I have a few recipes that we use a lot for snacks and lunch boxes. Why not share them! These recipes are really easy to make, use basic ingredients that we usually have in the refrigerator or cupboard. They are also child friendly, the kids can help to make them or older children can make them independently! We use these for after school snacks, they are great in lunch boxes or add some salad and serve for dinner. I have mentioned these recipes before and the Quiche is the same Caspar (8yrs) recently made. Quiche (adapted from Taste) 4 Eggs... Read more →

I love organised, cute and colourful children's spaces! I also love wooden pencil holders. Some of these are specifically Montessori, and some are more Waldorf, but they are all fabulous for keeping order and looking after those lovely pencils! In Montessori classrooms, pencils are often sorted by colour (1, 2, 3 - however 6 & 7 would be great DIY options). Pencils are often presented near materials or on a tray in little holders (4 & 5). These are useful when an activity only requires one pencil (handwriting) or two or more colours (metal insets). In a Montessori home, I... Read more →

Have you seen this Cubetto Montessori inspired coding toy (for children three years and up)? I would love to give it a go! Do your children have clear and specific interests? For months now Otis has been interested in nocturnal animals. He loves books and stories about what animals do at night (above Bat Loves the Night with CD and Who's Who in the Woods) and he sits on our balcony at night to look for possums on our power lines. Caspar is currently trying to memorise all of the dog breeds! For Australian parents, did your children sit NAPLAN... Read more →

Do your kids pick up and put away their toys? Mine do… most of the time. My kids absolutely make crazy and wild messes but cleaning up and putting away is a priority. Why? We value and respect our materials and our toys. When we respect something we take care of it. We appreciate it. We look after it. When toys are put away they are less likely to get lost or broken or damaged (or stepped on!). We value our environment and our home. We respect the people we share our environment with. We look after our spaces and... Read more →

Both of my children need speech therapy. Caspar started when he was three and Otis started when he was four. They meet with a Speech Pathologist every week at school. They have work that they need to do at home. It is usually short repetitive work, involving games or crafting, where possible. It is a significant part of our life. My children don't need short term, quick fix therapy but rather long term, hard work therapy. Caspar has tongue thrust. This means he needs a lot of work with his swallowing in addition to his speech. There are many things... Read more →

1. Montessori Services / 2. The Helpful Garden / 3. My Montessori Journey / 4. Le blog de Sylvie d'Esclaides / 5. Bread with Honey / 6. My Montessori Journey / 7. Carrots are Orange / 8. Counting Coconuts / 9. Babel School in Taiwan / 10. How we Montessori / 11. How we Montessori / 12. Manounou Open and close activities are ideal for the home environment, for children typically one to two years however a three or four year old might still enjoy them. It's easy to mix them up, swap around and make more challenging when needed.... Read more →

We know that matching and sorting games are really important for the child's developing cognitive skills. The child learns visual, auditory and tactile discrimination. In many cases the child is also learning shape and colour recognition and developing lots of practical and fine motor skills. There are millions of toys available and sorting through them can be difficult. Here are some of our most used, most recommended, fun, matching and sorting toys for children two to four years. Keep in mind these are not Montessori materials but rather toys I would recommend for a Montessori home or playgroup, and many... Read more →

I really admire the beauty in Montessori classrooms. Beauty of the environment, beauty in the work and beauty within the people. Miss Rhonda and her classroom (pictured above) radiate warmth, beauty and calm. Miss Rhonda is the author behind the Miss Rhonda's Readers series and most importantly she is a teacher. I asked Rhonda to share with us a little about her reader series and her experiences in early literacy. Can you tell us a little about yourself, your classroom and how you came to writing Miss Rhonda's Readers? I became interested in Montessori when my daughter attended our local... Read more →

When I had my first child, my instinct was to buy a lot of (bright plastic) toys and throw them into a big toy box. It was all I had ever known (or seen). Clean up at the end of the day was easy, I just scooped all the toys up and threw them back into the toy box. I noticed though that my son wasn't engaging with the toys, there was a lot of dumping and throwing. Was there another, better way? While reading about Montessori, I learnt there was a better way. Over time, we replaced our toys... Read more →

A few Montessori articles I have been reading and enjoying this week; If you are new to the Montessori concept of Cosmic Education or wondering what it is, this is a good article, Integrating Cosmic Education into Everything by Montessori Kiwi. Another really good article about Cosmic Education through the years in the Michael Olaf Newsletter: The Child's Discovery of a Global Vision. I have been enjoying This Merry Montessori, which currently has a lot of Montessori at home ideas and concepts for a 14-month-old toddler. I adore this wardrobe make over at Apartment Therapy. There is something very Montessori... Read more →

Otis, my five-year-old, often likes not only to read books but to act them out, to role play with them. He loves lego, his play house, and puppets and often uses these to act out a book he is reading. This has to be important for his development! I also try to find relevant items to explore but also to help with role play with special books or books that we are reading a lot. When this happens, I will usually present the book and materials in a tray on our shelves or sometimes in the boys' bedroom. The items... Read more →

We use massage, yoga, guided meditation in our home and we also love to use essential oils. Here are some of the ways we use essential oils at home with our children. This is written in partnership with ECO.Modern Essentials (available in the US here). Bath - we use a couple of drops in a carrier oil. Bath Salts - if used in the bath, it is really important that children do not ingest the water, we add a couple of drops to epsom salts. Massage - in a carrier oil. Room Spray (or Pillow Spray) - we have two... Read more →

Bathtime should be practical but with children, it can also be a bit of fun. We are intentional about all toys we bring into our home and bath toys are no exception. We rotate some of our bath toys with the materials on our water table however for most of these toys, the children have used them for years. Our favourite and most used bath toys include; Model animals. We love the large Schleich whales and sharks. These are awesome bath toys and get used every day. We also love the octopus, rays, dolphins and other sea life. In recent... Read more →

My friend Meghan (a Montessori teacher and parent) wrote this article that I want to share with you. It's about how to help your child develop a love of reading. The article is for young children for infants to toddlers, I couldn't help but to add a picture of Otis (now 5yrs) enjoying reading in his little book corner. I hope you enjoy, these ten tips are fantastic and a good reminder to all parents! “Spend at least ten wildly happy minutes every single day reading aloud” – Reading Magic, Mem Fox. The single most important thing you can do... Read more →

Do you want to read about eight awesome Montessori families to follow on Instagram? On some level I have connected with all of these families. These Instagram accounts capture the essence of Montessori in the home; they are peaceful, calm and inspiring. They make my heart sing! Check them out for yourself! Our Montessori Life (Canada) - I am sure you have read Beth's blog and her Instagram account is lovely too. Beth is a Montessori teacher and she posts regularly about her Montessori life with her two children. Montessori Carrie (Canada) - Carrie owns a Montessori school however these... Read more →