There are some easy ways you can ensure that your Montessori home environment adheres to Maria Montessori’s philosophy, and provides your child with the opportunity to begin doing tasks independently.
Below are some suggestions for arranging rooms in your home so that they meet this criteria.
During social development, children go through three primary stages:
Believe it or not, children have an innate desire to “work” (or be helpful with tasks). From the vital work of building a man or woman, the child derives the joyfulness that comes from “learning through discovery”.
The most important aspect of a child’s personality and intellect develop through participation in the everyday life of the family. These include:
Montessori education is enhanced if you provide a consistency between your child’s home and classroom. This does not necessarily mean you need to put Montessori materials in your living room, but simply that you should apply the Montessori perspective at home.
The principles developed for teachers by Maria Montessori can also be used by parents. This helps set the pace and expectations for your child, as well as direct their attitude and establish limits.
By providing an extension of the Montessori classroom lessons at home, parents can supplement and promote their child’s self-education.
There are a variety of ways you can create a Montessori environment at home. These include:
Once you discover the benefits of a Montessori education, you will likely want to replicate this environment in your home.
To help you accomplish this goal, we’re going to publish our newest eBook: How to Create a Montessori Environment in Your Own Home and you can download it for free, once it’s been made available in the coming weeks.
If you truly want to practice Montessori in the home, our 24 years of experience will provide guidance to help you with:
One of our jobs, as parents, is to allow our children to sample the different flavors of life to see what they like. Some children excel at sports, while others are artistically inclined and it’s our job to find out what subjects spark interest in our kids.
But if your child seems disinterested in a new activity at first, don’t give up on them too soon. We learned this valuable lesson recently at my preschool and kindergarten in Chula Vista.
In order to give your children different activities to explore, we offer four different enrichment programs:
The fourth is our art enrichment program and the subject of our story today. Since it’s inception in 2007, we’ve had a tremendous amount of success with this program because it inspires so much confidence in our students.
In addition, the atmosphere in this class is very easy going. The children are relaxed, yet excited to paint, draw, and learn about different artists. They are relaxed because we assure them that everyone’s artwork is different and that’s perfectly fine because we draw to express ourselves, and most importantly, to be happy! 
This makes them feel more comfortable in the classroom. They are told that sometimes drawing will be a little difficult, but always do their best. Our motto in the art enrichment program is to never say “I can’t do that.” Instead, we say “I will try.”
One of our students who I’ll call “Hector” to protect his identity, is a 5 year old little boy who began our art history class as a very shy, quiet, and insecure child. He had poor fine motor skills and showed very little confidence in himself.
With beautiful weather year round, a gorgeous coastline, and a booming metropolis, there is never a shortage of fun things to do in San Diego California!
Most people are aware of famous attractions, such as Sea World and the San Diego Zoo, which families from all around the world travel to! However, we wanted to highlight some other, slightly lesser known, fun things to do with your kids in San Diego!
Over the past few months we’ve reviewed “12 Fun & Creative Things to do in San Diego With Your Children“. These are gathered from ideas provided by current parents of children who attend our Montessori school, as well as some of the popular destinations that provide an amazing experience for you and your children!
If you’ve missed one of our valuable posts, we’ve linked to them below:
(Also, keep in mind, all of these tips are available in our “12 Fun & Creative Things to do in San Diego With Your Children” PDF eBook as well!)
This is the twelfth installment of “12 Fun & Creative Things To Do In San Diego With Your Children”, which can be downloaded for FREE from MontessoriAmerican.com.
If you take our advice and try out a SEAL tour, you will be boarding at the tour at the San Diego Maritime Museum. Although it may be too much to squeeze in a visit to the museum, and take the SEAL tour in the same day, the Maritime Museum is definitely worth coming back for!
This museum has one of the world’s finest collections of historic ships, including the world’s oldest active ship, called the “Star of India”. Although you won’t be setting sail on the Star of India, the museum has a schooner called the “Californian”, which can take you and your children sailing on San Diego Bay, or on weekend adventure sails to Catalina.
Maritime Museum was founded in 1948 by a group of local historians and maritime enthusiasts who acquired the sailing ship, Star of India, in 1927. The beautiful vessel is now fully restored, and is maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers and skilled craftsmen. The Star of India is sailed at least once a year.
In addition to the Star of India, the museum also has some other wonderful exhibits, including:
This is the eleventh installment of “12 Fun & Creative Things To Do In San Diego With Your Children”, which can be downloaded for FREE from MontessoriAmerican.com.
Even if you’re a local in San Diego, you will be amazed at all of the new things you can learn about the city by taking a tour. This is also a fun experience for your child, and a great way for them to gain some first hand knowledge about California’s second largest city. There are two tours we recommend, which are both fun experiences for the whole family!
This is the tenth of “12 Fun & Creative Things To Do In San Diego With Your Children”, which can be downloaded for FREE from MontessoriAmerican.com/ebooks.html.
If you are looking for something that’s an unforgettable, enjoyable experience for you and your children, but won’t break the bank…plan a day at Balboa Park in San Diego on Residents Free Tuesdays!
Park organizations in San Diego offer residents a free admission on a rotating basis on the first four Tuesdays of the month, as a public service. The free admission is offered to San Diego City & County residents (with ID), active military & their dependents.
Balboa Park is filled with Attractions, Museums, Performing Arts, Hiking Trails, Gardens, Educational Exhibits, and much more.
Below is the monthly schedule for the various parks:
This is the ninth installment of “12 Fun & Creative Things To Do In San Diego With Your Children”, which can be downloaded for FREE from MontessoriAmerican.com.
“The child should live in an environment of beauty.” ~ Maria Montessori
Give your child the opportunity to connect with nature, as you explore this interactive garden at the San Diego Botanic. The Children’s Garden is designed for preschool age children, and features a dinosaur garden, a playhouse, topiary, and miniature garden railroad.
Throughout the year, the Garden features a variety of activities and programs for children, that will provide an enriching, fun, and educational experience as they explore the beautiful gardens. Children ages 1-6 will enjoy the “Seeds of Wonder” area of the Gardens. Here, there are ongoing programs which are free with admission or membership. These include:
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