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June 2016
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August 2016

We gave our art area a little refresh today. I think there was only one thing we added however we removed a lot of materials. It's way too easy to keep on adding new materials and then bam, the area is all cluttered up. Order is important to us but this is also an area where we want the children to express themselves creatively and develop their abilities. We have three basic areas based on the materials my children use the most. Sculpture (top left) including terracotta clay, FIMO and sculpting tools. Painting (left middle shelf) including poster paints, water... Read more →


"Montessori education is designed to awaken interest and to allow children to pursue learning about issues that personally interest them. This is necessary to a system that is based on intrinsic motivation." - Montessori the Science Behind the Genius - Angeline Stoll Lillard Intrinsic motivation is a prompt to action that comes from within the individual; a drive to action that is rewarded by doing the activity itself, rather than deriving some external reward from it. The concept of intrinsic motivation is fundamental to the Montessori philosophy. It is much talked about in the classroom but what about in the... Read more →


Just because it's rainy and it's the school holidays! Our top ten board (and other) games for children four to five years old! 1. Into the Forest - Nature's Food Chain Game 2. Colour Code (Australia here) 3. Make 'n' Break (ours is c/o Child.com.au) 4. Animal Tracks 5. Hoot Owl Hoot (recommend from three years) (Australia here) 6. Zingo (Australia here) 7. Shape-O-Metry (ours is c/o Child.com.au) 8. Rush Hour (Australia here) 9. Count Your Chickens (Australia here) 10. The Secret Door (recommend from five years). P.S My eight year old will also play all of these! Read more →


This post was originally titled 'Notes to Self' but I'm thinking we could all do with some reminders. Here are some notes for all Montessori parents. Don't clutter up the children's spaces. Leave lots of open space and table space for the children to use. Keep desks free from distractions, give them space to move and space to create. Don't use the children's free and clean spaces as a dumping ground for other materials. Resist the urge to 'fix' the child's work, their work is good enough! Often when the children are cleaning, baking, making their beds, we may not... Read more →


Imagine Our Life (you've probably seen this room before but I wanted to include it because it looks gorgeous). A Tangible Childhood. I love the simplicity here and the combination of Montessori learning resources (Movable Alphabet, Sandpaper Letters) along with free play materials (such as blocks). I would love to see a child work in this area. Montessori on the Double. This is a leading Montessori blog, so if you haven't read it or seen some of their spaces before please click over, even more so if you have twins! Plants, books and plenty of table space! I also really... Read more →