Does your child favor your spouse over you?

Toddlers and preschoolers go through phases when they play favorites with their parents. Indeed, as teachers embracing the Montessori Method, we see and hear your children's interactions with peers and adults daily. There are ways to ensure positive behaviors from our toddlers and preschoolers who may love one of us over the other. Let's first get a handle on why this happens.

• Practice scooping, pouring, and filling containers:
  • Your child can practice this in the sandbox, bathtub, or with food. Anything that requires scooping and getting something to go to a specific destination is good practice to help your toddler prepare to use utensils. Consider working with uncooked rice or cereal. Scoop it up with a spoon and pour it into muffin cups or ice trays. 

One of the things I’ve realized as a Montessori teacher and mom is how easy it is to transform what children learn in class to how that transfers at home. With just a few adjustments, we’ve given the children everything they need to be a participant at home. They feel as though they have a role to play in their sphere when they can participate. By creating ‘child size’ spots in the kitchen, children will have their place to get their dishes—and to place their dirty dishes. They find pride in caring for their space.

From birth through the first 3 years, humans experience the most profound and dramatic development of life! The infant develops starting from the head down.  A process called melanization occurs that connects the child's body and promotes movement starting from the head first and ending at the feet. This is apparent in the first few months when we see the child holding up their head when placed on their tummies on a flat surface. Within a short time, the child goes from the ability to move their head, to rolling over, standing up, walking, and speaking.

The first few weeks of Montessori preschool are always a time of adjustment and many students (and parents) feel a sense of separation anxiety which is perfectly normal. Separation anxiety is often caused by fear of the unknown when it comes to a new situation or it can relate to something that is happening at home or to something that the child has just experienced before arriving at school.

Tantrums are a part of the growing process in a toddler’s life. All parents go through it, some more than others. Tantrums are a way of indicating frustration or anger that the toddler is experiencing but can’t fully express. The problem with tantrums is that if as a parent you give in, they become a common occurrence. This is especially so in the case of tantrums which involve lots of kicking, hitting, biting, and other such behavior that could injure the parent, the toddler, or an onlooker.

I would like to explain how we see art in a Montessori classroom.

            First of all, in a Montessori classroom, we emphasize the process of creating art versus the product.  This means that children should be encouraged to explore and experiment with a variety of art mediums without being made to feel that they should complete a specific project that looks a certain way.  That is why most Montessori classrooms have an art shelf that has materials available on a daily basis that allow children to practice cutting, coloring, gluing, etc.  

A big part of the Toddler's work at this time of year is spent on socialization. We continue to work on our listening and verbal skills, controlling our impulses, helping each other, and cooperation. During this period of development, the children are beginning to learn how to resolve conflicts with each other. We attempt to provide them with the tools and then observe to see whether or not they can resolve their conflicts.

This month, we have been focusing also on their ability to do things independently; dressing, putting shoes on, using the toilet, serving their water, and snacks.