In our eighth episode we discuss the myriad reasons children cry, and how we apply the Montessori philosophy to handling these BIG emotions.

We’ve talked A LOT about Maria Montessori and the Montessori Method. But we haven’t talked about the queen herself. Who was Maria Montessori and why do we, 70 years after her death, try so hard to keep the heart of her work strong and relevant today? Today we are going to do an overview and timeline of Maria Montessori’s life and her work. There is a lot about her life that we won’t be able to cover today, because we can’t even begin to cover the amount of accomplishments and impacts her life had in an hour episode. It just isn’t possible. We’ve taken and summarized a timeline provided by AMI, Association Montessori Internationale, which was founded by Maria Montessori herself.

The purpose of this episode is to bring this method into context. We talk so often about things that are and are not Montessori, or what she said or wrote in books and lectures. But to understand the Montessori Method at its core, we have to understand its origin and the woman who knocked down so many doors to bring it to us.

You asked and we answered! We dove into some of your questions and have some answers to share with you. Ready, set, LISTEN!!

In this episode we aim to demystify the idea that there is no praise or punishment within the Montessori philosophy. What does it mean to trade punitive punishments for natural consequences? Why shouldn't you say, "Good job!" and what can you stay instead? We do our best to explain the logic here, and provide alternative language/approaches to these topics in your home.

Maria Montessori defined Practical Life as… purposeful activities that develop motor control and coordination, and develop independence, concentration, and a sense of responsibility. The exercises in practical life cover two main areas of development: care of self, and care of the environment.

Why did Maria Montessori believe that practical life work was a necessity in childhood?

Maria Montessori was an observer and through her observations of children she came to believe children have this innate sense of curiosity within them and they want to participate in the activities that they see happening around them. So she coined the term “practical life” and believed strongly in children being part of the daily activities such as cleaning dishes, washing laundry, and cleaning up normal activities that children were participating in. Why have them sit aside when they are craving to be independent and want to be functioning members in the household/environment.

We will continue where we left off last week. If you missed out, feel free to go back and listen to last week’s episode where Laura gave us a great overview of the six components of the prepared environment.Last week we spent a good chunk of time discussing freedom of choice, structure and order, and the intellectual environment.Dr. Montessori coined 6 components of the prepared environment, and we didn’t want to neglect any of them as each is important.  So this week as we continue talking about the prepared environment, let’s talk about the remaining three components that we really didn’t get to last week: beauty, nature and reality, and the social environment.

Traditionally the “prepared environment” Maria Montessori spoke of, is the classroom environment the child is a part of. But as moms/parents, this prepared environment we are speaking of and focusing on is extending into the home, basically meaning a way to provide a learning environment, an environment that fosters your child exploring freely and independently.

In this episode, we introduce the Montessori philosophy and preparing yourself as a parent. This is to be done BEFORE we bring the Montessori Method into our homes. Maria Montessori explained this preparation must be threefold: physical, intellectual, and spiritual. She emphasized that before we attempt to buy those wooden toys we see on Pinterest, before we head to Ikea to buy tiny kitchen objects to replicate the one we saw on Instagram, we must first look inward and do some deep self-preparation. As educators and now as mothers, we are constantly working to dismantle this systematic conditioning that children are to be taught, to be molded by us, and to approach our children with reverence.