MULTILINGUAL MONTESSORI HOME! Raising a Multilingual Toddler the Montessori At Home Way!

Welcome to our Multilingual Montessori Home! We are raising a multilingual toddler the Montessori at Home way! Between Russian, Korean, and English-how are we implementing Montessori language development strategies to set up a multilingual home from birth? You may have heard of the One Parent, One Language approach. But what modifications to the One Parent, One Language approach did we make for raising a multilingual toddler? Are there materials for Montessori multilingualism? Is a Montessori home equipped to support a bilingual child? Take a look at how our Montessori home is set up to allow for rich language exposure, and what strategies we have utilized to create a strong base for multilingualism for our toddler.
Links for Information on Multilingualism and (lack of) Speech Delays caused by it:
bit.ly/34C28sC
bit.ly/3goYsxh
Storefront!
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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
Montessori Activity Ideas: tinyurl.com/yx8xy9ys
Montessori FAQs :tinyurl.com/yr6dku9d
Baby Basics series on my channel: vsit.site/4cjn8
Motherhood Tips series on my channel: tinyurl.com/47n76pak
See Stella's Updated Playroom Tour here: • TODDLER MONTESSORI PLA...
her infant playroom tour: • Realistic Montessori I...
and her Nursery Tour here: • The Only Nursery Tour ...
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📸Follow me on TikTok and Instagram @MariaAndMontessori to see daily tidbits of our life as I transition to being a stay at home mom and introduce Montessori to Stella!
🎥New videos coming every Sunday!
Music: www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
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#MultilingualMontessoriHome #MultilingualToddler #MontessoriLanguageDevelopment #MontessoriAtHome #MontessoriMultilingualism #MontessoriBilingualism #BilingualToddler #BilingualMontessoriHome
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[@threewins3]

Pediatric Speech Language Pathologist here🙋🏻‍♀️. Amazingly rich trilingual language environment you are providing. Very inspiring, lucky Stella.

[@MariaandMontessori]

Thank you so much 🥰 We are very lucky to be able to provide this environment for her ❤️

[@TaraWilloughby]

I really enjoyed this video even though we are not a multilingual family. I love the way you have decided to incorporate 3 languages into your home and love the way you chose to have each parent speak in a differ language to Stella. The boys have Spanish class at their school, which has sparked some great conversations! I want to look into ways to help foster other languages.

[@MariaandMontessori]

Thanks for the support Tara! Spanish was the language I learned in school in the states too...I was almost fluent too, and then Korean fully erased it 😅

[@AmmaraSHAH773377]

Hahahah forgot to say stella fripping open the cucumbers was so funny literally what Huda does with our fresh fruit and veg.😅 Thats her self apointed responsibility when putting the groceries away. 😆her pointing out the car didn't go when it should go i can't. I wish I understood Russian so much after watching this.

[@MariaandMontessori]

🙈 the poor cucumbers! They don't hold nearly as well out of the package, but that is all her work now. She is gatekeeping any and all works related to her favorite food🤣 There's definitely nuances that are hard to translate in this video that make her speech so fun to observe 😅

[@reggioinspiredhome3114]

Thank you so much for making this video. It's much more comforting and helpful to see an actual family make it work compared to just reading experts opinions on the different techniques. We're trying to raise our son to speak 3 languages as well, my native language is Finnish, my partner's Greek and we speak English between ourselves and live in the UK. It seems like a great idea to speak Korean between yourselves to increase the exposure. I'm worried that with me staying at home, my partner working long hours and us speaking English at home our son is not hearing as much Greek compared to the other languages. But living in the same continent definitely makes it easier to visit relatives and our home countries. I'm also interested in updates as Stella's language develops, particularly when it comes to introducing all the different writing systems when she is ready.

[@MariaandMontessori]

Thank you! I'm happy to hear you found this helpful! I had the same issue as I was searching about our multilingual journey-I did not see the advice and suggestions "in action", so to speak. I'll definitely be sure to provide updates. We are still in the process of figuring out when Korean reading/writing will come in to play as it is so different from the Russian and English system, but also so much easier to pick up and learn even in the much later years. If she shows an interest in reading and writing before preschool, I'll be starting it with her in Russian and share that update as well!

[@Aizenjnn]

This video is so informative and interesting! Multilingualism is a very beautiful thing :)

[@MariaandMontessori]

Thank you so much! It really is quite amazing!

[@AmmaraSHAH773377]

Ahhhhhhh this is the cyuuuuutest i can't all this insight with real examples is soo cyute and soo helpful! I can't believe how much vocabulary Stella is exploring through all these activities. She's really picked it up. Its soooo similar to Huda's way of speaking just the words that she needs in order to communicate what she needs to convey and then i do the same thing kind of ask in a full sentence what she meant almost showing her the full phrase. I didn't really look into what i need to do but im glad I'm kind of in line with what you are doing nowwe thay they're both repeating words to us. Its hard not to overreact if she says something random but she herself laughs ehen i guess what she tried to say and i was completely wrong. Its like a game to her now to try to say new things and fir me to figure it out. Stella with her dad is just 🥺its really nice to see as i can't wait for Huda to be with her dad like this soon😔 i know he would really enjoy it and so would she. Again i am going to copy a bunch of these activities and the books if i can find them because that animals one with the realistic illustrations is really good they're relatively sized to each other in categories almost. The lift the flaps animals book is abit too big to be taking with us everywhere but i needed one like this. Just had an idea for the Montessori community on the app👀

[@MariaandMontessori]

Aha this was definitely really precious to put together. I struggled to figure out how to get examples in here since nothing is in English, but I'm glad it came through in the end! I have the books in my "work in progress " storefront if you need to see the full title and authors!

[@angel4583]

Yay this is inspiring. I was a casa guide and now a newbie mom. My baby is also multilingual i speak to her in my own language, my husband spanish and the books we read to her is english. And yes its true, babies raised in english speaking country don't need to learn it at home coz she will dventually learn it at school.

[@MariaandMontessori]

Aw thank you! Yes, she'll hopefully be in a brick and mortar Montessori school in about a year, so she will have plenty of English exposure then! And with the weather warming and pandemic (hopefully) slowing, we will be outside in English speaking environments plenty of times!

[@tigereyes5]

This is really helpful! I'm improving my Igbo to speak to my baby (I speak what I already know now) and her dad speaks fluent Norwegian. One thing my husband worries about is when we speak to each other because we only have English in common so he's worried this will confuse her or that it will deter her from our languages. His brother's wife is French and this is what happened in their home but I'm also convinced part of that is due to not being persistent enough because the wife was better with French influences and that's what they speak better. Really hoping my daughter can at least sustain understanding of both and making sure she has Igbo friends her age here in the UK.

[@MariaandMontessori]

I'm glad to know this was helpful! I had a more recent video on multilingualism too, in case you were looking for more information. I agree with you, with persistency and a consistent need for the language, she will at least maintain an understanding of the language! Sounds like she's exposed to 3 languages in a consistent and predictable manner-the perfect set up and no reason for any confusion on her end. As she grows, there will absolutely be moments when she questions why she needs to make an effort to speak anything other than English. I didn't question it knowing I had family I'm still close to in Belarus who don't speak English and, growing up, my parents were still learning English. But for my brother, that wasn't the case. He didn't see that immediate need and once he reached Middle school years, he began asking why he even needs to speak Russian since it's harder. However, we maintained a strictly "Russian only at home" rule, explaining why it's important, and so he has still maintained his ability to understand and speak Russian. He is in high school now and is fluent enough in both languages to translate in real time as someone is speaking (for my husband!), which even I cannot do. I took both Russian and Korean in college, and so many of my classmates in both classes were children of immigrants or first generation immigrants who had resisted learning their home language when they were younger, and were now regretting it, trying to make up for lost time! So as long as you are consistent and have that open conversation of why it's important for her and your family, and provide as many opportunities as possible to see the need for that language by visiting those countries/interacting with other family members/making friends of the same language, etc, you'll be setting her up for success!

[@spekry77]

Thank you for covering this topic - super helpful! You are so patient and respectful with Stella; you "model" that well for me, in montessori terms haha. It was great to see Joonyoung interacting with her too. It was interesting how she would often reply in Russian. My husband André speaks Portuguese, and I am far from fluent (though learning), so I'm impressed that you guys both know three languages!! I would love to see more on this topic.

[@MariaandMontessori]

I'm so glad this was helpful! I certainly try to be patient with her, especially with language, but I'm still only human! Joonyoung doesn't technically speak Russian but he has started to understand Stella's Russian 😅 My Korean is, what i call, "conversational"- just enough to get by butI'll definitely keep posting about our journey as we progress!

[@mixed_and_nerdy]

Totally agree with your approach!! When I was teaching English in Japan a lot of interracial families would ask me about what they should be doing, and either one parent one language or inside the home one language outside the home a different language were the main two options that always worked best

[@MariaandMontessori]

Aw man the area I taught in when I was in Seoul didn't have any interracial families or much interest in English outside the basics later needed for work 😭

[@Dragonfly7590]

Hi Maria! 🙂 Thank you for this video! I enjoyed watching your beautiful family. My daughter is 20 months old, and I appreciate the inspiration from your family since Stella is a similar age. You gave a good reminder that they understand more than they can say. My daughter has vocalized more in English lately due to other caretakers and my own interaction with my husband, but I keep talking to her in Spanish and telling myself not to give up! I'm not sure if the option is available to you, but I'd be happy to give KZbin 'Super Thanks' on your videos. Thanks for the continued excellent content!

[@MariaandMontessori]

Thank you so much! 🥰 I'm so glad this was helpful! Definitely keep speaking in Spanish-it won't be wasted! I don't have the Suprr Thanks function yet, but I do appreciate that 🥺

[@AmmaraSHAH773377]

I completely second the narration approach. I have been using it since I started watching Ashley and I didn't really think about it since i started but now 1 and half years later I am realising this is what i ended up doing. Maybe by watching others and listening to podcasts and reading the positive discipline books it all guided me subconsciously to really focus on Huda's experience of the world and our daily activities aound the home. I know that was my aim as I was aware of what she was seeing, feeling and doing, i added words to whatever i could in any way that i could. Hahhaha I have difficulty trying to think of more common words to use sometimes so I wouldn't even know how to 'dumb it down' because i just can't think of any other words if i can say 'attach' and 'detach' why would i use something else? The only problem is i don't want to seem like I am teaching her words that other children might not use just to 'show off' but you explained it well that really i am not changing anything specifically for Huda because she is younger only speaking a bit clearly and making sure she is able to communicate with me and give her vocabulary to describe her environment. This is why i am happy to have your videos as I haven't been able to find anyone who is using multiple languages in a Montessori home. The forced memorisation of language is something i have come across and i knew i needed to find an example of 2 languages in a Montessori aligned home that presents the healthy way to do it. I know many peole will benefit from this content if ever i can recommend it i will do so. I just hope they find this content instead of the damaging 'techniques' people on KZbin have used. I personally just feel better about using our first languages at home now and that ideal plan for our daughter being able to communicate with everyone in our families and people from our home countries, being able to visit them and be comfortable in any of these 4 environments is possible and so worth it. I don't know if you have dealt with any negative comments about why you are teaching your child your own language or communicating in your own language with them when they could be speaking English or any other community language initially, but i have and i felt some guilt about it asking there might be delay in her language acquisition in English. However whilst writing this comment i realised exactly why we should be exposing her to these languages especially when we are fluent in them, the more she knows the better. Why would you deny her any skill especially that of languages? And imaging how comfortable she will feel the confidence she will have in any of our home environments if she visits... its something she will carry with her in life.

[@MariaandMontessori]

I started narrating when I was pregnant since it's so good for them to hear speech at that time too... but it really picked up when lockdown started. I was at home and working from home alone while Joonyoung was traveling to install the covid testing equipment. If I stayed quiet, we could go all day with zero speech! So I kept talking to keep us company.. and when she was born, I kept narrating to keep more calm during moments of panic 😅. Those days in lockdown is when I had also discovered Ashley's channel, actually! I'm not sure if it's because we live in a very diverse area where many people are immigrants and bilingual, or because we just don't go anywhere with the pandemic still around, but I haven't really had anyone comment in real life on that decision. But just like you, I stand firm in our decision to let her have the chance to communicate freely with her entire extended family. There is also a deeper sense of understanding others that comes from knowing another language(s), I think. When I taught English in Korea, I noticed that those of us who learned it as a second language were a lot slower, calmer, and more understanding with the students because we went through the same thing. My native English speaking friends had a hard time getting themselves to slow down their speech for their students or even members of the community to be more easily understood. English will be quite easy for her to pick up once she's in preschool-I'm more concerned about making sure we can maintain enough Korean and Russian exposure in those years to keep her skills growing!

[@AmmaraSHAH773377]

@@MariaandMontessori awhhh thats so cute i really didn't get days like that on my own whilst pregnant but i loved talking to her and reciting to her saying lullabies that i wanted to get her used to but i wish i had found Ashley's channel whilst pregnant so i was more prepared and so i could get our family environment in a healthier place with communication. I regret the amount of stress i exposed myself to knowing about attachment theory would have at least helped. No one really explained the impact stress would have on the baby sheen the said don't stress🙄 Oh yh English is your second language as well, that's why you speak so clearly hahaha i noticed a lot of prophe i talk to who learnt English chose their words better but not always i don't😅. Will you go into how you learnt Korean in the community live on Saturday? I think your backstory is interesting the languages are all so different just learning about your experience with them and the differences will be nice to hear. 😊

[@nightangle476]

Absolutely agree with you, being multi is amazing. The more languages a child can communicate its great. My son is able to communicate in three different languages as we used to speak three but not at once. So yes totally agree with all the points you have mentioned. ❤️👍🏼

[@MariaandMontessori]

Thank you! It has been amazing to know multiple languages myself so I'm very excited for Stella to experience the same as she grows 🥰

[@evelinboerner2160]

Awwww! So helpful! Thank you so much for all the ideas and inspiration. I love how engaged Stella is in all of your activities and how much she is learning! Our 12 months old daughter is growing up bilingually with me speaking only German to her and dad speaking English. I went through a lot of efforts to get German books shipped here the the US and we read all the time. My daughter already speaks up to 15 words (primarily in German) and I'm positive on her becoming fluent in both languages.

[@MariaandMontessori]

Thank you!!! ❤️ May I ask how you went about getting the books in German? I'm hoping to expand our library as well 🥰It sounds like she's definitely on the path to being fluent in both!!

[@alchu11]

Thank you so much for this video! I'm a native Ukrainian speaker and try to speak Russian to my son as much as possible but he's mostly picking up English words now ( he's 2). Or some words he does say in Russian he doesn't say in English, like he thinks there is only one set of words for each subject :). Would love to see more content on the subject. Thanks again, your daughter is precious.

[@MariaandMontessori]

Thank you! We were once neighbors 😅 I'll definitely be adding more on this as we get more and more into our speaking journey! I've found that, especially with Russian speakers, once they hear English, that's what they gravitate towards. In comparison, English is quite a bit simpler, so it makes sense. Keep speaking to him-even if he's choosing to say the English words, the Russian words are still in there!

[@alchu11]

@@MariaandMontessori lol neighbors indeed!! What state are you guys in now? We are in Oklahoma. And that's what I thought too-English seems a bit easier. Thank you for your videos, glad I found your channel!!

[@MariaandMontessori]

@@alchu11 we are in Illinois, the Chicago area now! So happy to have you here 😃

[@whoknowsuriduri]

What a great video! I love how you waited with English, because - agreed, it's much easier than Korean or a Slavic language. We also have 3 languages among ourselves, well 4, to be precise, hubby is Cantonese but the official language is still Mandarin, so there's a lot of both where we live. At home we speak mostly English, sometimes Mandarin, but since hubby is absent during the day, the little one gets very little exposure to Mandarin (he's 2). I've totally neglected my mother tongue, he can only say a few basic words, and even all the Mandarin he knows, though not much, he got it from me. I feel like I need to teach him 3 languages and it feels so overwhelming! I've noticed he even shows resistance to Mandarin, even though it's getting better recently, and it's suposed to be his number one imo, since we live here! I feel like I've made many mistakes lol and am not sure how to carry on. Any advice? 😰

[@MariaandMontessori]

Oh gosh there's a lot going on for you guys! First of all, I'd doubt anything you've done is a mistake! Maybe a learning opportunity, but surely not a mistake. So right now your main language at home is English, with some Mandarin. And the community language is a mix of Cantonese and Mandarin? And there's a fourth language in the mix? The research on how much exposure a child needs to language to gain proficiency is not perfect, but the agreed upon standard up until now has been 30%, meaning anything less than that could result in incomplete acquisition. Could being the operative term here, because there's always exceptions. So realistically, that really lends itself to 3 languages at once to reach fluency. If Mandarin is the community language and he will have increased exposure to it throughout the years (preschool? sports? activities? hard to know with the pandemic...) before age 6, you don't really need to push it at home if he'd get sufficient exposure through the community. Especially if he is showing resistance to it. I'd focus on figuring out which languages are important for him to be fluent in, what he won't be able to gain from anywhere but yourself and your husband, and how you can provide quality language engagement without making it a chore. Since he's 2, it really doesn't need to be anything more than what we are doing-just playing, singing, and reading! If there are other relatives that use the additional languages, it'd be great to spend time with them or at least face time. We visit my parents to speak Russian and face time our Korean family so she can be more excited to use Korean too!

[@AmmaraSHAH773377]

Aaahhh this was perfectly timed again as we were discussing how my husband could communicate with Huda in his language when its only over video calls up until now. Its been difficult trying to balance between 3 languages for me as my first language is what I use to communicate with Huda throughout the day at home and i use English when we are in public but in moments of tension i use my own language again. The need for me to stsrt using my husband's language (the national language for our home country) more in our pretend play and translating books activities naming items has been a bit challenging fir me thing to figure out how much to use it i hadn't heard much about 3 languages by one person so its tricky also when i am not fluent in the 3rd one.

[@MariaandMontessori]

Oh man, balancing all 3 is definitely tough. That's partly why we chose to just wait with English and focus on the other two, as well. It will be all around her once we are no longer staying home together. And from our experience, English was easier to pick up than either of our languages due to lack of formal/informal speech, gender, cases, etc. They're able to pick up language so easily before age 6- we have time still! 🥰

[@samkadiyala]

The video was super informative, but I was wondering how you might interact with your child in your native language when your own fluency is limited. I don't have a very wide vocabulary myself 😅

[@MariaandMontessori]

Hi! I did a second video on bilingualism where I addressed this! kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmndqHudqsatlaM

[@zhaniyabekbau9379]

Такой голосочек у Стэллы🥺

[@MariaandMontessori]

Мы так долго гадали какой же будет у неё голосок...но как то не ожидали что он будет такой милый!

[@user-iy7ut4xo6x]

​@@MariaandMontessori а вы не снимаете видео на русском?случайно попал ваш канал в рекомендации.

[@MariaandMontessori]

@@user-iy7ut4xo6x на русском пока что только в влоге когда я разговариваю со Стэллой. Но если есть интерес узнать что-то в видео на русском, конечно могу сделать!