Montessori in Our Home: Living, Loving and Learning as a Montessori Family

In celebration of Montessori Week, we are happy to share some thoughts about Montessori from members of our NAMC family. 

 Lisha —

When I consider the impact Montessori has had on my life, I think about how my one and half year old daughter waits until her daddy has taken his last bite of an apple so she can throw it in the compost bin. How she gets spoons and bowls in the morning for her and her sister to eat breakfast. How she gathers everyone’s shoes at the front door so we can head out for the day, and how her older sister contemplated for 5 minutes whether to play or clean toilets before heading to bed. I think of all these daily occurrences, and I cannot help but smile and think how fortunate I was to understand and implement the Montessori method with my daughters from the day they were born.

Celebrating Montessori Week - Montessori in Our Home 

I believe that the Montessori Method has helped make my wonderful daughters who they are today. They are self-confident, caring, lovable, independent, and helpful individuals.

When I see two year olds being carried, or three year olds being spoon fed by their parents, I feel sad for them. The parents believe they are truly being helpful, but in fact they are just doing the opposite. I remember speaking with a student who had just completed our Infant/Toddler program and she said to me that she thought it should be mandatory for every new parent to take our program. She told me how, as she was completing her program, a light went on for her. She realized that much of what she learned in her Montessori Infant/Toddler training was just common sense, if she really thought about it. However, she understood that you have to be guided to consider why and how the activities and methodology benefit children so greatly. Otherwise, you may not think to carry out such activities or know how to implement them effectively. She was excited to work with children in a Montessori environment, and she was only sorry that she had not learned about Montessori when her children were young.

I do feel grateful that I understood the value of Montessori so early in life, and that I had the opportunity to share my knowledge with my children. Montessori has enriched my life as a teacher, a tutor, an individual, and a parent.

As much as possible, NAMC’s web blog reflects the Montessori curriculum as provided in its teacher training programs. We realize and respect that Montessori schools are unique and may vary their schedules and offerings in accordance with the needs of their individual communities. We hope that our readers will find our articles useful and inspiring as a contribution to the global Montessori community.
© North American Montessori Center - originally posted in its entirety at Montessori Teacher Training on Wednesday, February 27, 2013.