This is the way my children like to wash the floor. With a mop and a bucket of water. I only put a few centimeters of water in the bucket - they don't need much. Caspar will wear socks or his rain boots. Be careful the floor gets slippery. This is the mop that Otis and Caspar have everyday access to. If they make a spill this is the mop they will use to clean it up. . I couldn't find a good child sized mop so I went to our hardware store and purchased the small mop head and... Read more →

. Otis arrives at school and hangs his bag on the hook. . He takes his snack out of his bag (today it's strawberries) and walks inside where he is warmly greeted by the teacher. Otis takes his snack to the snack table. He likes to have his snack straight away so he washes the strawberries, slices them (we slice together with a serrated knife) and puts the waste into the compost. At the table (not shown) he sets his placemat, name setting, fork, napkin and drink. Today for the first time he pours his drink (from the little white... Read more →

Last week it felt freeing to write about my greatest frustration with a toddler and to know that I wasn't alone. So what is my greatest frustration with a five year old? It is not listening, not putting shoes away, not brushing teeth when requested? No, it's dinner time. . "What is that smell?", "That's not my favourite", "I'm not eating this". I hear it so often. The negativity that arises around dinner time really weighs me down. It's real rejection when someone won't eat the food you have taken time and care to prepare. . I soon realised it... Read more →

I have seen many DIY versions of erupting volcanoes. Sometimes with paper mache and soft drink bottles. We've never tried the DIY volcano but I have always kept it in mind for when the occasion arose. However for his birthday one of Caspar's friends gave him a really fun Volcano Making Kit. Last week Caspar mixed the plaster to make the volcano. Yesterday he painted it and today he made it erupt. The eruption was caused by the simple baking soda, red food colouring and dishwashing liquid (for extra bubbles) mixture with some vinegar poured on top. It was a... Read more →

At home practical life is all around us. Caspar doesn't have any set chores, except to participate in family life and contribute to our daily living. Sometimes times this is cleaning, sometimes this is looking after his brother or the family pets. . I don't think any child would be happy doing the same thing day in day out. So we are always challenging Caspar, extending his thinking on how he can contribute. It helps as he gets older his skill level increases and his level of responsibility can increase. . He still doesn't like the noise of the vacuum... Read more →

I mentioned recently that I moved my two children into the same bedroom. For many reasons it's really practical. In many homes space is an issue too and having two children in the same room makes sense. But there isn't a lot of inspiration around for shared Montessori bedroooms. This shared room is in one of my favourite cities - Adelaide. Jackie has designed this beautiful room for her two sons - Jack who is four and Miles who is 10 months old. There are lots of reasons to love this space so I'll let the pictures do the talking.... Read more →