. He recommended staying in hospital that night but suggested as the bleeding had stopped I would be alright to go home the next morning. 

My husband and Caspar waited until I was admitted then went home. 

Later that evening I started having contractions. They were frequent but as a midwife suggested not intense enough to suggest labour was imminent. Around midnight the contractions were closer but still not intense enough for me to go to the birthing suite. It wasn't until I lost some more blood that the midwife suggested the birthing suite was the best place to be. I think she just wanted me off her ward!

Around 1am I was in the birthing suite having frequent contractions that were still considered mild. I called my husband assuring him I was ok, having contractions but could be all night. We live only a couple of minutes from the hospital so we agreed he would stay home until the birth was a bit closer. 

At 2am the contractions were getting strong. I called my husband again now knowing that the baby was going to be born that night. I didn't want to wake Caspar and I didn't think twice about suggesting that they both stay at home and have a good nights rest. 

With a midwife by my side and a little gas to help me through I gave birth to Otis at 2.40am. The birthing suite was comfortable, warm, quiet and dim. I felt strong and confident. I didn't feel alone, rather empowered that the baby and I were going to get though this together.

I used two techniques to get through the strong contractions (in addition to the gas). One was my mantra, I said repeatedly to myself 'moment by moment' knowing that I only had to get through to the next moment, then the next moment, that the pain was only one moment in time. At this stage I knew this was going to be a fast labour which helped. 

The second technique was visualisation. I visualised my family at home, warm, comfortable, cozy and asleep. I visualised my dog all curled up in his bed, my husband and Caspar curled up in our bed. This really helped me relax, remain calm and focused. 

I never actually looked to see Caspar being born. Otis however was momentarily stuck at the shoulders. This gave me the opportunity to actually see and witness him being born, taking his first breath. So amazing. I am touched, changed forever. 

As Otis was born the midwife passed him directly to me and I held him close and warm for a hours. The doctor came and did his thing (ouch - stitches). I fed Otis and then called my husband. Yes he and Caspar were asleep the entire time. He did want to come in straight away but I felt in need of some sleep (I was absolutely exhausted) so they waited until the morning to visit. 

By the time we got back to the ward we only had a couple of hours sleep until morning. It was so lovely to introduce Otis to his dad and big brother. Such an emotional time.

After waiting to see the doctor again, Otis and I were discharged. It really helped to go home so early, to become a family together again. And together we have remained. This last week we have lived in our own blissful cocoon. 

And of course, the sibling gift. What could be better than a new, shiny, red fire engine.

 

 

This is Otis

This is Otis (day six) 

and he likes to look at his hands...

Welcome Otis

This week we were blessed by the birth of Otis. He is beautiful and healthy.

We couldn't be happier and it feels like we are living a dream. I am constantly trying to bring myself back to reality but it may take some time. The birth went smoothly and although not the family event that I had planned it was really empowering.    

It feels like Otis has been with us forever, he has settled in at home easily. Caspar has adjusted well and has remained really relaxed and not fussed. 

I am actually feeling some guilt about how well things have gone. Some more photos and possibly a birth story to come soon.