Stop the Baby Talk and Dumbing Down — Why We Use Real Words with Our Kids

January 27, 2017.Reading time 6 minutes.

I have had a couple of different experiences with L in the past few months that inspired me to write this post about why we use real words with our children instead of using baby talk or dumbing down facts. Maria Montessori observed that the sensitive period for language is between birth and 6 years […]

Pre-Writing Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers — Line Tracing

January 25, 2017.Reading time 2 minutes.

L has been interested in copying shapes and trying to make her pencil markings look like real things, so I set up this easy pre-writing tracing activity that will help her control her hand movements. I drew some vertical lines on a piece of cardstock with a highlighter and added a dot at the top […]

Montessori Pink Tower Extensions

January 18, 2017.Reading time 1 minute.

L has mastered the Pink Tower, and she’s clearly ready for something more advanced. I found some awesome free printable Pink Tower Extension cards from Montessori En Casa [scroll down for English] — I printed them, laminated them, and made a small book for L to refer to when she gets out the Pink Tower. Of course […]

Toilet Learning — How to Potty Train Your Toddler the Montessori Way

January 4, 2017.Reading time 12 minutes.

Toilet training is actually something I kind of enjoyed when I was a toddler teacher — I know, I know, it’s strange. There’s just something about guiding teeny tiny people on their journey to independence that is so satisfying! I toilet trained close to 100 children during my teaching years, plus one so far here at […]