Ten Ways You May Already Be Using Montessori In Your Family (Or Some Good Places to Start!)

The other day I was thinking about how overwhelmed many of my friends and acquaintances seem by just the idea of Montessori. And it's true when you start hearing about all the works, when you type Montessori into Pinterest, even when you read one of Maria Montessori's books, it can seem like a lot. Maybe too much for an average family.

But I don't believe that is true.

At its core, Montessori adheres to some core beliefs that are very attainable for every family, many of which these families naturally practice.

So I thought I would pull together ten ways I think many families are already implementing core Montessori values and practices in their homes.

1. Respect

Do you try to see a deeper reason behind your child's behaviors, respecting actions as a communication of a need that the child is communicating or releasing in the only way they know how?

Do you respond to your child in an intentional and thoughtful way, attempting to model kindness and understanding, and nurture their emotional well-being?

Do you try to accept your child for all aspects of who they are, allowing them to take their time engaging in an activity, speaking to them in a way they can understand, listening to them even if we do not necessarily understand where they are coming from, and giving them healthy limits and boundaries?

Respect for the individual is a major component of the Montessori method of whole-child education, so if you attempt to respect your child in your day-to-day interactions with them, this is a huge way you are already incorporating Montessori.

Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence and of the greater possibilities of their future. Maria Montessori

2. Intentional Home Environment

In Montessori, the intentionally prepared environment referred to as the Prepared Environment, is designed to help maximize the child's independence, give them plenty of opportunities to choose meaningful activities for themselves, and develop according to their developmental needs.

If you have a home that is set up to help your child do things independently, even just a stool to reach the sink, child-sized furniture like a small table in the playroom, and their clothing organized in a way that is accessible to them, then you are already halfway to the Montessori prepared environment.

There are so many benefits to having a home environment that is prepared for your child, not least of which is that it is a great way to respect your child, an important aspect of Montessori I mentioned above.


3. Valuing Concentration

The first essential for the child's development is concentration. The child who concentrates is immensely happy. Maria Montessori

Do you check on what your child is doing before you call them away from something? Do you ever wait to call your child to dinner, or to do a job for you, because you see they are deeply immersed in building a Lego creation or drawing a picture?

As protecting concentration is an integral part of helping a child reach their full potential within the Montessori method, any attempt to protect it is a step toward Montessori.

For some ideas on how to encourage your child to concentrate, you can check out this blog post.



4. Supporting Interests

Following the child is an important aspect of Montessori education and something you likely do very naturally in your home.

Do you notice what your child loves and try to provide opportunities for them to explore and engage in these interests? For example, if your child loves making crafts, do you provide them with a variety of materials and a space to develop this interest in?

To bring this even farther, do you give your child time to freely delve into their interest?

While some parents believe following the child means running out and getting materials to support every interest, it often simply means giving them space to explore their interests, respecting their interests by joining in conversation with them when they want to share with you, and not trying to change their interests.


5. Opportunities for Practical Life

If you allow your children to help you in the kitchen, if you let them pull up a chair and attempt to wash dishes, if you give them their own cloth when you are dusting so they can help with work which interests them around the house, you are providing them with a core to Montessori.

Maria Montessori found that children love and thrive from opportunities to develop their skills through practical activities like pouring, scooping, wiping, sweeping. In a Montessori classroom you may find these type of activities provided on trays for the children to work with, but in the Montessori home environment, it is so natural and easy to include your children in the real practical activities happening all around them.

This is another way you can show your child respect, as well, as it communicates to them that they are important and that they are capable of contributing to the meaningful work and life in the home.


6. Providing Choice

Montessori emphasizes the importance of choice for many reasons, which this blog post at How We Montessori explains really thoroughly.

Rather than always telling your child what to do, and expecting immediate obedience, if you allow some flexibility for your child to make choices, you are allowing them to develop an integral life skill.

This can mean providing different activities for your child and allowing them to choose which one suits their interest, and when they want to play. This can mean giving your child two different clothing options to choose from. Giving them the choice of brushing their teeth on their own first, or with help.

If you already implement this mindset with your children, you've done it again, you're just living Montessori.


7. Beautiful Spaces

I wanted to include this aspect of Montessori because I think it is one that many parents achieve in their homes really naturally.

Montessori believed that the environment of the child, while being specifically prepared for the child's developmental needs as I mentioned above, should also be visually appealing and ordered. She believed the things [the child] sees are not just remembered; they form part of his soul. For this reason, she taught that children should live in an environment of beauty.

If your children's rooms are uncluttered, decorated with things that are pleasing for both your child, as well as yourself, to look at. If you have prepared your playroom with beauty in mind, if you provide them with a variety of beautiful books, interesting toys, artwork for both you and your child to enjoy, they are likely living in an environment of beauty as Montessori suggested.


8. Care of Environment

Similar to the opportunities for practical life I mentioned above, if you expect your child to keep their spaces clean and to (at least help) tidy up after themselves when they play or complete an activity, you are including an important part of the Montessori work cycle.

Children are naturally drawn to order and are more capable than we realize when it comes to caring for and being aware of the environment around them.

If you organize the playroom in a way that makes it possible for your child to independently tidy, providing them with the routines and the materials needed to complete tasks, such as a child-sized broom for inevitable messes, and if you work with them, respectfully expecting them to contribute to tidy up as they are perfectly capable of doing, you're hitting a huge Montessori mark, once again.


9. Allow Mistakes

Every parent knows the agony of watching a child struggling with a simple task like getting socks on, pushing a chair up to the table, walking with a glass of water.

But if you allow your child to complete these tasks, allowing them the freedom to possibly make a mistake, within reasonable parameters, you are providing the freedom inherent to Montessori childhood development.

According to Montessori, children need to carry out work for themselves, including the freedom necessary to make mistakes or struggle to achieve a goal, as this is the only way children can reach developmental needs and learn new skills.

A child must carry out his work for himself - no one can bear a child's burden and grow up in his stead - Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood

10. Freedom Within Limits

Incorporating many of the aspects I already mentioned above, such as the prepared environment, respect for concentration, and an understanding of how children can learn to care for their environment, Montessori emphasized the child's need to have freedom within limits.

This means the freedom to choose what they want to work with, where they want to work with it, and the freedom to move when necessary.

If you give your child time as often as possible to just play in your home, preferably in an environment prepared for that child's needs, and respect their concentration when they are immersed in playing or working with a material, not interrupting or interfering with their play (that's right, don't be afraid to let them play on their own without you!) this is a component of freedom within limits and a big part of Montessori.

So are you more Montessori than you realized? Are there any important aspects of Montessori you feel I have missed?

Let me know, I would love to hear from you!

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me. I would also love to hear any suggestions for posts you would like me to write about. And if you are interested in following along in our daily adventures, follow us on Instagram where I post daily.



God bless,
Olivia Fischer