INDEPENDENT AND CONFIDENT TODDLERS! Montessori Practical Life at 12 Months | Maria and Montessori

Practical Life Activities in Montessori allow the child to feel independent, self-sufficient, included, proud, and accomplished. After spending their entire lives watching us do these tasks, our babies are now mobile enough to imitate us. It may feel like our little ones are trying to get into everything we are doing ... and that's because they are!
Taking the time to step back, model, guide, and allow for them to have a turn will surely slow us down, but it will also validate our child's attempt at feeling included, helping, and practicing so many crucial skills. Practical life activities not only work on the child's fine and motor skills, they also teach sequencing/order of events, prediction, cause and effect, consequences, and provide our child with many opportunities for exerting Maximum Effort. These are all invaluable opportunities for the child's development.
Make no mistake-these are not chores and the child is in no way going to complete these tasks to any level of perfection. But we are taking a moment to step back, follow the child, and provide early exposure to everyday activities that will eventually become their responsibilities as well. And by taking the time now to allow the child to practice with less than perfect attempts, we are fostering that drive and motivation to take care of the self and the environment.
The beauty of Montessori Practical Life is how little equipment you need, if any at all, to implement it in your home! So go ahead, let your little one get right into your daily chores! They may surprise you with what they're capable of.
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If you're interested in learning more about the Montessori method, baby basics, or motherhood tips, check out my playlists below.
See how to Make Your Own Montessori Inspired Playkits: vsit.site/gbiwk
Baby Basics series on my channel: vsit.site/4cjn8
Motherhood Tips series on my channel: tinyurl.com/47...
See Stella's Playroom Tour here: • Realistic Montessori I...
and her Nursery Tour here: • The Only Nursery Tour ...
See Stella's Playroom Tour here: • Realistic Montessori I...
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📸Follow me on Instagram @MariaAndMontessori to see daily tidbits of our life as I transition to being a stay at home mom in 2021 and introduce Montessori to Stella!
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[@Prisclittle]

Wow. My son is currently throwing shot glasses, eating his paper towels or rags, and throwing food on the floor. Lol. I’m just letting him do his thing and continue to model. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Thanks for the video. I’m binging on your channel. 😃

[@MariaandMontessori]

Sounds about right! Stella was really into trying to tear and subsequently mouth paper towels around that age 😅 Model and redirect as needed! If you haven't already, I'd recommend a placemat for utensils. We also had a lot of glass and spoon throwing until we got one and she had a designated spot to put them. Their ability to pick up on it increases exponentially every single day.

[@mixed_and_nerdy]

Woah she does really well with a fork and spoon! Can she teach my boy 😂 that’s a good hint as well by going behind her to make it more natural, I never thought of that!!

[@MariaandMontessori]

Hahaha I was honestly floored when I saw it! We use chopsticks 7/10 times in front of her so I didn't think she'd seen a fork nearly enough to know what to do! But Stella says she can definitely show Zander-her fee is 1 banana and a bag of shredded cheese 😂

[@SuperMomInfinity1]

Awww she's supercute and super busy!!! Great sharing!!!

[@MariaandMontessori]

Thank you! She is definitely a busy baby, keeping us even busier 😆

[@alenkab2007]

Oh my, what a busy helpful baby! Way to go , Stella! You are so sweet, cute, and funny!

[@MariaandMontessori]

She is always finding a way to keep herself (and us) busy!

[@AmmaraSHAH773377]

Just watched this again with my Husband he was so proud of our girl because he is abroad still and watvhing her learn all these activities and basically already had a Montessori parenting style in his own ideas but didn't realise how unique his ideas of parenting were and perfect for development in a way Montessori fully researched and understood and now we have complete activity ideas withing Montessori to help us with this style of parenting too. He loved thsi video ahhahahah i think he said Huda has a little friend across the world her age. We noticed the baloon from her birthday still being used for transpoting schema liek our girl's

[@MariaandMontessori]

Aw a little friend across the world-I love that! Yes, she is making full use of those balloons 😅 I keep having to blow them up with more air so they float 😄 That's wonderful that your husband is on board with Montessori and even had a similar mindset to begin with! It can be very intuitive if we take the time to step back and think our everything from our kids' perspective! They can really surprise us with how capable they are!

[@JonathanCacy]

She's so sweet! Mina loves to help me with laundry and cleaning up the dining table.

[@MariaandMontessori]

That sweetness comes with a large side of spice 🙈 It must be so precious to see Mina helping now that she's 2!

[@AmmaraSHAH773377]

This is AI motivating to finally go on the ikea trip for Huda's new wardrobe changing area with a full length mirror and get own cabinet because she is so capable i just have found no time to do the full shift and planning and its keeping her limited to her old 10 month set up i feel so bad. Haha the washing machine she loves to help with that now she's going to get the equipment i need at each step hahaha love Montessori giving us these moments with our babies and giving them a life that is more welcoming in the home than being limited to one play area. This will be better for all of us and gives us chance to even take a coffee break or prepare activities and watch yt a bit whilst she's napping instead of doing chores because actually i can do all my chores WITH her and involve her. Thank you for motivating us all too. Looove this vid.

[@MariaandMontessori]

Thank YOU! Glad to hear you enjoyed it! Completely agree-it's more work right now to get chores done with them while they refine their skills, but soon they will be such amazing little helpers and contribute to the family life in a very capable way. Will make everyone's lives easier and give us more time to relax together as a family 💜 I too need a trip to Ikea-I have been meaning to add a wardrobe in Stella's room now that she has practiced with the wardrobe downstairs. I hear they have a taller step stool to use in the bathroom. So far every step stool is too short for us to do independent handwashing. Maybe keep an eye out for one for Huda while you're there too!

[@AmmaraSHAH773377]

@@MariaandMontessori awwwhhh thank you I saw the yellow 2 tier step stool Ashley recommended the other day in IKEA but we didn't have enough space in the car with the pram. I couldn't find the right sized mini wardrobe for Huda's clothes though there was a tall wardrobe im thinking of having a small wardrobe and then boxes of her clothes up on top as we share our room at the moment. We're prioritising decluttering the kitchen so i can set up the play kitchen i got for her birthday and the table with chairs. The move to an independent dining table instead of the highchair is going to be difficult as she'll start walking away I'm certain. Im wondering if you'll be making a video on the little table and chair and that whole transition in dining without the highchair soon hahaha so i can learn from you🤞👀

[@MariaandMontessori]

The transition away from a highchair has been long in the works but I've been struggling to find a good set that will be easy for her to use and not cost an arm and a leg 😅 All the table and chair sets are too tall and all the step stools are too short! 🤦‍♀️ We have made some progress this week, so I will be filming a set up video shortly, and follow up with what we learn on the transition after that! Stella has a very strong personality (thank you, daddy) so I'm positive she will try walking away as well!

[@AmmaraSHAH773377]

@@MariaandMontessori ahhhahaha thats what im struggling with also the right space im basically mainly mentally preparing myself for being her guide and seeing a longer time to dining practicing just us two whilst im not eating a real meal hahaha i know this will be harder and more hands on for me so i will have to be fully prepared. Im relying on just seeing others go through each new development or progression especially with independence skills. Montessori is full of independence in play feeding oneself sleeping dressing slef care. The housework assistance i don't find as much a struggle as guiding her to do self care. I wish ashley makes a new video soon on this whole topic of self care. Thank you for responding. I'll keep checking in on your new uploads this is my fave channel now as the girls are soooo similar hahaha.

[@MariaandMontessori]

I've found it so helpful to see other doing Montessori at home real time with similar aged little ones, so I'm happy to hear I was able to be that help for you! I do wish we got an update from Ashley as well-I'm curious how the different personalities of the girls may have made her adapt her approach. I seem to have more of a Mia than a Kylie on my hands 😆 I too am not expecting to eat any real meals until she is asleep, to be honest. But in time, they will be helping us make the meals!

[@은숙이-p1e]

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[@Nendirmwa]

Would love to know where those shoes are from. Thanks!

[@JonasBrosGirl]

My son is almost 15 months and I feel like we struggle with some of this stuff because he’s still not walking yet. Do you feel like being able to walk makes it easier to do certain things? I feel like it’s hard to help him and show him how to do some stuff sometimes because I have to be using my hand to help him stand. I’m rambling lol, but I hope once he starts walking we can work more on these things. Love your channel!

[@MariaandMontessori]

Yes, walking was definitely a huge component! The rest of the age specific activities I posted are a mix of activities but at 12-13 months she had JUST started walking (hence the soft helmet-very unstable walker still) and ALL she wanted to do is practical life! Because she was finally able to. You can definitely do many of these sitting and crawling, even dusting and sweeping, but of course there's a huge progression in these tasks once they're walking.

[@JonasBrosGirl]

@@MariaandMontessori That’s great to hear, thank you! I’ll start incorporating the ones he can do sitting while eagerly awaiting him starting to walk

[@JonathanCacy]

I have to ask- is that a safety helmet? My Rory is all over the house and he keeps bumping his head 😭 and I'm seriously considering having him wear a helmet.

[@MariaandMontessori]

Um so I've been trying to get this posted all day and it keeps getting deleted....sorry if you're getting a million notifications 😰 Ok where is my reply going? 🤨🧐yes, yes it is a safety helmet. It has been so incredible and helpful in improving her walking faster I think just because it allows her to explore more freely. She overestimates herself everyday and inevitably falls daily. I'm mostly worried about the back of her head and the helmet has protected it over a dozen times by now, so well worth it for me. I don't want to tell her no if it's not a dangerous area or limit her movement but she tries to run before she walks 😅 So this has been a good compromise. She loves going into our pantry or on the shelves we have under benches, and they're all safe for her to explore, but when she stands, she always bumps her head. She still gets a bit startled so she is learning to navigate it better, but her noggin is protected. It does get hot tho, so we need to keep the house cool and take breaks outside