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 spent weeks on Pinterest looking at nurseries. Every room I saved had a crib as the centerpiece, a mobile hanging above it, toys piled in a corner, and wall art at adult height. It looked beautiful. It was also, I later realized, designed almost entirely for me … Read more
The first time I walked into a store and saw a Nugget, I genuinely didn’t understand the hype. It’s foam. It’s pricey. And apparently kids lose their minds over it? Three years later, watching my kids build a two-story fort and defend it with blanket walls, I get it completely. But the Nugget isn’t the … Read more
My son went through a phase where he climbed absolutely everything. The couch. The kitchen chairs. The back of the toilet (yes, really). I spent more energy redirecting him than he spent climbing. Then we got a wooden climbing triangle, and something shifted. He stopped treating the furniture as a jungle gym because he finally … Read more
My daughter was two and a half when I first showed her the color tablets. I placed two red tablets and two blue tablets on the mat. She reached for one red and scanned the remaining three slowly, then placed it next to the other red without saying a word. Then she looked at the … Read more
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The Everyday Montessori Baby
Age-by-age. No perfect house required. Activities in 5 minutes. Honest about the hard parts.