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Montessori "lessons" look shockingly different for toddlers than they do for preschool-aged children.

There is no need to make things complicated. In fact, the more complicated and rigid your lesson, the more likely your toddler is to run away, shout "No!", make a huge mess, or to just outright do the opposite of what you had intended for her to do!

When working with little toddlers, it pays to understand their developmental stage.

In this episode, I read a letter from a frustrated and bewildered mama and give you some parenting tips to help you gain a more realistic expectation of the abilities of these indepependent, capable, and incredibly different little beings.

The Montessori Magic I bring you comes from Maria herself, a reading from The Absorbent Mind. She has such a sweet story to share about a walking toddler!

Come join me as we find the calm and help our children learn and grow.

Montessori Parenting Tips

• It’s important to remember that young toddler lessons (0-3) lessons are very different from primary (3-6) lessons.

• Maria Montessori taught us about the planes of development.

• You might be interested in reading the section in The Absorbent Mind, Chapter: The Periods of Growth where Maria describes the changing nature of the child’s development.

• The first subphase in the first plane of development is birth to three, and the second is from three to six.

• Read these tips for giving a Montessori lesson to an older child.

• For your toddler…

  • First, focus on briefly modeling the activity.

  • Make sure it is a one-step process, simple enough to do without a lot of instruction.

  • Check to see that it is perfectly developmentally appropriate

  • Give the lesson in a cultivated environment where sensory exploration is encouraged.

• Maria Montessori’s story about the two year old taking a walk is in The Absorbent Mind. It’s a sweet one!