What’s up with the trays? The first thing you will probably notice about a Montessori-inspired home or Montessori classroom is the TRAYS. In our home, I use whatever is available – wooden trays, wooden bowls, woven baskets, plastics serving dishes, etc – usually picked up at a consignment shop like Goodwill.
I didn’t really understand the purpose of the trays until my three-year old had friends over who pulled everything off our shelves and threw things on the floor. We actually didn’t mind but Boaz busily put everything back into their correct places. Order and placement is ingrained into his habits and nature.
His learning experience begins when he enters the room. How are things organized? How are they grouped together? The next challenge – can he pick up the tray with the activity and carry to his table or the floor to play? This requires balance, coordination, and focus. When he’s done, can he put it back without dropping it before getting a new activity? Again – focus, attention, patience.
Don’t give up before they start! At first, they may throw things on the floor. After awhile they understand the process. And this process – organizing toys and activities on shelves with trays or other containers – makes clean up quicker! It also promotes continual learning development from the minute they enter the room. That’s why we love Montessori trays!
Here’s a video of our baby’s room that is organized and decorated based on the Montessori philosophy. Check out the YouTube video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROs3QIeB998. Don’t laugh! I’m not good at making movies and I kind of ramble. 🙂
Our one year old attends a Montessori school, although he’s only in the infant room. Even in the infant room you can see the focus on order, simplicity, and independence. He seems happy and we like the teachers. I understand that each Montessori school can be different based on the Head of the School and how they decide to run things. I think it’s important to like the folks who are in charge since they can determine the learning atmosphere and choose the teachers. To learn more, I attended a few evening classes about expanding the Montessori philosophy into the home. I also read Montessori Play and Learn: A Parents Guide to Purposeful Play From Two to Six by Lesley Britton. Based on my limited study and neophyte knowledge on the subject, the main ideas as I see them are providing children with the opportunity to learn through play, promoting independence, and demonstrating through example a love of learning. In a Montessori classroom, children can move through curriculum at their own pace and they learn from older students. There are no rows of desks like most of us remember from school. Children choose their workspace and they may use a mat or table.
Based on these ideas, I set up our baby (almost toddler room) with a colorful mat in the center of the floor to focus his attention. Even though he moves all over the room, I lay out new toys for him to play with on the mat. I spent ALOT of time de-cluttering the room. This took several attempts. Eventually I cleared out the closet and put all the toys in the closet. Then, I pick a few things and displayed them on the empty bookshelf in an organized and easy to access way. All the book were also put in the closet. The books that I put out stand upright so that the covers are showing. I use baskets to group toys together, which is very common in the classroom. I put pictures at floor level and put out pictures of family. There is also a plant in the room to bring nature into the home.
Based on these ideas, I set up our baby (almost toddler room) with a colorful mat in the center of the floor to focus his attention. Even though he moves all over the room, I lay out new toys for him to play with on the mat. I spent ALOT of time de-cluttering the room. This took several attempts. Eventually I cleared out the closet and put all the toys in the closet. Then, I pick a few things and displayed them on the empty bookshelf in an organized and easy to access way. All the book were also put in the closet. The books that I put out stand upright so that the covers are showing. I use baskets to group toys together, which is very common in the classroom. I put pictures at floor level and put out pictures of family. There is also a plant in the room based on the idea of bringing nature into the room.
I think the room still needs work. I would like to add some artwork, more family pictures and more plants. I know that some parents don’t use a crib to encourage independence but I think we’ll wait on that. I will eventually add hooks on the walls or clothes baskets for him to put clothes for the next day. Hopefully he’ll learn to get up and get dressed on his own as soon as possible. I also want to get a stool or string to let him turn the light on and off. It’s a learning process for us both. It also takes time to continue to change the room and rotate toys every two weeks or so. I think, however, that the organized and uncluttered room is much better for him in the long run. Looking forward to hearing some other ideas! 😉
Forcing the Bloom 