As grandparents who live away from our two young grandchildren, maintaining a long-distance family connection is very important to us—and it can also be challenging for all. Knowing how busy both their family’s and our schedules are, finding a moment to connect with our grandchildren often falls into a small and spontaneous window of time.
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✨Now that we are grandparents, our home is not set up with day-to-day activities for our young grandchildren. However, when our grandchildren visit, we have age-appropriate toys, games, puzzles and books organized for them in a few of our home cabinets. We also have Montessori-at-home practical life materials ready to use as learning tools. These materials
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During an interview with American interior designer Thom Filicia, columnist Marni Jameson shared this insightful perspective: “We all stop seeing ourselves and our homes honestly, and can benefit from outside experts who have good taste and a keen eye to help us see what we don’t.” From my experience, this rings true when creating children’s
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Preparing for change takes thoughtful intention and planning. In his book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle describes a caterpillar preparing for their significant change ahead: “On Saturday, he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, … and one slice of watermelon.” And, no surprise here, “That night he had
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Because children are naturally drawn to hands-on exploration, art activities can be especially attractive to the toddler. This attraction encourages the gathering of important information through touch. As Dr. Montessori discovered, “The human hand allows the mind to reveal itself.” Toddler Art Benefits The benefits of learning through art are many. To begin with, art
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Most often, toddlers are eager to try new activities. Typically, they are “all in” when invited to participate. With boundless enthusiasm for learning, the young child tends to explore with all their developing senses and abilities. Because of this, it’s not uncommon for a toddler to want to explore an activity by tasting and mouthing
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Toddler painting is layered with practical life learning experiences and more! When an invitation to paint is offered to the toddler, it is almost always received with great enthusiasm. And as an activity, it becomes a great opportunity for layers of learning. With a little advance thought, painting as an activity can include practical life, sensorial, language,
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“Order is one of the needs of life which, when it is satisfied, produces a real happiness.” ~ Maria Montessori* A beautifully prepared toddler play space should contain thoughtfully selected toys and materials intended to meet the child’s developmental needs and abilities. Attractive and edited toy shelves and baskets along with open floor spaces can
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Without effort, Toddlers work unconsciously to refine their senses each day. Especially when outdoors, toddlers innately lead with their senses as they explore and discover the world around them. Knowing this, opportunities for sensorial experiences during a walk are abundant! Walks Can Refine the Senses While on a walk with a young toddler, we passed
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“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.” Fred Rogers Outdoor play time is an important part of each day. Here in the South Carolina Lowcountry, the weather in April typically means we can spend more of our day outside playing and learning. Lucky for us, there is no better classroom for
Continue Reading “Simple Letter Learning Game, “I Spy with My Little Eye…””
