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Fostering Creativity in Children the Montessori Way

As a parent, fostering creativity in my three children has always been high on my list of priorities. Growing up, it wasn’t until high school that I really considered myself an artist of any sort, and after taking a few art classes, I went on to study art history in university. Despite some experience in…

Mirai and Taishi’s 2 Year Update

I’m a little late writing this, but before May ends I wanted to share (for my own sake and anyone else’s) how Mirai and Taishi are doing as two year olds! I haven’t done an update since they were 1 year old so a lot will have changed since then! In the last year, I’ve…

Montessori Schools in Japan

Montessori schools exist in Japan and this list is here to help you (hopefully) find one near you. It is worth saying that there is often a wide range when it comes to “authenticity” in Montessori education, as in how much the school follows the method illustrated by Maria Montessori herself. When searching for an…

What You Need To Know About the Absorbent Mind

This is an academic essay I wrote on the absorbent mind in Montessori education. I hope it is helpful in gaining a clearer understanding of the incredible abilities of the first plane (0-6 years) child. ABSORBENT MIND The absorbent mind, a creative and yet unconscious mental state of the first plane child, is the essential…

Montessori, Fantasy, and Pretend Play in the First Plane (Age 0-6)

Montessori is often associated with a classroom or home environment that is all work and no play, and to some extent this is true (depending on what you consider work and what you consider play). In the Montessori classroom, the materials and activities provided are there to encourage the child to concentrate. When a child…

My Hormonal Acne Journey and Current Skincare Routine

Acne is something most people struggle with at some point in their life and I was no different. As soon as puberty hit I began getting pimples that soon developed into cystic acne as a teenager. Many people also experience hormonal acne when they get pregnant and hormones are fluctuating. I began taking birth control…

Getting Started With Montessori At Home (without spending lots of money!)

It’s easy to look at all the fancy Instagram photos and “shelfies” and think Montessori is all about expensive materials. While the Montessori classroom tends to have a certain standard and quality for their materials that tends to come with a price tag, your Montessori home doesn’t need all of that. In fact, it’s better…

my montessori parenting “why” (and how to find yours)

As a new parent, maybe you think you have it all figured out in the first six months or so, and maybe some do. But for me, it’s taken years to really feel like I have found my “why” when it comes to parenting. What do I mean by parenting “why”? I mean the reason…

Intro to Sewing – Sewing Cardboard

As I study Montessori more, I am realizing some areas I haven’t focused on as much at home with my kids. One of them is sewing! I don’t personally sew, so its easy to forget about. We have done some basic threading at home (like with this threading cheese) but no actual sewing. One of…

Montessori in Small Spaces – Entryway

Sometimes it can be difficult as an apartment-dwelling family to look at all these spacious Montessori homes online and wonder how you will ever be able to fit that shelf, learning tower, weaning table, and bookcase into your 70 square meter abode. Guess what? It’s not gonna happen! Since I am finally coming out of…

How to become a Montessori teacher in Japan (and elsewhere)

I’ve recently begun studying to become a Montessori guide and I have had several people ask me how I am doing this in Japan. I thought I would write a bit about it based on some of the research I have done. This is only my research and my interpretation of the options available in…

What is a Montessori toy?

Thanks to social media popularizing the “natural” aesthetic, Montessori toys are all over the place these days. I should say “Montessori” toys in air quotes because many of these toys are not actually Montessori at all. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) the term Montessori is not copyrighted so anyone can use it to describe their toys, schools,…

5 Questions I Ask Myself Before Buying a Children’s Toy

Over the last couple of years I have been on a long journey towards carefully curating the types of toys and materials that come into our home. Since I began studying Maria Montessori’s philosophy a couple of years ago, I’ve become much more aware of just how important it is to select the right type…

Managing Twin Sleep Without Sleep Training

If you watch almost any “twin preparation” or “twin sleep” video, you will probably hear this advice first. “Sleep train them as soon as possible!” I watched those videos in dismay for all the other soon-to-be parents of multiples who were wondering how they would survive nights and days getting two (or more) babies to…

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