Did I promise you a look inside a wonderful and inspiring Montessori home? You won't be disappointed. This is the home of Jack and Sarah. Their mum Kate is a good friend of mine. Not only is Kate a great mum she is really creative and has some of the best ideas. I hope you enjoy this interview and a peek inside their home.
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Can you tell us a little about yourself, your family and where you live?
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My name is Kate. My family and I live in Canberra, Australia. My husband and I have two amazing children, Jack (3) and Sarah (1). I am blessed to be Kylie's in-real-life friend and my little Sarah is only 4 days younger than Otis.
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Before having children I was a Special Needs Teacher for nine years. I taught high school (12-18yrs) and whilst I did love teaching, I decided to go part-time when Jack arrived and then give it up completely when Sarah joined our family.
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When and how did you first become interested in the work of Montessori?
I remember being at work one day, my class was in the library along with several other classes. I remember looking around and thinking that there has to be a better way of doing this; so many kids, so much curriculum, so few resources, so little time. Jack was about 6 months old when I stumbled upon Montessori. I was hooked! I read everything I could find. I couldn't believe I had never come across it before. Why weren't we taught these principles at university? They made so much sense.
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I was so excited about the possibilities that I remember waking up really early one morning just so I could finish reading 'How to Raise an Amazing Child'! Everything changed after reading that book. The way we interacted with Jack, the toys he played with, how our home was organised, our very thinking. Wonderfully, my husband was equally excited and has been with me every step of the way.
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How have you applied Montessori at home? (Big question, I know!)
We started out simply. We thought, 'what can Jack do for himself and how can we change his environment to allow him to do these things?' We went through each room of the house. We also went through all his toys (so many toys!!). We donated a lot to charity and then set up a rotation system for the rest. But mostly it has been about us; changing our way of thinking, our way of doing things. Learning to treat our children like people, even from very early infancy, with respect. Trusting that they are capable and resilient, that they have an innate drive to learn and to thrive, that they don't need our constant 'help'; learning to let go.
This has been particularly challenging for us as Jack has Cerebral Palsy and so it is very easy, much quicker, and sometimes a lot less stressful, to do things for him. However, the pride and joy he gets from doing things himself is a very quick reminder to take a step back.
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Are there any books, websites, blogs that you could recommend?
Along with all the popular books and websites I would like to recommend Janet Lansbury - Elevating Childcare. While it isn't Montessori, Janet speaks a lot about respecting the child, believing in them and their capabilities; positive parenting. Jack is a very intense little boy and I always find comfort and strength in Janet's words.
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Where do you find inspiration?
Kylie inspires me. She's one of those people that you can chat to for an hour and it only feel like 10 minutes. I love having someone who is on the same wavelength as me. Someone else who understands this Montessori thing and doesn't think I am weird because my children sleep on mattresses on the floor.
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Isn't Kate amazing? She has very recently started blogging at An Everyday Story and you can see Jack's Room in a little more detail here. You can read more about Kate's story on her beautiful About page.
Thank you Kate for sharing with us and for being such a generous friend.
