The Beginning

I became interested in the Montessori style of teaching/learning after reading about Maria Montessori in one of my graduate-level Anthropology classes. At that point in my life, I knew I wanted kids just didn't know where they would fit into my life plan. So at the time, I filed the information away for a rainy day.

Fast forward five years and I am looking down at a precious baby boy while dreaming of the magical life of a stay-at-home mom. Fast forward another two and a half years and you find me as I am today. A SAHM to a very busy toddler and a newborn. I find myself still desperately grasping at this stay-at-home mom concept despite the fact that I have been one since my son was born. I have learned some very important lessons in the last two and a half years; the most important one is that I don't know what I am doing?!

Seriously, this stay-at-home mom thing is hard. Not only are you responsible for keeping the house running, you are expected to educate this little being on everything from words to manners and potty practices. It's exhausting. I am not a child educator and honestly have no idea how to teach my child 90% of what he needs to know. So what did I do? I joined a mom's group.

Through my mom's group I once again discovered Montessori learning. If I want to continue to be a SAHM, I can't afford to send my child to a Montessori school as I have always envisioned. After endless hours of Internet research and book combing, I have decided to do the next best thing... create a Montessori homeschool-like environment to enrich my son's learning.

It is this desire to create a Montessori homeschooling area in my home that inspires this blog. I have been beating my head against the wall (actually my keyboard) trying to synthesize all the information I am discovering. It's got me thinking, surely there is someplace where someone has shared the birth of their Montessori environment. Well, if it's there I haven't found it yet so that's what I plan to do. It is my hope that this blog will help others by showing 1) how I create my space (step-by-step), and 2) what we (the kiddos and I) do in our space.

**A word of caution here... I am not a dedicated Montessorian and take each idea/ concept knowing that I don't have to do EVERYTHING the perfect Montessori way. I pick and chose what I feel works best for my family so not everything on my blog will be the ideal Montessori method.

Some of the books I have been exploring include:

Gettman, David. Basic Montessori: Learning Activities for Under Five. St. Martin's Press: New York, 1987.

Levoic, Jill M. Diaper-Free Before 3: The Healthier Way To Toilet Train and Help Your Child Out of Diapers Sooner. Three Rivers Press: New York, 2006.

Lillard, Paula, and Lynn Jessen. Montessori From the Start: The Child at Home, From Birth to Age Three. Schocken: New York, 2003.

Pitamic, Maja. Teach Me To Do It Myself: Montessori Activities For You and Your Child. Barron's Educational Series: New York, 2004.