Montessori Simplified: Preparing the Environment

As I begin to set up the spaces in our new home and prepare the environment for my children, I am considering the principles for preparing the environment from a Montessori perspective.

While reading the Secret of Childhood, I was really moved by the importance of considering our children when preparing our homes from this excerpt:

Suppose that we should find ourselves among a race of giants, with legs immensely long and bodies enormously large in comparison with ours, and also with powers of rapid movement infinitely greater than ours, people extraordinarily agile and intelligent compared with ourselves.

We should want to go into their houses … the steps would be each as high as our needs; we should want to sit down, but the seats would be almost as high as our shoulders. 

If we knew that these giants had been expecting us, we should be obliged to say: they have made no preparation for receiving us, or for making our lives among them more agreeable.

Maria Montessori taught that the first aim of the prepared environment should be, wherever possible to render the child independent of the adult. Can they work in the space, finding everything they need with little to no assistance if they so desire? Are things placed at their level? Do they have the materials and direction necessary to clean up after themselves?

• Provide them with stool, so they may reach the sink for hand washing
• Have a water source accessible so they may get themselves a drink of water when they are thirsty, as well as a towel for wiping up inevitable messes
• Use a floor bed rather than a crib so children may get up, as well as put themselves into their beds, when they need to
• Give access to their own clothing, as well as hooks, laundry baskets, and stools (when necessary) for them to dress, and undress, themselves
• Have child-sized cleaning items, a spray bottle with a gentle cleaner, rags for wiping a spill

Along with independence, the prepared environment is meant to appeal to and meet the child where they are at in their developmental journey. Does your child have opportunities to work with activities that are engaging to them? Does your child have materials available to master new skills? Do you give your child the freedom and time to work, even with materials that were not specifically prepared for them, such as with a zipper on a jacket?

• Have work out on shelves, or displayed in some other way, that is accessible for the child to choose for themselves 
• Set up a shelf, Montessori style
• Observe your child's interests and needs, and do your best to provide activities and works that can help them meet these needs
• Allow your child freedom, and time, each day to work without interruption if they so desire

Another consideration for the prepared environment is the beauty of the space. Does the space call to the child? Are their work and materials displayed in a way that is pleasing to look at, and so, pleasing to return to order? Does everything have a place?

• Place artwork at your child's level so they may enjoy the beauty of it
• Leave empty space around items and materials on shelves, and on the floor
• Group work and materials together in a way that makes it easy to transport to a work space, such as in a bowl, basket or on a tray
• Making the space comfortable with carpets and furniture for sitting at, laying on, or otherwise comfortably using the space
• Adding a plant, nature finds, or other natural elements to the space

One last thought I had was that, although we should provide spaces which are just for them, such as a play room and their own bedrooms, we need to also be thinking of them in the communal family spaces of our homes.

Perhaps you may choose to keep a specific room of the house as an adult space, such as your own bedroom, a special sitting room, or an office, but in the rest of the home, would you be able to stand back, as your child, and feel completely comfortable and welcome in your home?

This can be as simple as storing some books in a basket in the living room, installing coat hooks low enough for your child to reach in the entryway, placing a few of their own dishes in a lower cup board or drawer in the kitchen, hanging a mirror at your child's level in the bathroom.

Thank you for reading! For more posts in my simplifying Montessori series: The Beginning of Normalization | Following The Child | The Work Cycle | The Value of Concentration | Obedience and Self-Discipline

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me. And if you are interested in following along in our daily adventures, follow us on Instagram where I post daily.

God bless,
Olivia Fischer