If you have young children between the ages of 1 and 6 then you know that they love to play with water. You can fight it or you can take advantage of their insatiable interest in water to provide rich learning opportunities. I choose to do the latter. In this Read more…
My favorite way to practice Montessori at home is to cook with my children. I have written a lot about cooking with toddlers and its benefits. You can learn more about this and other ways to support your toddler at home by registering for the Toddler E-Course. Today, I want to Read more…
I took this video of Solu preparing Okra by cutting off the top and I thought it illustrated some of the main advantages of food preparation with young children. Building confidence Developing a sense of order – a place for everything and everything in its place Developing self control Enriching Read more…
I know I’m jumping ahead but I shattered my iPhone with all the pictures from the first weekend and second week. I’ve been waiting to get it back to post but every day I go to pick it up and it’s not ready. My back up phone has a very small memory and is already full of picture so here goes.
Warning: This post contains A LOT of pictures… the grandparents appreciate it 🙂
A summary of our second week: A few highs and many lows. The week started off wrong. I worked on my school notes until 2am and then cooked and cleaned till 3am. Right as I was about to go to bed, Metu woke up. They both sleep really well and only ever wake up if hungry. I tried ignoring Metu to see if he would go back to bed and then Solu woke up at 4am and said he wanted cereal because he was hungry. We finally went back to bed close to 6 and so I started the week on less than 2 hours of sleep. It was a tough week but I’ll write about it later. So on to the weekend!
As a trained Montessori teacher, I find myself frequently thinking of what activities Solu might already have been presented with if he was in a toddler community. I especially miss the big practical life activities like table and cloth washing. It is tempting to set them all up and convert Read more…
The first time I saw children set a table was also the first time I encountered Montessori. Â I visited and observed a Montessori classroom and the experience changed my life. The children were setting the table for lunch. It was such a beautiful sight. This is a staple activity in Read more…
Eggs are fragile. Whether handling raw eggs, cracking them, peeling or slicing them, extra care is required to get the desired results. While this requirement might seem like a good reason to prevent children from working with eggs, it is the exact reason why children, even toddlers should work with them. Read more…
Live a Good Life!
I then light the burner on very low heat. He sometimes turns it around and when it’s ready, he uses the spatula to transfer it to the plate and enjoys it… sometimes right at the kitchen counter and other times at his table. I hope you can see some of Read more…
When working with a child in the kitchen, there are a few considerations that need to be taken into account. A comfortable work surface:Â This can be a low table or a kitchen helper/learning tower kind of solution. We have both because different tasks require different surfaces. You can see both Read more…