For a peaceful home, for a peaceful world
Last week Frida turned three. Three! My tiny baby. Suffice to say that I got very emotional and may have cried several times. Somehow three – this definitive leap away from toddlerhood, from being a baby – has affected me much more than previous birthdays. She is truly a little girl now. A pre-schooler (pre-homeschooler?).…
Read More
In the 1970s an architect called Simon Nicholson proposed an idea which has come to be known as the theory of loose parts; that it is the loose parts in our society – items which can be arranged, manipulated, moved around, and redesigned – which empower our creativity. There is no rule about what these…
Read More
I really enjoy picking out gifts for Frida. She is into so many different things at the moment, choices feel potentially limitless. This year I’ve gone for things which I hope will bring her joy through deep play, just as her other toys do. Our family celebrates both Christmas and Chanukah, so we will be…
Read More
With the festive season fast approaching, I have updated my Montessori-friendly gift guide. I hope you find it useful! Below are a selection of toys I feel pretty sure would be welcomed by any family with an interest in the Montessori ethos – or actually, any family at all. They are well made, beautiful, mostly made of…
Read More
Frida’s most beloved toys are without any doubt her collection of wooden animal figures. These are played with all day, every day, with the rest of her toys mere accessories for her animals, acting as homes or caves or oceans or food, and I have watched as her imaginative play, storytelling skills, and vocabulary have…
Read More
“We spread an abundant and delicate feast… and each small guest assimilates what he can.” – Charlotte Mason Charlotte Mason was writing here about the need to provide our children with a rich, diverse, interesting, tempting, beautiful education. An education which invites them to consume diverse ideas and stories and concepts, tempting them in with…
Read MoreI have just put together Frida’s “stocking” for Christmas. I say stocking, but actually we’re using one of her socks! I figured she’s only small, and the temptation of a big stocking would be to fill it… so an 18-24 month size navy sock it is! I didn’t have a stocking growing up, but I…
Read MoreI looked at Frida’s toy shelves critically a few days ago, and I was pretty unhappy with what I saw. Not with the content – all of her toys are lovely, engaging, and open-ended, mostly beautifully made and wooden. No, what bothered me is that there were simply too many. I’m a firm believer in…
Read MoreI have finally done a bit of (very overdue!) toy rotation in Frida’s room. As Frida has gotten older I’ve found that I’ve naturally rotated her toys less, as she’s played with things in new ways, and has also focused on gross motor skills and language acquisition rather than on materials so she’s gotten bored…
Read MoreI have been meaning to write this post for so long, and with the festive season fast approaching (eeeek!) I thought I should actually get to it rather than leaving it too late for this year. Below are a selection of toys I feel pretty sure would be welcomed by any family with an interest in the…
Read More