I am honored to have Jae of Bella’s Casa share her ideas and inspiration for parents of young children in this post. She explains how to create an open and clutter-free environment, and how to empower children to be successful in keeping their toys and space tidy without constant power struggles, and battles over cleaning up routine.
Children…!
They might be little, but their stuff is EVERYWHERE!
In my home, I have used 5 Montessori magic steps to organize all my children’s stuff – outgrown clothes, school work, pictures, birthday gifts, kids’ meal toys, and all the other STUFF that is involved in children’s lives.
The Five Montessori Steps to Success
1. Limit the number
2. Basket, tray or bin
3. Rotate
4. Access
5. Order – A place for each thing and each thing in its place
1. Limit the number
• Young children truly enjoy an activity when it is limited in number. This allows them to really explore the toys and inspires creativity to work with them in different ways.
• Limiting the number of items in an activity also gives the child a better chance to put the activity away without any frustration or opposition.
• If a game or activity comes with lots of parts, only put out smallest number needed and put away the rest.
2. Basket, tray or bin
• Once you’ve limited the number of items in an activity, it’s time to place it in a self contained basket, tray or bin.
• Putting an activity on a tray or in a basket puts the focus and interest on the activity itself, not the packaging it came in.
• Easy to carry baskets, trays or bins makes it a breeze for children to clean up and put away!
3. Rotate
• Once you limit items in an activity, use storage bins to warehouse the extra pieces and parts.
• Now that the activities are limited you can rotate the contents regularly.
• Regular rotation keeps activities interesting to the child and keeps them engaged.
4. Access
• Homes with siblings can still have activities available for each child within the same space.
• Once the activities have been limited and kept in a tray, bin or basket, keep the older child’s activities in a place where only they can reach and keep the younger child’s materials lower to the ground.
• If your home doesn’t have ways in which to raise the activities of an older child, you can put their toys in a container that the younger child cannot open.
5.Order
• Once your child’s items are in smaller quantities and in easier to handle containers, it’s important to organize the space and determine where each activity will go. A place for everything and everything in its place.
• A child’s sense of order is strong and providing designated places for activities to be stored will be beneficial to their development and the consistency of putting things in their place will avoid frustration and opposition when clean up time comes around.
My goal is to offer tips and suggestions that are easy to try and can really make the positive change in your home life that you are looking for.
To get a sense for how we have used the above 5 steps to organized our home, check out our Montessori Home Tour Video.
Want a little more Montessori magic in your life?
Visit: Bella’s Casa Store with handmade Montessori materials for babies and young children or bellascasa.com
Join the Montessori Home Set-Up E- Course coming this fall September – a course designed to help you finally start implementing Montessori at home without confusion and overwhelm. This is a way to get a closer to your wishes into reality in steps 1.2.3 that result in ease and peace. Get professional outlook and receive amazing result creating gorgeous Montessori environment. Environment that will fulfill your desire to remove all distractions, connect with your child, enjoy the simplicity and focus on purity of Montessori based parenting. Aspects of the course that will help you reach these goals:
- Foundation: Your Child’s Potential – In this module, we’ll give you a clear starting point to apply the knowledge to your home and your children, and we’ll prioritize where you want to focus your efforts.
- Change and Transformation – After this module, you’ll have an action plan for changes to implement, and know how and when to make changes while working in partnership with your children.
- Strategy: The Magic 3 – This module includes 3 magical components that guide your changes and the process of implementation – ensuring that you’re ready to adjust and adapt as needed to continue moving forward.
- Each Room in the Home Tour – We’ll walk through ideas for each area of the house as reference and inspiration – including things to watch out for and a super-handy resource guide for where to get things.
- The Why Behind It – We’ll help you see the reasoning behind the guidance we’ve provided, so you are empowered to carry on and expand what you have put in place.
- Maintaining – How To Keep It Going- In this module, we’ll ensure that you are set up for success to maintain what you have done and adjust as your children grow and change, including a final checklist to use as you go forward that summarizes that we coverer.
Would you like to start successfully implementing Montessori at home? Bella’s Casa is giving away one entry to Montessori Home Set-Up E-Course!
Amazing Prize:
Free entry to Montessori Home Set-Up E-Course – Helping You Do Montessori at Home
Professional Package – Lifetime Access Worth $299!
Who is eligible?
This giveaway is open worldwide to anyone 18 and older.
How to enter:
Enter your email via the Rafflecopter form below and answer two questions in the comments section of this post:
1. What is one aspect of your home would you like to improve?
2. What’s holding you back?
Other details:
Entries close Friday September, 15, 2017 at 12.00 am Central Time.
Giveaway is sponsored by Bella’s Casa.
One entry per person.
Your email will only be added to Bella’s Casa newsletter lists and won’t be sold to spammers.
The giveaway is open worldwide.
No purchase necessary.
The winner will be published on montessorinature.com, notified via email by Bella’s Casa, and will have 48 hours to respond and claim the prize.
Bella’s Casa will deliver the prize.
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