a little Monty...

I'm always aiming to improve the life my littlies have at home, and I do this by listening, learning, Pinterest-ing, reading, experimenting and asking.

The closest Montessori preschool to where we live didn't appeal when I was checking out ECE options for my older son, it just felt too much like a business than a centre for learning and nurturing.  Call me what you will, but with the 3yo I have to make these decisions carefully because he is wired to be more sensitive than the average kidlet, and if we do things like rushing him, raising my voice in frustration, giving consequences which don't entirely make sense etc etc etc, we risk 'losing' him for an hour or four.  Just to put things in perspective.

The 3yo currently attends a preschool 2 days a week, and it seems to suit his needs and provide more socialising and stimulation than I can provide at home.  I'm constantly looking for new and better ways to do things at home to encourage learning independence, and feeling like he has a special role in our home, so I'm trying a few Montessori-type methods I've seen recently and introducing them slowly to our daily life.

The first step was to clear out our kid-plastics drawer and make it a special place for the two boys to have their eating tools in one place.  I got a bit of an idea from the blog 'how we montessori' and went from there.
Here's our drawer at the moment:

a plate, bowl, cup, fork and spoon for each child, and when they haven't been relocated by the 1yo, a couple of cloths for them to dry dishes or mop up spills.  We'll try for a couple of weeks and see how it goes, but I have to admit - the space provides so much order and peace!  And it makes sense!  I'd love to have glasses and earthenware plates but we have concrete-hard ceramic tiles... need I say more?!