The Kavanaugh Report

In my experience older babies really explode into movement during the months surrounding their first birthdays. The path looks different for each baby but often it's something like crawling, pulling to stand, climbing, and walking. There are honestly so many different gross motor play options that you can add to your home to support these new milestones. In our home, we've recently added a play tunnel for Penelope. The benefits of a play tunnel have made this simple toy totally worth it for our Montessori baby. 

This week on our Montessori parenting podcast...

There’s something interesting that I’ve learned about children through Montessori. And, it’s incredible power of imagination for elementary children, not younger children. Imagination is something we often attribute to small children. During preschool years we might say, “look at how much they pretend!” And, for the elementary years society expects rote learning of concrete facts. But as Montessori parents we have to recognize that it’s quite the opposite - young children live in a concrete world and elementary children have boundless imagination. Montessori Elementary: The Power of Imagination Maria Montessori observed that small children (in the first plane of development ) were created to learn and absorb everything around them. From language to their culture, little children are naturally drawn to the basic realities around them and learn about these realities through their senses. They manipulate the world around them to learn.  "Touching for the younger child is what imagini

I don't think it's any secret that I love babies. And, that last couple months of babyhood are no exception. As Penelope's first birth approached and passed, she has been just making so many wonderful discoveries. I wanted to share some of her favorite Montessori baby toys and activities at 11 and 12-months-old. I'm lumping these months together most because as she has gotten older her interests have stayed the same for longer. 

I love jigsaw puzzles for my Montessori home for so many reasons. Jigsaw puzzles are great for helping kids develop a child's powers of concentration, visual scanning skills, fine motor control, and for building frustration tolerance. And, jigsaw puzzles are self correcting (usually) and can be used independently by a lot of children. There are so many jigsaw puzzles available that it can be overwhelming to find simple jigsaw puzzles that are Montessori friendly.  For me, a jigsaw is Montessori friendly for small children when it is self correcting, avoids commercial themes, and is engaging for the child's interests. Now, this might be different for you, and that's ok. Choose and introduce jigsaws that engage your child and watch the magic happen.  20 Simple Montessori Friendly Jigsaw Puzzles As, Teddy becomes more and more interested in jigsaw puzzles, I've been on the hunt to see if there are any ones that we need to add to our collection! And, there really are so ma

There are so many great potential Montessori friendly toys and activities that toddlers and young preschoolers can choose at home. Jigsaw puzzles are a great option for Montessori toddlers because they are self correcting, encourage fine motor skills, visual discrimination skills and more. So, let’s talk about how to introduce jigsaw puzzles in a Montessori way.

If you know anything about Minnesota, it's probably that we have long, cold winters. While I really enjoying living somewhere with four distinct seasons, I do sort of wish winter wasn't our super long one. But, it is so we try and make the best of it by keeping kids engaged both indoors and out. And, there's a lot to love about the winter season, so I want to share four Montessori friendly favorites for toddlers and preschoolers to try this winter. 

This week on our Montessori parenting podcast...  We love being Montessori parents, but that doesn't mean our views on certain Montessori topics, materials, or "rules" hasn't changed over time. There's no one way that Montessori at home needs to look. In this week's episode, Nicole and Amy explore how we have been flexible in some areas of our Montessori parenting and our Montessori homes, how we may have changed over time, and how to let go of the guilt around being a "perfect" Montessori parent.  Show Notes... Amy's Buy Me a Coffee   Nicole's Buy Me a Coffee   Shelf Help Ep. 9 - Weaning Tables and Starting Solids   Greeking Out  Shelf Help Ep. 46 - How We Approach Screen Time   Thanks for joining me for today's podcast! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share and leave a review in your favorite podcast app.  If you are interested in finding Shelf Help in a podcast app, it is available on  Apple  |  Spotify  |  Stit

There's something new happening in our house lately, and it's really exciting. I'm seeing moments of deep, deep concentration. As a Montessori parent, concentration at home is something that is really important to me. I want to give my children opportunities to concentrate from birth and the ability to really refine that power throughout their early childhoods. With these powers of concentration, children can develop themselves with joy.