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It should be treated as a guideline and not god’s word. Adjust as needed.

My other three kids go to it, its prek4-8th grade.

Great idea!! We'll add it to the list of future videos :)

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Class sizes are typically much smaller in Montessori schools. Numbers will vary from school to school, depending on ratio regulations and the size of the classroom, but I had 10 children in my classroom with 2 teachers. The Casa (3-6 year olds) classroom had 24 children with 3 teachers.

I wouldn't recommend having suspended objects or frames in a multi-age classroom unless you can figure out how to divide the room to keep the more mobile children away from them. Because young children likely won't be able to help themselves from being attracted to these objects, I would suggest installing some pull-up bars around the classroom and redirect them to use those for pulling up.

The safety of all children in the classroom is most important so I wouldn't have a mobile structure in a multi-age space. I have seen some classrooms designate a corner of the room for interactive mobiles, hanging them from an anchor in the ceiling but you'd need to ensure the long cords don't pose any strangulation hazards.

Hi Sara, Thank you! I can relate to what you described, having been there many times before. Here's what I did in the classroom when I found the children weren't showing much interest in working independently: 1) Look at the work you have available on the shelves - the work may be too simple, too difficult or not interesting enough to hold their attention. I would spend some time observing the classroom to see what materials you could swap out. I often found inspiration from outdoor play, the questions they asked during group time or by asking parents what types of activities hold their child's attention at home. 2) If they're asking for help, it could be that the work is too difficult for them or they're seeking a connection with you. When this happened in the classroom, I would initiate group activities. Group activities allow you to work with multiple children and gives you a chance to present an activity to everyone at once. If presenting an activity to a group seems too overwhelming, you could also read a book or play some instruments just to break up the energy a little bit. I found group activities to be helpful for modeling the grace and courtesy exercises too. Using a quiet voice, waiting your turn, not interrupting, etc. 3) When a child needs help finishing their work, could you encourage another child to help them? 4) More practical life. In my experience, any time a child was having trouble with concentration in the classroom my mentors would say "direct them to the practical life area." Practical life exercises are fantastic because they involve so much movement and allow the child to refine their movements as they repeat them. 5) Don't worry about them "finishing" the work and invite them put it back on the shelf unfinished. You're trying to foster as much independence as possible and if they're not finishing the work independently just yet then that's something to work on in the coming months. If they're choosing their work independently and getting started independently then you're off to a great start. Try to focus on what they are doing successfully and build off of that. I hope this helps!

Thank you so much for your response and the great tips

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Hi there, Do you mean over the age of 3? I'm speaking primarily about children under the age of 3 in the video.

Wonderful!

Thanks!

Glad you like them!

Glad it was helpful!

Thanks!

Good question. I'll do some demos in a future video.

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You can definitely start now! I would start with practical life activities. In my experience, they're the ones that tend to draw children in most. I'm not sure what you can expect since it all depends on the individual child.

That's a tricky one. You can only focus on your child. We can't stop other children from taking things but we can help our children to understand that they shouldn't just go and take things from other people. I see what you're saying about stifling natural urges but taking something you want when you want it when someone else is using it is not an area where I'd want to build a child's confidence. When a young child does this, we understand that they do so because they lack impulse control, they're focused on themselves, etc. and we handle the situation gently but it's not a behaviour to encourage.

@@themontessoriroom unfortunately both kids are mine 😀. And yes, as you said we don't encourage that behavior. After seeing this video we even ask them to wait for their turn.

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After they use the toilet, you can put a clean diaper on using the standing diaper change method. At school, we had many children who were learning to use the toilet while still wearing diapers. This gave them time to grow more comfortable with the toilet while not worrying about eliminating in their pants. Cotton training pants work well too, they're a thicker underwear that won't leak as much if they miss the toilet.

Absolutely! It's difficult to speak on every potential scenario :)

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You're welcome!

​​@@themontessoriroom"thank you FOR SHARING". Very good of yours, you are a sweet kid, amazing! Are you serious?!!!!!! Ironic.....

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Thanks for your suggestion! We have a virtual Montessori at Home program where I demonstrate how to present activities like these. The link is in the description :)

Glad you enjoyed it!

You're welcome! A child may engage in parallel play earlier than 2 years, interest can start as early as 15 months. It really depends on the child. In my experience, the majority of children I've taught didn't show much of an interest until closer to 2 but that may be because it was a Montessori Classroom where the focus was more on independent work.