The Montessori Notebook

The place to learn everything about Montessori at home in easy-to-follow, simple steps for busy parents and caregivers. Whether you are new to Montessori or have been using Montessori for a while, you will come away with practical ideas you can try today and use in your daily life.

Montessori Christmas

6 ways to reduce family stress during the holiday season Montessori-style

Imagine if our dreams of a calm and cosy festive season could possibly be true. We’ve started some family rituals we love, we are starting to work out what we enjoy and what is important to us…. And then along come the extended family with their gifts of plastic toys with flashing lights and no “off" button, so much food and sugar to make our children dance on the ceiling, expectations from every different direction to manage, and a distant relative that has behaviour we’d rather not expose … [Read more...] about 6 ways to reduce family stress during the holiday season Montessori-style

Getting ready for the holiday season Montessori-style

I have lots of fun news for you today! It must be because it’s my favourite season of the year. Rather than heading into the season filled with dread or already feeling overwhelmed, let’s add some calm back into your festive days. From the classroom Here in the Netherlands, the Dutch celebrate Sint on 5 December. It’s very traditional at this time of year to eat pepernoten – very small cookies with a lovely spice mix including lots of cinnamon. I love making these in class with the … [Read more...] about Getting ready for the holiday season Montessori-style

a Montessori Christmas

Some fellow Montessori bloggers are putting together some posts on their Christmas ideas for this year and am super happy to join them. Below my post you’ll find links to their great ideas too. Getting ahead on the Christmas shopping I was reading a blog post last week (sadly I don’t remember which one) and the person was sharing that they did all their Christmas shopping – and had it wrapped – by the end of November. I thought this idea was genius. I am so going to try to do this! Anyone … [Read more...] about a Montessori Christmas

Lots of fun at the festive craft extravaganza

We had a wonderful day yesterday with 20 families busy crafting, knutseling, baking and getting into the festive spirit with a song or two. Thank you everyone who came along. It was such a nice atmosphere with you all. A big thank you to Monika from Popolop for creating a storm :: beautiful slingers, glitter madness, and other fun paper crafts. For those wanting to eat more of those delicious cookies, here is the recipe:2 cups plain flour1 tsp baking powder1 tsp ginger1 tsp cinnamon100g … [Read more...] about Lots of fun at the festive craft extravaganza