Welcome to Coffee Talk with Montessori Moms in the Wild! This is a segment where we will either circle back to a topic we want to unpack some more, share something we’re struggling with personally, or give you a little tip to support you through your Montessori journey at home! Sometimes, all of the above! If you’re busy like us, and only have a short amount of time to spare between school pick ups, commuting to work, or just juggling the chaos of life in general and you’re looking for something short and sweet to listen to, these episodes are for you!

Laura tackles our first ever Coffee Talk topic, redirection. She will talk about positive redirection, specifically in the first plane of development, ages 0-6, and even reaching a bit into the early second plane of development, ages 6-9. Laura will cover how to get your kids to actually listen to you, by turning the "no" into a "yes". She covers why it is so important, what makes it so hard, and a handful of real-life examples that most parents of young children will definitely relate to!

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"The absorbent mind, the absorbent mind which receives all does not judge does not refuse does not react, it absorbs everything and incarnates it in the coming man. The child performs this work of incarnation to achieve equality with other men and to adapt himself to live with them" - Dr. Montesorri

We are thrilled to have Lenay Ludwig, licensed speech-language pathologist and founder of Splashes of Speech, join us today.

From our family's personal experience with her wonderful services for our son, we know that Lenay takes an approach to language that is compatible with Montessori learning styles. Acknowledging the difficulty in navigating a situation where one may feel their child needs more help than they can provide but not everyone has access to such personalized care - Fortunately, we are here to get answers as well as tips for navigating this process along with Lenay today!

Lenay Ludwig who is the proud owner of Splashes of Speech LLC, a speech-language pathology practice based in Southern Pines, North Carolina.

With 13+ years of experience in outpatient, in-patient, and school settings, Lenay takes great pride in providing her clients with flexible, fun, and engaging therapy sessions at The Connection Corner.

With little to no restrictions, children have the opportunity to learn, connect and communicate in a magical setting tailored to their individual needs. Lenay is dedicated to nurturing progress for every child that visits Splashes of Speech.

You can connect with Lenay on Instagram or visit her website here

In this episode, we'll be discussing toilet learning and the steps you can take if things don't go according to plan. We understand that it doesn't always go as expected and there may be moments of struggle, regression, or negative experiences. So we wanted to create an episode to help navigate through situations like these.

In this second part of our conversation about the Montessori approach to teaching mathematics, Megan breaks down the major goals for the Primary level (AKA Children's House, ages 3-6), and the formula for how we as guides aim to achieve them. We will not discuss every single lesson or material (believe us, you don't have time for that!), but our hopes are that you can walk away from this episode with an understanding of which concepts are developmentally appropriate for this age group and how we introduce the in the classroom. 

Today we want to talk about a topic that has come up a lot, both in personal conversations with friends, and in our direct messages with many of you listeners out there; how to choose a legitimate Montessori school/program for your children. Admittedly, this is much trickier than it should be, due largely to the fact that the name Montessori is not trademarked, and therefore can be slapped on just about any child care institution without that institution having to meet any of the rigorous standards parents are hoping for or expecting. In this episode we discuss the five major criteria we hope to see while considering any program claiming to be Montessori. 

Articles referenced in this episode:

"Montessori of Non-tessori?: Is Your Child's Montessori School Actually a Montessori School?" by Jackie Mader

"Standards for AMI Montessori Classrooms"

Admittedly, the concept of children having so much more freedom in a Montessori setting is one that is often misunderstood and even gives the philosophy a bit of a bad rap. 

When we talk about "freedom" in the Montessori context, we are not talking about doing whatever you want without thought, we are talking about the inner freedom to be able to choose what is right and good even in a difficult situation.

When we say “discipline”, we are not referring to punishment of the child by the adult, we are talking about an inner ability to regulate oneself in the service of growth or improvement; the ability to use constraint and control of the will.

Maria Montessori writes in The Absorbent Mind that, “To let the child do as he likes when he has not yet developed any powers of control is to betray the idea of freedom.” Join us in this week's episode as we discuss how to accomplish providing your child with freedom, but always within a framework of limits that lend to internal discipline.