Friday 30 November 2007

My Montessori corner of the world...

I have had a lot of emails recently, thank you to everyone who is reading and your kind words, I appreciate every mail and comment you send.
Some of the questions asked has led me to photo our Montessori set-up, since we have moved we have more space which makes things easier, but not THAT much more space. Most of the equipment is in the spare room which is also the Montessori room and the hobby room - has to work hard that poor room!
This is the Montessori corner


the shelves are actually for CDs so they are actually quite narrow, the white draws under the desk are on casters and have different storage systems on each side so I will use these too as I collect more equipment. I also have the metal insets set up on the desk, I only have 5 shapes out and swap them around with the others to save a bit of space.

Shelf One - has a few Mathematics things and Sensorial items, if you want to know exactly what everything is on the shelves check the Flickr picture, if you roll your mouse over the picture you can see the notes that I have added.



Shelf Two - has a couple of practical life exercises, most of the PL things are downstairs, science and culture, I am still working on this bit and the language section. Again, if you want to know exactly what everything is on the shelves check the Flickr shelf 2 picture.

Here is the small table and stool we use for work upstairs, although BabyEbi prefers to work on a mat on the floor except for the metal insets exercise.



This is the small shelf in the kitchen, the top shelf is kept for snack preperation, the lower shelves for practical life which I try to rotate often. He also has his apron, bib (for dinner time) and brush and pan here. We havent had chance to sort out the pantry yet but when we do I will have a section for his cleaning things. The 100yen shop is a great place to find mini versions of things, brush and pan; floor sweeper; buckets etc. If you want to know exactly what everything is on the shelves check the kitchen shelf picture on Flickr



This is a Ikea small table and chair, he uses this for snack time, to do crafts, PL activites such as pouring or spooning and drawing. It also comes in handy as a side table for adults when a little boy has gone to bed!


When we had the house built we had the light switch in his bedroom placed lower so he can already reach it, we have a small step in each toilet and at the sink so he can go to the toilet by himself and wash his hands. In the living room we have a small shelf with a selection of books and a few toys, these get rotated too. Sometimes he will want to play downstairs so I will bring his Lego box or train set down if that is what he wants to play with. I dont know if Maria Montessori would approve of lego but I personally thing it is a great toy and BabyEbi loves his, in fact I believe Santa will bring him some for Christmas, we wanted to get him the Dino set, it turns out it is classed as educational lego so we had to ordered from a specialised education shop, not even the Lego shop stocked it!
His closet is all set up so he can easiely take out and put away his clothes and he can reach all his toys on the shelves, he also has some more shelves at the end of his bed with books and his train set. I think that sums it all up, hope this answers any questions, feel free to ask more and if you are a more experienced Montessorian and have any advice, that would be lovely too.

7 comments:

  1. Lovely little set-up! Love your little PL shelf!

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  3. Hi jojoebi,
    Thank you for the post. It is very handy to see the Montessori environment created at home in your pictures. My wife Joanna and I are expecting our first baby. She or he is due at the end of January 2008. We are also very interested in the Montessori method and learn as much as we can. We read many books and search the internet for montessori resources. We started preparing our flat for welcoming our newborn. Joanna is sewing some pillow cushions and wall hanging for things like cream, comb etc that should be handy when we are changing a nappy or bathing our baby. I recently started my first DIY project and almost finished changing table.
    I like your shelf in the kitchen and I think it will be my next DIY project :)
    Thank you very much for pictures. It is very handy to see the Montessori environment in your home. When we are finished with our interiors than we will upload some photos into our new website http://www.tobeparents.org that is also dedicated to our experiences on Montessori method at home.
    All the best for you!
    Kind regards
    Joanna and Rafal Szczypka

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  4. Hi!
    Thanks so much for the pictures! They are so helpful! I have an 15 month old, and am trying to get started with the Montessori method at home. There are so many Montesorri books...I was wondering if you could recommend one or two that could help me to quickly get started. I have a couple, but they are so in depth and talk about many different age groups. Also, do you know the best place to find instructions on making Montessori toys/activities?
    I would love to know where you got the modern table that is kind of shaped like a kidney bean. It is so neat!
    Thanks so much!
    Faith

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  5. Hi Faith,
    Books - I highly recommend this one
    http://astore.amazon.com/abitofthianda-20/detail/075662505X
    it isn't hard core Montessori, instead it is aimed at setting up your home to make it Montessori (child) friendly, some of it is obvious when you think about it but there are lots of good tips in there.
    The first book I read was this
    http://astore.amazon.com/abitofthianda-20/detail/0195325265
    It is heavy going ad made my brain ache at times but by the time I had reached the end I was a convert!
    Another one I really like is this
    http://astore.amazon.com/abitofthianda-20/detail/0195325265
    not to sit and read but I keep it by my bed and just read an odd chapter now and then, especially after one of 'those' days.

    There are several yahoo groups geared towards making Montessori materials

    this is the main group, due to storage difficulties they have several groups under one umbrella, which is a bit confusing at first
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/montessorimakers/?yguid=211208379

    This one is a general group and there are a lot of school teachers in the group, be warned some are quite snotty about those that home-school or don't have training up to 'their' expectations. I tend to just lurk there now, there is some good info to be had but I prefer to ask questions at the last group,

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/montessori_online/?yguid=211208379

    This group was set up by Meg, who is lovely and there are some lovely. genuine members who are both helpful and kind
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/montessoribyhand/?yguid=211208379

    Finally, the table was from a cheap zakka shop, it cost ¥1000 and was our first bit of real furniture as a couple, that and two zabuton to sit on!

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  6. What a wonderful example of how to create a Montessori environment at home! I love how you’ve incorporated Montessori principles throughout your home in a way that’s attractive and a great Montessori experience for your son! I’ve featured it in my post on How to Set Up a Montessori Preschool Classroom at Home: http://LivingMontessoriNow.com/2010/08/17/how-to-set-up-a-montessori-preschool-classroom-at-home/

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  7. Thanks so much for the pictures!
    I'm from Russia. Irina. :)

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