Read the words of Margaret E. Stephenson in the foreword to “The Secret of Childhood” by Maria Montessori.
“She did not care for the word ‘method’ which denotes in our minds a system of schools and educational institutions. Over and over again she insisted that we must think in terms of “help to life” if we are to understand what she was trying to make people see.”
Montessori as an aid to life allows for the child to unfold and develop naturally. Just as one child begins crawling at 8 months and another at 11 months, their academic development unfolds at its own pace as well. In Montessori, we fall these “sensitive periods”
There is a beautiful chart on Age of Montessori that shows a visual of these sensitive periods.
Movement: birth - 15 months
Social & Emotional: birth - 2.5
Math Patterns: birth - age 3.5
Order: 6 months - 2.5
Small Objects- begins around age 1 and continues for several years
Vocabulary: age 1 onward
Sensory Learning: birth onward.
Letter Shapes & Sounds: ages 2.5 - 5
Music: age 3 onward
Math : age 3.5 onward
Reading: age 3 onward
Writing: age 3 onward
“A child may not be interested in an activity because he has yet to enter that particular sensitive period of development.” -Marnie Craycroft
The beauty of Montessori is the beauty of homeschooling.
You have the opportunity to nurture your child’s development based on their inner drives.
There is a strong pull to re-create the Montessori classroom experience in your home. The Internet is full of beautiful images of homeschooling families using traditional Montessori materials. There’s nothing wrong with us but it’s also not necessary. In fact, I made this mistake.
The materials can be very helpful for teaching specific concepts, but most of the time we can find an adequate, possibly even better, substitute in the home environment.
For example, while teaching your child the concept of quantity, instead of having huge, costly wooden red rods, you could use Duplo’s instead.
Instead of using Metal Fraction Circles to teach, you could use measuring cups.
It is commonly asked what Montessori curriculum a family should purchase. If you’ve asked this question in a social media group before, then you know that the response is generally “no such curriculum exists.”
There are many teacher albums that you can purchase, which can be used to re-create a Montessori classroom experience. They involve step-by-step directions on lessons and often come with a scope and sequence. The scope and sequence shows you approximately when you would introduce the concept to a child and what lessons might come before and after that lesson.
I suggest that you wait before purchasing any albums. I suggest this because it can be very overwhelming.
When you begin by looking at a big picture of what is covered in a three-year cycle, you notice lessons that you won’t need to re-create in a home environment because they’re already happening.
There are dozens of PDFs, materials available to you, but if you don’t know which order they go in you may waste your time and money.
I don’t want you to do that.
I want you to be confident that you are capable of guiding your children through their sensitive periods and aiding their development.
Are you tempted to check off boxes in a traditional education away? Or are you trying to re-create a Montessori classroom? Or are you just playing overwhelmed by all of the options?
Do you want a Montessori coach? I would love to help you create your unique Montessori Homeschool.
Birth is a very special time in your life, but it's one day out of the entire childbearing year. 
When you think you can’t, you just may be right.
Actually, that’s true.
You can never accomplish something if you don’t believe you can.
My Story
Today, my daughter was fighting with my son. I tried to use gentle hands to stop her. However, an object in motion stays in motion. As a result, we both fell down and got hurt. It should be no surprise that my attempt to stop her made her angry. She started fighting me.
It is ugly.
We are both crying.
I immediately go to the thought,
“I can’t do this.”
Two Truths Emerge
First the thought that I had is false.
Second, because I believe I can’t, I can’t.
I was stuck for years believing “I can’t”
I can’t keep the house clean.
I can’t succeed in business.
I can’t break my bad habits
I can’t work and homeschool.
I can’t beat the anxiety
The truth is I haven’t done any of those things by my own measures of success. I spent years telling myself “I can’t” during moments of discouragement. Long periods of time believing “I can’t” can lead to despair
What Do I Do?
What does a person do when a negative belief is so strong?
1. You can encourage yourself with the truth of Scripture.
Get these before your eyes daily, and in your heart.
I can do all things through Christ to strengthen to me. 13 Philippians 4:13
No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. Romans 8:37
We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5
May all my thoughts be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. Psalm 104:34
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
2. Second you can detox that negative belief.
Dr. Caroline Leaf has a wonderful book, “Switch on Your Brain” that explains the science of why these scriptures are true and how we can change our brains, without surgery.
Her Five Step Process is incredible tool for detoxing the negative beliefs.
3. Let Me Help You
You can also do a process that has proudly impacted my life and my ability to release negative thoughts and move forward in truth.
I am a work in progress and daily life bring these thoughts to the surface. Today’s incident did not send me into a spiral of negativity. I stopped myself, because I have practiced habits of hope and am changing my beliefs.
The truth is I CAN DO THIS.
I can do this (motherhood thing) with grace and Ease.
If you are ready to learn how to do this, overcome the discouraging beliefs and move into the truth and move forward into the life you want. Join my 28 day HOPE CHALLENGE.
Birth is a very special time in your life, but it's one day out of the entire childbearing year. 
