Hey Mama! Melody here...
Have you ever heard of the terrible twos?
... are you experiencing it? How can we as moms escape the terrible twos? How can we as moms support each other and thrive through this phase of childhood? How can we make it easier for ourselves to thrive as moms with toddlers?
What is Montessori? How does the Montessori method work?
Transitioning from the baby phase to the toddler phase, from rigid to open sailing, is one of the most challenging phases I find to grasp hold of. This is how I changed the narrative from terrible twos to terrific twos. With a little help from the Montessori method!
Montessori is described as a type of educational approach that encourages independence and freedom within limits. Alongside respecting a child’s natural psychological, social, and physical development. I am not an expert in Montessori, yet, but I like to think that I am experimenting and learning as I go with each one of my boys, and I am excited to share how to best incorporate this type of learning/teaching approach with them and you.
As a university alumnus, with one of my majors in Sociology and Social Anthropology, I truly enjoyed studying the psychology and learning about human behavior, social factors, and social interactions, that contribute to how we learn and grow as humans. I love that I can now apply this with my babies and share some experiences with you. Hopefully this will help you apply some of these fun techniques of learning with your littles too!
Let’s get to the beach, feel the sand on our toes and wade into some glistening, refreshing waves. Let's take a look at how to easily incorporate the Montessori method of playing and learning together!
FREEDOM – this is one of my favorite things about Montessori. The freedom of movement aspect. I absolutely can relate to my babies and that feeling of being trapped as a mom. There are days in motherhood you just want to go for a walk alone and to feel that sun on your face in silence. You want freedom!! Imagine being told NO a hundred times within an hour and constantly feeling like you are restricted to a specific area. I am all for safe zones and safe spaces within a short period of time, for sanity purposes, as you can read about that in my other blog post (Morning Routine for the Solo-Parent), but when it comes to free play and longer periods of time, having freedom of movement and fostering independence is what really adds benefit to your child's learning and development.
My two-year-old, Theo, has truly tested the waters with me this time around. I would have thought after having a prior child, Hunter who is now six, I would have been more prepared for the rough waves coming my way, boy was I mistaken. The two of them are completely different in terms of the baby phase. I used to describe Theo as being “next level” and “giving me a run for my money”. I used to tell stories to friends and family, and they would always be like WHAT!? Shocked in disbelief, as was I. Let’s slowly bring the anchor up to the boat before we set off on this Montessori voyage though and let me share some examples you can likely relate to. These are a few reasons that inspired me to move towards this method of life at home.
…rips child locks off cupboards, takes everything out of cupboards, empties cereal containers, throws things into garbage, takes things out of the garbage, attempts to eat peels out of the compost, finds and climbs into the dishwasher, hides pot holders, unravels paper towel rolls, unravels toilet paper rolls, attempts to clean the toilet, then attempts to stick his head in the toilet, almost locks himself in the bathroom, takes every single piece of clothing out of his drawers and then stands with one foot in each side of his dresser and somehow manages to get both hands stuck in the top two drawers (yelling "stuck") in 10 seconds, puts underwear over his head, takes off his diaper and poops, manages to somehow rip the seam off his play pen and then climb halfway through it, climbs onto his dresser, pulls off every book off of his dresser, uses a wooden spoon to attempt to knock things off the counter top, turns on the shower in the middle of his bath, empties the entire bubble bath soap into his bath, drinks the bath water, splashes and soaks his mother, drops toys down the stairs, drops his bottle down the stairs, figures out how to open the garage door and falls into the garage (luckily I caught him here), reaches tv remote and runs away with it, attempts to put it in the toilet… the list goes on and on…
Things you want to laugh at, however, are also equally shocked at in disbelief. But hey.. he's learning and exploring right?
All hail mom help:
What I did to incorporate Montessori learning and development at home, for my toddler (IN 4 STATIONS):
I organized specific stations for him so that he learns that everything has a place, and he can find/put it back where it goes easily. This encourages structure but also encourages him to learn routine life skills.
Station 1: A table and chair for him to sit, draw, play and eat. He can now sit and do things at his level as opposed to trying to climb onto adult furniture and or face planting off the adult furniture.
Station 2: A cupboard for him at his level, close to the ground, that is only for his things. I have his coloring book with a few crayons and his etch-a-sketch for drawing.
Station 3: A drawer for him. The drawer contains his bowl, plate, cup, and utensils. Easily accessible for him to help at mealtime and this also encourages independent exploration with eating.
Station 4: A stool for the kitchen AND bathroom. These are super important to encourage your toddler to learn useful, everyday life skills. He is able to help me in the kitchen to prepare fruits and vegetables by standing on his little stool. He loves to mix things so often I encourage him to help by getting his own little bowl and spoon to mix things. In the bathroom he has his own cup, toothbrush, and toothpaste, so he has learned to go up on his stool and brush/rinse his teeth. Small victories here Mama! I know it sounds like such a small thing, but when you have another baby in one arm, a six-year-old running in and out and your recently turned two-year-old has mastered basic hygiene it is absolutely a WIN WIN!!! Also, the laundry, I taught him how to clean the lint tray (mom tasking for the win here).
What I love about all these things is they also teach independent concentration. Toddlers love direction and also need the encouragement and positive reinforcement from you to learn to do things at their own level/speed. More concentration and encouragement is key to success here.
For babies, the Montessori key principles include: baby proofing your home, baby gates to create areas for exploration, make the bedroom child-friendly and utilize child-sized furniture.
Transitioning smoothly from the baby phase to the toddler phase you need to implement more of a focus on the following: easier accessibility, encourage safe play at their level (drawers, cupboards, stools), incorporate more independent concentration on activities for them and keep things within their eye level and reach. Be open to their explorative nature and be prepared to be surprised with their curiosity and independence!
Recently my two-year-old started climbing out of his crib, so, I am super excited to finally take the plunge and incorporate some Montessori methods to make his big boy room better suited for him! Bye-bye crib, hello floor bed! I have wanted to do this for a while but honestly was worried to take the jump. The time has come, they grow up so fast, tear tear.
I also have a cute little reel of my basement playroom on Insta if you would like to check that out. Easy mom hack tip takeaway from that reel is to purge and de-clutter often. I do toy rotation and place toys on low shelves where my babies can easily access them. I separate the toys into different baskets and bins to encourage discovery and sensory play. I also avoid sifting through random piles of other toys by donating, recycling and toy sharing unused toys often.
I am here to inspire, share experiences and encourage other moms so thank you for taking the time to read this!
I hope this helps you on your journey of Motherhood and learning the Montessori method– you are doing an amazing job Mama!
🖤 - 𝓜𝓮𝓵𝓸𝓭𝔂 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓷𝓮