The Montessori Notebook podcast :: a Montessori parenting podcast with Simone Davies

Mars (Instagram/website) was a Montessori educator and owned her own school and now homeschools her daughter Cara. I asked Mars if I could interview her daughter Cara about their Montessori homeschooling and we spoke for over an hour! I'm sure you'll enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
At the end Mars also talks about how she supports Cara's learning and what "successful" homeschooling looks like to them.
Links from the episode

• How to Save a Planet - podcast about climate change
• Gardener of the Sea: A Story About Nida Calumpong
• Charlotte Mason
• For Nature Stories for Young Readers, we have the Animal Life. Nature Stories for Young Readers: Animal Life by Florence Bass
• Shell, Beak, Tusk
• How to clean a hippopotamus book
• Sleeping queens
• Rainbow Knights
• CuBirds
• Trellis
• Bites
• Jurassic Snack
• The Magic Labyrinth
• Secret Seven // Famous Five
• a photo from Cara's book
• blog post about Montessori training
• pre-order The Montessori Baby

Listener question

My question for you is do you have any recommendations regarding resources or training for educators who do not intend on working in a Montessori school but would still like to approach teaching in a Montessori way? I work as a teacher in a public elementary school in Canada and would love to have a better understanding of the Montessori approach to early numeracy and literacy learning. I am specifically looking for resources for students in the 3-6 range. Thanks!

This episode about Marvin Reyes and sustainability
Such a fun conversation today with Marvin of Vincerola nurseries & preschools in Cologne, Germany. We were planning to interview some of the children but with 4 and 5 year olds whose native language isn't English, well, you'll have to listen to hear how that went. Keeping it real.

Then I got to ask Marvin all about their sustainability projects in their Montessori school. We talked about building bee hotels, nature visits and how they are making children conscious of how much trash they make in a week. Listen to the episode for more!

Links from the show

• The Montessori Baby - register to join our free virtual book tour events
• The Montessori Baby - the book including preorder details for those ordering by 10 May
• 10 ways we can show respect to our child
• Alfie Kohn, Unconditional Parenting
• Alfie Kohn, 5 reasons to stop saying good job
• Vincerola - website / YouTube
• The Earth Project with Montessori Everywhere

Listener question

Today's listener question is from Eve-Marie:

"Hi Simone, thank you so much for all the resources you have put into the world. I listen to the podcast regularly and read the Montessori Toddler while on maternity leave. My 2.5 year old son attends a lovely AMI Montessori School full time here in Canada, and my husband and I try our best to follow the Montessori method at home, although we were both raised in a very different way. His teachers report that our little guy is easy and affable at school, but at home he has lately started to push up on limits very strongly. Although I understand this is exactly what he should be doing, I often don't know what to do after I feel like I appropriately responded to his behavior and he persists in it.

For an example: the first nice warm day of Spring on our commute home from school (I was walking and pulling him in his wagon as usual) we saw another family eating ice cream cones. He started asking for ice cream, repeating the request more and more urgently. I pulled the wagon off the side walk, crouched down to his level to look him in the eye. I calmly explained that I understood that he wanted ice cream, ice cream was delicious and I wished we could have some too. But today we were not going to have ice cream. I couldn't buy him ice cream today (this was true, I hadn't brought my wallet), which was hard, because I understood the he wanted some very much. Today was not the day to have ice cream. Today was that family's turn to eat ice cream and it would be our tun to have ice cream on a different day. Today we were going to the park!. I felt like we had connected and he understood, but as soon as we started walking again he resumed yelling and repeating his demand for ice cream. What to do in this instance? Ignoring him didn't feel very respectful, but I was at a loss how else to move on and ended up diverting him with the slide when we arrived at the playground.

This is an example of something that is happening a lot. I feel like I am communicating that I understand his wishes, explain the limit, and validate his feelings towards the limit. But then when he continues to test that limit (which I understand) what is the best way to respond?"

I said last week I’d have to do a podcast soon all about babies, and after our book launch Zoom party for The Montessori Baby last week where Junnifa and I were talking all about our love for babies, I decided it could be fun to share the recording from the book launch party for this week’s podcast. We talked about how we show respect for babies in the Montessori approach, we give you a virtual tour of the book, and even some of the people featured in the book were live on the call and able to talk about how it’s been for them to apply Montessori in their lives. And the most fun is Dr Ayize Sabater of the Black Montessori Education Fund. He kindly agreed to host the event and you can just feel his joy and his passion for Montessori. Enjoy...
Links from the show

• Dr Ayize Sabater - Instagram, blackmontessorieducationfund.org
• Sanny van Loon - Instagram (our book illustrator)
• Montessori Chapters, Maria and Charlie
• Montessorian by heart, Neus - Spanish/Brazilia
• The Kavanaugh Report, Nicole Kavanaugh
• Mainly Montessori, Pilar Bewley
• Raising Yannis, Ahoefa
• Forest Montessori, Jaya
• Montessori in Real Life, Theresa
• Montessori like a Mother, Amy
• Karin Slabaugh
• To order 10+ books for schools or wholesale, email [email protected]
• YouTube video of The Montessori Baby book launch
• Tilt Parenting
• Bilingualism
  • Eowyn Crisfield - Bilingual Families: A Practical Language Planning Guide book
  • Eowyn Crisfield - Raising Bilingual & Multilingual children workshop
  • Colin Baker, A Parents' and Teachers' Guide to Bilingualism

This week's listener question
I'd love to hear more about your journey incorporating Montessori and bilingualism, Simone. Where we are moving next (in the US), we'll have to choose between one or the other for schooling (a Montessori school or an immersion school). The second language is not my first language, but we'd still like to introduce a second language. How did you navigate this or do you have any tips or resources you recommend? Thank you! - Sarah

So lovely to learn more about Theresa from Montessori In Real Life who we all love following on Instagram. She shares so much in this episode from how she gets her children to pack away, to what they are loving outdoors, organising spaces with siblings, their favourite practical life, her own anti-bias journey and so much more.
Links from the show

• Theresa from Montessori in Real Life - Website / Instagram
• Quote from Aubrey Hargis here
• Britt & Tiffany's course - their 4 week course is currently unavailable / 2 hour workshop with The Montessori Notebook
• Theresa featured on The Montessori notebook blog here and here
• Their Ikea play kitchen turned Montessori kitchen here
• How Montessori brings more joy - blog post
• Toddlers need for movement - insta reel
• Tips for practical life in the kitchen - insta reel
• Getting kids to put things away - insta post
• Praise vs acknowledgement - blog post
• Encouraging independent play - blog post
• freedom within limits - insta post
• Tips for caregivers and grandparents - blog post
• Theresa's Montessori guides
• Whole Brain Child, Dan Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson

Listener question
Hi! I am just discovering Montessori and I have a 3...almost 4 year old. She has developed a fear of bugs so much that she cries when it’s time to go outside. I’m a working mom so I try to get her outside as much as I can. I do let her hold my hand and I let her know that she is safe. We talk about bugs that are okay to observe close up vs bugs that we want to observe at a distance. Basically, how do I navigate through this time? We are in Michigan so it’s quite buggy right now and the summer months are upon us. My husband and I loooove being outside (camping, gardening, etc) but now she’s so afraid that we are finding ourselves inside a lot to respect her emotions. - Scarlett

Today I have an amazing conversation to share with Gabriel Salomão of Lar Montessori in Brazil. His native language is Portuguese and yet speaks so eloquently, gently and respectfully about the Montessori approach. I always learn something from our conversations and am so happy to be able to share this conversation with you on the podcast today.
Lar Montessori: Website / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube
Gabriel works with families and schools in Brazil and abroad, including training Montessori educators. He went to Montessori school himself until he was 14 and came back to Montessori when he was graduating in Literature in search of tools to become a better teacher. "One night, I found a small little book by Maria Montessori online and started to read, without pretensions. When I finished, it was dawn, and my life was transformed."
Quotes
- Gabriel asked a child "What do you want to be when you grow up?" The child responded, "An adult."
- "To obey is hard, it's a skill and you learn that."
- "Step into the wilderness of silence"
- "Love is very much silent"
Links from the episode

• Dignity: a new gift for children
• 8 principles of silent education
• Muriel Dwyers "A Path for the Exploration of Any Language Leading to Writing and Reading"
• Instagram @whatdaddid
• Join our free book launch zoom party for The Montessori Baby on 11 May at 11am ET!

Listener question

Hi, Simone! I want to thank you so much for this podcast & your book. It has helped me immensely in my personal interactions with my 20-month old and I have already seen a change in her demeanour at home.
My question is regarding my spouse. He tells me to ""lead the way"" indicating that he wants me to learn all I can to incorporate Montessori principles at home. He is supportive in my research, but rarely listens to parts of your podcast that I share or reads blog posts that I recommend for him. He often interrupts our daughter's activities that I spend time planning, or constantly ""quizzes"" her to see what she has learned. He is well-intentioned and loves her so much. How do I gently guide him, or really guide all of our family, to let her lead and stop interrupting her or constantly asking her questions?
Thank you so much for helping me in this situation!
Submit your listener question here