MONTESSORI...or CLEVER MARKETING? // How To Tell If It's the Real Deal!

[@sarahw7010]

Hi Ashley, I just wanted to say thank you for participating and sharing the fundraiser for Ukraine. I wanted to donate, but hesitated because I didn’t want to blindly donate to any organization. When I saw your post, I purchased the bundle right away. So thank you for being a trusted source - I know that the money will reach the right destination 🇺🇦.

[@HapaFamily]

Thank you for supporting the fundraiser! ❤️

[@deidrecrawford4208]

Hi Ashley, Such perfect timing. I'm a new Grandma and new to Montessori. I have been going online looking for something new to introduce. As always your information is clear and uncomplicated. Thank you for taking the time to help us all out.

[@justagirluwu]

I love this! Thank you. It seems lots of companies caught on to this and not everything truly reflects what Montessori is.

[@jenniferuhlman440]

This is in my top three favorite Hapa Family videos! Very clear explanation. You've made it far less intimidating to navigate the endless selection of toys out there. It's eye-opening to realize how much marketing comes into play. Thank you, Ashley!

[@thedailydhanak3857]

I love this video so much! I always have to control myself when family and friends say things like “it’s wooden so Montessori” and I just want to scream nooooo! Informative as always Ashley and I wish I could send this out to everyone in my life 🤣

[@someonedesu]

We don't rise our daughter the Montessori way, but we are inspired by this philosophy and your videos are soooo interesting for that purpose. Greetings from Spain!

[@DogDocLou]

Looking forward to this video! I was looking up ‘Montessori’ toys for tots on Amazon and thankfully had already read enough to know “those plastic toys labeled Montessori clearly aren’t…”

[@haniyyahahmadbonvini1980]

Right on!! Nienhuis and the AMS checklist are the only guides I’ve ever used to validate Montessori materials. I love that you thoroughly explained what’s considered non-Montessori and futile but also what’s Montessori-inspired, Montessori-friendly, and non-Montessori yet acceptable in the open-ended, gross motor, pretend play realms. For the folks in Germany and Italy, I’ve purchased all my materials at a fair price from Montessori Lernwelten and Materiale Montessori. Awesome content. You’re just mass-producing these gems 💎 lately! ❤️

[@HapaFamily]

I didn’t know about these sources, that’s so great to know for folks in the EU… I’ll need to check them out!

[@MariaandMontessori]

Ooh I wonder if those are the equivalent of Alison's Montessori, Montessori Services, and Discount Montessori here? 🤔 Although Alison's started carrying a busy board and it felt like getting stabbed in the back to see such a trusted resource do that 😔

[@HapaFamily]

Really?! Goodness… 😬

[@haniyyahahmadbonvini1980]

@@MariaandMontessori ugh! I was one that purchased a busy board pre-Montessori enlightenment days. I cringe every time I see them now!

[@haniyyahahmadbonvini1980]

@@HapaFamily definitely useful for the EU Montessorians. I tried typing the websites but KZbin kept deleting the comment. I didn’t know about that filter!

[@lesliehoward3597]

Wow, such a timely video!! I'm taking the Child of the Redwoods course right now and I worked through a portion about evaluating a material this morning! Thank you!

[@Songofthestitchblog]

I think the wooden rainbow is a hilarious/fascinating example because on the one hand I think it's been such a huge gateway to Montessori for a lot of people, which is awesome (even though it's technically Waldorf!). But in my experience it is one of the less exciting toys that Grimms make, at least as far as my kids are concerned! The toys from that brand that my 4.5yo and 16mo love do tend to be far more Montessori friendly, things like stacking towers, nesting boxes, or peg people who fit into cups or slots. I sometimes feel like the rainbow is more for the parents than the kids! 😂

[@HapaFamily]

💯!!!!!

[@MariaandMontessori]

If TikTok Montessori and Instagram Montessori had a logo...it would be the rainbow 🤣 So many beautiful Waldorf playrooms getting called Montessori because of the rainbow 🌈 I wish Waldorf got enough traction for the right people to find it and explore it further!

[@cocowhite588]

@@MariaandMontessori this cracked me up ahahahahaha. You are so right LOL.

[@catgeel264]

We have been gifted some toys that are 'doing way too much', eg. nesting stacking cubes with cartoon animals and numbers plastered on ánd every block is a shape shorter. My solution has been to either offer one block at a time with the corresponding shape, so as to practice that, ór offer the blocks with no shapes so they can nest them. So far, with adjustments, it has been an enjoyed toy that does align more with my philosophy.

[@perfectlypriced4980]

Well done! Informative but without judgements or rigidity. As always my favorite part of your channel! Great examples and reasoning. I especially like how you mention which toys your girls may like and why and how that’s fine even if they aren’t strictly Monti. Sometimes we get paralyzed by not wanting to “mess up” our Monti upbringing so the thought process you lay out is extremely helpful to reason with what works best for our lives and our child’s desires. Happy belated birthday to the girls.

[@Maverick-zy7yu]

I think this also goes for some Montessori schools. Been doing some research for around my area trying to find the best Montessori school, a lot seem to have to concept but not the high quality materials. Nothing wrong with lower quality but that should mean a lower rate for the parent right 😅

[@stephanielim7967]

This video is very informative and came in perfect time as I'm preparing to set up my 4-month old's shelf. Thanks so much, Ashley!

[@crystalgale15]

As always, your videos are awesome and informative. Thank you for this! We are not a fully strict montessori family but i do follow a lot of montessori concepts esp positive parenting and with the activities. 😊

[@britnime4620]

YES! This is a video that needed to be created. This has been something, as someone is so new in her research of learning how to Montessori at home, that has confused me and irked me so much. Thank you! If you have more examples of these clever rouses that are out there would LOVE to see you talk about them and point out what is and isn't productive to a Montessori learning environment.

[@MariaandMontessori]

Another resource I want to recommend is checking Montessori albums online. There's actually a website called just that-it's a wiki, so take it with that consideration, but it is considered a well maintained source of sharing information. It's very complete for 3-6, but I've seen a good number of toddler activities there too. Aside from seeing the authentic materials and getting some ideas, it also gives you a glimpse into how to do the presentation and set up the activity! Something to add to the tool box 🥰

[@HapaFamily]

Yes! It’s montessorialbum.com , and can be super useful!

[@MariaandMontessori]

@@HapaFamily thank you for linking it! I figured a link in my comment would send it straight to the KZbin filter blacklist 🤣

[@HapaFamily]

@@MariaandMontessori yep-that’s exactly why I linked it for you! 🤣

[@flobberbobber]

Love that you spoke about having materials from a classroom in the home. It does in fact take training to learn how to use these appropriately. It can also be very confusing for a child who comes into an environment and isn't able to use something the way they do at home. Also when the materials are in the home the child has a hard time 'choosing' work in the environment and don't want to 'work'. You'll find children with Montessori materials in the home (which are found in the classroom) will often do 'simple' works such as drawing versus more 'challenging' developmental items. Just a note about Nienhuis - it DOES have everything you would find in a Montessori environment, at least material wise. However not everything on their site is AMI "approved" there's a lot of extra items on there that won't be in an environment. Also, they constantly have items backordered and their shipping takes FOREVER. We placed an other back in August (for a school) and it still hasn't arrived...Bruins Montessori doesn't have all the materials but they're beautiful, great quality, and have great shipping.

[@HapaFamily]

Thanks so much for this perspective! With regard to Nienhuis, I know they don’t carry the infant mobiles (likely because they’re handmade during training?), so that’s why I said perhaps not “everything”. But pretty darn close to everything, as far as I can tell! ☺️

[@sarahspitzfaden]

Such a informative video, as always. I learned early on from my little one the toys that simply do not work, or where attention is lost early, and all of them fall into the non-example toys. So interesting

[@karina_biagurova]

Hello, thx for video) would be great to watch episode about how to pick Montessori kindergarten and what questions to ask)

[@barbaralundquist4971]

This is now one of my 10 top videos you have done! I really like the explanation of why a toy was not Montessori.

[@shelagala7]

This came out at just the right time for me and my daughter, thank you!!

[@TiagoRamosVideos]

Very interesting 👌 thanks 🙏

[@jackygrajeda1649]

We definitely need more videos like this!

[@roundrug]

Ahhh! Just a few days ago ordered a "quiet book" from Amazon US (along with some Montessori and Me items!). Oh well. I feel like the Amazon algorithms led me in.

[@HapaFamily]

Don’t blame yourself. They’re just so dang good at it 🤣

[@meghathornton3944]

Thanks Ashley - so informative. My 2 boys attend Montessori school. My 2y & 3m year old is still giving me hard time for potty training. Teacher started and stopped and now he won’t listen. Trying to find after school activities as the principal told me no academics.

[@Cutieangelxz]

Crazy to hear you say 5 and 3 year old! Hope you all had a fun celebration!

[@HapaFamily]

I know - I messed up that line a few times before finally getting it right when filming it, haha! 🥴

[@pixkypix]

This video is so good and informative!! Such a helpful video to help me search for homeschooling materials! Thanks so much for sharing! ❤️

[@naquitafevrier5933]

Excellent video! Thank you so much for this!

[@philippapay4352]

This is particularly useful, since most of us have no real way to know the difference. Thanks.

[@sueyates3555]

Thank you so much for this video. I really learned a lot from it.

[@b2h316]

Those busy boards are great for the car though haha 🤷‍♀️ my kiddo loves all the different buckles on our busy pillow

[@HapaFamily]

I can totally see that! No judgment whatsoever! ☺️ Just want to clarify… I see nothing inherently “wrong” with any of these toys. In fact, any of them is likely better than a toy that is battery-operated, flashy, loud, and otherwise super annoying, lol. Only aiming to explain why something that is being marketed as Montessori, shouldn’t really be, so that it’s easier to understand what it means for something to be aligned with a Montessori approach. ☺️❤️ I hope that makes sense!

[@lisahuang4002]

Thank you for always sharing all of your knowledge with us

[@click2112]

You're the best 😍 your videos have helped me so much with my baby girl

[@alison2654]

Thank you for showing us some fauxtessori toys!

[@HapaFamily]

“Fauxtessori” 🤣

[@MariaandMontessori]

I've heard "fakessori" but I like "fauxtessori" so much more 🤣

[@SawyerMartoglio]

I love a rainbow stacker specifically for decor in my living room 😂😂😂

[@lifeofmina6235]

Hi ashley, actually sometimes the word montessori is used to make people spend more money, years ago I was impressed by a daycare that pretended to use the montessori method with kids, I ended paying a lot without seeing anything related to it implemented in classes, the word Montessori should be copyrighted, because this amazing women dedicated all her life to children.

[@microkats]

My takeaway: If you run out of breath describing the toy, it’s probably NOT Montessori!

[@HapaFamily]

🤣🤣🤣

[@seanarmstrong8449]

iv decided to homeschool my 3yo "she used to be in a home base early head start, the teacher would come once a week, but since shes got a new job and is not coming anymore iv decided to kind of teach her myself" and im really loving this whole approach, iv slowly started implementing this in our home for a year now really trying to make our home as excisable to my kids, so they are able to have the freedom to do things for their selves etc. i really want to just throw all the toys out and swith honestly bc i hate them but my 4 year old son LOVES super hero's and characters etc i would feel absolutely taking those away:( any suggestion?

[@justjennifer4294]

Your videos are so well organized!

[@Dana-mb1hd]

GREAT video THANK YOU!💜🙏

[@priyad2772]

Hi Ashley, we are moving soon and I have been looking at schools for my toddler; there are over 7 Montessori schools and besides paying attention to the curriculum being fully Montessori based, should they be associated with the Montessori official organizations above? It is difficult to sift through them from afar to see which ones are truly Montessori based. Advice or another video would be so appreciated. Thank you!

[@mama2meditate375]

Happy birthday to your cute girls!! (I think their birthdays were a couple of days ago…I hope now lol)

[@HapaFamily]

Yes, they were. Thank you!! ☺️

[@miragemanifestation]

What about when a baby is teething? Is there a method to help soothe gums that are Montessori? Usually we see plastic water filled teethers that you put in the fridge

[@MariaandMontessori]

It would be whatever the baby prefers! There are wooden teething rings or silicone teethers out there... my daughter preferred a cloth book with animal tails that stuck out because they were softer and easier to maneuver than a traditional teether. Her wooden rattles were also very soothing for her! We tried the plastic water filled ones anyway but she didn't gravitate towards them at all

[@hayleypelham]

I saw a cool method using a ceramic kind of pipe that is cool to the touch and so can be left on the child’s shelf so they don’t have to ask for it by crying when they feel the need!

[@HapaFamily]

My girls preferred to chew on… well… any of their toys at all to relieve teething pain. They never cared for anything that was specifically intended for teething. We actually still have some of the little gel-filled things for that, but they are used only as ice packs for minor injuries! 🤣

[@sarahm9002]

Hi Ashley. Thanks for sharing this. Very insightful as always . I am looking to teach my 4 year olds about continents, the world map and various countries… i got a nice game called mapology from Amazon, it’s fine but as you said, too many things are going on on the map. I want to rather teach then about continents first, and once they master this, introduce countries within each continent and then flags and so on..do you have any suggestions or tips. Much appreciated. Thanks

[@MariaandMontessori]

In the class, there's globes that have just land vs water and then continents. We also have maps that are just the continents, and then the countries in each continent. They're not only used as puzzles, but as a way for kids to have, cut (or pin punch out), glue, and label their own world maps.

[@trishahutchinson3485]

I love your book!

[@HapaFamily]

Thank you!! ❤️

[@justinerodrigues4679]

Great video topic!

[@mirandalmonaghan]

Excellent video concept

[@brookekennel2636]

Lol. I’m guilty of getting that exact busy board with all the buckles and zippers for my nephew for Christmas. Apparently his younger sister (12 months) loves it. Do you have any advice on what a child COULD play with in a setting where there is a genuine need for them to be quiet? Not every environment prioritizes a child’s developmental needs.

[@14kgonza]

Montesorri is from the 1910's where all they had were wooden toys. Don't worry about it. Colors and zippers won't kill a kid.

[@Ashley.Heather]

Very useful, thanks!

[@dknealellis]

do you have to become a member to access the checklist from AMS

[@HapaFamily]

No, I’m not a member at all and I can see it! :)

[@curious493]

I haven't even watched the video and can tell you is clever marketing

[@steffiebrutz]

The Link doesn't work for the amshq. Is it only for the US?

[@HapaFamily]

It is a US organization, but I feel like it should be accessible to anyone globally… maybe their site was down. You can try the link again to see if it’s back up! It’s working for me. ;)

[@elizagenesis7086]

I started cleaning out my sons toys after this video lol 😂

[@MariaandMontessori]

The list of non-examples is SO satisfying! Thay final one is if Amazon Montessori were 1 material 🤣 We have those carrots actually-JUST the carrots. And beyond posting, I'd say they're also a non-example. The difference in height between right and wrong isn't obvious enough even for me-whereas in the knobbed cylinders the right match is perfectly flush. And having all the sizes random like that makes it pretty hard to figure out even as an adult. Stella still loves it but it's not easy to master-whereas she's already mastered the actual knobbed cylinders 🤷‍♀️ Anythjng that tries to tie Montessori with "quiet" or "busy" or "seen but not heard" ❌️ Especially those HUGE busy boards that end up keeping the child limited to working in that one area instead of selecting where to work!

[@HapaFamily]

So true about the carrot heights, we don’t own one so I didn’t even think about that fact! 🤣

[@isisgraciadixon9251]

@@HapaFamily so why is it on your amazon favorites? its under gift guide for 1 year old's. Interestingly enough I bought one, after I felt foolish for getting one, it was to complex for my one year old even now that he is 2 . I should of just gotten the cylinder one instead but that was back when I didn't do my own research. Some toys like you said are not going to work for some toddlers even if these toys are inspired by a specific Montessori skill, doesn't necessarily make it a Montessori toy. Thank you for all that you doing 🙏

[@HapaFamily]

@@isisgraciadixon9251 We don’t own every single item on our Amazon storefront, although a lot of the things that I include on it are items I had/have on my own wishlist for my girls. I considered the carrots to be fairly Montessori-inspired and good for use in the home, which is why I added them. (Except for the issue regarding the height of the carrots that Maria reports on, apparently - which is not ideal, of course.)

[@MariaandMontessori]

@@isisgraciadixon9251 It's not ideal for size differentiation but that's not what a 1 year old would use it for-they'd primarily use it for posting. And the real knobbed cylinders would be far too complex to use at that age until they're nearing 2, and even then, only some of the blocks. My daughter found the precision needed for the pop up pegs to be discouraging for posting practice, and our DIY option needed a helping hand to keep it steady, so the carrots were what actually got her interested in posting. I think they're a great option for at home at that age and that's why I got them myself. I did hope they'd last into later years as a replacement for the knobbed cylinders until she goes to preschool to use the real thing because those are very much an investment piece, but that's where the expectation for the material fell apart. Even knowing that issue, I'd still buy it for our home because it was the best posting practice option at that price that we found 🤷‍♀️

[@isisgraciadixon9251]

@@MariaandMontessori I understand that now, I appreciate your insight, I'm glad the Hapa Family channel inspired me to learn and research more about Montessori. As someone who was clueless in regards to anything about Montessori. At the time I bought the carrot toy on her page and it was under gift guide for 1 year olds I didn't know at the time that it would be so complicated for my one year old. This is just a learning process we make mistakes along the way and don't feel so great about it, but we do our best. I am grateful that clever marketing is being talked about because it's being shoved in our faces. Thank you again Ashely for talking about this so many mom's need hear this.

[@jll7624]

New video! 🤍

[@JessicaNWheeler]

I forgot the girls just had birthdays!

[@zzzh9160]

👌

[@genesiscaraballo4013]

Let kids be kids.

[@14kgonza]

Agree. This video is ridiculous.

[@TOPkeyFishyKyu]

How wonderful that that's exactly what this philosophy strives to do and Ashley is trying to shed light on how companies manipulate it for profit. A busy, quiet child abandoning a ridiculous attempt at a Montessori material isn't being a kid more than a child who's working intentionally and having their developmental needs met by the properly designed activity 🙄 She's pretty clear you can buy whatever you want but mislabeling items for a profit is wrong and has nothing to do with "kids being kids".

[@TOPkeyFishyKyu]

@@14kgonza so is profiting off a name that's gaining traction by selling something that has nothing to do with the methodology. Hope you're just as offended when people call out big companies for stealing designs or, alternatively, don't mind if you're buying a sack of potatoes that's been marketed to you as "gold". Take a breather bud.