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!  :)

a little tour: our calendar routine

March marks our sixth month of incorporating calendar activities into our daily routine, so I thought it was high time I shared a little about it with all of you here on itty bitty love!  

A calendar can be useful for...

• supporting an understanding of the passage of time; 
• introducing vocabulary like days of the week, phases of the moon, etc;
• encouraging an appreciation of seasons;
• making scientific observations of things like moon cycles and weather patterns;
• providing the opportunity to count, everyday!  

Nuts & bolts:

• I found a lot of inspiration for our calendar on the Counting Coconuts blog - please check out Mari-Ann's calender post if you haven't already. She also shares several free date card sets to download and print.
• Our calendar is attached to a cork board with push pins.  The background for the date cards and days of the week is a piece of poster board.  I used a black marker to draw a grid of 2" x 2" squares, leaving a little room at the top for the days of the week.
• The month, days of the week, year, and season cards are color coded by season - winter is blue, spring is green, summer is yellow, and fall is red.  When the season changes, I change these cards.
• Each month, Elise and I make a new set of date cards.  Since our squares are small, I've found that a lot of the downloadable cards are too big.  Instead, I cut them from card stock, write the number in the corner with a marker, and give Elise a sheet of seasonal stickers for decorating.  This month, she adorned them with dabs of paint!
• We mark the date by hanging a little necklace charm (a bird on one side, a bee on the other - my good luck charm while pregnant with Elise!) on that day's push pin.  
• The phases of the moon cards are from Montessori Print Shop.*
• The weather cards are from learn create love.*
• The cards that aren't in use are held together with metal rings, and hang from hooks attached to the bottom of the cork board.  They're almost like little books, and I love that they're available for Elise to look at whenever she wants!

*  In case you're wondering, I don't have a color printer.  Instead, I uploaded the phases of the moon and weather cards to a local print shop, and then picked them up the next day - easy peasy!

Our routine:

We generally do our calendar routine around breakfast time, when we're talking about our day and the upcoming week.  If we miss doing the calendar together for some reason, I don't sweat it, but instead try to keep it up-to-date on my own since it's part of our environment.

• First, we point and sing to the days of the week - in Spanish or in English - to the tune of "Oh, My Darling Clementine."  When we get to whatever day of the week it is, we pause, then jump up and down, waving our arms around, saying the name of the day.  ~ Sunday, Monday, Tuesday - Tuesday?  Today is Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday!, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday (repeat 2x) 
• Next, we point and count the date cards - in Spanish or in English - moving the charm over one space to the new day.  At this point, I say the whole date, pointing to the calendar, and Elise chimes in here and there.  ~ Today is Tuesday, the third day of March, and the year is 2015. ~ 
• Then, we chitchat about the season, the weather, and the moon.  We change the weather cards throughout the day.  For example, we might hang the sunny card in the morning, and then later add the windy card after returning home from a breezy walk.  We also change the moon cards as we observe the current phase of the moon - we try to check at night before bedtime.  The first quarter moon is easy to spot because it rises at noon!  Another little trick we've learned is that if you can "hold" the moon in your right hand, it's getting bigger (waxing); if you can "hold" it in your left hand, it's getting smaller (waning).

Elise participates in all calendar duties, including taking down the old date cards and hanging up the new ones.  I really enjoy watching her concept of the passage of time develop.  Last month we had a birthday party to look forward to, and Elise eagerly ran to her calendar each morning to count down the days.  

In the beginning, I wasn't sure about incorporating the phases of the moon and the weather, but Elise enjoys these two calendar features immensely - and they have really sharpened her observational skills.  One of my favorite moments was on a family bike ride last fall.  We were cruising along when suddenly Elise exclaimed, "Look!  A waxing gibbous!"  Hubs turned to me and said, "Did she just say waxing gibbous?"  As we watched Elise reach up to cup the outline of the moon in her right hand, I replied, "Yes, and it looks like she knows what she's talking about!"   

a little tour: e's art area

I'd been wanting to set up a place for Elise to work on art in our house for awhile, so when I found this small rack and table at a garage sale, I cheered(!) and talked Hubs into carrying them four blocks back to our house.  I mean, really, how often do you find nice, child-sized pieces of furniture at garage sales?!  The table is a little tall for sitting at, but it's just the right height for standing, which is how Elise seems to prefer to work lately anyway.

the art shelf:

I've always debated whether it's better to set up actual art lessons, or just offer a variety of art materials for children to use as they please.  I ended up going with "lessons," since this is Elise's first time using these materials.

the art lessons:

sculpting with gingerbread play dough

Get the recipe here.  This lesson includes a rolling pin, biscuit cutter, and buttons in a tin.  The mat is a remnant of marine vinyl from a craft store.

drawing with crayons

I really appreciate the way these egg-shaped crayons encourage Elise to use a pincer-grip.  I purchased them here.  These are some very well loved crayons - minus the missing red egg!

sticking dots onto a blank card

I've seen this dot sticker activity on several Montessori blogs, so I thought Elise might like to give it a try.  Picking up the stickers is definitely strengthening her fine motor control!  I'm setting aside the decorated cards to use as thank yous for Christmas gifts.

all the art activities, in action  ;)

a little tour: e's coat rack

Help me to do it all by myself!  One of the first principals I learned in my Montessori training was to picture these words written across the forehead of each child.  Although this was easy for me as a teacher, it's much harder for me to remember these words as a mama.  It's clear how satisfying it is for my 15-month old to do things all by herself, but I continually catch myself doing things for her.

"Everyone knows that it requires much more time and patience to teach a child how to eat, wash, and clothe himself than it does to feed, bathe, and clothe him by oneself.  The one who does the former is an educator, the latter performs the lower office of a servant."  Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child

I admit that one of the reasons I do things for Elise is because it's easier and faster, but it's also because she's my baby and I like doing things for her! Keeping all this in mind, I've been trying to put my energy and love into creating more spaces like the one pictured above for Elise.  A row of hooks hung at her height and a low stool create a perfect spot by the backdoor to practice getting dressed to go outside.  It also shows Elise that she is an important part of the family, and that someday soon she will be doing this task independently!

How do you support your child's independence?  Please share in the comments!

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