Applying Montessori at a home environment may seem overwhelming. Below are 3 key Montessori at home principles for parents to consider and explore.
1. Prepared environment
Prepared environment is simply the optimal environment for each child that is suited for their development, age and environment/society they are growing up in. Prepared environment also enables and encourages independence.
For younger children, for example a baby who is 2 months old, the prepared environment would include a quiet area that can have a rocking chair for a parent, ample light and a few attractive mobiles.
For a 2-3-year-olds, as an example, their closet would be arranged in such a way that they are able to see their clothes (not being too cluttered in a drawer), which are all appropriate for the current weather or season (e.g. long sleeves for winter). This will encourage independence and choice and allows the children to dress themselves.
2. Involvement of the child
Do things together… Plain and simple. Involve the child in all of your daily activities at home.
A baby can join in with the collaborative dressing, instead of just dressing them up without any language or cooperation from them where parent is doing all the work. Ask them to pull a shirt down, ask them to put their bum up when changing a nappy or pushing their hand in a sleeve rather than you trying to scramble to shorten the sleeve so you can pull their hand out from the other side.
For an older child about 1 1/2 get them to carry the other side of the laundry basket. Get them to put the dirty clothes in a washer, of course, you just have to make sure that they can easily and safely reach it. If it’s a front loader great! If a top loader just make sure you have a sturdy stool.
Kids will enjoy many of those activities and will feel proud being able to help and accomplish tasks that ‘only adults can do’. Make sure that safety is the priority, allow them to help, but safely.
Get them to help! They want to! If you let them. Be a bit lazy! It’s ok!
3. Trust in the child
This approach needs to be developed, slowly, by the adult. If you try to show them how to do something and they don’t do it perfectly immediately or you feel like they will spill something… ‘Look away!’ You have to trust that the child will learn the task with enough practice. It doesn’t happen overnight.
Often it takes a lot of patience to wait for them to keep on trying and we may end up being impatient. Walk a little bit away, but not too far or out of sight. Look busy as well so they know they can’t really ask for your help. With my 2 daughters, I have always let them see or join in what I am doing (not just so I can keep an eye on them! ). Now that they are older, they still want to help in the kitchen.
They know that if they want to hang out with me as well, they can help me in the kitchen preparing dinner, rather than watching TV and waiting for dinner to be ready.
As soon as children can walk, get them to do simple tasks such as putting rubbish in the bin. Nothing complicated, like wiping the table or mopping. At times when they see that it gets a positive impact on their home (and parents), they will want to do it all the time. I involved my kids in the kitchen a lot as my way of getting them away from the TV at first but they ended up enjoying.
Easiest activities are clean up activities. It will be clumsy and of no help at all in the beginning, but it does get better and a bit helpful later on. I taught my 2-year old to pour milk – from a jug (easier for them for start), then later on it was not a hard transfer to just let her pour the milk from a 2-liter milk bottle to a glass, anytime she wanted to. No spills, since she has been doing it since early on.
Getting ready in the mornings was easier. My 8-year-old was confident to make her own breakfast (cornflakes/ toast/ scrambled eggs) and assist her younger sister (4 yrs). Both would be dressed as well since they knew how and everything was within reach for them (prepared environment), lunch was prepared beforehand and packed. They themselves had the initiative and made life easier for us. They were independent for early age and I felt better knowing they can take care of themselves and they will find a way no matter what they face. Completing those ‘simple’ tasks builds values and strength.
