I recently came across a Banana bread recipe on the blog small people big ideas. It didn’t have any dairy and seemed simple enough so we tried it. We made two changes to our recipe. We used half the sugar (and it still felt too much for us) and used Read more…
We use an apron when we cook. Cues are important for the young child’s sense of order. Once the apron goes on, he knows it is time to wash his hands and that we are going to be making some food. I made this apron by modifying the Sewliberated child Read more…
“It is necessary to prepare an active environment for the child , not only in the school but also in the home”- Maria Montessori At every stage, the child’s wish is that we would help him to do it himself. This wish is even stronger once the child can walk. Read more…
“The tiny child’s absorbent mind finds all its nutriment in its surrounding. Here it has to locate itself and build itself from what it takes in. Especially at the beginning of life must we therefore make the environment as interesting and attractive as we can. “ – Maria Montessori (The Absorbent Mind)
We set up Montessori spaces for our son from birth. He has also been given a lot of freedom of movement from birth and the result has been very good gross motor skills, body awareness, confidence and independence. He is very aware of his capabilities and doesn’t take uncalculated risks. I really believe these have been largely due to the environment. I have shown his spaces during the symbiotic period. Those spaces were temporary. Because we were not in our home for the first 7 weeks of his life, we created small but temporary spaces to meet his needs. Once home, he spent most of his time in his room, and because it was prepared for him, he had freedom to move. I just observed and made simple modifications to the room when needed but never really got in his way or tried to help him and he figured it out. So let me show you his room!
Welcome to our Montessori Infant room. I wanted to put a book shelf in the room but didnt want to take up space so I used this wall space behind the door. He is now able to reach the lowest shelf at 10 months.
” All he wants is to walk. And because his legs are shorter than ours, we must not try to make him keep up with us. It is we who must go at his pace… The child has his own laws of development and if we want to help him Read more…
A few days ago, my husband and I were talking about how raising a child the Montessori way is definitely not the easy way to take in the beginning. I tried to explain how the first 2 years are definitely a sort of investment and then you start really seeing Read more…
Please click on the pictures to enlarge and read the text. I would love to hear your comments, questions or contributions. Live a Good Life!
Here’s a quick valentine’s day craft to do with children. A child of 4-5 years old or older can probably do this independently while you would need to do this with a younger child.
Since yesterday’s post was so serious/technical, I thought I would do a lighthearted post today.
Warning: This post includes A LOT of pictures!
I believe part of a GoodLife is having wonderful memories and so I believe in marking birthdays, anniversaries and every special event.
Birthday parties can be a big deal in Nigeria and this includes parties for 1 year olds. They are sometimes celebrated with 100s of people, a DJ, canopies, catering, specialty cakes, souvenirs and sophisticated gift packs. Unfortunately, these parties seem to be more for the adult’s enjoyment than the child ‘s and after spending tens of thousands of naira, what most children remember is “Aunty give me gift!” You’re Nigerian if you get that.
Anyways we hosted a party for my nephew and I didn’t want to spend a lot but wanted it to be affordable, educational, memorable and fun for the children!
Here’s what we did!
Since he was turning 4, he was allowed to invite 4 friends. So including his sister, we had 6 little ones. This party was held indoors and we wanted it to be manageable plus I kinda like the idea of inviting the number of people you are celebrating. Each child got a personalized T-shirt as soon as they walked in. “How did you know my name?”… I loved the look of surprise on their friend’s faces when they saw that the shirts had their names on them.
