Setting up your toddler's Montessori at home environment

The Montessori philosophy emphasizes self-directed play 

This is because children are seen as naturally eager to learn and well capable of driving their learning process when in a stimulating environment. This understanding is essential to setting up an effective Montessori at home environment. This philosophy was instituted by Maria Montessori, an Italian physician. 

So how did we start creating a Montessori at home environment?

We first created a child-friendly environment that encouraged exploration. The beauty of creating a Montessori at home environment for me has been to see my toddler grow independently and amass skills while simply playing his favorite games. I've enjoyed flexibly applying these at home.

Here are several tangible ways we did this:

1. We organized the home 

I've noticed that my toddler likes things to be orderly even though they will not stay that way once he starts playing. He appreciates knowing where to find his favorite toys, his favorite blanket, and he likes the consistency such order gives him. So the first step for us was to creating designated spots for these items. Naturally, this got us a dedicated play area according to the sections of the house where my toddler loves to spend majority of his time when at the house.

2. We child-proofed the house

Along with the home organization and the creation of a child-friendly play area, we took away anything that may be a potential hazard and blocked electricity outlets. Toys that could be used to climb over counters and pose a health hazards were removed. This ultimately resulted in us giving up
our dining area and making this the designated play area. 

3. We put together child sized furniture sets

As a way to create an engaging environment for my toddler to explore, we put together child-sized furniture and created a home daycare set up. This includes:

• Child-sized dining sets
• Child-sized shelfs with engaging toys
• Little bean bags next to books and puzzles
• Snacks in the pantry at a reachable level

4. We did a toy rotation

On our child-sized shelf, we organized different toys according to their themes, like:

• Wooden number/math skills puzzles
• Wooden alphabet puzzles
• Wooden animal puzzles
• Sensory activities and crafts
• Treasure chest and toy cars

Our goal was to emphasize novelty so that my toddler gets excited to explore and follow his interests during a learning day. As much as possible, we limited use of battery operated and other electronic screen-based toys. This is because we wanted to foster independent self directed play with Montessori-style toys. Since my son really enjoys Khan Academy Kids, and picks up great math and language skills on this app, we let him have supervised play on this app for no more than 30 minutes in a day.

5. We created a daily schedule

Before we decided to try Montessori at home, my son had started to have sleep regression. Most books and articles we read suggested creating a schedule or at least sticking to a routine. This is what we ended up doing and it imitated a daycare set up with:

• Morning wake up and dress up
• Breakfast
• Educational outing
• Fun play or craft activity
• Daytime naps
• Dinner prep and eating
• Bedtime - bath, story time, teeth brushing, lights out, in bed

These altogether have simplified our days with clear structure and expectation. Follow our Montessori and mom life activity here.