I’m not sure when I first came across Maria Montessori and her education approach but it was long before I had my little boy. I imagine it was through my auntie as she’s always had a keen interest in various education methods.
I thought it seemed a very natural and intuitive approach to learning and life and knew that once I had my own children I’d be keen to implement some of the methods into our everyday life.
Since my little boy was born I’ve started to read more and more about the Montessori way of life, along with other education methods. A lot of what I do with X is inspired by Maria Montessori. We don’t follow everything but we take what works for us.
I’d like to write more about the recent interest I’ve taken into education and more about how we implement Montessori into our home life but that will come in another post.
There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to Montessori education. But for those of you who are new to it, Montessori focuses on encouraging independence, freedom within limits and respect for a child’s natural psychological, physical and social development.
The idea is that children learn best by doing and this helps to cultivate happy, confident and self-motivated individuals.
As I mentioned, there’s a lot more to it. If you’re interested in reading more about Maria Montessori and her education method then there are lots of brilliant books out there. I’m currently reading The Montessori Toddler by Simone Davies which I highly rate for anyone with small children or who simply want to learn more about the Montessori way of life.
5 Maria Montessori quotes that encourage independence in children.
“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed”
“Play is the work for the child”
“Help me to do it myself”
“What the hand does the mind remembers”
“Let the child be free; encourage them; let them run outside when it is raining, let them remove their shoes when they find a puddle of water. The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child’s own desire to learn”