Misconceptions about Montessori: a thread

Montessori toys do not have to be wooden, and in fact a lot of them are not. The goal with Montessori is to teach practical skills with realistic tools. So for example the first photo is not a Montessori toy but the second one is!

Montessori also encourages kids to focus on *one* task at a time so those busy boards and busy cubes (first two photos) are not Montessori but the second one is!

Montessori also doesn’t allow for pretend play until (I think) age 5 or 6 so things like peg dolls aren’t Montessori but they do align more with Waldorf!

In summary, your Montessori activity should highlight on practical life skills with realistic objects focusing on *one* skill at a time!

Oh and full disclosure it took me a hot second to learn this because I too also thought that Montessori basically meant wooden toy and that busy boards were Montessori lol

I want to add to this thread that modeling how and encouraging kids to do things like help with laundry, sweep the floor, prep with dinner, get dressed themselves are also all Montessori activities. I would argue more so than just giving them a toy to use

This is a fantastic example of a Montessori activity https://twitter.com/wildmotherhood_/status/1321828094064418816">https://twitter.com/wildmothe...

Just https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👏🏾" title="Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)"> because https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👏🏾" title="Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)"> a https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👏🏾" title="Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)"> toy https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👏🏾" title="Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)"> is https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👏🏾" title="Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)"> wooden https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👏🏾" title="Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)"> doesn’t https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👏🏾" title="Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)"> mean https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👏🏾" title="Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)"> it https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👏🏾" title="Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)"> is https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👏🏾" title="Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Applaus-Zeichen (durchschnittlich dunkler Hautton)"> Montessori

I also want to STRESS Montessori doesn’t even allow to pretend play prior to 5 or 6 years so ANY “toy” that you get your child to play with before then is immediately not Montessori.

You can give them Montessori activities to do that are still fun but toys that encourage pretend play do not align with the Montessori philosophy

Age appropriate Montessori activity for age 6 month+: Life skill, dressing.

This was the age we started encouraging Aubrey to dress herself by letting her pick out her diaper and outfits!

Age appropriate Montessori activity for ages 12+ months: Life skill, gardening.

Aubrey LOVED to water our plants when we had them out.

Age appropriate Montessori activity for walking babies: life skill, dressing

When Aubrey started walking we took the shelves out of this cabinet, put a nightlight with a switch inside as well as a tension rod and turned it into a functional and accessible closet for her

Age appropriate Montessori activity for ages 15ish months +: life skill, cleaning

We keep washcloths around everywhere so that anytime makes a spill she can clean it up!

Age appropriate Montessori activity for walking babies: life skill, laundry

This one takes some practice because their instinct is to take things out not put things in https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤣" title="Lachend auf dem Boden rollen" aria-label="Emoji: Lachend auf dem Boden rollen"> but it didn’t take her long to get the hang of it