If you are a new mom and want your child to be a well-rounded individual, you can bring Montessori parenting into your home. You only need to adapt ways to include Montessori into your parenting.
As you put the seeds of Montessori into your child, with discipline and gentle parenting you can raise your child the Montessori way.
What Is Montessori Parenting?
Montessori parenting is a relaxed parenting approach where toddlers are given sufficient freedom to play and learn. Parents are encouraged to spend time with their kids and involve themselves in their kid’s daily activities.
Montessori parents help their kids to observe, and to be self-reliant. For instance, like allowing them to pick out their activities, telling them to put their toys in the basket, putting on their clothes, making a bowl of cereal, preparing the table for lunch, pouring their own juice. or do any other easy daily tasks.
A Montessori home helps kids to grow with a positive mind. Here are some key aspects of Montessori parenting:
A child friendly environment
Pre-schoolers are provided child-friendly environment and are not confined to cribs. They are allowed to explore their space freely. A Montessori parent helps his kid to progress and form values of his own.
Let kid learn through play
Montessori parenting believes that kids learn through play and not through instructions. Play is an instinctive enjoyable activity and is a great way to learn problem-solving skills, social interactions, new language and new motor skills Parents can help their kids learn practical skills in daily activities.
Respecting their choices
In a Montessori home, parents give respect to their kid’s choices in daily life. They are given freedom of choice. It helps the child to develop his unique talents very early in life.
Motivate kids
Children are keen to explore their surroundings and learn from them. Montessori parenting involves making learning a fun activity rather than a routine. Parents cultivate their love for learning so that their motivation continues in school too. Montessori parenting is more likely an authoritative parenting style and benefits a child’s development hugely.
Catering to kids’ interest
A Montessori home allows kid to pursue his interest. Parents’ guide and support their kid to develop his/her hobbies and skills.
Safe environment
Montessori parenting involves providing kids with a safe environment. Kids are given complete freedom to choose but they should not be left with an unsafe or unguarded environment.
Parents can be a role model
A child’s mind absorbs quickly from the environment. The impressions on his mind shape his personality. At this time, your behaviour will affect your child either in a positive or a negative way.
Ideal Montessori Toys for Toddlers
A Montessori home is incomplete without Montessori toys. Toddlers hold and touch and learn to manipulate toys. They begin to experiment and use creativity.
For instance, a box of Legos can be a Montessori toy as kids learn how to build structures, vehicles by assimilating different blocks. They use their imagination and by trial and error, they create objects.
There are several such toys ideal for toddlers. Here are some more examples of Montessori toys.
Alphabet tracing toy
Learning can be fun for toddlers as they begin to practice letters with their tracing sets. They begin to recognize alphabets that helps them a lot before joining preschool. It also strengthens their concentration.
Puzzles and cubes
As toddlers fit the puzzles together, they begin to develop hand-eye coordination and analyzing skills.
Cube helps to promote cognitive development in kids as they build, count or sort the toys.
Wooden rattles
Rattles enhance sensory development in toddlers. With their smooth feel and gentle noise, the little ones learn to develop their motor skills.
Hand puppets and simple dolls
Soft cotton dolls and simple puppets or creatures or peg dolls are great for toddlers for the age group 12 months or above. As toddlers play with the toys, they imagine themselves in all sorts of situations that helps them to grow and learn each day.
Lacing and sewing
Montessori lacing and sewing toys can be great for toddlers as it helps to develop their fine motor learning and the pincer grasp that help them to develop writing skills and other skills. This activity is ideal as toddlers can indulge in them during car trips.
Number learning sets
Maths can be made fun for toddlers at home too. Adapting to Montessori style, toddlers and preschoolers can learn to count numbers and learn early math by visuals through shapes, colours, numbers that can be added or subtracted from each other etc. You can help your child to find numbers.
Musical Instrument Toys
Creating music is essential in a Montessori home. You can give your toddler musical instruments such as drums, cymbals, triangles, bells or little wooden guitars. Early music practice helps toddlers to develop their gross motor skills and be creative at home. It is a fun activity that toddlers can indulge at any time of the day.
So, if you are a new mom, you can try Montessori parenting at home. It helps your toddler to learn naturally, have a healthy childhood and at the same time receive so many benefits. It is really amazing, isn’t it?
