What about this mobile? It's interesting isn't it. I think this will be our last mobile, Otis will soon be moving onto more in-hand materials. It is called the Primary Colours Mobile from Beginning Montessori, they recommend following it up with the interlocking disks. Otis isn't grasping it yet, he is just batting and doing lots of arm waving. He is still using his bell on a ribbon too. You can tell from the video that he really likes the mobile and it is highly interactive. Although he only connects with it a couple of times, you can see he... Read more →

Last night I noticed Otis batting at his Octahedron Mobile. It reminded me that he has just turned eight weeks old and perhaps it was time to introduce the Gobbi. We have been encouraged to change the mobiles regularly around every two weeks as each mobile has it's own unique benefit and to prevent the child from getting bored. The Gobbi is a beautiful mobile comprised of spheres in graduated shades of one colour to stimulate the visual sense. The spheres are light so that they move in the breeze. We purchased our Gobbi from Goose Designs. I have seen... Read more →

I have mentioned the purpose of the wall mirror previously here but never before have I been so aware of the importance of children observing movement. Montessori believed (as do many) that children need to observe a movement (absorb it visually) before they can execute the movement themselves. Then the child can repeat the movement to master it. This is as important for a three year old as it is for a 2 month old. For Caspar (3yrs) this means him observing me as I grip the pencil, as I hold a fork or a spoon. It is not enough... Read more →

There is something new in Otis's room. At six weeks it was time to introduce the Octahedron mobile. "The octahedrons are designed to lay the foundations for future understandings of geometric proportion, relationships and patterns. They are named for the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato" At Home with Montessori. I hope that you are interested in mobiles, because I intend on showing you each one that we use. Yes, I may indeed have a liking for these Montessori mobiles! Edited 21 May. A new video (taken on iPhone) showing the Octahedron in action. Read more →

Thank you for your suggestions to add some black and white images to Otis's room. I thought it was a great idea. We went to work straight away. Caspar and I experimented with lots of different images and materials. Then we tested the images on Otis. He liked them all! We decided on some cut out shapes. We finished off the look with black and white frames. What do you think? He has responded to them really well and we like them a lot. Read more →

Dr Montanaro writes that at around 6-8 weeks old (at the end of the symbiotic period) the child starts on our solar pattern and begins to sleep longer at night. "The newborn simply does not have any experience of night and day and takes a certain time to enter this solar routine. The child must experience this difference for a certain amount of time before the problem is naturally corrected." At a month old I want to encourage Otis to observe our solar pattern and sleep longer at night (he currently sleeps for longer periods and more soundly during the... Read more →

Want to take a peek inside Otis's room? Come on in... For this room I wanted to achieve an atmosphere of calm a sense of order an environment to facilitate a child's movement an environment to engage the child a balance between challenge and support for the child separate sleep, play and change areas a room a child would want to be in The main features of this room include A movement area consisting of a large soft blanket, wall mirror and mobile. Otis is a month old so we are using the Munari mobile. I have written about the... Read more →

As Otis is now two weeks old we put up our Munari mobile. The mobile is hung over his movement area. We were thrilled as he focused on it straight away. He has been spending a lot of his awake time in his movement area looking at the wall mirror and having tummy time. Adding the mobile gives him another area of interest. We chose the Munari mobile because it is the first in the Montessori Visual Mobile series is black and white to provide the greatest contrast suitable for the infant's developing vision is developmentally appropriate not overstimulating or... Read more →

It wasn't until recently that I became aware of Montessori's work regarding infants. Previously I thought Montessori was only about activities for preschoolers and the Montessori Method of education. Certainly this is where a lot of her work is but she also had so much to say about newborn and infant children. In setting up our home environment for our second child I have really tried to follow and understand her work in this area. In his bedroom we have installed a low wall mirror. Underneath the mirror is a soft blanket to create his movement area. This is where... Read more →

Look what arrived at our doorstep this morning... the chair, not the bear! This is the closest I could reasonably find to the child's first chair/weaning chair. We are in Australia and unfortunately we do not have a Michael Olaf here. Which could be why I was excited, it takes research, thinking and a little time waiting for furniture like this. This is the Cube Chair and is hand crafted by Montessori Child. It is for the new baby however Caspar has already spent much time sitting and standing on it. He actually turned it over and stood on it... Read more →

I try not to move around our furniture too often. I know that for a young child moving furniture around can be unsettling, especially when it is in their bedroom. So I gave this A LOT of thought. I spoke to almost every Montessori person I know. I emailed, I checked out blogs and read books. I absorbed every piece of advice I received, could our children share rooms or should they have a room of their own?? When we started preparing for the new baby, we put the floor bed in Caspar's room and kept the playroom for both... Read more →