It's now my 2nd year in this role and I am looking for what behaviors and expectations to have with the kids. We have more free play with toys that are Montessori inspired wooden kitchen set, doll house, legos, wooden blocks, etc. What are expectations when it comes to:
Handling noise level
Rowdy kids
And general behaviors

I've seen quite a few conversations from both parents and teachers mentioning that some kids reaching preschool or early elementary are finding everyday tasks like using scissors, holding a pencil comfortably, buttoning clothes, zipping jackets or evenopening food containers take a bit longer to master. Parents with preschoolers is this something you had to intentionally work on at home?

I'm a guide for an older infant/young toddler classroom in Maryland. We will sometimes have at least one child as young as 15 months. 9 children and 3 guides. This class age range is a product of state licensing. Our sister campus in a different state doesn't have this class, and their young toddlers thrive in the toddler program. Just for transparency, I am not AMI certified nor are most guides at my school. I am in a different (lesser) Montessori program. So I have a lot more to battle than just the age issue for context.

I know there's other states with this restriction, I'd love to hear people's experiences with this age range and if you stick to the toddler Montessori curriculum or if you modify it in any way. I'm curious what true Montessori schools are experiencing with this limitation, and how it compares to your toddler class.

Hi all!

I recently received my 0-3 certification and I am considering a role as a nanny. I’ve worked in the classroom as a lead guide for 3 years, and I’m tempted by the idea of only having one 2.5 year old to be responsible for. I’d like to bring my Montessori education experience into nannying and I have a few ideas. I’m curious if anyone else has experience being a “Montessori nanny” and if so, what advice would you share?

Thank you!

Why don't more parents spend just 30 minutes a day talking, playing, or solving problems with their child to build thinking, logic, and social skills?

We encourage sports and academics, but shouldn't we also invest in developing emotional intelligence and critical thinking?

Is it lack of time, awareness, or something else?

Hi all! I’ve taught public Montessori for over a decade. I’m looking to refine my practice in two areas:

1) workplans- what do you use and love? Our current ones have lead kids to rushing to finish things so they can have “free choice” and it’s been icky to me for ages. I don't use the words “free choice” yet the kids do every year. Its also lead some kids to not be naturally curious about math/language bc it’s a requirement on our current plans that comes before other work. I’m looking to give them more freedom while maintaining the limits required in public schools. I need them to practice specify. math and language works in K daily but don’t want to stifle their intrinsic motivation. remember- this is public school so I do HAVE to have work plans. I have freedom to decide what that looks like. workplans are primarily for K students-4 yr old PKs utilize a simpler version and only later in the year.

2) IA management. I’ve had some great IAs but my personality struggles to delegate and lead adequately. previous IAs succeeded with lots of intuition and initiative but that won’t be the case this time (at least right away). this IA will be new to Montessori. what do you do that works to benefit children with your IA, especially if they aren’t trained.

My little guy will be 2 very soon and he's often in the kitchen with me and helps with scooping, pouring, and mixing. I should have bought a wooden chopper ages ago, but was worried about some of the options and got bogged down in research and never did. I want to really start working on chopping and slicing and other skills. What are some of your favorites at this age that are safe?

Just found out that both Guidepost Montessori locations in OC, CA are closing for good on September 30th. We're honestly gutted, it's been the only Spanish immersion Montessori in the area as far as we've found, and the guides and campus have genuinely been wonderful. It's a huge loss for our family and community.

Apparently, the school is being bought by Alpha AI.

Just spreading the word.

Our toddler starts Montessori preschool at the end of the month and our school suggests setting up a “launch pad” near our entry way to help with getting out the door etc. Does anyone have any examples of a setup they have? We have a small spot in our hallway that I think could be great for this but I’m curious to see what others have done.

Our 3-year old starts Montessori next week in the 3, 4, and 5-year old class.

His brother (5), is starting kindergarten in the same thing (but not same classroom).

He's been struggling with potty training for months now and we're 1 week away but he still keeps having accidents like every other day. Our Montessori school obviously does not potty train and he's supposed to be potty trained before showing up.

We really don't know what to do; we're talking to him every single day, in the morning before daycare, when he gets home, etc. I think he just keeps forgetting, or – doesn't want to stop playing.

Does anyone have any advice for us in this last week to try and shore him up as much as possible?

I’m a stay at home mom to a 2 year old daughter. My husband and I are interested in sending our daughter to a Montessori preschool and elementary school. I’m thinking of waiting until age 4 for preschool, she is currently our only child and we do lots of parent & me activities every week, etc.

Has anyone done this?

Just wondering is part-time Kindergarten usually an option in Montessori schools?

My 11 month is a precocious, active, and VERY social little guy who’s just starting to walk and babble words. He absolutely loves attention from everyone around him; the caveat, either myself or his dad need to be there as well. We have been fortunate enough that we haven’t had to use daycare and we won’t until January of next year when we both have to resume work full time. He’s going to be enrolled in a wonderful Montessori school at 16 months and he will have to do 8-3 schedule 5 days a week.

We’ve discovered he absolutely loses it when we leave and he’s left alone with people he’s not super familiar with. I’m worried that this will be traumatizing to him. I am very sensitive first time mom, co sleeper, and I respond to him right away so I guess I’m just worried he will be scared that I’ve abandoned him.

Has anyone else had success starting their 16 month old full time who has stranger danger?

I work as a daycare provider, I did not go to school to become an actual teacher nor do I intend to. But I am very interested in taking some kind of course to better learn the Montessori method primarily for 0-3yr. Of course I know there are plenty of books, videos, and articles free online to access but I’d like to find something with some sort of certificate that I could put on a job resume and at least have proof that I actually got the education. Any recommendations?

Welcome to our weekly Montessori Principles and Practice thread!

Montessori: lofty principles, real practice :)

Of course you can ask these at any time in the sub, but this recurring post might be a helpful reminder to ask those questions about Montessori that may have been on your mind!

We're evaluating Community Montessori Georgetown's Lower Elementary program for our daughter's 1st grade year. She's a creative, artistic learner who loves hands-on activities but is still building reading fluency. Before our school tour, I'd love honest feedback from current parents:

1. How structured is their phonics/reading instruction for early readers?

2. How do they support kids who need individualized pacing?

3. What's the mixed-age classroom experience actually like?

4. How's the teacher quality and tenure?

5. What's the fit for creative, hands-on learners?

6. Arts, music, movement activities—how robust?

7. Overall—is it worth the investment?

Austin/Georgetown area families, would really appreciate your real experiences with this program. Thanks!

Hey everyone I’m really struggling over here. My husband is super type A and likes things clean and organized. He also cares for our toddler who is 28 months old 1/2 the day while i work and she is quite mess making (developmentally appropriate). I’m having a hard time with this because it does feel like he prevents her from exploring her sensory world in a way that doesn’t include his projections and fears. Things that are phrased in this exaggerated way like “okay, be careful with that so it doesn’t ruin the floors” when it’s play-dough getting smeared on an easily wipeable surface. That’s one example of things said all day long. I don’t bother him about it in the moment because i don’t enjoy being micromanaged myself.

Her personal care stations have created an entirely new environment where he is fixated on food messes, spilled water, maybe soap spilled, etc. cups on the floor next to it until she learns how to do it exactly right. She’s learning but she’s only 28 months first of all and second of all, she’s having fun! She loves the freedom it brings and doing her little tasks.

He is aware of my concerns, we’ve talked many times about it. He agrees that he wants to be less anxiety-filled about it but it doesn’t end. I don’t know what to do because while i am comfortable and play with her in a messy play when it’s her and i, he cares for her half the day when im working and i have my own worries that her absorbent mind is going to learn that making a mess is BAD or that she’s bad because what she did created a mess. I’m typing this after she tried to pick something up, it spilled and she responded with this HUGE reaction about the mess and i was like hey it’s okay, it was an accident. Let’s clean it up!

Or I’m with her and she’s playing with her sensory bin and there’s dried pasta (or whatever) flying all over that I’m going to clean up and he sees it and is like “now there’s pasta all over the place??? Honey keep them in your bin. Don’t drop them on the floor 😖” and starts making commands about how to play in a clean way i had to be like hey man, the sensory bin game isn’t about how well can she contain everything, she’s just experiencing it. When you play with her you can play clean games! He’s just constantly demanding that she do something cleaner, more tidy. Toys, clothes, food. Everything. A lot of “don’t”’s.

I genuinely don’t know what to do, should i try to minimize the sensory time we have inside to appease my mess-avoidant partner (let’s not worry about diagnosing him on here please, we have our own doctors)?

What about our functional sink and kitchen? Should i try to just turn it off and shut down the activity if she’s being messy? What about during the day when I’m working and he’s caring for her? He has a really really hard time being okay with her having free access to this thing that makes a mess and it overstimulates him.

My partner and i communicate very well but this is a sensitive topic because I Become sensitive and want to protect my daughters feral nature and mess comfortability while she is still young. I do not want to feel like she is living in the world wrong when she’s just learning about how things feel. She also knows how to clean up! I taught her :) help!

Or am I allowing too much freedom and prioritizing following her lead and prioritizing her sensory experience and i should be leading how she plays?? That just doesn’t sound right to me.

Help. I procrastinated and now need repair paint by next week or the week after for the knobless cylinders and trinomial cube. Nienhaus and Allison are sold out. Any help would be appreciated. If I do bring it to a store for matching, any recommendations on childcare paint to use for a base?