Baan Dek Montessori

We had a lovely conversation with parents who chose to keep their children in Montessori for Kindergarten, about what that decision-making process was like, some observations they've made since having their child in a Montessori setting, and if they had any thoughts they'd share with families considering Kindergarten year Montessori. Staying in your Primary classroom or starting your new Elementary school for Kindergarten is a huge choice, with so many factors. We hope this family's story helps clarify those questions, and maybe provide a few answers, for your own family's decision.

It's the time of year when we're wondering what to do about the upcoming year, an especially challenging question for parents whose children will be eligible for Kindergarten. How do you make that choice?

"Do as I say, not as I do" Never Works. We've all heard the phrase, "Do as I say, not as I do." The challenge is, while our intentions are good, this idea isn't helpful for children.

Here's an interview with Jesse McCarthy from the blog MontessoriEducation.com

Are you looking for a few new songs? This episode includes ideas for how we choose songs to sing with children, as well as five songs you might or might not be familiar with. Happy Listening!

Pamela Green of Ananda Montessori shares her story, experience, and an exciting upcoming project.

This time of year can be full of travel. Here are a few of our favorite tips for enjoying, rather than stressing, travel with children.

Over the next several months, there are so many holidays and special occasions. How do we help children through these joyful, and sometimes stressful events? Due to your feedback, this episode includes tips for all ages, not just those under six! Thanks for the notes, they help us be better! (Spoiler alert: the next episode will be about travel with young children, and will be live just a bit early.)

The Toddler Whisperer herself, Simone Davies of The Montessori Notebook and The Montessori Toddler, joins us in this episode about toddlers and specifically about tantrums and challenging behaviors.

This is the sequel to Episode 80 - Should in Montessori. How do we turn from "should be" to "could be?"

Even with training and patience and observation, our own judgement is a voice that is hard to quiet. It's instinct, and can be a helpful tool, but it means we also sometimes jump to conclusions, rather than leaving space for Following the Child.

It's easy to get stuck and thing some things definitively ARE Montessori, while other things patently are NOT. The truth, as with so many things, lies somewhere in the middle.

We're wrapping up this Montessori Summer series this week. It's been fantastic to hear stories of how Montessori has been implemented at home! Thanks for keeping us company.

Offering choice is so hard, but so important for developing confidence in yourself, logic, and decision-making skills. What kinds of choices do we offer? How do we phrase those choices?

While our first few episodes of the Montessori Summer Series were about routines and systems inside the home, this episode has a few activities and ideas for going outside, one of the best things about Summer!

In Episodes 73 & 74, we discussed Space and Time in our Montessori Summer series. In this episode, we bring them together, to address one difficult area of family life. We'll go over four areas where small changes can have a big impact, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. What's one challenging area in your family's life, where minor changes can make a tremendous difference, and really set you up for success?

What's the best way to use our time? Are we over-scheduled, or might things be a bit simpler if a schedule were implemented?

This week, we're kicking off summer. Learning and Montessori live outside of the school building. Let's look at ways we can Montessori at home, outside, whether or not school is in session.

This week, we're starting our series about Montessori outside of school. We're focusing on spaces, or "Prepared Environments."

"How was your day??" It's such a common question, but our answer depends on so many factors, some emotional, and some factual.