How to create a viable Montessori family environment for your children at home?

How to create a viable Montessori family environment for your children at home?

 

Why you should decorate a Montessori space at home？

First of all, we must give our children enough love and companionship. Children's education is not just left to the teacher, family education is equally important. Some parents advocate the Montessori concept and even want to create a Montessori space for their children at home, decorating the room like a kindergarten classroom.

 

Our belief is that a home should have a home atmosphere. It is okay to prepare suitable cribs, tables, chairs, tableware, and toys for children, but at home, what children need is companionship.

 

For a child, no matter what kind of cute and comfortable little sofa you prepare for him, nothing can make him feel happier and more satisfied than holding him in your arms and sitting together on a big sofa for family communication.

 

Montessori is an educational concept. Parents, like teachers, are discoverers. Your love should be the warm support and reliance of your child. This is a Montessori-based home, rather than buying him a few pieces of children's furniture. Or as simple as a toy.

 

Can cultivate children's independence. One very important point in Montessori’s philosophy is to allow children to do what they want to do. Therefore, in a Montessori room, the child's bed should be very low so that he can get out of bed and do what he wants to do after waking up.

 

In addition, some toys, small cabinets, and clothes should be placed within the child's reach as much as possible so that he can touch them by himself, thereby cultivating his own independence. For example: a child's wardrobe can be designed with a shorter pole, so that he can choose and hang his own clothes instead of having to ask his parents for help. Similarly, if you want to hang paintings in the room to cultivate your child's artistic sense, you should try to place them as parallel to the child's line of sight as possible.

 

Assist children to establish a sense of order. The order here is very simple. It can be understood like this: all kinds of displays in the home must be arranged according to a certain "order".

 

For example: Many parents put their children's toys into a basket, but this is wrong. Children's different toys should be placed in categories, and different cars, building blocks, and puzzles can be separated. In this way, after the child finishes playing, he will put things away and put them in their original place.

 

It is also very important for children to have a certain "order" in their daily routine. In school, there will be rules on when to eat and when to go out to play, so that children have a certain concept of time. But at home, there is no fixed work and rest plan. Sometimes he will play with the same thing for a long time. This is also wrong. You need to let him know when to do what.

 

How to decorate a Montessori space at home？

Make your home look like a Montessori school. In the Montessori space, we adhere to the "environment designed for children" and have our own principles for placing items and strictly dividing corresponding areas. This is conducive to creating a safe, convenient and easy-to-observe environment for children. Attract children to better observe and engage in learning.

 

Following this creation concept, you can create a Montessori children's room at home. We can prepare for this from two aspects - respect children's usage habits and design furniture based on short, small and convenient furniture; on the other hand, divide the room area into sleeping areas based on children's daily functional behaviors , reading area, living area, etc.

 

Montessori children’ s room layout principles is Low location, small items, easy to access.

1. Short position, flush with vision

Letting children start doing what they want to do as early as possible and taking care of themselves as early as possible is an important part of Montessori education. Place mirrors and hanging pictures at the child's visual level. Mirrors can enhance children’s understanding of themselves. Toys, books, small cabinets, and clothes must all follow rules that the baby can get without having to stand on his toes. It is as if they were designed for him, and the development of self-care and independence will come naturally.

 

 

2. Items are small and easy to access

Based on how the child uses it, habits will be cultivated subtly. For example, adding "mini size" brooms, dustpans, small bowls, etc. to the kitchen design can cultivate children's hand-eye coordination and independence. At first, parents can teach their children how to mop the floor and clean the table. After teaching, the child can handle it by himself when he spills water or sees a dirty table.

 

 

3. Sleeping area

Montessori beds are basically mattresses or very low beds (older children), and children aged 0-3 use mattresses directly. There are two principles. First, it is safe, so that the child will not be injured no matter how he rolls, and there is no need to use a bed bumper to cause a suffocation tragedy. Second, the bed is relatively low. Once the baby can crawl, he can get into bed without the help of adults. Sometimes the baby wakes up and cries because there is no way to do other things when he wakes up in a bed with a fence. When the mattress wakes up and you get bored, you can crawl to the teaching aid cabinet to get the toys.

 

4. Reading area

Reading before bed is a daily activity for many children, and it is also necessary to place a reading shelf next to the children's bed. As children grow older and have more and more things, cabinets for storage become especially important. Children need to put them back to their original place after use. This is the "beginning and end" working method in Montessori education. Put them in baskets and boxes and place them at their height. This will greatly increase their interest in playing.

5. Living Area

In addition to the sleeping area and reading area, there is naturally an activity area for children. In the setting of the activity area, comfort and ease are the main focus. Children's tables, small tents, small kitchens and other areas for children to focus on are added, which is conducive to children's daily life. Learn and complete a variety of skills independently in an environment, such as clearing away dishes, cleaning the area, eating independently, etc., to establish children's sense of order.

 

 

Montessori education is a big topic. It is an educational concept and a way of life.    

 

We cannot prepare all environments in strict accordance with Montessori concepts, but what we can do is to help children create an orderly and beautiful environment and cultivate their "I can" attitude.