Montessori Learning at Home

We have started to recently incorporate some of the Montessori techniques in our home. Today was the first day with the girls sitting at their own table, setting their plates and cups and cleaning up after themselves. It has been a long day of teaching! But I can see how beneficial this will be for them already. They love having their own special cupboard with new plates and bowls. And of course, they really enjoy pouring their own water from the pitchers! In about a month we will introduce some other routines until they know this one well enough without as much instruction.

Structured Learning Activities with a Young Toddler

Recently, I've begun implementing structured learning activities into our day for Peanut. Although she is just over 16 months old, I can already see the benefit these early learning sessions will have! We plan on homeschooling, so getting into a routine of daily learning will also be really helpful when she starts more formal preschool studies.

When I first started researching homeschooling, I thought for sure that I would not have to worry about it until she was at least 3. But the more I learned about early learning and the more I watched her develop and grow, I decided to start doing structured activities with her, even if just for 15 or 30 minutes a day. The great thing is that she has fun and is learning without even realizing it!

I've been able to find quite a few free young toddler curriculum online, and so far we have been following Pam's House Young Toddler Curriculum. I love how flexible it is and how you can just pick and choose what you want to do. I also love the Christian teachings included. Since Peanut is still fairly young and not really talking, I can just repeat lessons a few times if I need to. This is going to come in handy when I am busy taking care of a newborn at the same time. These lessons are structured so that you can quickly start and stop different activities if needed. I borrow books for the week from the library, and am working on getting our "school" supplies stocked so I can more easily do projects that involve things like construction paper, glue sticks basic craft supplies or crayons.

If you're interested in teaching babies and toddlers, here are a few more links I found that were helpful:

Infant and Toddler Lesson Planning Ideas

Toddler Curriculum

Children's Songs with Lyrics

Sample of Bible Study Concepts for Toddlers

I Can Teach my Child: 1-2 Years