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DIY: Picnic Blanket
Henry performing his post-nap stretching routine on our favorite quilt … Read More
Sadly, this post is not a tutorial about how to make your own picnic blanket; it’s a request for tutorials!Henry and I are still following the routine I learned from Baby Wise: breastfeed, awake time, nap time approximately every three hours. During at least one of Henry’s awake times, we love to spread a blanket out on the grass and just stare at the trees (well, Henry stares at the trees; I usually try to get in a little reading).
The problem is that our lovely blanket (a quilt I picked up at a flea market while I
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Cultivating Independence in Children
Henry watching the mobile above our bed Independence is at the heart of the Montessori approach, but not in a Puritanical-I-can-do-it-myself-and-don’t-need-anyone way.… Read MoreTo a Montessorian, helping children cultivate their ability to do things for themselves is how we respect children. We honor that they are capable of doing things for themselves and that they are eager to learn how to do those things.
For example, at my Montessori class last week, my teacher explained that her three children (ages 6.5, 4.5, and 2.5) each pack their own rolling suitcase and backpack when they go on a trip. Then they are responsible for rolling/carrying their own luggage through the airport. She
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Book Club: Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
One of my big, hairy, audacious goals in life is to start a public, Montessori charter school in Austin, TX. For those of you who aren’t too familiar with charter schools, the short story is that they are free, public schools that receive per/pupil funding just like schools in districts but they are not part of the school district. They do not have to use the same curriculum, the same hiring and firing procedures, the same technology, etc. They are still held accountable by the same state assessments that the children take each year, but beyond those required tests, they are pretty much free to innovate.… Read MoreThere’s a lot of
