Montessori education and principles changed the lives of my children and how I parent. Like most life changing things though, it happened unintentionally.

As first time parents, my husband and I knew very little of the urban daycare racket. We, naively, expected to tour a couple of daycares and enroll our precious bundle in the one we felt was the best fit. We had no idea that daycares in urban centers are like Ivy League universities: lots of applicants, small enrollment, long waiting list. Because we had not put our daughter on a waiting list when she was nigh a twinkle in her dad’s eye, we were left with very little options. I toured the clinical daycare with the baby prison cells, I mean, wall cribs. I toured the church basement that could only guarantee her a spot on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The search was exhausting.  I was about to give up when I found a small daycare near our home.

When I toured said daycare it felt very different. They called themselves a school and it was in a converted bungalow.  There were shelves of wooden toys and activities. Children worked quietly on woven mats. At the time I knew nothing about Montessori philosophy. I just knew that I wanted my kid to go somewhere that didn’t freak me out. They said they could take her the following fall. So my daughter began attending this magical place when she was 18 months old. From that day forward I became a full on believer of Montessori.

I loved it because I saw my daughter blossom. She became a tiny independent being that didn’t need sippy cups and could put on her own coat like a ninja. If you’ve never seen a Montessori kid put on a coat, then stop reading and go look it up. Now. It is super awesome and involves flipping the coat upside down.

So now we are super into Montessori for both kids and plan on having them in Montessori schools for the foreseeable future. I made a decision early on to incorporate aspects of Montessori into our parenting and home routines. So that is what this blog is about. It is about how to take Montessori practices and bring them into your home to make parents’ and kids’ lives better. Some of the things we have been doing for years and are tried and true. Others I am just now beginning to implement so you will also see how we put into place these new routines and procedures in our own home. This is not a blog about how to give Montessori lessons at home or how to homeschool your kids the Montessori way. I am not a Montessori teacher. If you are looking for that type of blog there are plenty out there for you, this just isn’t it.

We are a real family that is really not perfect, so I will share what works for us and what doesn’t. I will also show you some of the resources that have helped me along the way and more that have inspired me to go farther at home.

Thanks for stopping by!

Allison