Parent Tips2 min read
7 Montessori ideas to try at home
You don’t need special materials to bring Montessori home. Seven simple ideas, from a low shelf to real tools, that help your child do it alone.
Edith Ziolkiewicz
Owner
Montessori isn’t a set of expensive toys. It’s a way of setting up a child’s world so they can do more for themselves. Most of it costs nothing and uses what you already have.
Start with a low shelf
Pick a few toys and put them on a low, open shelf, each in its own spot. Fewer choices help children focus, and a place for everything makes tidying up something they can do alone. Swap the toys every week or two.
Let them help for real
Children want to do what you do. Give them real jobs: washing vegetables, setting the table, matching socks, watering plants. Use small, real tools, like a child-sized jug or a small broom, and expect a little mess while they learn.
Make independence easy
A stool at the sink, hooks at their height for coats and bags, a low drawer with their own cups and plates. Every time your child can reach something without asking, you’ve given them a small win.
Slow down
It’s faster to put their shoes on for them. But a child who is given time to struggle a little, and then succeed, learns more than how to put on shoes. Build a few extra minutes into the moments they’re learning to manage alone.
Follow the child
Notice what holds your child’s attention and offer more of it. A child fascinated by pouring might love a jug and two cups in the bath. A child who lines up cars may enjoy sorting buttons by colour. Interests are the doorway to learning.
Describe instead of praise
Instead of “good job”, say what you see: “You put all the blocks back on the shelf.” Children learn to judge their own work instead of waiting for praise.
Nature every day
Collect leaves, watch a snail, plant seeds in a cup. Outdoor play is part of every day in our classrooms, and it’s just as easy to bring home.
