If you are looking for ways to make your home environment a Montessori-inspired space for your child, look no further.  We, here at Must Be Montessori have put together a quick list to get you started: 

*FOCUS ON SENSORY ENGAGEMENT

Choose or make learning materials that engage the senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Purposefully display one material per tray with enough space between trays to allow little hands to grasp the handles or materials easily and to create a visually aesthetic arrangement.

Rotate materials occasionally - immediately if your child has lost interest or is ready for a new skill. And create learning sections if space allows - Practical Life, Sensorial, Math, Language and Cultural.

* PROVIDE CHILD LED + CHILD CORRECTED MATERIALS

Start by observing your child’s interests or spend time reading about your child’s early childhood development stage. Then choose materials that will excite your child’s senses, interests, or learning needs. And incorporate materials that allow your child to self-correct. You can use stickers to match correct items, outline puzzle pieces in the frame, etc. to promote auto correction. This builds confidence and independence. To help guide your learner when correction or affirmation is needed, try these phrases:

• You are working really hard!
• You did it!
• Can you try it differently?
• What are you enjoying about your work?
• Let’s put that away and try it more gently later.
• Would you like to work with that the way I showed you or would you like to try it again tomorrow?

*BUILD INDEPENDENCE

As we mentioned above, you can build your child’s independence by providing materials that auto correct, limiting their need for your direction/correction.

 Additionally, by providing furniture that fits your child’s size, displaying work on shelves your student can easily reach, enabling them to access and choose their clothing, and supplying stools in the bathroom  and kitchen, you can foster their independence and self-sufficiency. For older children, try introducing life lessons like cooking, yardwork, car care, banking, and even writing a resume. Your child will feel able to meet life’s challenges if they are permitted to be independent and given the guidance at home.

*EMPHASIZE NATURE

Using natural materials, like wicker, wood, metal, and glass to display materials provides a connection to nature and a love of the natural world.

From there, it allows you the opportunity to emphasize care of nature and our modern issues of reducing consumption, reusing to prevent waste, and recycling to reduce our impact on the natural world. I like to think of it as a way to connect my kids to their natural surroundings and show them how to be good caretakers of the plants and animals with whom we share the planet.

*HIGHLIGHT CHILD'S ROLE IN COMMUNITY & FAMILY

The idea of connecting your child to nature plays off of the idea that you can “do Montessori” at home by showing your child how they play a part in the family, in their community, and in humanity at large. Start small at home by believing in your child’s ability and responsibility to care for their environment, care for their belongings and care for their neighborhood.

So don’t be afraid to jump in and put a Montessori touch on your space. With the tips above your kids will notice that it Must Be Montessori!

Must Be Montessori is a brand that encourages the world to follow the Montessori philosophy through creating awareness.  Want more pages like this?  Tell us what you think in the comment section below.