Pegs are a common household item that can be used for many children's activities. Depending on the type of pegs you have, you can start using pegs with your child from toddlerhood. Flexible plastic pegs can work best for young children while stronger stainless steel or wooden pegs are fantastic for preschoolers. Pegs can be found in many grocery stores and mini wooden pegs are available in stationary or educational supply stores. Pegs that we pinch the end to use are fantastic for helping children develop the pincer grasp, fine motor skills, hand strength, coordination and dexterity. Large wooden play... Read more →
This is the first book I've read by biomechanist Katy Bowman and I love it so much it's my book of 2021. It's for all parents and caregivers, those expecting, with infants or toddlers, right through to those with teens and young adults. This is a book for every parent and caregiver, it's for every teacher. Grow Wild is all about movement and there couldn't be a more pertinent time for us to be incorporating more movement into our children's lives. Grow Wild contains information on the science of movement, the science of sedentarism with a ton of practical ideas... Read more →
I was recently asked on the How we Montessori Facebook page for recommendations on resources for teaching young children about emotions. This is one area where they may not be one Montessori approach however I am more than happy to share the resources that we use. Teaching children to identify and name emotions is the first step in teaching children about their own emotions and the emotions of others. It's also a good way to teach children there are a range of emotions and all emotions are ok. Once children can name their emotions they can better express themselves, feel... Read more →
It's Spring (here in Australia)! It's that time of year when we are thinking about sunny days, flowers, bees and new life. Butterflies are a popular topic that we'll be looking at as well as lifecycles. Here are a few butterfly puzzles that look amazing, below you can see the ones we are using. Photographic Butterfly Puzzle (UK) - 9 pieces, recommended from 2 years+. Australian Butterfly Jigsaw Set (AU) - 6 mini jigsaw puzzles, 3 pieces in each puzzle, the name of each butterfly is written on the puzzle. Recommended for toddlers. Montessori Butterfly Puzzle - three-piece puzzle. Montessori... Read more →
We've been learning about animal skeletons! I'm not sure how we fell into this topic but it's been a lot of fun. For a few months now we've been loving Whose Bones? board book it's one of Otto's (4yrs) favourites. The pages open out, so at first, you can only see the skeleton and the child can guess what animal it belongs to. Then we open the page out and see the whole animal and find some facts about each animal. My older children love these anatomy models and I've found them useful for teaching Otto about skeletons. This is... Read more →
Would you like to hear about a new range of furniture designed by British architects and handcrafted from Japanese cypress? Aromon has just launched beautiful children's shelves, tables and chairs, and I think you'll love them. I have a discount code for you, at the end of this post. "Inspired by the Montessori education method, our furniture and bespoke spaces provide a healthy, safe environment to encourage exploration and independent play whilst stimulating the senses." - Aromon. The design of Aromon furniture is unique and so is the wood that they use. Aromon products are made from sustainably sourced Japanese... Read more →
I've previously written about the Developmental Stage of Drawing as I find these stages in development endlessly fascinating. I recently discovered the Developmental Stage of Writing. I love this chart below as it isn't about what age your child is, but rather where your child is developmentally. It can help us understand where our child is at and what stage they are going into. Source: First seen at Destination Kindergarten, also available at West Hartford Public Schools. My child has just turned four (48 months) and is Pre-Literate. He is in the Symbolic/Mock Letters stage but is also close to... Read more →
Have you considered using the Sprout Montessori Wardrobe but haven't felt ready to make a decision? I frequently recommend the Sprout Wardrobe to families, especially those in the US. We have a lot of Sprout furniture and we have always been really happy with the size, proportions and quality. A child-size wardrobe allows us to store the child's clothing in a way that is accessible to the child. It allows the child to select their own clothing and also to put away their own clothing. We limit the amount of clothing accessible so the child has an age-appropriate amount of... Read more →
Do you have a Nature or Seasonal Table at home? A Nature or Seasonable Table is a table, a shelf, or we can use a tray, where together with our children we can create beautiful scenes and collect items from nature that reflect the rhythms of the season outside. The Nature Table enables children to touch, look at closely, smell and listen to some of the things in our natural environment. It encourages an interest in, and respect for, the natural world. We can also use our Nature Table for storytelling, exploring themes like lifecycles and simply enjoying the beauty... Read more →
Have you tried any new or different practical life activities recently? While there are activities that become favourites and the children love to do, we also like to introduce new activities depending on the season or what the rest of the family is engaged with. Occasionally I will try things that my child has struggled with previously to see if they are ready for it. I've tried garlic crushing many times with my three-year-old but he didn't have the strength to use the garlic crusher. This week we tried a new rocking garlic crusher, and while it was still difficult... Read more →
I've previously written about all the good reasons to use crayons before markers. As Otto gets closer to four I've been paying special attention to his pencil grip and drawings. Recently he has been using markers almost exclusively and a solid cylindrical grasp. Markers are easy for the child to use, the child doesn't need to apply much pressure and the marker glides over the paper. They are an easy and colourful way to draw. Crayons require much more effort. So I decided it was time to put away the markers for a while. Stages of Early Mark Making image... Read more →
Sorting: 2 legs / 4 legs / 8 legs Have you tried any sorting and classifying activities with your child? Some of these activities could work from around 2.5 years however we've used these with our child at three years. Before doing each activity we need to make sure the child has a good understanding of the topic. Here Otto (3yrs) is sorting animals by how many legs they have. I have written the numbers on the sorting mat and he is only sorting animals with two, four and eight legs. For a younger child, we could sort animals with... Read more →
Do you bake often with your children? With my first child, I really had no idea how to bake with a child and I had to try really hard to make it happen. Now with my third child Otto (3yrs), we bake in some way almost every day. Sometimes he bakes alongside me on his kitchen helper at the kitchen counter. A couple of times a week I will also invite him to bake at his baking table. A baking table can be any low, child-size table. For a young child, we could use their weaning table. It just means... Read more →
Last week I published Montessori At Home - Birth to Six Months which included activities to try at home. Today I'm following up with some examples of Montessori style movement areas for children from birth to six months. All of these areas are Montessori style or Montessori-inspired. Most of these are designed by parents not teachers, all of them are in real homes with real budgets and real constraints. There may be some aspects that are not perfectly Montessori, but that is what makes these spaces so interesting, it's how we all manage, it's how we all apply the Montessori... Read more →