How to apply the montessori method at home?

The Montessori method, you've heard about it forever, you see it regularly in bookstores and stores, but do you know exactly how to put it into practice at home? Our advice for bringing a little or a lot of this benevolent pedagogy home.

For many years, this has been the name that has been on the lips of all parents looking for the best way to raise their children: the Montessori method never ceases to gain followers and makes it possible to offer caring education for our children, which involves the gentle learning of autonomy and the development of self-confidence.

A little history

This beautiful program comes from a woman, Maria Montessori, the first female doctor in Italy, who, through her research and her observation work with children with disabilities first and then disadvantaged children, develops this pedagogy which she calls “scientific pedagogy” and which we know under the name of Montessori method. In 1907, she opened a children's house in which Maria Montessori adapted all the furniture according to the children and offered them the educational material which she had developed in recent years. Children make such progress that success is immediate, Maria Montessori develops training courses to transmit her method, and soon schools are multiplying around the world.

What are the principles of the Montessori method?

And what exactly do we find in this Montessori method? Through her observation work, Maria Montessori was able to identify several sensitive periods in the development of the child, during which children are more predisposed to acquire certain skills.
We thus find the sensitive period of movement (from birth to the age of one year), language (from birth to the age of 6 years), small objects (from 1 year to 4 years), of the order (from 2 to 4 years), but also the period sensitive to the senses (from 2 to 6 years) and to social life (from 2 to 6 years). You see, some periods overlap and they will be different from one child to another: it will simply be to observe your child, to let him develop the skill or skills he wishes to acquire at a specific time, and to support these different learnings while respecting their personal rhythm.

Because it is one of the fundamental principles of Montessori pedagogy: freedom in the choice of activity and in the duration of it, so that it always responds to a need that the child has at the time . It is not a question of not taking care of your child and letting everything and anything go! A suitable framework will have to be proposed so that he can flourish in complete safety and gain self-confidence.

How to arrange the house so that it is suitable for his child?

It will therefore first of all be necessary to adapt his environment so that he can develop his autonomy and therefore his self-confidence. For babies, we first make sure of their safety so that they are never in danger in the house and we avoid over-stimulating them with multiple toys.

Then, you know, as soon as he is old enough to communicate it, your child wants to do everything on his own, and it is all that parents can wish for the adult to become that they accompany day after day.
The best will be that he has easy access to his toys and books, but also to the sink and sink thanks to a stable step, that he can have a small table and a comfortable chair for its size, and a space reserved for it in each room of the house if possible. We can also have a coat rack that he can easily reach to put his coat and bag when he comes home.
Also keep as much order as possible in his things and his toys so that he can always find his way around easily, because contrary to what one might think, a child appreciates and needs order in his daily life, which allows him to create reassuring landmarks. A place for everything and everything in its place!

What activities to offer your child at home?

And rest assured, it is not necessary to multiply purchases to offer activities responding to the Montessori pedagogy! You can use everyday objects and experiences that will allow your child to gain more autonomy, develop his practical mind, and learn that meets his needs of the moment.

A child will learn even more easily when these learnings take place in real life, when he does “for real”. Just remember to always show him and explain things to him clearly, then just trust him, so that he wants to keep discovering the world around him.
Your child will be able to help you in the kitchen in increasingly complex activities, whether it is preparing meals or setting and clearing the table, but also cleaning or gardening. Everything becomes a source of learning with the Montessori method!

To awaken their senses, also offer them sensory activities such as games for sorting objects according to different criteria (color, size, etc.), games to recognize odors, flavors or sounds, or even games to recognize objects in a bag by touch only.

What activities to learn to read and write?

Learning to read and write starts with language activities that you can multiply since you are a baby. Show and name things when he's a baby, talk to him when you take care of him, and tell him stories regularly.

When he is a little taller and he shows interest in letters and words, you can make him recognize his first name and then simple and familiar words, make him write letters on a tray with sand or semolina, have him write words on the refrigerator with magnetic letters, etc.
Rough letters are found at Montessori School that the child can feel under his fingers and thus learn to trace better. You can easily make them using fine-grain sandpaper glued to a small cardboard panel. Then show your child how each letter is formed and pronounced (for example: the letter “c” gives the sound “keu”).

What activities to learn to count?

To learn how to write numbers, you can make the same rough number system and show your child how each is formed.

You can also encourage them to count things in small quantities that are in their environment from the age of 2 to 3, then to count further and further, always having fun.
For a fun mathematical activity, you can number small baskets or small boxes from 0 to 9, then place the corresponding number of objects in each. Use clothespins, tokens or large beads for example.

You can also use the equipment used in any Montessori school, such as number bars for example, which allow you to visualize the concepts of number and quantity. Make them yourself if you don't want to buy them.

And in Montessori schools, how is it going?

If you want to extend the Montessori pedagogy to school, you can of course enroll your child in one of the many Montessori schools in France. Most of these are non-contract kindergartens, but some offer classes ranging from kindergarten to elementary, and all follow the fundamentals required by National Education.

In a kindergarten class, there is of course the educational material developed in a scientific way by Maria Montessori, but also a space adapted to the child and always this freedom of action and choice in the work that one wishes to carry out, supervised in benevolence. The adult present is not a teacher like in National Education, but an educator. Each educator accompanies the children, guides them in their different learnings and guarantees an environment that is both orderly and stimulating. Rules must still be respected in class, especially on the fact of tidying up after each activity, which children have no trouble respecting when they have been well explained in advance.

To know more :

We also recommend books Teach me to do it alone at Editions Eyrolles and The absorbent mind of the child at Editions Desclée de Brouwer.