I wonder where I fit in on Instagram.
There are the accounts that have epically beautiful collections of wooden toys, and the accounts that have shelves lined with Montessori materials. I am neither. I am a dollar-store, vintage-hunting person who is more likely to keep the wooden tray and donate the toy, than the other way around.
So I would like to share my guiding principle, that my AMI trainer told me: you can Montessori with all of the principles and none of the materials, or have all the materials and none of the principles. When we understand the principles of child development, the whats and hows come easily.
The Montessori materials were developed for use with a class of thirty children, not a home with one or two. Things like practical life were designed for the classroom to emulate the home, not for us to turn the home into a classroom. I’ve been asked in my Stories what are the must-have Montessori materials for a home, and my answer is this: the most important material is you.
You, the parent, not the purchaser. You are the vital link that connects your child to the environment. Your modelling of grace, courtesy and care of materials, will ensure that the children learn to put back those Grimms’ toys after playing with them. The way you use rich language and express your emotions will help children learn that it’s ok for boys to cry and for girls to confidently refuse an unwanted hug. Your observation of the child’s sensitive periods and curating appropriate activities for them.
I would consider purchasing two or three Montessori materials because I would not be able to achieve that precision if I DIY’ed, but many other things can be easily substituted at low cost.
Instead of the sensorial materials, how about a set of ten Russian dolls to respond to that sensitive period for order? Or fuse bead/ bracelet stringing work for a sensitive period for refinement?
A couple more budget activities, made with whatever we had at home or trips to Daiso, Chinatown.. even a few of our baskets are secondhand.
Don’t ever let space and budgetary constraints fool you into thinking you can’t Montessori at one. In fact, they compel you to get creative, and use whatever resources are local to you. And that is Montessori at its core- raising children who are independent and confident navigating their environments.