HOW TO CREATE A MONTESSORI ENVIRONMENT IN OUR HOME

A few weeks ago, Herve Hermann, mother, writer and expert reference in pedagogy Montessori gave us some clues to begin in this type of parenting that puts the child in the center, respecting their rhythms and allowing him to acquire knowledge based on manipulation and autonomous development of activities.

Much of that development and learning takes place in the family home, so it is important to consider a number of changes that we must include in the decoration of our house to adapt it to the needs of our son and to the promotion of his autonomy.

In his book, "100 Montessori activities. Discover Montessori pedagogy at home", dave gives us some tips to prepare our home, as well as interesting and fun proposals for activities to do with children.

Between 12 and 15 months, children begin to want to participate in adult life by imitating our movements and wanting to do the same as we do. The author advises us to accept this energy and volutand that transmit and offer them the possibility of working with us, adapting our house to your needs.

It is not necessary to invest large sums of money to condition our home. At first it will be enough to stop to observe how our son develops and detect what he may need.

For an autonomous toilet

Allow the child You can clean yourself by imitating our daily hygiene routines It will help you to gain autonomy and become aware of yourself.

To do this, we must place at your fingertips all the necessary elements, such as sponges, small and easily manipulated soap bars, toothbrush, comb, towel ... All this will be placed in baskets, hangers or shelves hanging at its height, without forgetting a small mirror where it can be seen while cleaning.

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To access the sink we can either use stools that allow the child to climb without difficulty or danger to manipulate the tap, or for example use the bidet as a small sink adapted to your size.

Ready to use the toilet

When we detect the signs that may indicate that our child is ready to leave the diaper behind, we should put a nice corner in the bathroom, which can include a basket with stories, toilet paper, clean underwear and of course, a urinal or a reducer.

Dave gives us some clues in his book that can help us in this process of transit between the diaper and the use of the toilet, although the important thing, as in the rest of daily habits and routines is to promote the autonomy of the child and give him freedom of movement.

Ease of dressing

To facilitate the task of dressing alone solve advises us to have prepared the following materials:

A night gallant or chair where the child can leave the clothes that will be put on the next day. The clothes will be placed in order, which will help you build your body scheme.
The garments must store it in easily accessible drawers, that they are not very full and that they follow the order in which the child should put them. In this sense, we will place underwear, socks and shirts, and under pants, dresses and sweaters.
We can also sort the drawers by compartments or place sorting boxes, so that it is easy for the child to find socks, panties or briefs, or a t-shirt at first glance.

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Another option is to place your clothes hanging on hangers and on a bar at their height, so that it is very easy to visualize and choose what you want to wear.
At the entrance of our house we can also place a small coat rack at your height so you can hang your coat, and a little box on the floor in which to store your hat, scarf and gloves.
And finally, let's not forget to place a stool to help you with the task of putting on shoes or pants, as well as a mirror located at its height that allows you to see your entire body thus facilitating the integration of your body scheme.

Time to eat

The kitchen is one of the rooms of the children's favorite house due to the great amount of sensory, olfactory and tasting stimuli that you can find.

Aconsejave advised us to set a low table that allows the child to help us with the kitchen tasks or even eat there. If space is not possible, we will have to have a stool that allows you to access the table that adults use, as well as the sink, and a hoist in the chair to eat.

We will also have to have a closet where the child can easily see, store and take out his kitchen utensils, such as placemats, glasses, cutlery, plates ... This will facilitate their autonomy when setting the table.

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The author also explains in her book all the activities we can do with the children in the kitchen, as well as the elements that we are going to need and different exercises to teach the little ones to manipulate objects, transfer, classify…

Let's play!

We can condition a play corner in any area of the house in which we are habitually, although if we prefer we can also decorate an exclusive room for such purpose that will evolve as the child grows.

Baby stage

We will place a floor-level mirror, horizontal and parallel to a tapestry or mattress on which you usually play. In this way, the baby can see each other at all times, see us when we accompany him and also see the space around him.

Other Montessori elements that we can include in the room or corner that we have enabled for our baby to play are:

a wall anchored bar and placed at shoulder height so you can grab and stand up whenever you want,
mobiles hanging from the ceiling,
striking pictures or photographs adorning the wall,
appropriate toys or pedagogical materials that encourage their learning and experimentation and that we will place in shelves located at the same level or in visible boxes and stored at your fingertips

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When the child grows up

When the child already walks completely independently the mirror should be placed in an upright position and with enough distance so that it can be reflected in it while moving.

In addition, we will incorporate other toys or furniture adapted to your needs such as a small table and a chair to paint or do activities, or a reading corner.

When creating a reading corner we have to take into account three factors: make it bright, that the stories are placed in view of the child and invite relaxation and rest.

These are the elements that we can include:

Shelves or spectros that allows us to place the books with the front cover, so that the child can see them and choose the one he wants to read.
We can put on the floor a carpet, cushions, a mattress, a bench or a stool so that the child can Sit comfortably to read.
We can also place some ornament on the wall like garlands of lights or sheets.

Moment of sleep

To sleep you only need one mattress or a bed at ground level that allows the child to get on and off autonomously and observe the entire room without any obstacle that prevents it. In this sense, cribs with bars would not fit.

We can create a separate sleeping room (where we will also place your closet or dresser with clothes), or place your bed inside our room or in your playroom, separating the daytime area where the child plays from the night area.

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The main thing that we must take into account when adapting our home to the Montessori philosophy is that Everything is available at your fingertips and in an orderly manner.

In this sense, recuerdave reminds us in his book that a messy or overloaded house of objects drowns the child and does not allow his free development

It is also important to have natural light, functional spaces, warm and neutral colors and, of course, all safety measures so that the child can play or explore Stay without any risk.

In Babies and More Montessori Education, do you want to get started in the Montessori method? Herve Herrmann, a reference in Montessori pedagogy, advises us what we should keep in mind, Let them be autonomous: the board inspired by Montessori to know what tasks they can do at each age, Copying mom and dad in everything: this is the stage of imitation