Although it makes complete sense to me, without reading about Montessori I would never have set up our home this way. I would never have come to this conclusion on my own. I wouldn't have known or appreciated the significance of little changes in the environment, the beauty of simplicity. The clarity that comes to a child when there is order and there is structure to the home environment. When I observe Otis I can see how far I have come but for him this process is completely natural. He doesn't think about it. He goes to his shelves (in... Read more →

I know many of you supported the So Awesome Wallet Card Kickstarter project and many of you have these alphabet wallet cards at home. So I wanted to show you how we are using them now especially as we are using them often. Many of these activities could be done with homemade or alternative alphabet cards. It is important to note that Otis attends a Montessori (pre)school where he is introduced to letters, phonetics and sandpaper letters. He knows a lot of letters and their sounds and loves to use the object box at school. The first time I observed... Read more →

These art cards were recently given to us by a dear Montessori friend. They are so lovely I couldn't help but share them with you. We have two packs of each artist which is wonderful - a set for each child or perfect for a memory or matching game. There are some magazines/catalogues or calenders which offer fine examples of art which are great for studying or framing. These are art cards could also be used as gift or post cards. We are loving using them in many ways! From simply admiring their beauty and uniqueness to studying individual artists.... Read more →

This is a memorable book that made me feel so proud to support the work of Maria Montessori by having my children attend a Montessori school. Really proud to in some small way be a part of this inspirational story. Caspar was able to read this independently - the text is really simple and easy for children to comprehend. It was written by children for children. I felt it also gave Caspar a really good understanding as to the origins of his school. It is touching to read and is also very empowering to women. She was such a remarkable... Read more →

As soon as my children could walk they were able to get and in some small way to begin with - prepare their own snack. My children generally don't over-eat. After school is the time they are most interested in snacking. If I see the kids continually getting food out of the fridge or cupboard before dinner I will say something but this usually isn't a problem. If you are concerned about snacking at inappropriate times it's possible to put some food out only during the times you would like or allow the children to access the food. There are... Read more →

Have you tried guided meditation with your children? I don't meditate as often as I would like however I know it would be a useful skill for my children to learn. Guided meditation is simply a way of helping (or guiding) the child through the process. Recently I wrote about relaxation and meditation with Otis. This is just one of the ways we do this. We have for a long time enjoyed Thich Nhat Hanh's Mindful Movements. I decided to have a look at some of his other resources including A Handful of Quiet. We don't use the DVD in... Read more →