It’s a Montessori Life with Rachel
Meet Rachel, a Montessori parent of two from Seattle, United States. Rachel is an alumni of the Homeschool: Primary program and Constellation.
Introduce yourself!
I live with my husband and daughters, Charlotte and Eleanor (or Ellie), in the breathtakingly beautiful Pacific Northwest.
We love spending time outdoors, reading, working together in the kitchen and enjoying time together at home and on adventures.
We moved to Seattle from Brooklyn, New York where my older daughter was a baby and toddler and started our Montessori journey in a small Brooklyn brownstone walk-up apartment where it began so much more about the mentality than the perfect shelf (we didn’t even have one) or prepared work / trays.
While sometimes our house feels otherwise, we try to be minimalist in terms of how much is out at one time. We also strive to create a family culture that makes our girls feel like they are valued participants in our household and we welcome their curiosity, interest in participating, and want them to know how much we appreciate them and believe in their abilities. If you walked in our front door, you would know our house has been intentionally set-up / prepared to promote independence and allow our girls to have access to anything they might need in the house.
What’s a typical day like?
Our rhythm and routine have evolved over the past few years. From the start of the pandemic to summer of 2020, both girls were home exclusively. We thought about full-time homeschooling but felt our older daughter really enjoyed and benefited from some time at half-day preschool that was heavy on play and outdoors.
Our younger daughter, Ellie, remained home with me, and we had slow mornings of toddler-led walks, time to do food prep, other fine motor work she was drawn to, and time to practice things like the coat flip and, of course, lots of cuddles, books, and songs.
Then we had another shift to our routine this year when we decided to have our older go to kindergarten at our neighborhood school and our younger go to half-day preschool. We had attempted to send them both to Montessori primary; however, for logistical reasons, it just didn’t work. I was sad and worried that we wouldn’t be able to give our girls a Montessori education. Instead I took Child of the Redwoods Primary and really leaned into learning more and re-thinking the hours my girls are home.
Currently our girls wake up EARLY (5:30-6am!). They get up with Dad and have a bit of iPad time to watch from a curated list of content. Then our younger, Ellie, usually goes into the kitchen to help Dad make breakfast. We eat breakfast, and then Mom or Dad ask if they want outfit choices or what to pick themselves. If they want them, we lay out two outfits on their floor/bed for them to choose from. We assist, if they need or want it, as they get dressed, use the bathroom, brush teeth and hair.
If there is time before leaving for school they will sometimes do a mini work cycle or ask to read books or do a puzzle. As long as it’s not torrential rain (we have a high tolerance for rain in the Pacific Northwest (PNW)) we walk Charlotte to school. Both girls walk. While we walk we notice the signs (sounds, sights, smells) of the season, play red-light-green light or I-Spy. The walk is almost a mile.
Then I drive my younger daughter to school and come home to work. I started working part-time in September. I pick up my younger, and when we get home, we usually sit to have some extra lunch (they eat early at school), and then I often ask if she would like a lesson and give her a presentation of a new work, or she does some shelf work on her own.
We pick up Charlotte and they have one more period of iPad time for some quiet time. Then the girls help get their snack from our accessible pantry and fridge items. They are fans of the “Snacktivity,” and often we involve food prep in making snacks (making and pouring tea/ coco/warm milk, spreading, dipping or cutting).
If the weather is tolerable, we head outside to play in the backyard, go on a neighborhood child-led walk (sometimes to collect leaves, rocks, flowers, or go on a Mom-made scavenger hunt), or ride bikes, scooters, etc. If we stay inside they go back and forth between realistic pretend play, shelf-work (a part of together), me giving presentations to one or both, or doing activities I’ve set-up as an invitation.
Then we begin dinner prep and usually one or both girls wants to help. We work to prepare dinner and set the table, then we eat as a family. Then it’s bath (some days), PJs, teeth, books, snuggles, and songs.
What experiences do YOU love to share with your children?
I love spending time with my girls outdoors amongst the trees, mountains, water (hiking, gardening). I also really enjoy cooking and baking with them and creating memories together in the kitchen - just like I did with my mom.
My husband and I love to travel and even lived in London, England before Charlotte was born, so I really want to share traveling with my girls. I want them to learn first hand about different people, cultures and places. I also want them to have a deep connection to nature and time to be kids and build a strong bond as sisters and with us.
What do you children like to do?
Food prep, practical life (indoors and out) gardening, fine motor work, Montessori color beads and math work, the pink towers and red and blue rods, puzzles, read books, play pretend, spend time with family and friends, play outside, go on family trips.
What’s something your children did recently that you're proud of?
Recently, Charlotte sewed her own pillow with a sharp actual needle for the first time - after working her way from chunky beads, to lacing cards, and blunt embroidery needles. Another would be how she recently made a PB & J - start to finish on her own. She was sooooo proud.
She has also recently really started to read. It’s incredible to witness!! Ellie has become so interested in numbers and counting and recently was ready to learn to skip count by fives and is learning static addition! She also has recently learned to crack an egg all by herself (usually without any shell getting in). It’s been a process.
Why Montessori?
Everything! I have absolutely fallen in love with everything about Montessori, and only wish I had the understanding I have now (I’m still learning) from birth with my older. I love at its core the respect given to children from birth and how they are seen as capable people through the toddler preschool years and beyond. I love the emphasis on choice in the work that calls to them and in freedom of movement in their environment. I love the idea of the prepared environment and being a prepared adult myself. I love how Montessori fits both at home and in a classroom even if they look a little different.
Montessori materials themselves are amazing, and it’s incredible how they all build on one another or allow for such a natural progression and how they instinctively call to children and meet their developmental desires and interests. There’s no other method - especially in the birth to early elementary age - that views children as being so capable and provides for them to independently do anything they feel called to try.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out with Montessori?
Don’t worry about what you see on Instagram. Even as someone who now shares things on Instagram, I always try to be mindful to make sure that I reduce the need for people to feel like they must buy all of the materials or set things up in some perfect way.
Observe your child, observe your child, observe your child. What interests them? What are they drawn to? What skills are they trying to do? Then you can use Instagram or other resources and books to find activities that might meet their needs.
That said, children will find in their environment what they are called to and what they need to meet their needs. Less is more. Start with a few things, observe, see what they use, what they don’t use, and adjust. Spend lots of time outdoors and nature is a wonderful prepared environment for children. Involve them in daily life and remember Montessori is not about buying all the right things; it's about the mentality.
If you could time travel and meet Maria Montessori herself, what would you say to her?
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
You were a visionary and sooo ahead of your time! You were a groundbreaking thinker, researcher, and observer, and the method that you developed has stood the test of time and continues to help children thrive. I’m sorry that, at the time you lived, your thoughts, research, observation, and methods were not taken more seriously because you were a woman, and I wish they were more a part of the mainstream today.
I would also tell her that current neuro-research and educational research into early childhood confirms so many of the things she observed, thought, and understood about children.
What challenges are you currently facing with your children at home?
The balance of sometimes knowing one or both of them can do something yet they want help doing it. I have to remember Montessori does not mean independence at all costs, yet helping the child do so independently as much as they want.
The other challenge would be giving lessons / having space for materials for two different needs / kiddos at slightly different levels and deciding what materials are worth investing in for our part-time homeschooling to give them access to Montessori materials as they don’t go to Montessori schools.
What are your favorite Montessori materials or activities?
This is tough as there truly are so many amazing wonderful Montessori materials. I love many of the 0 to 3 materials, but as my girls are older, I’ll stick to those to narrow it down. I would say the pink tower/brown stair, math color beads (including the decanomial box for bead stair and snake game, bead chains for skip counting, etc), and the movable alphabet. If I would add more, I would say the knobbed cylinders, sandpaper numbers and letters and red and blue rods.
Tell us about your experiences with Child of the Redwoods?
I would highly recommend Homeschool of the Redwoods Primary and Constellation! As someone who does not happen to have any Montessori parent friends where I live, I found Constellation a wonderful place to connect with others and feel energized about Montessori with other people who also feel energized about it.
I learned so much in Homeschool of the Redwoods Primary and found that Constellation is a wonderful way to continue that learning, to ask questions from others and learn from others and share ideas. I feel it helps me to be a better prepared adult in order to do Montessori at home with my girls.
