Why Montessori?
Because Montessori will help create a better world.
As Maria Montessori once said, “An education capable of saving humanity is no small undertaking; it involves the spiritual development of man, the enhancement of his value as an individual, and the preparation of young people to understand the times in which they live.”
When I started my parenting journey I certainly wasn’t thinking about creating a better world. I mean let’s be real here, I was barely sleeping 3 hours a night let alone thinking about how I could create a better world!
Going from being my own person to a parent was hard for me. As soon as I had my child everything changed. I felt I lost my own identity, my own goals, everything became about raising my daughter the best possible way I could. And while I don’t think there is anything wrong with striving for the best for our children, I knew I needed to find myself again to do so.
I started realizing this all around the same time as when I found Montessori. My daughter was about 6 months old and the Montessori philosophy just seemed to be so in tune with who I wanted to be as a parent and who I naturally was already becoming.
It was hard to make a commitment to Montessori especially when no other family or friends were big into it. I was also very overwhelmed with all of the information out there, I mean I was trying to learn an entirely new form of education so of course, it wasn’t going to happen overnight! But the more I learned the deeper I fell into the Montessori way of life.
I started to make big changes in our home like creating self-care stations, making a learning tower and rotating our open shelves all in hopes of creating that Montessori independence and confidence I had read so much about. I was always surprised by how simple a small change in our home environment could impact our child’s independence.
It wasn’t always easy creating these spaces in our home especially when I started to get hung up on having #allthethings. I would be looking at Pinterest and seeing all these beautiful spaces just wishing my home would look like theirs. I wanted the expensive house bed, a nice wardrobe and all the best materials on expensive shelves.
This mindset took me a while to shake. I truly felt that if I didn’t have every single material suggested to me I wasn’t being Montessori enough for my child.
One day, as I was about to start modeling how to clean up, again, my daughter completed her first work cycle (choosing a material, working with it and then putting it back on the shelf!) I was flabbergasted to say the least. But it made me sit back and think, “Wait a minute, I don’t need all the fancy materials to practice Montessori.” I don’t need all the expensive furniture to watch my child’s independence and confidence grow.
All I really needed was to practice the Montessori principles and allow my child space to blossom.
From that moment on I made it my mission to remind parents of this very thing. You do not need #allthethings to practice Montessori with your child. In fact, if you don’t buy even 1 Montessori material but you practice all the Montessori principles I know you would have more benefit than someone who was doing the opposite.
Now after 4+ years of practicing Montessori with my own children I can tell you no we don’t have all the things but yes my children are all incredibly independent and confident.
Like Maria Montessori, I to want to help create a better world. By bringing Montessori into my home and helping you to bring it into yours, WE ARE helping to change the future generations.
WE ARE creating a better world, together!
Let us know in the comments below why Montessori is in your home!
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