In Montessori pedagogy, educators often speak of three teachers, the adult, the other children, and the environment itself. Of the three, the environment is the only one that is present for every moment of every child’s day. The adult is occupied elsewhere. The peers are doing their own work. But the environment, if it has … Read more
My daughter screamed every time I put her on her tummy for the first three weeks. I was doing it wrong, not the position, but the whole setup. Hard floor, no mirror, no context, no warning. Just: face down, good luck. The moment I understood what tummy time is actually trying to do, and how … Read more
The Montessori approach to multiplication is not a single activity or a clever game. It is a sequence of materials that builds over several years, starting in preschool with skip counting and arriving at multi-digit multiplication by age 7 or 8. Each material does something specific and concrete before the next one can make sense. … Read more
The first question parents ask when they discover Montessori is almost always the same, you want me to put my baby on the floor to sleep? Without a crib? It sounds wrong at first. Then you start understanding why, and it starts to sound like the most logical thing in the world. The Montessori sleeping … Read more
My son was two weeks old when I first put him on the floor. Not in a bouncer, not propped on a nursing pillow, just on a firm mat, on his back, in front of a low mirror. He lay there for about four minutes. His eyes found his own reflection. His legs kicked. His … Read more
I had a stack of black and white flashcards waiting before my daughter was even born. I had read that newborns only see in black and white, so I bought the cards, printed some patterns, and felt very prepared. Then I actually learned how vision develops in the first weeks of life, and the cards … Read more
Here is something most nursery guides skip: the word “Montessori” is not trademarked. Any setting, anywhere, can put it in their name with no obligation to follow the method. This means you can tour a “Montessori nursery” with brightly coloured plastic toys, scheduled group activities, sticker reward charts, and children spending their day in bouncy … Read more
The bathroom is the room in most homes most completely designed for adults. The sink is at elbow height. The light switch is shoulder height. The soap dispenser requires adult grip strength. And somehow we expect a two-year-old to learn independence in there. The Montessori approach to the bathroom is not about buying a curated … Read more
You are in the waiting room of a therapy centre. Through a small window, you can see a darkened room. A child of about seven, who has autism, is lying on a beanbag surrounded by slowly shifting light. A bubble tube changes colour beside him. There is faint music. He is completely calm. His therapist … Read more
When I was pregnant with my first, I saved nursery after nursery on Pinterest. Every room looked calm and expensive. The crib was the centerpiece, the art was hung at adult height, and the toys were arranged for the photograph rather than for the baby lying on the floor. A Montessori baby room starts with … Read more