how we montessori

Kids cutting

Caspar, like most kids started preparing food somewhere between 18 months and two years old. Like most he started cutting at this age too, slicing a banana for a snack. 

Now Caspar cuts and slices many more foods. He uses a small serrated knife or the cutter pictured above and below here. The serrated knife only cuts when the child uses the cutting action. The cutter pictured generally requires two hands. Therefore reducing the chance of the child cutting themselves.

When introducing the knife and cutter to him I gave many lessons/ demonstrations on how to use them, and of course he only uses them when I am supervising. These vegetable sticks were easy for him to cut, (I had pre-cut the sticks and he cut them into pieces) but allows him to contribute to our family life in a meaningful and genuine way, in this case the preparation of a salad.  

It is also a great way of encouraging him to eat more vegetables and a good distraction for him while I am in the kitchen. I am sure it helps to build muscle tone too!

His own fridge

I wanted to make Caspar more independent at breakfast time. 

I thought the first step was to give him access to all he needs to make his own breakfast. This includes milk. 

After a bit of thought I brought this small refrigerator inside from the garage. It is placed in our living area which is adjacent to our kitchen. This location is only meters from our own fridge. 

Now not only does he have access to milk, he also has better access to some of his own foods previously stored on the lower shelf in our fridge.

He received some wooden letters from my cousin Tanya as a gift, so make this fridge his own he coloured in the letters with crayon and adhered them to the door.

I really like the idea that he can now access more refrigerated foods and am thinking of putting more foods in there (such as eggs and butter) so that he can collect his own items next time we are cooking. 

Naturally, he loved the idea too. 

I haven't given him a lesson/demonstration in preparing his own breakfast yet, that can wait. Perhaps tomorrow!

 

How to talk to a newborn

Otis is nearly four weeks old and I feel like I need a refresher... it's too easy to forget or get distracted by the busyness of everyday life. 

My key points for talking to a newborn:

Do                          

• speak to your child from the start, slowly and calmly
• use good grammar and clear pronunciation
• look into the child's eyes when speaking
• let the child see you speak, speak face to face
• expose the child to adult (and sibling) language and conversation
• recognise that tone conveys a message and emotion to a child
• talk about what you are doing, name body parts and household items
• talk to the child about what you are about to do (before you do it) as in "I am going to pick you up"
• associate voice with pleasure as with singing, humming
• recognise the newborn's points of reference include a mother's voice and will therefore give the child security and comfort (and can be used to calm a child) 
• read to your newborn         
• remember the importance of a positive atmosphere and that positive language contributes to the positive atmosphere of the home environment

Don't

• use baby talk
• raise your voice
• use oversimplified language
• use artificially high pitched voice (commonly used by adults when talking to infants)
• use music or television as background noise

Also

• listen (truly listen) to music together
• enjoy silence together

When the child is older

• engage the child in conversation, imitate the sound the child makes back to the child
• ask the child questions and give the child choice whenever possible. 

 

Montessori book swap?

 

Do you have any Montessori books that you no longer want or need? Want to swap?

I have a pile of great books that I no longer read and would love to swap with you!

All of the books were purchased new by me and are in a used but good condition (most are in a great condition). 

The books I have on offer to swap are:

Montessori

• In a Montessori Home - Sarah Moudry
• What is Montessori Preschool - David Kahn
• Montessori Play and Learn - Lesley Britton
• A Parents' Guide to the Montessori Classroom - Aline D. Wolf

Waldorf inspired

• Seven Times the Sun - Shea Darian
• Beyond the Rainbow Bridge - Barbara J. Patterson and Pamela Bradley
• Making a Family Home - Shannon Honeybloom

Craft

• The Creative Family - Amanda Blake Soule
• Handmade Home - Amanda Blake Soule

Firstly I am really interested in swapping for a copy of Montessori Read and Write: A Parent's Guide to Literacy for Children - Lynne Lawrence. I am also interested in swapping for other Montessori or Montessori related books but will consider swapping for any book you think I might like.

I am only interested in straight out swaps, not exchanging of money or other items. Also both parties are responsible for postage. I will post international. But please keep in mind that I live in Australia so if postage costs are an issue please consider this. 

If you are interested please email me, Kylie at howwemontessori@gmail.com . This is a relatively small blog so I don't expect to be overwhelmed with offers but please give me a few days to respond to your email. 

 

Happy Easter

The sun is shining in Canberra and we are celebrating Easter. We wish you a wonderful weekend. 

 

Matching shapes - triangles, squares, hexagons, trapezoids, parallelograms

Isn't it fun to see what kids get up to when you are not watching. 

Recently Caspar has had longer periods without direct supervision. Our home is really child friendly and as long as I can hear him I am happy. Luckily for me he hasn't yet got into any mischief. Mostly I have been pleased to find him reading, playing with his trucks or working. Today I found him doing this shape matching activity.

I love how he knows if he is going to work on the floor to get out his mat. That's Montessori! 

I also love to see how children move around when working on the floor. I have seen this at his school. Children sitting, lying, squatting while doing their work. It must be pleasing for a child to know that they can work comfortably not restrained to a desk and chair. 

I like this activity for so many reasons. The child can learn about colours and shapes but also work on their fine motor skills. As you can see Caspar above carefully putting the piece in it's precise place without disturbing the other pieces.

His words when he has finished... "Done it!".

Then onto the next one.

These shapes are wooden and lovely to touch and use. There is something special about quality materials. If you were after a quick activity though, something similar could easily be made with coloured card cut-outs. 

 

Do you have trouble communicating Montessori?

Do you have trouble communicating Montessori? I wish that I could talk to others and explain Montessori better.  

It's not like I feel that I have to explain or justify our parenting decisions, it's more that I would like to share better with others. Especially our family. I think over time they are learning more about Montessori but I am sure they think I am a little off balance and slightly obsessed. 

Mostly I have difficulty explaining

• why we limit praise and rewards
• why we don't bribe (this was a big one at toilet training time)
• why we send our child to a Montessori school (what's wrong with the public school?)
• how a Montessori school operates (yes they learn at their own pace)
• why a three year old goes to school five days a week (three hours a day, five days a week)
• why we don't interrupt or interfere while the child is working or concentrating
• why we don't 'fix' a child's work (letting go is hard)
• why we need to be patient and let him do it himself
• why we go to so much effort to provide learning opportunities for our children at home

Perhaps I need to work on my communication skills, simplify my language and reduce the rhetoric.

Perhaps it's best not to explain, rather lead by example and hope that the benefit of parenting this way become evident. 

I just want everyone to see the wonder in Montessori as we do. Too much to ask??

 

Eeek! It's the school holidays!

Eeek! It's the school holidays, I am now the mother of two and we are all feeling a little run down. How am I going to manage? Seriously?

Caspar is the culprit. I knew when he started school that he was sure to catch a few extra bugs and he has been coughing and sneezing for a couple of days now. Even though we have all been eating well I feel the need for a good dose of vitamin C. 

Blueberries are a staple in our freezer so we attempt a blueberry smoothie. 

Milk, yoghurt and blueberries. Caspar's school teacher once commented how well he pours, saying that he rarely spills or makes a mess. I think it's from all the practice he gets at home. 

Blend.

More pouring. Compare this photo with the one of him pouring the milk. He can pour with his left or right hand!

It's good that he spills little as blueberries can make a huge mess.

And he insists on filling his glass to the very top!

 

The Munari mobile

 
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 overwhelming

• encourages focus and uninterrupted viewing time builds concentration

• helps develop tracking as the mobile moves gently in the room

• provides the infant the opportunity to do his first work

We purchased this mobile from At Home with Montessori and highly recommend them.  At Home with Montessori is also a really good source of information on the Munari and whole lot more.

I also really, really enjoyed Sara's recent post Cultivating Independence in Children where she gives her son independent time interacting with his mobile.

Love it!

 

 

 

Wall mirror

   

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 he is starting to spend his limited awake/active time. It is also where he has his tummy time. 

Initially I thought about not installing the mirror. It took us a long time to put it up and it was a bit of a hassle. It would have been easier to forget about it. But now I am so glad that we persisted. When I first put him on the blanket and he saw his reflection he was instantly engaged.

The wall mirror provides the chld 

• the opportunity to see and study their own reflection, study their own movements and connect their movements with that of the reflection, this also helps the child (over time) to control their own movements
• another way of seeing the room
• encouragement to lift their head especially during tummy time, "controlling the head is the beginning of his mastering of the environment."

The movement area gives the child lots of space for moving around, which a child requires from the start "infants can slither from birth".

Now that we have experienced time spent using the wall mirror and this movement area I can see how beneficial it is and how easy it would have been to overlook it. Certainly it is something I would recommend to anyone setting up an environment for a newborn or infant. It is worth the hassle.

I think as Otis gets older he will spend more time in this movement area. My next step is to put up his mobile and over time introduce some materials for him to use. 

 

Quotations are from Understanding the Human Being - Silvana Quattrocchi Montanaro