Less Stuff, More Adventure by Michele Aspinall "Let the children be free; encourage them; let them run outside when it is raining; let them remove their shoes when they find a puddle of water; and, when the grass of the meadows is damp with dew, let them run on it and trample it with their bare feet; let them rest peacefully when a tree invites them to sleep beneath its shade; let them shout... READ MORE

 "As soon as children find something that interests them, they lose their instability and learn to concentrate." Maria Montessori.   Children can independently work and play when provided with the right tools within an environment that suits their developmental needs as young as infancy. This is precisely why Montessori stressed the importance of a prepared environment. While you don't have to recreate your child's classroom in your own home, there are, as with discipline, many... READ MORE

Montessori articulates in The Montessori Method, "...man still belongs to nature, and especially when he is a child, he...draws from it the forces necessary to the development of the body and the spirit. We have intimate communications with nature which have an influence, even a material influence, on the growth of the body...".  A window box, a barrel, or a small, raised garden will do just fine. You also need not have a green thumb yourself... READ MORE

“The children of three years of age in the ‘Children’s Houses’ learn and carry out such work as sweeping, dusting, making things tidy, setting the table for meals, waiting at table, washing the dishes, etc., and at the same time, they learn to attend to their own personal needs, to wash themselves, to take showers, to comb their hair, to take a bath, to dress and undress themselves, to hang up their clothes in the... READ MORE