Our Montessori Home

In my last entry I discussed our efforts in creating a safe environment for Bee to investigate without disruption. One of the biggest changes we've made to our living room was upgrading from our old sectional sofa, which took up two entire walls in our tiny apartment, to a regular sized sofa with a cozy side chair. We have so much more room now to ensure that Bee is a welcome part of this space. When revising the room to fit our needs, we very much tried to keep Montessori principles in mind. Montessori is an educational approach developed by Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori. It's focus is an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child's natural development.

Children learn by doing, and this requires freedom of movement and spontaneous investigation - so a safe, baby proofed space is essential. Other core components of a Montessori room include low shelves, child sized furniture, natural materials where possible, and a strong emphasis on keeping the area beautiful and organized. In our room, we created three separate areas which we loosely modeled after prepared environments found in a Montessori classroom. As Bee grows past infancy, these prepared environments will evolve to incorporate more specific themes, such as language arts, geography, everyday living, music, art, and more. For now, I believe we're off to a great start!

We've called this first area our Creative Learning station. This station is the area that we took the most liberty with and is much more loosely modeled after a prepared environment than the next. Here's a closer look:

One key aspect of any Montessori room is beautiful artwork hung at the child's eye level which is changed frequently. I was able to find these wonderful hanging frames at the dollar tree for only $1.00. They hold six 5x7 photos and are the perfect size for hanging at child level!

One of my favorite items on this shelf is this felt basket which holds several different fabrics. These fabrics are a great sensory experience for Bee's sweet little hands and a fabulous way to draw her attention to things like weight, size, color, shape, and texture. I gathered these on the cheap from a clearance bin of leftover remnants at a fabric store. All together, everything seen here, including the felt basket, was less than $2.00. 

Coming in at another $2.00, these brightly colored pipe cleaners and red pasta strainer were both more dollar tree finds and quickly became one of Bee's favorite things! In addition to being a fabulous introduction to counting, this activity is fantastic for developing coordination skills. The pipe cleaners can be bent, mouthed, thrown, pulled, pushed, curled, and re-threaded back into the strainer.

In this bucket I keep a few soft books which I change out regularly to keep Bee's interest. While I am using baskets and other storage containers on this shelf it's important to note that there are only a few objects in each basket. Every object can easily be seen when pulling the basket off of the shelf. Organization is very important in a Montessori space, and each item should be visible to the child so that they are free to choose without becoming overwhelmed.

I created this engaging "toy" by reusing an old baby wipes container and filling it with more fabric store remnants. I folded the pieces of fabric in such a way that every time Bee pulls one out, the next one pops up. The prints, colors, and textures of the fabrics vary and she's always quite impressed with her ability to remove each of them from the box!

This second area is our math and science station. While the name may sound like it places an intimidating amount of attention on infant academics, these toys are all age appropriate and all serve as an early introduction to mathematical concepts like geometric shapes, counting, and sorting!

From a closer look at the bottom shelf, you can see these terrific blocks which Bee takes great delight in knocking over once I stack them for her. The middle basket contains some interesting shapes that she loves to examine.

Aside from developing coordination, this bead maze is laying the foundation for counting and numbers!

Each of these balls offers a different tactile experience, and Bee enjoys examining each one, taking time to return to her favorites!

While Bee doesn't stack these cups quite yet, she is certainly able to deconstruct them, and so fascinated when they come apart! 

 And what better way to learn about an object than by mouthing it?!

I bought his great wooden pathfinder from a local swap group. What an excellent way to boost coordination, fine tune small motor skills, and develop a sense of direction!

Finally, the beginnings of our reading station. After all of that exploration this comfortable arm chair provides a cozy retreat where I can grab a book and a soft blanket for story time before nursing sweet Bee to sleep. As she grows into toddlerhood we plan to provide her a child sized arm chair of her own where she can sit next to me while we each read our books.

A furniture makeover

With Bee becoming so mobile within the last few months we've started to shift our efforts towards baby proofing our living spaces. Creating a safe space for her to investigate without interruption has been one of our highest priorities lately. I believe that we've created a wonderful 'yes!' environment for her, where we don't have to worry about constantly redirecting her or telling her not to get into things - everything is fair game!

The first step was finding a tv stand which was high enough to keep the tv out of reach and organizing the electronic cords so that they were hidden and out of the way. The television set was probably the most dangerous item for Bee in the entire room, and it quickly became her greatest interest, so a solution was in order - and what a tall order it was! We needed something high enough so that she couldn't reach the top. Something sturdy enough so that tipping wasn't a concern. Something which had doors that could keep all of the cords and accessories hidden away, but not glass doors! Something that was functional, but also aesthetically pleasing, and most of all within our budget.

...and we never found it. So, instead we revamped a piece of furniture that was given to us by Bee's grandmother (thank you!), a hot bar meant for serving food. Here it was before, in all it's hot bar, food-serving glory:

And, after a little demolition took place to remove the border on the top surface:

We sanded it, repainted the hinges and cabinet hardware, removed the hardware from the drawers, filled in the holes that held the old hardware in place, drilled new holes for the glass doorknobs, painted, and black washed. In the end, we got this:

You can still see the previous holes a little on the drawers and we're largely undecided about the black wash,  but overall we are in love with this piece and how perfectly it fits all of our needs. 

Elimination Communication, and/or, why your infant doesn't actually need diapers

Elimination communication is the process of teaching your infant to eliminate their waste in an appropriate spot, such as a toilet. The term was coined by Ingrid Bauer, whose experiences traveling outside of industrialized nations led to her method and her book 'Diaper Free! The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene'. It's all about learning your infant's cues and responding to them.

There are so many benefits to going diaper free. It's better for the environment, it's better for your budget, and you can avoid problems that may arise from diaper use like persistent diaper rash or a difficult struggle potty training a toddler. None of the benefits are as great as the unique bond that you're creating by becoming in tune with your child's body and needs.

To get started, the first thing you'll want to do is remove your baby's diaper! You may have an accident or two (or three, or four) while getting started, but to me it wasn't any worse than cleaning up after a diaper leak. If you're really struggling with the idea of letting your baby have some air time, a basic pre fold cloth diaper without a cover is a great second option.

Our routine involves giving Bee the opportunity to use the toilet upon waking up, and shortly after each nursing session. To do this, we hold her above the toilet in a supported, comfortable deep-squatting position that looks like this:

She is completely supported and very comfortable, which is key! Once you're in position, make a sound. The sound we use here at Brightly Living Headquarters is sort of a mimicking of a stream of water, almost a "pssssst" sound. If your baby fusses or pulls away, don't push it. You can always try again and you want this to be a positive experience! Ultimately, your baby will learn to eliminate on command by hearing the sound and soon you'll become an expert at recognizing and responding to your baby's signals!

Treasure basket

Today we took an activity from Elinor Goldschmied whose key person system and emphasis on thoughtful, child-focused play fits in perfectly here at Brightly Living Headquarters. Elinor believed that children should have access to everyday, real world objects and materials in play instead of toys.

Putting together treasure baskets for your child could not be easier, or more enjoyable - and infancy is a fantastic time to start. Just drop in some objects with interesting textures, shapes, and colors. What happens with the objects is up to your child, which provides the perfect opportunity for open-ended learning!

Today's fabulous treasure basket included a whisk, a baster, a ribbon, and a seashell that we collected from our most recent beach day. Bee explored these items by touching, holding, dropping, seeing, sucking, and smelling. I let Bee take the lead in the investigation of our objects, so the experience was stimulating without being over-stimulating as it allowed her to control the amount of time spent inspecting each item, and also to return to her favorite ones!

How did I know those sweet little hands would especially love the cold feeling of the metal whisk? I was so pleased that she grabbed this item first, and then raised it up as if to show me how fascinating it was!

The artist at work

'Nothing which cannot be art is true'

The last thing we're afraid of at Brightly Living headquarters is a mess, so tonight we rolled up our sleeves and experimented with some non toxic, edible finger paint. You can try this, too! It's a phenomenal tactile experience which stimulates the senses and helps to develop coordination and fine motor skills! To make this wonderful squishy paint, you'll need the following: 

• 1 cup of all purpose flour 
• 1/4 cups of cold water
• 1 and 1/4 cups of boiling water
• Food coloring 

Mix your flour and cold water, you will get a sort of dough. Once the boiling water is nice and bubbling, slowly add that to your dough while mixing. It will begin to blend together and you'll be left with a fantastic squishy consistency. Separate into containers, add your food coloring, and that's that! Easy peasy. 

First, we have a spill - which was a great introduction between bee and our finger paint. 

Next, the fun begins! 

Deep in thought and hard at work! 

So proud of herself!

 Finally, we were left with this wonderful work of art!