a little tour: e and f's montessori-inspired bedroom

Check out the tour of Elise's Montessori-inspired baby nursery here.

A shared space for a big sis and a little sis to

sleep,

snuggle,

read,

relax,

and - of course -

  monkey around!

A big, cozy bed is just right for three-year-old Elise, who sleeps through the night

- with the exception of occasionally getting up to use the potty.

A thin mattress on the floor, alongside a large mirror, gives almost-two-month-old (!) Freya a clear view of her environment and encourages movement.  She takes one or two lovely 2-3 hour naps here during the day.  This is also where she sleeps at night, but not as independently - you'll often find me here, too, nursing, snuggling, and snoozing!

The yellow shelf is home to a basket of finger puppets, a rotating selection of books, cozy blankets, and a few other treasures.  Toys and homeschool materials can be found downstairs, where we spend most of our time.  While the chair feels big for the space, it is the perfect spot to nurse and read, so - for now - it stays.  The "closet" on the left is my favorite part of the room...

It's inspiration came from a Montessori Facebook group - a basic cube shelf with a board across the top.  Easy peasy!  Elise's baskets are pink and Freya's are green.

Each one is labeled - "shirts" and "pants" for Elise, and "baby clothes" and "diapers" for Freya.

Behind the curtain is a rack for hanging more clothes and a basket for laundry.  The top of the shelf is for sweaters.

The room's official closet would be nearly impossible for little people to use - a quirky, old-house feature that's just right for a book nook!

Thanks for coming on the tour,

 and happy Monday - hope your week is swell!  :)

e's new shelf: before & after

Oh, how I love a good before and after!  Those of you who have Montessori-inspired homes know tricky it can be to find child-sized, attractive shelving - especially those of us who live hundreds of miles from the nearest IKEA (452.67 miles for me - I checked).  When I found this top portion of a hutch on the side of the road for free a few days before Christmas, I nearly did cartwheels down the snowy sidewalk.  After dragging it home, Hubs tinkered with it a bit to make it more sturdy, I slapped on a few coats of cornmeal yellow paint, and - voila! - it's now quite possibly the coolest piece of furniture in our house!  

Hope you're all having a lovely week so far!  :)

a little tour: e in the living room

Our living room is definitely the heart of our home, the place where we spend most of our indoor time.  From the beginning, Hubs and I knew that we wanted it to be engaging for little people, as-well-as comfortable for us grown ups.  Now that Elise is older and more mobile, we have plans to rearrange.  Before we do that, here's a little peek at how we've had it set up during the first year of Elise's life. 

Where's all your furniture?  Yes, I know it looks a little empty, but when Elise was a few months old and laying on her back and belly, I wanted her to have an unobstructed view of the whole room.  Then, as she began to roll and scoot, all that open space allowed her plenty of freedom to practice her new moves.

The lower shelves of our bookcase have been designated for Elise's books and activities.  Before Elise was mobile, I took things off the shelf for her and she played with them in front of her mirror or on the rug.  As soon as she started rolling, this shelf was her top destination!  

I was going to get rid of our coffee table, but a good friend suggested that I move it against the wall instead.  I'm so glad I took her advice!  The coffee table ended up being one of the first places where Elise practiced pulling up and standing.  Lately, I've been putting a puzzle on top of the table for Elise to stand and take the pieces out of  - she loves doing this!  Underneath the table, there are baskets of diaper supplies, blankets, burp clothes, etc.

A few months ago, we set up a shelf for Elise on the other side of the room, too.  Arranging Elise's activities on shelves keeps everything orderly and appealing, and it's a snap to clean up because everything has its place.  Elise's sense of order is so strong, she notices immediately if something has been changed on one of the shelves.  Also, having the two shelves across the room from each other has really encouraged Elise to move!

Well, that's the tour - now I'm off to start rearranging.  I'm really excited because Hubs and I have decided to turn our tv room into a craft studio!  Woo hoo!!!  

a little tour: e's montessori nursery

Welcome to Elise's bedroom!  Before she was born, Hubs and I spent a lot of time in this room.  We sat on the floor imagining what our baby was going to be like, and how we could create a space that would meet his or her needs.  Since we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl, we wanted to keep it neutral.  We also knew we wanted it to have a Montessori influence.  We decided on child-sized furniture, natural materials, low-hanging pictures, a floor bed, etc - things that would be inviting to a small child and encourage movement.  Anyway, here are the results!  It is so much fun for us to see Elise thriving in this space!

Elise has been sleeping on her floor bed at night and for naps since she was twelve weeks old.  Before that, she sleep in a bassinet, or with me on the couch.  :)  Having a floor bed has really worked out well for our family, and I plan on posting more about our experience soon! 

mattress:  sultan florvag (ikea)
rug:  wool tufted rug (world market)
mirror:  old - hubs attached it to the wall with trim.  
wall decor: left to right happy garden embroidery pattern (little dear), fox decal (wee gallery), art cards (wee gallery), bird print (christine sutton)
mobile:  mobile hanger (michael olaf), dream catcher (gift)
shelf:  unfinished wooden crate (joann fabric and craft store)
knitted hedgehogs:  smith pattern (ysolda teague) 

Elise's room is upstairs, and when she wakes up from a nap we can hear her through the ceiling, crawling to either her shelf or her closet!  She rarely wakes up crying - we end up going upstairs because we want to see her, not because she needs us.

curtain: you can barely see it, but my mom and I made it from redwork renaissance fabric (moda)
wall decor:  woodland wall graphics and art cards (wee gallery)
chair:  old - friends of my parents made it for me when I was a little babe
closet: we bought and installed closet organizing hardware from lowe's, and adjusted it to child-level
laundry basket: old - something similar (montessori services)
shelf:  martha stewart cube organizer (home depot) - hubs attached a piece of white beadboard to the back
mobile:  hot air balloons (flensted mobiles), purchased at The Livingston Kite Company

Oh, Elise and I have spent many an hour in that chair!  I wasn't sure I wanted to put a such a monster of a chair in her room, but it has really been nice for nursing, snuggling, and reading books. Eventually it will go somewhere else in the house, and then this corner will evolve into a new space.

chair: blain (best home furnishings - storytime series), purchased at Bibs and Binkies
side-table: old - an awesome garage sale freebie
sailboat painting: a christine sutton original 

Inspiring Montessori bedrooms:

• Finn (mama liberated)
• Otis (how we montessori)
• Baby J (montessori beginnings)
• Henry (feeding the soil)
• Tristan (gray likes baby)
• Roo (louiseallana)
• Miloh (smonk you)
• Montessori ici

yeah, snack!

After hemming and hawing
{for the past several months}
I finally gave our snack area an upgrade.

Check out the before photos here.

after...

This morning, in addition to the snack, I set out 3 tubs...
{one for washing, one for rinsing, and one for drying}

The children have always been able
to help themselves to a snack during the work period
{the numeral cards tell them how much to take}

and now, they're able to wash their own dishes, too!
{How independent!}

Finally! A real purpose for the soap suds!
{This lesson was off the hook today, by the way.}

psst! our red lines have something to say...

The red line says,
"Stop, don't go over me!"

This is good to know when you're wondering how full to fill a pitcher...

or a bowl...

or even where to stand when you're
waiting to use the bathroom.

It's consistent, it's obvious,
it's only red tape...

BUT suddenly you're so
independent!

1st day of school...

I am too tired to write much... but, I just have to say,
it was good
really, really good.

I took these photos of the classroom
before I went home for the day.
What a happy place!
Maybe it's the new yellow paint on the walls...
or the fact that it was finally filled
with busy, smiling friends again!

reading and eating

I've been thinking a lot about the prepared environment lately. In the Montessori classroom, we're always striving to create a space where the children can learn to become independent. Here's a glimpse of what goes through my head all day:
If I put this tray on that shelf, will they be able to lift it? Can they even see it?
The pink tower is chipped! How can I make it beautiful again?
Do child-sized snow shovels that aren't made of plastic and actually work exist?

I wanted to share a few snippets of our classroom environment with you. I have a few new ideas about incorporating language into the prepared environment - I'm imagining environmental print. I've gotten quite a few ideas from the write start. If you have any suggestions or opinions, do share!

Here's our snack set up:

Children can serve themselves a simple snack during the work period. They can eat at whatever time they choose, but only once. The snack is set on top of a low shelf. The bottom part of the shelf holds plates and cups (I need to find some glass cups - I like the ones Lisa uses!)

The children serve themselves the quantity that is on the card - they can either read the numeral or count the stars. As a control of error, there's just enough food for every child to eat once - if a child takes more than the quantity on the card, or eats twice, there won't be enough for everyone to have a snack.

When the children are finished,
they put their dirty dishes in this tub.

Okay, here's what I'm thinking:
**real glasses
**cloth napkins
**find a way for children to wash their own dishes (an independent pre-wash before they go in the dishwasher)

As for environmental print:
**a menu written on a white board
** table topics with pictures and print
**reading recipes off of cards

This is just a start! What do you do in your home/school?