One of the things that sets Montessori apart from other early childhood approaches is precision. At Forest School the toddlers love pouring and scooping in the mud kitchen but the water slops around everywhere (which is a fantastic sensory experience). But in Montessori, we focus on refining the senses, fine motor skills, accuracy and precision. My toddler is fantastic with pouring a drink from a dispenser, tap or pitcher but I've noticed at our Montessori toddler class that he either doesn't understand how to use a funnel OR he is enjoying seeing the water overflow everywhere when using a funnel.... Read more →

Toddlers are naturally curious. We can use this curiosity to teach the child about the world around them. One way we can do this is through language development. We can provide the child with real and scientific names of things, like species or type names of flowers, birds or dogs. We can connect learning to things that have meaning to the child like sharing books and stories about their favourite pastimes or animals or vehicles. We can also teach them the parts of things that the child is familiar with, for example their body parts and anatomy, the anatomy of... Read more →

Next month Otto turns three!! As he is super excited about his birthday I want to make sure we have some wonderful gifts for him. He is the youngest of three children (all with similar interests) and already has lots of toys so choosing gifts for him has not been easy. Here are five things we've picked out. Personalised Children's Cook Books - I adore this concept. Each book is a recipe book but can also be read like a storybook. You can personalise the name and appearance (skin/hair/eye colour) of the child and the adult helper (typically mum/dad/grandparents but... Read more →