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Montessori at Home; The Table Tray
Many a meal time have descended into a kind of seated jig for me. I plate up a meal, we sit down to eat and someone needs a drink, or someone forgot a fork, someone needs the toilet or someone wants more juice or in the worst scenarios they don’t like what’s on offer and I’m making something new. Meanwhile my dinner forms a skin and goes cold while my blood pressure creeps ever northward. I’m fairly laid back but this was starting to really grind my gears. So, I looked at our problems and tried to come up with a solution. Part of the problem was a lack of…
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Our New Montessori Kitchen
Over the last few months we’ve done a bit of moving and shaking at home. Our house layout wasn’t serving us anymore so we moved the playroom and with it the kids’ kitchen. However that didn’t really work either so their Montessori kitchen space has migrated back into our kitchen BUT I’ve made some changes to how it’s used. Follow us on Instagram to see daily stories of how we use Montessori at home. A Simple Montessori Kitchen Firstly I scaled their available equipment all the way back, they no longer have everything displayed all at once. We used to have too much choice, their utensils were all necessary for…
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Christmas Books for Young Children
”Tis the season to be jolly semi-permanently curled up with a good book. This is our pick of the best Christmas books. We don’t make a big deal about Santa (more on that here Montessori and Santa) or the whole naughty/nice thing (more on that here Why There’s No Elf on Our Shelf), neither are we religious so many of these books focus on experiences and family. Pick A Pine Tree We love this book! A simple rhyming story about a familiar tradition that lots of children will recognise. The illustrations are fun and lively and provide plenty of extra talking points. Christmas is Coming, An Advent Book What a…
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10 Ways Busy Mums Can Practice Mindfulness In 10 Minutes
Has it been one of those days? One of those days when you feel frazzled, the only adult company you’ve had was a wave at the postman and you feel yourself starting to slowly lose your mind? We’ve all been there! I’ve put together this list 10 effective ways to practice self care in 10 minutes, all tried and tested by me. As an added bonus for Mums these can all be practiced in your downstairs loo or at your kitchen sink, because sometimes waiting until the kids have gone to bed just feels like too long to wait. And before we start there are a few things to know;…
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The Prepared Adult: Reflecting on Parenting Experiences
The August focus on Instagram has been The Prepared Adult. This came about as a result of my own experiences going through therapy to resolve some issues I felt were nagging at me. This experience was a mix of difficult, hilarious, painful, enlightening and most of all releasing. It helped me to see myself clearly for the first time in a long time, myself as an individual and myself as I was in relation to other people. The Prepared Adult This awareness caused me to understand some of what motivated my parenting decisions and to put them in the context of my experiences of being parented. It occurred to me…
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August in the Kitchen Garden
What’s growing, what’s wilting and jobs for toddlers this summer.
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Raising Readers: Tips for reading with a toddler
Until Alfie was about 20 months old I’d have described him as a bookworm. His first choice of toy was always a book and he would happily have sat for three quarters of an hour while we read story after story. Then something changed. One day he had less time for reading, in fact he had no time for anything that wasn’t tearing around the garden! It seemed he tossed away every book I offered to him. I was horrified! What had happened to our cosy mornings reading our favourite books? Did this mean that he’d never be a bookworm again? Of course not! It just meant that reading time…
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Montessori at Home; Our Spring Time Books
Some bright and beautiful Montessori books for Spring
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Montessori Inspired Seed Exploration Tray
If you’ve been with us for a while you’ll know that growing vegetables is a big part of our summer rhythm. You’ll have heard all about veg patch and probably know more than you want to know about our hens. Gardening is such a long process, especially for a toddler. Alfie’s not quite 3 so a growing season one eight of his life – the equivalent of 4 years for me as a 30 year old! Planting seeds is over and done with in an afternoon or two and I wanted to draw out the process to help him recognise seeds and make the connection between seed and plant. I…
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Montessori Toddler Bedroom
A look at our Montessori toddler bedroom
