Montessori in the Home
Parents often ask how they can complement their child’s school experience at home. Here are some helpful suggestions for continuing your child’s Montessori experience in the home environment:
- Limit screen time; this includes, television, computer, video games, and phone usage. Young children especially are very concrete, hands-on learners and benefit more from tactile activities such as puzzles, non-competitive games, and gross motor movement.
- Encourage your child to actively engage in the everyday life of your home with age-appropriate activities. Even very young children can help set the table for meals, or clean up after themselves when they are finished playing. Meaningful work creates a sense of accomplishment.
- Offer safe choices with appropriate boundaries. Children who decide for themselves what to pack in their lunch box, or what to wear to school that day, have already begun their day with an accomplished task that contributes to their ability to make wise choices. Younger children can be provided with pre-screened options (i.e., healthy foods or weather appropriate clothing) and are still able to make a choice for themselves, resulting in self-confidence and increased independence.
- Create a home environment that encourages exploration and creative play. Exposure to sensorial activities designed to connect the child to the sights, smells, and feel of the world around them creates engaged learners who ask questions and develop a love of learning.
- Read to, and with, your child every day.
The Montessori approach is based on timeless universal principles of human development. Creating a home environment that complements your child’s classroom environment will provide you and your family with a meaningful Montessori experience that you will all benefit from for years to come.
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