Beginning Montessori with Infants and Tots Birth to 24 Months

(This book is the combination of two Kindle ebooks previously sold under the titles Montessori Unplugged: FAQs About Infants and Toddlers; and Affordable Montessori Activities You Can Do With Infants and Tots.)

by Lisa Nolan Monkey Star Press www.MonkeyStarPress.com Petaluma, California

Also by Lisa Nolan Montessori FAQs and Resources for Homeschooling Children Ages Three to Nine Frogs and Flies and Blackberry Pies (A short fiction middle grade reader)

Beginning Montessori with Infants and Tots Birth to 24 Months by Lisa Nolan Copyright 2011 by Lisa Nolan All rights reserved. Published 2012 Published by Monkey Star Press, P.O.B. 5343, Petaluma, California, 94955. First edition. Electronic Edition Published 05/16/2012 by Monkey Star Press. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or retransmitted in any form or by any means without permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review or article. ISBN-13: 978-0-9834995-0-3 Edited by Christine LePorte Cover photo by Lisa Nolan Photos in this book by Lisa Nolan and Yvonne Goodrich

CONTENTS
{ABOUT THIS BOOK} {CHAPTER 1: Infant Tot Development} {CHAPTER 2: Language Activities} {CHAPTER 3: Sensory Activities} {CHAPTER 4: Large & Small Motor Movement Activities} {CHAPTER 5: Practical Life Activities} {CHAPTER 6: Questions about Beahvior} {CHAPTER 7: Questions about Sleep, Routines & Bedtime} {CHAPTER 8: Questions about Giving Lessons & Doing Activities} {CHAPTER 9: Questions about Food & Mealtime} {CHAPTER 10: Questions about Special Needs & Developmental Delays} {RECOMMENDED READING} {ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS} {ABOUT THE AUTHOR}

About This Book In 1998 I started creating Montessori and homeschool online Internet programs with lesson activities and email consulting for parents and educators of preschool and elementary children at MontessorifortheEarth.com. In 2004 my son was born and I was anxious to begin Montessori infant activities at home with him. I went on the Internet and searched for a Montessori infant program, and much to my chagrin, I could only find very expensive Montessori infant teacher training programs and albums. I thought, there must be other parents like me who are searching for Montessori infant activities and not finding anything practical and affordable! So in 2005 I decided to create my own Montessori online Internet programs for infants and tots, based on my experience as a Montessori-trained teacher and a mom. The result has been dozens of infant and tot lessons created by me and available on my website, MontessorifortheEarth.com. Now I have compiled them all in this book: 50 activities for language, motor development, sensory, and practical life! Hope you enjoy them with your infant and tot as much as I did with mine! This book was also created out of the hundreds of email questions I received from parents and educators of infants and toddlers who joined my online Internet Montessori programs at my website, MontessorifortheEarth.com, and who needed further help and guidance to incorporate the Montessori Method in their home or daycare. Filled with real-life examples, this book is divided into several chapters that address the many challenges parents and teachers face: Questions about Behavior; Questions about Sleep, Routines, and Bedtime; Questions about Giving Lessons and Doing Activities; Questions about Food and

Mealtime; and Questions about Special Needs and Developmental Delays. This book will be a valuable contribution to those parents and educators who are searching for answers to their questions in raising their very young children using the philosophies of the Montessori Method.

CHAPTER 1 INFANT TOT DEVELOPMENT Children are not things to be molded, But are people to be unfolded.Jess Lair

The Absorbent Mind and Sensitive Periods From Birth to Six Months In the first six years of a childs life her mind is like a sponge, an absorbent mind, taking in everything in the environment with energy and enthusiasm through sensorial exploration, touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing, and the use of hands-on activities. This absorbent mind creates a natural drive that supplies the infant (and child) with the focus and energy she needs for her self-development. Maria Montessori called the child from birth to six a sensorial explorer: We develop our intelligence by learning through our five senses and particularly through the relationship between the hand and the brain [and earlier on, in infancy, between the mouth and the brain, creating] feedback loops of information from the hand to the brain and back again-what is given to the hand [and mouth] is given to the brain. These sensorial experiences aid in the process of the Sensitive Periods: The learning period the child requires for gaining any new knowledge or skill. During a Sensitive

Period, the infant (and child) is having a spurt in her development, a milestone, creating an optimal moment of selfformation. Nature has created in the infant and child a window of opportunity to reach a certain goal and learn a new skill. During this window of opportunity, which can vary in length, the infant and child shows great interest and enthusiasm, so much so that she will ignore other activities that were previously of tremendous interest to her, and vice versa. During the Sensitive Period, the infant and childs energy is on the repetition and practice of the skill or activity, in order for her to master it. During these extreme learning periods, we as new parents want to help, not impede, the infants self-development by becoming aware, and being in tune, to her Sensitive Periods and special energies of growth. We want to nurture these tendencies by creating a home surrounding without too much excess and over stimulation, that encourages, supports, and understands them, as well as by having objects specifically placed in the room to more easily draw the babys attention and encourage focus and exploration. At the same time, we want the infant and child to be challenged by not giving her a task that is too hard (and thus experience immediate failure), or give her a task that is too easy (and thus experience boredom or apathy) by balancing parent protection and encouragement to both support and challenge the child, starting in infancy.

Time Line for the Birth- to Six-Month-Old 1 Week: Hands can make a fist; flings arms and legs; wiggles, kicks, and twitches; moves head from side to side; lies on tummy like a frog (arms and legs tucked in); no head-neck control when held or picked up; sees light and dark images eight inches from eyes; becomes quiet when held, swaddled; in a blanket, or allowed to suck on your finger or a pacifier; exhibits rooting behavior (search sucking with mouth for breast); will feed 7-8 times in 24 hours; will take 5-6 naps and sleep 18-20 hours a day. 1-3 Weeks: Infant will grasp your finger. 1 Month: Makes eye-to-eye contact; may smile; is attracted to the human face and black and white contrasting images up to 8 inches away; grasps onto you while being held, like a part of your shirt; stares at objects but doesnt grasp them; if grasping something, will not hold onto it. 1-6 Weeks: Infant will lay on back with arms and hands above head

2 Months: Awake up to ten hours a day with several naps during the day; may sleep 6-7 hours in the night; smiles; begins mouthing objects; may begin sucking thumb; sees and is attracted to three-dimensional faces; can quiet himself with sucking pacifier or thumb; needs little or no swaddling; may notice his hand(s); will mouth and suck objects placed in his hand; attempts to grab an object and grasp it, swipes; his reflexes are becoming more voluntary versus reflexive; stares at his surrounding environment; startles, especially loud sounds; may coo; head still bobs. 2-3 Months: Infant will be able to hold arms and hands across his chest area 3 Months: Infant will be able to swat at objects; may sleep ten hours in the night; anticipates his feeding and acts excited at the sight of his bib or bottle; may still need one night feed (2 AM feed); watches hands and feet; repeats actions; explores his mouth and face with hands; is becoming aware of self; is beginning long-term memory; when presented with an object, clasps hands together on chest; reaches with both arms for object; cooing; hearing well developed; responds to image in mirror (of himself or mom); vision maturing; can follow an object with his eyes while moving head from side to side (when close to face); glances at one object, then another; tries to hold object in hand; exploring objects with hands and mouth, gums them; cries less; recognizes mother; more fascinated with faces; turns head to human voice; vocalizes or tries to mimic your voice when talked to. 3-4 Months: Infant will be able to roll over (from back to stomach, and later stomach to back); will be able to lift head while on his stomach. 4 Months: May show preference for one object over another; clasps fingers and hands on objects; still swipes at objects; turns head in all directions; holds head up; on stomach may put weight on arms; extends legs on stomach (less frog-like); reaches; may babble; sees color; follows

dangling or moving object or sound; pulls dangling object towards mouth; may notice a stranger as a stranger; knows mother; laughs; shows anticipation (feeding, favorite toy, swing, car seat); may be ready for solid baby food; no longer needs or should have pacifier; ready for crib (as permanent sleeping area); slashes at bath time. 5 Months: Plays with rattles; likes to shake objects (and hear their sounds); will drop an object if offered another; explores his clothes, ears, and feet; imitates sounds; wakes up at dawn; waves arms to be picked up, clings; prolonged play (90 minutes); can express fear and anger; leans over at fallen toy to search with eyes; holds objects, turns, mouths, tastes them; reaches with two hands; can stay awake up to two hours; notices new surroundings; utters vowel sounds, maybe a few consonant-like sounds; reaches for and grasps rings; aim is better; sits supported; pulls to stand; rocks while on tummy, pushes on hands and legs, may slither or creep; limbs more vigorously active; brings feet to mouth when on back. 6 Months: Turns head in all directions; transfers object from one hand to the other; notices third object; is aware of his manipulation of objects; grasps with fingers and examines objects; reaches for and explores objects nearby; holds bottle; reaches with one arm; notices small objects; enjoys playing and interacting with people (singing to, peek-a-boo, stories read, lap play, etc.); interested in fingering food; strong preference for certain tastes; sleeps 12 hours in a 24 hour period; may start holding sippy cup; pats (you, another child, a pet); stranger awareness strong, may show fear or anxiety toward unfamiliar people; recognizes his name; imitates facial expressions; smiles in mirror, vocalizes at his image; wants to crawl, may act frustrated while on tummy; reaches for dropped object; more deft at reaching, grasping, holding; moves objects in different positions; pulls covers away from face; shows interest in containers and lifts them by handle, hits, throws, drops; shows object permanence; still mouths

objects; can turn head to familiar sound; complains, excites, giggles, frowns, gurgles, varies pitch and volume; may sleep on side; may sit unsupported up to 30 minutes; can lean forward; bounces; pivots while on tummy; may get up on hands and knees and hurtle forward or backward and fling limbs; creeps; may crawl. Highlights and Considerations for the Infant Security Objects: By six months of age, your baby may be showing a preference for a certain object, like a favorite blanket, stuffed animal, doll, or (in one moms case) a rattle sock with a stuffed bug at the end. This object will become known as your babys security object (or lovey). At the age of three, four, and five months you can experiment with a few safe objects in the crib or sleep area (although some Montessorians do not believe objects of any kind should be in the crib or sleep area).

For example: Place a very small blanket, a doll, a stuffed animal, and perhaps one other safe object (like a rattle sock) in the crib, but do not change these objects (so choose objects that can be washed easily in the washing machine!).

You might even considering buying two of the same object in case one gets lost (and it happens to be the object that becomes your babys favorite!). Place these objects in the crib or sleep area and keep them there for several months and by age six months your baby should choose between them a favorite: he will hold it to fall asleep, when given this object he will stop crying or fussing, or he is just happy when he has this object. To quote from Caplans The First Twelve Months of Life: The attachment of babies to such objects... helps in the transition to independence from her [mother]. They give him another way to cope with the necessary separation from you, as well as the other frustrations of just plain growing up. A highly active baby needs a soft toy for a special reason. Giving up action and play and comforting himself are difficult tasks for him. Once the security object is established it will be used to help your baby to fall asleep at nap time and bedtime, at the end of the day when he is tired, or at extreme fussy times. But I do not recommend taking it out of the house, as it can get easily lost. Also, you want your baby to be able to access the object when he needs it. But for now, you will have to bring it to him (from a location where he can get to it when he is older and crawling, etc.). Once your baby has chosen his security object, it should be used to replace the pacifier. (After age three months, your baby goes from a sucking reflex to a mouthing reflex so that he no longer needs a pacifier for sucking/calming, he needs a security object and he can mouth it if need be.)

From Sucking to Mouthing: After age three months your baby goes from a sucking reflex to a mouthing (gumming) reflex, so that by age four months you can begin giving your baby objects he can safely mouth--objects you can place in the dishwasher or washing machine to clean. (Tracking objects is an important activity for your baby at this time, as he cannot grasp what he cannot see. Once he can see and grasp an object, he will want to mouth and gum the object.) Interestingly, this is also the stage your baby will mouth his hands and feet, as well as your fingers, nose, shoulder, etc. Body parts are of great interest! (To entice your baby to grab and mouth his feet, you can purchase rattle socks.) Age appropriate toys and objects for the four to six month old include soft cloth objects/toys, rattles, and teethers that are safe for him to mouth and gum. Finger Feeding in a Nutshell: Bits and pieces of food for your baby to explore for finger feeding (exploring various textures and tastes) is recommended at seven months of age, including teething biscuits. Babies begin to show an interest in self feeding at around this time, a sensitive period, if you will, for finger foods, which disappears after twelve months. Ask your doctor for his or her recommendations for various finger foods, as some can be choking hazards. And a great

book to read is The First Twelve Months of Life, Your Babys Growth Month by Month by Caplan. After twelve months of age, this sensitive period for finger feeding disappears, and a baby who did not explore many types of food will often reject solids, various textures and tastes, and get stuck on jar food and bottles. The finger food stage is fun but messy! And remember to talk to your pediatrician! Language Development for the First Twelve Months Abstract thought is developed with the help of hand-eye-brain coordination, interaction with the environment, and the babys first language experiences. Exposure to language early on in a childs development is vital: through gestures, body language, facial expressions, and the sound of the human voice. In the first few months the baby will babble vowel sounds; and by listening to others, he will then try to reproduce sounds himself, and strengthen his capacity for speech later on. When the adult mimics the baby, she reinforces the babys attempts at vocalization, and the baby will babble more. This is why pacifiers are not recommended past months four and five: it inhibits the babbling process and prolongs speech development. Pacifiers allow for sucking but not for making sounds, an important part of language development. When your baby cries more because he no longer has a pacifier, he is strengthening his vocal cords, albeit putting a strain on mom and dads ears! A baby who is pacified is quieter, but it is to the sacrifice of his oral motor development. By five months, the baby can make several consonant sounds, and soon strings them together with vowel sounds, the most common being da-da: this is called canonical babbling. Now he will be all ears! Parents can talk to the baby at every given opportunity, including the naming of objects in and around the babys

environment. By ten months the baby will begin understanding some of the language spoken around him. He begins to comprehend that language can convey meaning. Bye-bye is not just a sound mom makes when she leaves for work, it has meaning. Sounds have meanings. He will understand more and more the meaning of words spoken, but will have a difficult time conveying words himself; but he will try making up words, until one day, he gets them right! In the meantime, at around the same age, he will try to convey meaning through gestures, like pointing. The adult can reinforce his language by responding back with a few simple words. For example, the baby is pointing to his Teddy bear, the adult can say, Teddy bear! And give it to the baby, repeating the word a few more times. When a child is 12 months, he may master up to six words, and as many as fifty by age 15 months (and later for pacifier babies). By the time the baby has learned fifty words, an explosion happens, and he will learn several words PER DAY (as many as one every two waking hours) until the age of five! It also is during this early language explosion (from 15 to 24 months) that the brain is rapidly forming the cerebral cortex (the part of the brain where words or stored and retrieved). Infant Tot Fine Motor Development In Montessori infant development, emphasis is placed on the use of the hands as an extension of brain development (handeye coordination, hand-brain coordination) beginning in the first few months of life and continuing on into infancy and well into the toddler and preschool years, as the brain continues to grow and develop. An infant, when grasping an object for example, is receiving information about that object and sending it to the brain, creating a continuous feedback loop of hand-to-brain-

to-hand. And it is for this reason that the infant be allowed to explore (safe) objects as soon as three-to-five months of age, when grasping for objects becomes intentional. Throughout infancy, the babys continuous reaching and grasping for objects will also aid in his development of depth perception, the pincer grasp, and his own sense of self, apart from mother and father. The key, then, in Montessori infant development, is to find the right balance between the hand and the mind, a unity: the level of muscular skill and coordination [that] matches the level of mental development; otherwise, a mismatch, a disunity, will occur. One way to keep the hand and brain development in sync is to allow the infant enough time to repeat his exploration of the same objects, so as to allow lots of time for the hand and brain to create those feedback loops, rather than to overwhelm the infant with a continuous stream of new toys and objects. Rotation, then, is what is needed for the infant: a rotation of objects, activities, and toys each week, or each month, for the infant to explore. We must limit the infants choice of toys, activities, and objects so that he will 1) repeat his interactions with them, 2) gain knowledge of them, 3) develop his fine motor skills, and 4) create those feedback loops to the brain (so the knowledge sticks!). Secondly, we want his interactions with the objects in his environment, and his toys and activities, to be challenging: not too easy so as to cause boredom but not too hard so as to cause frustration; we want to match his mental abilities with his fine motor abilities. To know when an activity, toy, or object is just right for your infant, spend a few moments each day observing him: which activity or area in the house does he go to first? Which activity or task does he seem to repeat the most?

What are his favorite objects or toys? If he continuously ignores certain objects or toys, he could be bored with them. If he throws certain toys and objects, or acts frustrated and cranky upon interacting with them, perhaps it is because they are too challenging. Our ultimate goal for the infant, when he reaches early toddler hood (15 months) is to stay with a focused task. We therefore want to build his attention span, his focus, and his concentration during his infancy, so that when he is a toddler, he will not flutter from one activity, toy, and object to the other, unable to focus and concentrate on the task and skill at hand. Between the ages of 15 and 18 months of age, your new young toddler will begin to slow down a bit, he will stay with certain toys and activities for longer periods of time and show a preference for certain ones. Perhaps he will spend more time playing with his trucks and his balls (or chasing the cat around the house!). After the infant reaches early toddler hood, he will instinctively want to be involved in the daily chores and tasks (the fundamental needs) of the family, requiring a certain level of attention and focus: dressing and dressing as in care of the self, food preparation like pouring and spooning, caring for the environment like watering plants or feeding the pets, as well as helping out with household chores. The infantturned-toddler wants to copy the adults in his environment in their daily activities, doing what Montessori termed, practical life activities, or the practical work of life. This is a transition from the learning exploration by the infant to the doing and working by the young toddler.

The 12- to 15-Month-Old Stage of Development: Your 12- to 15-month-old is in a sensory-motor stage. He will spend 80% of his time interacting with his physical environment. He wants to listen to, look into, and manipulate everything. He will touch, feel, mouth, hold, drop, throw, shake, bang, taste, smell, and listen to every item he can get his hands on; as well as crawl, cruise, toddle, walk, climb, and run (large motor movements). This is how the 12- to 15-month-old learns, through action, by doing. Fine Motor Development: Between 12 and 15 months, fine motor skills are still very much a challenge. (Fine motor skills include manipulating the hands and the fingers to do a puzzle.) Your young toddler will utilize control over his arms first, then his hands, and lastly his fingers. Therefore, keep toys that require fine motor skills to a minimum because they will easily frustrate your child. He may have the cognitive ability and understanding, but he still has to practice the fine motor skills to achieve his goals, and this will take several more months. For example, by age 15 months your child knows what a spoon is for, but he has to practice the skill of self feeding and spooning to master it by 18 to 24 months. In the meantime, you can help your child with a few fine motor activities by guiding his hand, rather than doing it for him. Toys and Activities: Give him large unstructured toys he can explore and manipulate, like a train, a boat, a drum, a ball, a truck, a car, and a keyboard: toys he can manipulate without frustration, feelings of failure, or dependence on an adult. He will love emptying containers, cabinets, drawers, and toys chests, but he will show little interest in putting anything back. So keep toys and objects to a minimum, rotate them every two weeks or so, and expect to put his things back in order for him, asking for his help but not expecting it. He is

like a little hurricane, rushing in and out, with you left there to pick up the pieces. The Environment: The 12- to 15-month-old wants to feel power and control over the environment. The parent can help by minimizing interruption and control of her tot by controlling the environment instead, including the toys, objects, household items, and activities in the environment. Allow your child to explore a cabinet, a drawer, a low shelf, a large basket, the paper recycling bag, and safe household items. Treasure Baskets: Create small baskets or plastic boxes with musical toys, paper recycling, holiday linens, household items, and or lost pieces; rotate items in each basket or create several treasure baskets; and have one in each room. Puzzles: Use a basket instead for the pieces; use puzzles with large knobs and of familiar objects (toys, animals); give language. Pieces may get lost, however. Include one unit toys and simple items, as stated above: truck, train, ball, doll, cereal box, pot, keyboard, gift bag, magazine, old folded maps and travel books. Books: Create a book basket or low shelf or table top with two to seven books lying flat; use simple board books with a few words on each page that have familiar pictures of people, animals, parts of the body and face, and toys. Ball basket: Use balls that are small enough for the baby to grasp with one hand, as well as carry with two hands, golf balls, tennis balls, yarn balls, and a hoop outside for dunking.

The 15- to 18-Month-Old Sensory Exploration: The 15- to 18-month-old continues to be sensorial in his learning, through the use of his hands and mouth, examining things and their different qualities. He will also have a particular interest in the sounds he hears: a phone ringing, an airplane flying above, a fire engine screaming by, a door bell chiming, etc. And he shows a particular interest in odors and scents. Start giving your young tot names to the different sounds he hears and odors he smells, textures he feels, and qualities he discovers (hard, soft, rough, smooth, bitter, sweet, loud, soft, and so forth). Motor Driven: Your 15- to 18-month-old continues to be an explorer who is motor driven. He wants to climb, walk, and run, open and close doors, and explore all the objects in his environment. Only now he insists on exploring objects the adults use: the remote control, the cell phone, pens, purses, wallets, car keys, etc. One of his new motor driven games will be to have the adults in the home chase him, You cant catch me! he seems to say as he runs down the hall with no clothes on, and no diaper! As far as fine motor is concerned, the 1-5 to 18-monthold can build a small tower of up to four blocks, turn the pages in a sturdy cardboard book, and place a sphere in a shape sorter. As he nears 17 and 18 months, he can play with hammer the ball toys, learn to scribble, and point to objects you name for him. Autonomy: During this period of exploration, the 15th to th 18 month is shows strong signs of autonomy: the tot wants to do for himself what mom (and sometimes dad) did for him (use a fork, put on his shoes, change his diaper), but he cant. He has not developed the necessary skills, yet, so the 15- to 18-month-old will experience many periods of frustration. He

will act bold one minute and clingy the next; and he still prefers to have mom close by. Even so, he will want to start making his own choices in what he wears and what he eats (and doesnt eat!). And although he may insist on making his own choices, he has a hard time deciding, often creating conflict in the home: give him a choice between the blue shirt or the red shirt, and he will want to choose both! Giving Limits: During this fun but challenging time, you as the main care taker can give your young tot choices that also include limits: You can hold the remote, but you cannot bang it on the table; You can touch the plant, but you need to touch it gently. Give him limitations for his actions, since he wants the autonomy but is still only a budding toddler who wants to do everything the adult does! Language: The 15- to 18-month-old will continue to have a short attention span, but his tempo slows down. He will spend a lot of time bringing objects to the adult, sometimes relentlessly! He is hungry for the names of things (often called the word-labeling period), and he will want to hear the same words, over and over again, as he begins his journey into speech. He will show special interest in the names of body parts: nose, eyes, mouth, and so forth, and can learn up to ten! One of his favorite activities will be to sit on your lap while you attempt to read a book and point to various objects on the pages that you name for him. You can ask your tot to Point to the cat! Touch the dog! and so forth. Activities: Your 15- to 18-month-old will begin to show an interest in the sandbox, pulling and pushing large toys, blowing bubbles, rolling balls, emptying containers, and placing objects inside boxes, bags, and drawers, on top of tables and bookshelves, and behind chairs and doors--an example of imitating adult behavior.

As for dressing, your young tot can learn to take off his shoe and socks, pull off his shirt, and go get his jacket. And you can give limits for undressing, You can take off your shoes and socks, but not while you are in the stroller. Social Activities: It is at this time the 15 to 18 month old will start his imitation phase: copying the activities, gestures, and actions of the adults in the environment; activities he sees mom doing around the house (sweeping the floor, emptying the dishwasher, talking on the phone), as well as gestures and actions adults use socially, like waving, pointing, and clapping; and he will want to use a spoon and a cup at the dinner table. Soon he will be working alongside you, doing (or attempting to do) what Maria Montessori called the practical work of life. He now wants to be a part of the daily activities in the home and it will take a patient, dedicated adult to teach him howsorting laundry, emptying the dish washer, wiping up the floor, watering plants, folding socks, and helping in preparing simple meals. It is no longer enough to just explore the environment, he wants to participate in it. These simple household practical life activities will increase his attention span and boost his self esteem! The 18- to 24-Month-Old In a nutshell, the 18- to 24-month-old is active and inquisitive. His communication and fine motor skills are limited yet he has a strong desire for independence. He is learning to identify and categorize his world but his self-expression is limited. He is beginning to have a sporadic sense of order (which will grow stronger and more consistent as he reaches two and a half years of age). In the meantime, what is familiar to your young tot will bring him security in his daily explorations of the world around him. The young tot is slowly beginning to hold on to routines and habits tightly.

Visual Interactions and Activities for the Infant Black, Red, and White: From birth to about three or four months, babies are attracted to the colors black, red, and white. These colors will stimulate your baby to look at, focus, and concentrate her vision on objects, drawings, or pictures that are red, white, and black. Do you have any black and white photos sitting around? Place them near your babys play area, crib, changing table, on the back seat of the car, and playpen. You can also dangle a few from the mobile on your babys crib with string (tape the string or ribbon to the back of the photo). Get out your magazines, and look for black, white, and red pictures to use, as well. You can also look through your local newspaper(s), especially the travel and lifestyle sections! You can also make drawings using black and red markers or crayons on paper plates, white construction paper, or blank index cards. Create the following simple, bold designs: thick stripes, a bulls-eye, a checkerboard, and a smiling face. There

are also mobiles, rattles, and soft toys now that are made especially for newborns in black, red, and white colors. If you have any stuffed animals, use the ones that are black and white, then tie a red ribbon or sock around it. Mirror Activities: Babies love mirrors, and you can buy infant mirrors that are safe. (You can find them at a local second-hand store for kids, Babies R Us, or eBay.) Use Velcro and Velcro a mirror on each side of the crib (and bassinet if you are using one) and place it low enough for the baby to see herself when she turns her head. You can also put one next to the changing table. (Some traditional Montessorians feel you should not have any toys, stuffed animals, mobiles, or mirrors in your babys crib or sleep area.) Using a mirror will help teach object permanence: memory for what is out of sight. (See Finding a Familiar Object Using a Cloth.) Using a mirror will help teach the baby self awareness (Those are my eyes! That is my nose! Hey, its me!), in that what your baby sees in the mirror are extensions of himself. It is also a fun and educational game to peek at your baby in the mirror so that she sees your reflection, too! He will eventually understand that mom is still there, even though her reflection is not. Babies can also look at themselves while you hold them in front of the bathroom mirror, bedroom, mirror, and clothing store mirrors. Say to the baby, Look, there is _________ (babys name), and mommy (or caregivers name)!

Pictures and Photos of Babies: After your baby sees herself in her mirror, start showing her pictures of other babies. Use Baby and Parent Magazines, and point to the babies in the magazines, or baby cardboard books. She can be sitting on her boppy, in your lap, or on her tummy while you show her the magazine(s). Since young babies do not see three dimensions, yet, and are attracted to the human face, they will love looking at pictures of other babies! Eventually, babies will see in three dimensions, as you will notice your baby, one day, staring more and more at you! Pictures of Your Family: Babies love to see familiar faces, especially family faces! If you have a photo album, take it out and show it to your baby. Name each family member (when she is older, ask her to point to mommy!). You can also make a photo book for her. Buy a small, inexpensive photo album at your local drug store and place photos of your family members in it. Dont forget to place photos of your baby in the album.

At about six months of age, and if you have time, take photos of familiar toys and objects at home (her stroller, crib, changing table, pets) and make a small photo album for her to look at. (You will have to turn the pages for her until she is old enough to do it.) Social Interactions and Activities for the Infant By six months of age the infant enjoys playing and interacting with people (being sung to, playing peek-a-boo, listening to nursery rhymes and stories, lap play, etc.). Perfect opportunities for these social interactions are when you are: changing diapers, riding in the car, feeding, during bedtime routine, at bath time, and when infant is sitting on your lap. It is also a great distraction when the infant is crying or fussy, and a better alternative than the pacifier. Stories can also be read or told as a regular part of the infants day, several times a day. Skills learned in social activities include

imitating the adult (facial expressions, language, making sounds), anticipating actions through their repetition, developing concept of self (apart from mom), ability to focus on others, cooperating and taking turns, and reaching and grasping. Imitating Expressions of the Face and Sounds from the Mouth: When your infant begins making sounds, such as a, duh, buh; start by looking at your infant and then repeating the sound back to him. Wait for him to begin making the sound again, and repeat it back to him. This attention will encourage your infant to continue making sounds, as well as listening to them. When the infant is not making vocalizations, you can look at the infant and start making some sounds a or buh, etc. He may only listen to you or he may try to imitate you. Wait for him to begin making the sound, and repeat it back to him. You can also use imitating with facial expressions (sticking out tongue, grinning, etc.), first by making the expression and looking at your infant, and waiting for him to imitate you. Eventually, you can have your infant imitate simple movements, like waving, pointing, clapping, tapping, nodding, touching your feet, and patting. You can then give the language with the movement. (Often a high-pitch voice and exaggerated facial expression will attract, and keep, the infants attention, as well as show happy, excited emotion.) Activities of Anticipation: Your baby will begin to anticipate actions. For example, he will anticipate having his bottle when you place his bib around his neck, or anticipate going for a walk when you get the stroller ready. He can now see an action, hear sounds associated with that action, and anticipate whats going to happen next. You can create social activities that develop this skill of anticipation.

For example, when you are singing a song, give your baby a big hug at the end. Repeat this hug at the end of the song, each time, and soon your baby will anticipate the hug. Other actions for the infant to anticipate: Tickling his tummy, touching his nose, pulling his toes, waving his arms in the air, and so forth. Reaching and Touching Activity: By the age of three months, your infant will be swatting at and trying to grasp objects. This new skill requires hand-eye coordination. You can help your infant by encouraging him to reach and touch a certain object you have provided for him. Place a large object (that will be easy for the infant to grasp) in a basket or container, such as a scarf that is bright and colorful, possibly with simple geometrical designs (a big attraction for young infants). Sit facing your infant and remove the scarf from the basket, move the basket behind you, and place the scarf around your neck or your arm. Lower your head or your arm so the scarf is in reach of the infants hand, and allow him to pull it. If need be, you can gently guide his hand towards the scarf. (If the infant is not sitting up, you can lean over the infant instead.) Outline of Gross Motor and Large Motor Positions and Activities for Birth to Nine Months Old Part One Side-lying: Put the toy at shoulder level within reach of infants hands, encourage infant to touch toy, change toy as needed, move infant to other side and repeat. Back-lying: 1) While on your lap sing or talk to your infant. 2) On a floor mat or rug put a toy on his chest and encourage him to touch it. 3) Under a play gym make sure the hanging toys and rings are within his reach as he lies on his back. 4) Reaching up (place infant in your lap, on a floor mat or under a play gym) and put a toy on her chest and encourage

him to touch it, when he tries to touch it, pull it up a little higher each time so he has to reach for it.

Sitting while supported (hand/s over infants chest): 1) Place infant on your lap facing away from you. 2) While the infant is on your lap sit in front of a mirror. 3) While on your lap, infant facing away from you sit in front of a table with a battery operated toy on it that moves and or makes sounds/music to attract infants attention. 4) Carry infant and move around the house (with infant facing away from you): look at pictures on the wall, bathroom mirrors. 5) Place infant on the couch facing you while you kneel in front of him, hold infant at hip and chest: sing and or talk to infant. Lying on the stomach supported: 1) Infants head at your shoulder (infants stomach at your chest while you are lying down). 2) Hold his upper back and bottom, sing to baby, talk to baby. 3) Upright, walk around the house and look at pictures on the wall, bathroom mirrors, with infant.

Infant on your chest (infants stomach at your chest): Sit on a couch or a comfy chair, allow infant to prop up (on your chest) using his elbows and arms. Sing and talk to infant. Place infant on stomach (using your arms as support or a small pillow or a Boppy on floor): Use a battery operated toy that moves and or makes sounds/music to attract infants attention, or face infant and sing or talk to infant. Place infant on stomach (with infants arms as support) on higher, softer surface like bed or couch: Use a battery operated toy that moves and or makes sounds/music to attract infants attention, or face infant and sing or talk to infant. On stomach with less support: Put infant (on his stomach) and lay on couch or bed, facing you. Make sure his elbows are under his shoulders and his arms are propping him up. Use a battery operated toy that moves and or makes sounds/music to attract infants attention, or sing or talk to infant. Motor skills developed: 1) Looking straight ahead (head centered), 2) Lifting head up, 3) Propping, 4) Hands in midline, 5) Moving legs together. Helpful tips: 1) Side-lying is easier for your baby to play in. 2) Alternate between difficult positions (like stomach lying) and easy positions (like side-lying) for your baby to play. 3) Use large toys that wont move or roll away when she reaches out and touches them. 4) Use bright colored toys and objects that can make sounds (like a music box). Milestones reached: 1) While lying on back: sees your face; touches own face; touches a low hanging object (like from a play gym); touches toy placed on chest; kicks both legs. 2) Lies on side and touches a toy. 3) Sits supported (at chest level) and holds head up for five to ten minutes. 4) Lies on stomach using elbows and holds head up for five minutes.

Large Motor Positions, Activities, and Skills Developed Part Two Back-lying: and reaching over above the chest, and shaking objects and toys, and kicking feet, and hand to the feet interaction. Stomach-lying: while lifting head and propped on elbows, while propped on hands, while reaching.

Sit with waist support on flat surface while holding under the arms, sideways on your lap, on flat surface while holding chest, on sofa with cushion for support, between your legs with your knees for support, in front of play-gym. Pull to sit using two hands for support. Roll over with total support from back to stomach, with partial support from back to stomach, with no support from back to stomach, with hand support from back to stomach, from stomach to back, with arm support. Helpful tips: 1) For reaching activities use rattles, squeaky toys, and or stuffed animals that are large and can be grabbed by the infant. 2) For hand feet play activities, use rattle socks; allow no restrictions like diapers and clothing for some of the activities and use diaper changes for hand feet play time. Milestones reached: 1) While lying on back: grabs onto his clothes, reaches up to touch a toy a few inches away, reaches up and plays with, touches his knees, plays with his feet. 2) Lies on stomach holds head up and props on his hands

for half a minute reaches out to grab a toy. 3) Sits supported (at waist level) and holds head up for five minutes. 4) Pulls to sit: while lifting head and pulling, using his arms. 5) Rolls over: by accident, from stomach to back several times, from side-lying to stomach, from back to side-lying, from back to stomach. For belly time issues: Help your infant roll onto her stomach and help her stay there for a significant amount of time. If she can tolerate five minutes before fussing, then go for six or seven. Try to lengthen her belly time by a minute or two, until she stops fussing and starts to enjoy it! Many infants choose not to be on their bellies because they have been trained to sleep on their backs in the crib due to SIDS. (And this also delays crawling!) As a result, they feel uncomfortable on their tummies, so we have to place them on their tummies during the day when they are awake, and entice them to stay in that position. Tips for less active infant who does not show very much interest in her toys or in crawling: It could be that you have a social baby and that she prefers to be in the company of people rather than on her own or with toys and household objects. Or it could be that she is an observer: she prefers to WATCH and learn rather than DO and learn. This might also explain why she has not crawled yet. I would try a different approach: buy a baby carrier and carry your baby around with you everywhere around the housefacing out so she can see. This will stimulate her, give her social interaction, let her watch, and allow you to do things around the house. I would also suggest meeting and getting together with other moms with crawling babies so she can watch and observe them crawling; and therefore, when she is ready, she will start crawling from her observations (if she learns by watching).

Suggestions for helping a late crawling infant: Infant swim classes are one of the best ways to develop infant crawling. Also, continue to place her on her tummy, and entice her to move by placing her favorite object a few feet in front of her, or even some finger foods on a clean mat or tray that she has to reach for, on her tummy. Sometimes it helps to place an infant on a Boppy pillow to get her used to being on her tummy. Place the pillow part under the chest so the arms are free. Then place favorite activities in front for her to play with, or even finger foods or a water mat. Placing, Modifying, and Rotating Infant Tot Activities in the Environment Placing Infant Tot Activities in the Environment: To place activities for your baby in the environment, all you need is some floor space in each room, a long side a wall, for your baby to crawl to (or sit them next to) and to choose from. (A

small light shelf might not be practical at this time as babies will start to pull up to kneeling/standing and will pull the shelf down upon them.)

Each activity should be simple, sorted by object (unless it is a Treasure Basket activity, etc.) and placed in bowls, wicker baskets, boxes, and or plastic containers. You want your baby to experience three dimensional objects made from wood, metal, cloth, and so forth. But you do not want objects that will be choking hazards! Objects with handles can go in one container (spatulas, wooden spoons, strainers); and large wooden beads used for stringing can go in another. A favorite with babies are clean lids from Gerber baby food jars, placed in a large cup. Other ideas: plastic stacking rings, shapes from a shape sorter game; golf balls; stacking cups; and blocks. If your child likes toy cars and trucks, stuffed animals, or dolls, place two or three out against the wall (not in a toy chest or basket) for the baby to choose from. Quiet activities can be placed on the floor in babys room, messy activities on the floor in the kitchen, and other activities in the family or living room. Where ever the adult

will be, office, kitchen, or living room, have a space alongside a wall for activities for the baby to play with while you are also in that room. You can also place two hard board, soft cloth or wooden books in a basket on the floor for the baby to explore on his own.

After your baby is done playing, place the objects back in their containers, and the containers back alongside the wall; the baby can watch, and when old enough (12 months and up) can help. You can arrange the activities from simple to hard, small to large, and by category. For example, transportation is next to the dining table, with the largest car/truck first, followed by the smaller one, and lastly the smallest. Rotate the objects in the environment! Keep a big storage bin or chest nearby, or a box in the closet, and rotate the objects every week, if possible. Less is more! Have five to seven activities in each room! But remember to rotate them.

When you are sitting with your baby, give the language of the object your child is playing with: bead, cup, spoon, car, etc. When your child reaches twelve months and older, and knows these simple words (he cannot say them yet, but if you ask him to bring you the car and he does consistently, he knows the name of the object) then start giving the adjective: the red car, the large ball, the white bunny, and so forth. Modifying Infant Tot Activities in the Environment: You can modify many of the toys in your babys environment. For example, if you have a shape sorter, take the top off and use it as a box to hold the shapes. At first, your baby will dump them out, picking them up one by one to explore, but eventually she will learn to place them all back in the box! (By age three she can use it with the lid on.) If the top does not come off, take the shapes out, and place the objects in a different container (like a stacking cube is turned upside down). Another example is a ring sorter: take the rings off and placing them in a bowl for your baby to learn to grasp, hold, and toss around. Later, (by age 12 months) you can put the ring holder back in the environment, keeping only the larger ring, and showing your baby how to first take it off, and then how to place it back on the ring holder.

Eventually, you can add all the rings (by age 12 to 15 months). If you have a stacking toy, take the largest cube, turn it upside down, and place three or four of the smallest cubes it in for the baby to explore. Later, (by age 15 to 18 months) you can show your baby to stack those small cubes!

So remember to modify the infant and tot toys you have in your environment, bringing them down to your childs level. You want to keep your baby challenged, experiencing neither failure (too hard), nor boredom (too easy). Toys that only entertain should be used at a minimum, on special trips or outings, or possibly when baby is so fussy nothing else will do (and you are at your wits end)! Rotating Infant Tot Activities in the Environment: Your baby will soon get bored with the same objects. Starting at age 12 months you will want to rotate the objects and toys in the environment. (This is contrary to the preschool primary environment where activities stay in the environment and are repeated!) To do this (rotate), you will observe your babys play (active time) to see what she repeatedly plays with, and what she does not. Remove the items she does not touch. For example, you have a toy ball and your baby has not played with it or touched it in five days. Remove it and replace it with a different ball. In other words, you want fewer

objects in the environment, and rotate them. So if you have three or four balls or toys that roll, rotate them. You want to have at least two objects that roll (a ball, toy truck, etc.) in each activity area (bedroom, living room). As for the kitchen, around this age your baby will show an interest in being in the kitchen while you are cooking, doing dishes, putting groceries away, etc. You can offer her some items to explore, like an empty cereal box, egg carton, or magazines and papers from the recycling basket. So now is a good time to baby proof the kitchen! The only problem with this is if you are using the oven, you cannot have your child around when you are using the oven. A nice alternative is a crock pot!

Young Siblings Working Together When we had siblings at school, they always played together, at least when first arriving at school. This will most likely be the choice of siblings, to play and work together: it is a natural urge, and they are close enough in age that they can play together. In a Montessori home environment, if you have multiage siblings from birth to three, you need to have activities that both your older child (age three and older) and your younger child (under the age of two) can explore, so mak all of your activities baby safe! When your younger child is two-and-a-half, or so, she will be ready to handle knowing what are her works and what are not, as well as understanding she can only dust them, or watch her older sibling do them. But until that time, she has to be able to explore them. For example, you might have a bowl of blocks, three red, three blue, and three yellow that your younger child can play

with easily, and your older child can learn to sort them by color. Watching is also a work: a child sits in a chair or on the rug, hands in her lap, and no talking or touching. If the child wants to talk, etc., she has to choose another work (besides watching). Right now your younger child is not ready to sit in a chair and watch, but in a year or so, your younger child will be able to do her own works, possibly watch, and or do more involved works with her older sibling. So for now, let them work together, and continue to make works that are appropriate for BOTH of them to do. This will not delay your older childs development, and soon your younger child can learn to watch, and do more involved activities. Your older child can learn now to put a work away before taking out the next work, and know that his younger sibling is too young to do this and will need help from mommy. (Usually by 21 months of age a child can and will want to put things back where they belong.) Eventually, your structured work time will increase as your younger child gets older, naps less, becomes a toddler, and does toddler activities, so that by the age of two-and-ahalf, she can work from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. (or 8 to 9:30 a.m.) as will your older child! For now the work time needs to be short (an hour or less). And you will be on your younger childs time, until she is two-and-a-half, then you will be on your older childs time. For now you and your older child have to keep adjusting to your younger childs needs as an infant and soon-to-be toddler. This is a special time for both of them to be playing and working together, a bond that will grow, a special friendship, it is a gift! Let them be together, for the time is short before they go off on their own paths!

Young Siblings and Montessori Lessons You can give your older child a lesson in the morning while your younger child plays (and or naps). In our classroom it is typical for the younger ones to be doing their independent activities (such as practical life and sensorial) while the older children get lessons on more academic work or writing, which takes more one-on-one, especially writing. You will probably have to use a booster seat at the kitchen or dining room table for your older childs lesson, high enough so your younger child cannot reach, which she will try to do! Be prepared! Have a basket of objects you can quietly hand your younger child while giving your older child a lesson at the table. For now, and until age 18 months or so, your baby will want to play right next to you, so have activities available where you are going to be: in the kitchen, your home office, family room, etc., a spot on the floor near where you will be working, eating, relaxing (ha!), watching TV, etc. Sometimes your baby will venture off, but will want you to be in her line of vision. Your older child can be doing activities at a table, if possible, in a booster seat, or in a gated area where you can still see her but an area your baby cannot get to. Allow your baby to explore on her own by baby proofing the house (if you havent already), allowing lower cabinets and drawers to be explored, the paper recycling basket, empty boxes, cushions from off the couch, and so forth. Your baby is entering the sensory motor stage: she will not sit still for very long, and wants to move about the house exploring every nook and cranny, stopping momentarily to play with an object or two that she finds along the way.

CHAPTER 2 LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES

Fingers and toes! The Names of the Parts of the Body Age: Six months and up. Indirect Aim: Socialization and body awareness. Direct Aim: Increase vocabulary. Materials: You and the baby. Make eye contact with your baby, touch the babys toes, one at a time, and say Toe! each time. You can continue with each foot, touching them one at a time and saying, Foot! Babies like repetition, so repeat touching each toe and saying Toe! and touching each foot and saying Foot! You can repeat this activity using other materials to touch the babys toes and feet: a small clean sponge, a feather, a sock over your hand, or some felt or other fabric. Times to play this activity are when you are changing the babys diaper, clothing, or giving a bath. You can extend this activity by wiggling the babys toes and feet each time and at a later date, asking the baby to wiggle his toes and feet. Another day you can change the parts of the body, working on only two parts and repeating them over and over: legs and knees; hips and tummy; hands and fingers; arms and elbows; shoulders and chest; neck and ears. A fun song to sing from time to time using the parts of the body is Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (with you touching the parts of the body).

Imitating Face and Sounds Age: Three months and up. Indirect Aim: Language and selfawareness; vision and concentration. Direct Aim: Social. Materials: Human face: mom, dad, a sibling, grandparent, or a sitter. Face your baby, smiling. Say his or her name. Copy the sounds your baby is making. Your baby will to stop and listen and then imitate you in return. If your baby is quiet, begin making a sound for your baby to imitate, a sound youve heard your baby make. When he or she begins imitating you, add another sound, a new sound, and see if your baby imitates the new sound! Extensions: Use concrete objects while you make sounds. For example: Hold up a stuffed toy dog and say Ruff, ruff; a bell or a rattle and say Jingle, jingle or Ji-ji or make up your own bell or rattle sound; a squeeze bottle and say squirt, squirt. Babies hear the sounds of objects and make their connection before they learn the name of the objects. For example, a baby hears a door open (many times) and associates that sound with the object, door, before they associate the word door with the object, door. Or they hear footsteps and associate that with mom or dad coming in the room before they understand the word mommys footsteps. More sounds to make: coughing, kissing, snoring, sneezing, yawning, and raspberries which are my personal favorite! Make letter sounds, the easiest for the baby to copy are /p/, /b/, and /m/ because the baby can see you make them with your mouth. Make sounds specific to your daily activities (facing your baby): 1) During dressing, say: zip or zzz; snap or sss, 2) during meals, say: sip, yum, chew, or ch, 3) outside, in the stroller or at the park, listen to the sounds around you to imitate: cars zoom, horns honk, birds tweet, 4) play

time: ball bounces, drum beats, 5) shopping: bag crinkles, 6) bath time: shampoo squirts, soap rubs, 7) bed time: kisses, and 8) for less responsive babies: put on a pair of glasses; or place a sticker on your cheek; or wear a hat, to gain their attention. A Language Activity with Parts of the Face Age: Six months and up. Indirect Aim: Social skills and awareness of the body are developed. Direct Aim: Increase and develop vocabulary as well as sense of self. Materials: You and your baby. Place your baby in front of you. Gently touch his nose and say, Nose. Your nose. Gently place your babys finger or hand on your nose and say, Nose. My nose. Gently touch his hair and say, Hair. Your hair. Gently place your babys finger or hand on your hair and say, Hair. My hair. Repeat another day with two other parts of the face: eye, cheek, chin, ear, mouth, etc. Only do two features of the face at a time. This game can be played at feeding time, while the changing baby, at lap time, and upon waking. Hard books with parts of the face and body can also be introduced. Photos of the family can be looked at, with you and baby pointing to features of the face. The song Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes can be sung to the baby. As your baby becomes familiar with the parts of the face, ask him to point to or touch his nose: Where is your mouth? Can you touch your mouth? The concept of gentle will come into play, as baby learns how to touch other peoples faces and bodies, gently. Extension: Use the parts of the body, two parts at a time.

Parts of the Body Age: 15 months and up. Indirect Aim: Socialization and body awareness. Direct Aim: Increase vocabulary. Materials: You and the tot. Make eye contact with your tot. Say, We are going to learn the parts of the body! Then touch your nose and say nose. Ask the child to touch his nose and say nose. You can gently help the child touch his nose if need be. To make it fun, touch the tots nose and say nose. Then ask the tot to touch your nose and say nose. (This gets a giggle every time!) Pause, touch your head (at the top) and say head. Ask the child to touch his head and say head. You can gently help the child touch his head if need be. To make it fun, touch the tots head and say head. Then ask the tot to touch your head and say head. Continue with more parts of the body for as long as the tot is interested. You can do this with a small group of tots, if they will sit still! Extension: Do a second period of the three period lesson. Choose two parts of the body, like head and nose. After doing the above activity, touch your nose and say, Is this my head or my nose? If tot says nose, say, Yes! Nose! If tot says head, say, Its my nose. This, (touch your head) is my head. Extension with books: After doing this activity, place (cardboard) books in the book corner that show human faces, baby faces, parts of the body, pictures of children. And when you read one of the books, point to and name the parts of the body. Reading to Infants: Looking at Familiar Books Age: Six months and up. Indirect Aim: Learning to look at and handle a book, visual and fine motor development. Direct Aim: Being able to identify a familiar object in a book,

language. Materials: A board book or handmade book with simple pictures (one on each page if possible) of objects that are familiar to the baby, five to seven pages with five to seven objects: baby, cat, dog, car, bowl, bottle, ball, doll, crib, and or human face; a wicker basket or plastic container for the book. Place your baby next to you, facing the book. Take the book out of the basket (from left to right). Turn the page slowly, point to or touch the picture and say the name of the familiar object, Cat. Turn the next page, slowly, and point or touch the picture and say the name of the next object. Repeat for all the pages. Allow the baby to explore the book, it will take lots of time and practice before she can turn the pages by herself. And she may want to hear the names of the pictures repeated, and help turning the pages. You can also repeat the activity before engaging the baby to explore the book. When you are finished with your activity, place it in a basket in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the book. Extensions: After the baby is familiar with the book, when turning the page, ask the baby to touch or point to the object by saying, Can you touch the cat? The baby then touches the picture of the cat and you say, Yes, that is the cat. Repeat for all the pages. When you and the baby are having regular story time, and you see a picture of one of the familiar objects, like the cat, in another book, point it out by touching the picture of the cat and say, Cat. You can also ask the baby to touch the picture of the cat.

Singing Songs and Nursery Rhymes Age: Three months and up. Indirect Aim: Language and auditory development. Direct Aim: Enjoyment of hearing simple songs, concentration on the human voice. Materials: Your voice and a few books from the library or a second hand bookstore with simple songs and nursery rhymes in it. (You can also do a search on the Internet). Take time out to sing to your baby: During a diaper change, in the car, waiting in line at the store, before bedtime, during bath time...and singing songs to your baby is very useful when she is fussy! Pick five songs, and sing them all, in the same order, each time you sing to your baby. For example, lets say you pick: 1) Twinkle Little Star, 2) Row, Row, Your Boat, 3) Wheels on the Bus, 4) Mary Had a Little Lamb, and 5) Bah, Bah, Black Sheep. Sing all five of those songs, always in the same order! This will have a calming effect on your baby (and young

toddler!), and you wont be at a loss as to which songs to sing, or forget one that may end up being your babys favorite! By the way, she will be able to hum a tune to one of these songs by age 18 months! This song repertoire will also come in handy when your child begins to get very active on the changing table, resists being changed, or is downright fussy about being changed because shed rather be doing something else! It also becomes handy when she starts crying in the store while you are shopping! I also recommend singing your repertoire of five or more songs to baby when she is weaning off the pacifier. As your baby gets older, add another song to your repertoire, but keep the five first songs the same and in the same order. By keeping the same songs in the same order, when your baby becomes a preschooler, she will be able to be sing these five songs independently! And entertain herself, her friends, and sing to other babies! Making it Concrete: You can choose to use concrete objects for your songs and rhymes, one per song. At diaper changing time, have these objects in a basket nearby for song time, or in the car, (not the stroller because baby will drop them and they could get lost), or in the family room or play area. For example, the first song in your repertoire is Twinkle Little Star. Use a star-shaped pillow, stuffed toy, or other star-shaped object that is safe for baby. Bring out the star, show it to baby, and sing to her. She can hold it if she chooses. Next, put the star down (not back in the basket yet!) and take out the boat for Row, Row, Row Your Boat, show it to baby, and sing to her. She can hold it if she chooses. Next, put the boat down (not back in the basket yet!) and take out the bus, etc. When all five songs have been sung, and all five objects taken out, put them back in the basket. Use them only at song time.

Using concrete objects (that are safe!) will also teach your baby anticipation. When she sees the star-shaped object, she will (eventually) anticipate whats to come: the Twinkle Little Star song! When the baby is older, 18 months or so, have the basket on a shelf so it is available to take out for song time. And it might be best to have one basket for each song object, so if the child wants to sing Wheels on the Bus she takes out the bus object basket. She then puts it back before taking out the Row, Row, Row Your Boat prop basket. A three- to four-year-old can take out a basket with all five objects and sing all five songs! This is independent song time, and can be repeated as many times as the child wishes! Or you can keep one prop per basket, if you have the space! You can use this idea (a song object basket--or props) for poems, verse, finger plays, and rhymes, etc. Language Activity: Names of Single Objects Age: Six months and up. Indirect Aim: To help develop vision and concentration skills. Direct Aim: Learn new words. Materials: A container with one familiar object in it (eventually you can use less familiar objects, then new objects). Place a familiar object in the container or basket (bottle, sock, hat, stuffed animal). Sit facing the infant (who can be sitting with support, like a pillow or a Boppy). Hold up the familiar object and place the basket out of the way. Make sure you hold the object so the infant can easily see it. Name the object, Bottle. Place it back in the basket. Repeat several times. Allow the infant to touch the bottle. If the infant is able, allow him go hold the bottle. Change the object each week, then, after six weeks or so, place two of the familiar objects in the container.

For young infants, use black and white and red objects (a red hat, a white sock, a stuffed penguin, a red apple, a white bunny, and so forth). Eventually you can ask the older infant, Where is the bottle? You want the infant to look at the bottle. Hold it up for him to see it and touch it. This is the bottle!

Phonetic Sound Objects Age: 18 months and up. Materials: You need several objects your tot is familiar with (knows the names of), and a tray or basket or bowl, mat optional. Face your tot. Pick up an object and say the name, truck. Say, This is a truck. Truck begins with the sound tuh. (Some people prefer to say ter.) Listen to see if the tot says the sound tuh. During the day, point out more objects in the environment with the tuh sound (towel, television, table, etc.).

Another day, add or replace other objects the tot is familiar with, like a plastic cow and a dollhouse couch. Introduce two object sounds. Face your tot. Pick up the cow. Say, This is the cow. Cow begins with the sound kuh. Place the cow back on the tray. Pick up the couch. Say, This is a couch. Couch begins with the sound kuh. After presenting the objects, and their beginning sound, allow the child to interact with them. Listen to see if the tot says the sound kuh. A week or so later, change the objects again (like pig and a plant). After presenting them, and their beginning sound, allow the child to interact with them. Listen to see if the tot says the sound puh. During the day, point out more objects in the environment with the puh sound. A week or so later, change the objects again (like bed and a boat). After presenting them, and their beginning sound (buh), allow the child to interact with them. Listen to see if the tot says the sound buh. During the day, point out more objects in the environment with the buh sound. Please note: Instead of using a tray or a basket, try using a tote bag to hold the objects. A Language Activity with Feeding Objects Age: Nine months and up. Indirect Aim: To be able to put activities away, motor and cognitive development. Direct Aim: Develop skills for recognizing objects. Materials: Three items used at feeding time (spoon, cup, bowl, plate, and or fork), a small basket, a tray. Place the three feeding items and the basket on the tray. Sit facing the baby with the tray between you. Show the basket to the baby, This is a basket. Put the basket next to the tray.

Pick up the cup and say, Cup. Let the baby hold the cup. Next, ask the baby to please place the cup in the basket. Thank you. Do the same with the bowl and spoon. Take each item out of the basket, one at a time, and put them back on the tray. Ask the baby to find (or pick up) the spoon and place it in the basket. Yes, thats the spoon! Repeat for the bowl and cup. If the baby gets the wrong item, say, This is the cup, I wanted the spoon. Can you find the spoon? When you are finished with your activity, place it in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the objects. A Language Activity with Object Descriptions Age: Nine months and up. Indirect Aim: To help develop concentrations skills. Direct Aim: The skill of listening is practiced. Materials: A tray or mat with two familiar objects that are the same color but are different in shape, like a red ball and a red block, a wooden bowl and a wooden spoon, a yellow sponge and a yellow cup, etc. Sit facing the baby. Place the tray next to you then take one object and place it in front of you and the baby. Using the I Spy verse, describe the object: I spy with my little eye something in front of you that is round, red, and bounces. Now pick up the red ball and examine it. See, it is red and round, and it can bounce! Let the baby examine the ball, then place it on the tray. Take the second object and place it in front of you and the baby. Using the I Spy verse, describe the object: I spy with my little eye something in front of you that is square, red, and hard. I can build things with it, like a tower! Now pick up the red square and examine it. See, it is red and

square, and it is hard! Let the baby examine the block, then place it on the tray. Take both objects and place them between you and the baby. Using the I Spy verse, describe the object but this time ask the baby to hand it to you: I spy with my little eye something in front of you that is square, red, and hard. I can build things with it, like a tower! What is it? Can you find it? If the baby gives you the wrong object, say, Thank you, this is the ball, it is red and round. Can you give me the block? It is square and hard. Allow the baby to explore and play with the objects, and when she is no longer interested, put them away in a nearby place for future use. From time to time, replace the objects. Extensions: When your baby is good at this game, use three or four objects. Eventually, you can use objects that are less familiar or new to the baby. Listening to Beginning Rhythms For tots ages 18 months and up. The indirect aim of this lesson is to develop listening skills and beginning rhythm. The direct aim is counting skills. The materials you need are a wooden spoon and a metal bowl or baking tin. Place the materials in front of you and sit next to your tot. Take hold of the spoon and tap the baking tin two times and count One, two. Pause. Tap again and say, One, two, three. Give the spoon to the tot and she will tap indiscriminately. Then take hold of the tots hand and tap together as you count, One, two. Pause. Tap again and say, One, two, three. Now let the tot play with the materials by herself. When you are finished with your activity, place it in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the spoon and baking tin with similar objects. Other objects you can use: plastic spoon, metal spoon, drum, block of wood, wooden bowl, baking tin. Extension: Clap together

and count, One, two. Stomp your foot, One, two. Then extend the rhythmic counting to three. Fun with Adding and Taking Away For ages 18 months and up. Aim: You are only introducing the concepts of adding and taking away, and making it fun! Materials: Begin with two matching objects, like baby socks. Place one sock in the basket or tray. Touch the sock and say, One sock. Place the second sock in the basket or tray and say, We add a sock. Count the socks, One, two. We have two socks. Remember to touch the sock as you count them.

Put one sock away and say, We take away one sock! One sock remains! Put the other sock away, We take away one sock! No sock remains!

Replace the objects from time to time. Allow the tot to interact with the objects, whether or not they add or take away is OK. In another month, place three identical objects in the basket or tray. In another month after that, place three identical objects in the basket or tray.

CHAPTER 3 SENSORIAL ACTIVITIES

Tracking an Object Age: Three to six months old. Indirect Aim: Develop visual focus, see various shapes and colors. Direct Aim: To track (to follow) an object with the eyes. Materials: A basket or container with an object for the infant to track with her eyes: a small ball, stuffed animal, block, or puppet. It is also a nice option to use an object that makes noise: a rattle, bell, or a small colorful container with a lid that has a small object inside that will make noise when you shake it.

Some suggest you use the colors red, black, and white for very young infants (three to four months old) and later use primary colors (red, blue, and yellow); pastel colors are harder for young infants to see and track. Place your baby in front of you, (if she is not sitting up, place her in her boppy or propped on a pillow--she can also be lying down or propped up on her arms while on her tummy). Catch her attention, then take the object out of the basket and

hold it directly in front of her face so she can see it easily. When she looks at the object, move it slowly back and forth, or more specifically from the babys left to right. If she loses focus, hold it directly in front of her and try again, perhaps using a noisy object. Allow the infant to grasp the object, or hold it after you are done. You can do this tracking for as long as the infant is interested (or until your arm gets tired!). Next time, or after several times, you can change the tracking motion, from up to down or in a circle, for example, and a little farther out each time (or higher or wider, etc.). Your goal is to have your infant track the object with her eyes. If your infant is very young (three months) you can make the tracking movements small, gradually increasing the distance as the weeks go by. When you are finished with your activity, place it in a basket in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the object. Other objects you can use: a piece of fruit, a sock, a toilet paper roll, a rolled up scarf, a pet chew toy that squeaks. Single Object Cognition Age: Three months and up. Indirect Aim: Introduce color and shape awareness, enhance curiosity, and develop motor and concentration skills. Direct Aim: Explore one object at a time. Materials: A medium-size container or tray and one colorful, textured object (like a large sock). Before introducing this activity to younger infants, place only the container in the environment for the infant to explore. After a few days, begin adding an object for her to extract. Change the object every three or four days (or at least once a week). You can keep any favored object in the container. Clean object as needed, or place it in the dishwasher (if dishwasher safe).

When introducing the object, sit facing the infant and take out the object, explore it, then return to container (without talking!). Continue until infant begins to take object out of the container, then you can move away. For younger infants who cannot yet understand the concept of taking an object to explore, offer her the object for her to grasp. Eventually, after days or weeks, she will choose it herself out of the container. (She may also want to play with the container!) When infant loses interest, place the object back in the container and place back on shelf (or where ever you keep the container). Make sure the container is accessible to the infant to go to whenever she wants to. You can keep one container in each room that the infant is allowed to freely play in. If making a trip to grandmas house, bring smaller containers and various objects with you.

Fun with Fabrics Age: Six months and up. Indirect Aim: Encourage exploration using vision and fine motor skills. Direct Aim: Develop sense of touch. Materials: A container with three or four various fabrics, small in size, like a washcloth, sock, wool cap, piece of velvet, flannel, or corduroy, fake fur, or burlap. You can choose fabrics of the same or similar colors to highlight the texture. Sit facing your baby, take one piece of fabric out of the basket (container) and slowly feel it with your hands, rub it on your face and or arm. Smile and pause, place it down to the right of the basket (the babys right) and take another piece of fabric and repeat until all the pieces are laying in a row. Place the pieces of fabric back in the basket for the baby to have a turn. Another version of this presentation is to take all the pieces out first, placing them in a row (from left to right) to the right of the container (the babys right), then picking up one piece to explore, placing it back down in the row, and

then picking up the next piece until all the pieces are back in a row--this is the more traditional method but requires more steps (which takes longer).

When your baby explores the basket on her own, allow her the freedom to place the fabrics where ever she chooses, and more than likely you will be searching for the fabric pieces all over the room to place back it the basket! Language: After the baby has explored this activity many times, add language to it (soft, rough, smooth, bumpy, etc.). When you are finished with your activity, place it in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the fabrics.

Sound Bottles The age for this activity is six months and up. The indirect aim of this activity is early language development and fine motor skills. The direct aim is auditory development. The materials you need are five to seven empty plastic bottles or plastic film canisters, with tops, each one filled with a different item so that when shaken, makes a fun sound; wicker basket or plastic container. Ideally, the bottles or canisters should be identical. Objects to use for making sounds: small pasta, rice, salt, dried beans, seeds, bells, pebbles or rocks, paper clips, and pennies, etc. Fill each bottle with different items (rice in one bottle, pennies in another, etc.), fasten top. Make sure the tops are fastened tightly so the baby cannot open the bottles or canisters! Use clear tape to secure the tops that do not twist on and off! If you have more matching bottles or canisters, save them for future matching games when your child is three! Place your baby in front of you, have the container next to you, with the bottles in it ready to shake. Go from the

babys left to right, take one bottle, and shake it. Set it aside. Take the next bottle and shake it, and allow the baby to grasp the bottle and shake it. Gently guide her hand and help her shake the bottle, if needed. Allow her to shake the remaining bottles. If you do not have five to seven bottles or canisters, create another treasure basket with items that make sounds when shaken. If you have small Tupperware, place small items in them and secure the lids: old keys, pennies, rocks, paperclips, rice, beans, pasta, and so forth. You can also place such items in a large sock that is tied securely at the open end.

When you are finished with your activity, place it in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the objects.

Mystery Bag Lesson The age for this activity is 18 months and up. The indirect aim of this activity is to line up objects from left to right, (a pre-reading skill). The direct aim is to develop stereognostic sense. The materials you need are a bag containing about four or five everyday contrasting objects, such as a key, eraser, coin, shell, cube, spool, box, etc., or use contrasting objects your toddler shows an interest in, and a small mat (optional). Presentation: 1) Open bag, choose one object, and ask the child, What is this? 2) Tell him the correct name, and then ask again, What is this? Do you want to feel it? 3) Continue through all of the objects, placing them on mat.

Other mystery bag containers: You can use other containers for your mystery bags (the above picture is a child-size backpack give as a birthday gift). Clear handbags are nice for very young ones whom you need to entice to choose this activity. Zippers: For containers with small zippers, use a paper clip to help little fingers zip and unzip. Please note: 1) All objects are to be taken out and identified by child so they learn and say the name of the object. 2) Items are to be changed from time to time. 3) Use large objects for tots who may swallow small objects. Lastly, this Mystery Bag exercise involves both muscular and language memory. Nesting The age for this activity is 18 months and up. The indirect aim for nesting is fine motor development and visual discrimination. The direct aim is to nest objects according to size

(size discrimination) which is an early sensorial activity. The materials needed: Three nesting objects of the same color because you want to highlight size differences only, not both color differences AND size differences (this is the essence of the Montessori sensorial materials); dry pouring measuring cups, mixing bowls, stacking cubes, nesting toys made for nesting, and a mat. In other words, it is better to start with nesting objects that are the same color. Nesting toys bought in stores typically vary in color and patterns (as well as size). You can start with same color nesting objects, like measuring cups, and progress later on to various colorful nesting toys. Place your tot in front of you. Put three nesting objects (already nesting together) on the left side of the mat. Take out the smallest cup and place it on the right side of the mat. Take out the next middle cup and place it in the middle of the mat.

Take the middle cup and place it in the large cup. Take the small cup and place it in the middle cup. Optional: you can start with two nesting objects instead of three. Take out the cups again and place them appropriately on the mat. Say to your tot, Your turn. If and when your tot takes the cups apart and places them on the mat, it is not important (at this age) for her to order them according to size from largest to smallest, but to place them inside each other. (Or she may decide to bang them together!) When you are finished with your activity, place it in a basket in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the nesting objects, and over time, increase them to four.

Warm and Cold Age: Nine months and up. Indirect Aim: Vocabulary (language expansion). Direct Aim: Experience and develop the sense of temperature. Materials: Two plastic containers that are identical, warm water, and ice. A towel can be used under this activity for spills, or removed for further experience of the spilled water and ice by the infant, on a tile floor. Optional: Use washcloths instead, one dipped with warm water, the other with dipped with ice water; place each washcloth in a separate container (the containers should be identical). Allow the infant to explore the washcloths. Use language warm and cold. Sit in front of the infant, place the containers on the floor, one at a time (you can use lids while doing this, then remove them, but the infant will not be able to do remove them herself, and will probably want to!). Place your fingers in the warm water, The water is warm. Allow the infant to explore the water and the container, even if she spills it--let her continue to explore it. Next, bring out the cold container with ice water. Place your fingers on the ice water, The water feels cold. Allow the infant to explore the ice water and the container, even if she spills it--let her continue to explore it. When she loses interest, sponge the water up or use a towel, the infant can help if she chooses to. Extension: Feel items in the environment and say Warm, cold. (Cold for baby wipe or ice cream, warm for bottle, bath, or laundry right out of the dryer.) You can also begin to introduce the word, hot for items you dont want your little one to touch, or food she needs to blow on (which they love to do!): stove, heater, hot tea or coffee, fireplace, metal objects out in the sun, hot water from the faucet, etc.

You can point out hot, warm, and cold objects in books, and use the same language for them (hot, warm, cold); and then ask the child to Point to hot when the child sees a picture of a fireplace, for example, or Point to cold when the child sees a picture of an ice cube.

The Treasure Basket Age: Six months and up. Indirect Aim: Promote independence, enhance curiosity, and develop focus and concentration. Direct Aim: Explore different objects. Materials: Shoe box, wicker basket, or plastic container up to four inches high filled with different objects of various shapes, colors, sizes, and textures. For younger infants, begin with only three or four objects small enough for her to pick up but not swallow, and that are easily seen in the basket. Older infants can have as many as ten objects that they can sort through. Before introducing this activity to younger infants, place only the container in the environment for the infant to explore. After a few weeks, begin adding various objects for her to extract. Change the objects every three or four days (or at least once a week). You can keep any favored object in the container, however. Clean objects as needed, or place them in the dishwasher (if dishwasher safe).

When introducing the treasure basket, sit facing the infant and take out one object, explore it, then return to basket (without talking!). Continue until infant begins to take objects out of the basket, then move away. For younger infants who cannot yet understand the concept of choosing objects to explore, offer her two objects (one in each hand) for her to grasp. Eventually, after days or weeks, she will choose them herself out of the basket. When infant loses interest, place the objects back in the basket and place back on shelf (or where ever you keep the basket). Make sure the treasure basket is accessible to the infant to go to whenever she wants to. You can keep one treasure basket in each room that the infant is allowed to freely play in. If making a trip to grandmas house, you can bring along a smaller treasure basket. Extension: At age 12 months (or when child shows interest in vocabulary) you can begin naming each object, slowly, one at a time, holding it up for the infant to see. Eventually, you can ask for an object by name to see if the child remembers it!

Tactile Activities Age: Four months and up. Indirect Aim: Sensorial, tactile focus on objects and human faces. Direct Aim: Develop sense of touch and experience different textures. Scarf Bundle Activity Materials: A bright-colored scarf, and newspaper or wax paper. Crumple up some newspaper or wax paper and tie a scarf around it. You can also use large fabric scraps or a piece of cut up T shirt. Make several bundles of different colors and sizes. Place your baby in front of you, if he is not sitting up, yet, prop him on a boppy or pillow. Place the bundle in front of the babys hands or in his lap. Pat the bundle, first with one hand, and then the other. Allow the baby to explore the bundle by patting it. Guide his hand gently if necessary. You can also do this activity as part of tummy time, but the baby will have to hold himself up with one hand while patting with the other (a good pre-crawling exercise).

When you are finished with your activity, place it in a basket in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the object. Facial Activity Materials: A human face. Sit your baby in your lap and guide his hand on to your face and hair (you will have to bend down so your baby can reach). Help him to touch parts of your face and hair. Ask that dad, grandma, and his other caregivers do the same. This exercise will lead to touching gently: you will eventually need to teach your baby how to touch others gently (including pets and other babies!). As he grows older, he will be able to reach, touch, grab, and pinch your face! This activity will also lead to language of the parts of the face so that after 12 months of age, and by 18 months of age, your baby will learn up to ten parts of the body! Just remember to teach him to touch the face gently (or softly)! Extensions: Show your baby how to pat a stuffed animals face and or dolls face gently by placing it in his lap, patting it gently with your hand(s) first, and then showing your baby to pat it. Say, Gentle. Other Tactile Activities: There are many opportunities for your baby to explore using his sense of touch, with help from you! Freezer: While your baby is sitting on the floor, having tummy time, or propped up on her boppy, help her explore a frozen meal from the freezer. (You can also use this as an exercise, at six to 12 months, to teach the concept of cold.) Refrigerator: While your baby is sitting on the floor, having tummy time, or propped up on her boppy, help her explore a cold container from the refrigerator, like a container of margarine or a loaf of bread. (You can also use this as an exercise, at six to 12 months, to teach the concept of cold.) Sandpaper, cardboard: While your baby is sitting on the floor, having tummy time, or propped up on her boppy,

help her explore a piece of sandpaper or cardboard. (You can also use this as an exercise, at six to 12 months, to teach the concept of rough.) Noise Makers Age: Nine months and up. Indirect Aim: Early language development and fine motor skills. Direct Aim: Auditory development. Materials: Crumple up a few pieces of wax paper, newspaper, or pages of a magazine in a bandanna, large scarf, or handkerchief. Tie it up in a bundle. Number One. Place your baby next to you, take the scarf noise maker and feel it, shake it, and pat it. Allow the baby to have a turn. Gently guide her hand if needed. When you are finished with your activity, place it in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the scarf or cloth. Number Two. Materials: Plastic Easter egg taped around the middle (so it does not open) with rice, pasta, or beans inside. You can play a musical CD during this activity (optional). Place your baby next to you, take the shaker noise maker and shake it. Allow the baby to have a turn. Gently guide her hand if needed. When you are finished with your activity, place it in a basket in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the contents of the egg. Extension: Make two eggs shakers, one for each hand. Number Three. Materials: Use an empty oatmeal canister, cereal box, or shoe box with the lid taped on. You can cover the box on the outside with wrapping paper (optional). Place your baby in front of you, take the noise maker drum and pat it with your hand. Allow the baby to have a turn. Gently guide her hand if needed.

When you are finished with your activity, place it in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the box. Exploring Various Food Textures Age: Nine months and up. Indirect Aim: Developing hand and eye coordination and visual perception. Direct Aim: Explore different food textures. Materials: Small bowl neutral in color so child sees the food pieces easily, tray or mat, five pieces of one type of food such as pasta, cut up peeled fruit, firm gelatin, cheerios; and a napkin or cloth for cleaning hands when done. Each time you present this activity, you can change the bowl or container and or the food and the quantity. Before introducing this activity wipe infants hands clean. Have the food pieces already in the bowl and set down in front of you and the infant (with you facing the infant). Take one food piece out of the bowl and feel it with your fingers, then place it back in the bowl. Take another piece and repeat, perhaps this time squeezing the piece (try handling food pieces in different ways!). Wipe your hands on the napkin or wet cloth. Place the bowl closer to the infant and say, Would you like to feel? Allow the infant to explore the food (and container). It is OK if she mouths the food pieces, dumps them out, etc. Move away and just observe her. When she loses interest, place the food back in the bowl and put away on the food shelf area. Wipe up remaining mess. Extension: Present various food pieces of different textures together in the bowl. Allow an older infant to grasp the food pieces and transfer them onto a plate or another bowl that you include in the activity (after showing her, first). Beware of choking hazards, especially grapes, cut them in half.

Some foods might be too slippery, such as banana or avocado, so you can roll them in oatmeal. And peel fruits, such as apples. This is not a feeding activity, although most infants will attempt to eat the food. Do not leave the child alone with food pieces in case of choking hazards. Rhythms Age: Nine months and up. Indirect Aim: Developing auditory skills, experiencing rhythms in songs, listening. Direct Aim: Respond to stimuli. Materials: Wooden spoon, metal bowl, simple songs that you can sing (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, A, B, C, D, Itsy Bitsy Spider.) Sit facing the infant with the bowl and spoon between you. Begin tapping the bowl to the rhythm of the song with the spoon without singing. Next, start singing the song and tap to the rhythm of the song. Hand the spoon to the infant to explore, and move the bowl closer. If necessary, take her hand gently and tap together while singing. Continue to sing when infant taps. When you are finished with your activity, place it in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the spoon and baking tin with similar objects. Other objects you can use: Plastic spoon, metal spoon, drum, block of wood, wooden bowl, baking tin.

CHAPTER 4 LARGE & SMALL MOTOR MOVEMENT

Grasping an Object Age: Three months and up. Indirect Aim: Focus visually on shapes and colors. Direct Aim: Grasping and swiping, handeye coordination. Materials: A small, bold colored object (red, black, and white; green and yellow; blue and pink...bright, bold colors that will attract babys vision) like a small stuffed animal, sock, or soft toy. Place your baby in front of you, if he is not sitting up, yet, prop him on a boppy or pillow. Place the object in front of the babys face and move the object by shaking it, then move it closer to his hands so he can grasp it. Repeat the action a few times. Next, hold the object a little farther away so he reaches for it. Allow the baby to explore the object when he reaches and grasps it. You may have to experiment with different objects to find one that attracts your babys attention the most. One mom suggested a black and white stuffed penguin worked best for her baby! Pastel colors tend not to attract the attention of young babies who are four months and younger. When you are finished with your activity, place it in a basket in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the object. Other grasping exercises: Have your baby wear a rattle sock on his foot or hand, shake it and help her reach for it and grasp it; use various soft textured objects like a ribbon, a ball of yarn, or carpet sample and hold it up above your baby while changing him; place him on his tummy and put the object in front of him to grasp; tie a small stuffed animal to a wooden spoon handle and dangle it in front of the baby so he can reach for it and swat at it or grasp it. When your baby is ready, move the object to the left and then the right so he has to turn his head to see it and reach for it.

Rolling Over Motor Movement Age: Three months and up. Indirect Aim: Coordinate and focus on body movement. Direct Aim: Practice rolling over with intent of such movement. Materials: A colorful, noisy object that will attract the attention of the baby. Sometimes a red, black, and white object is recommended for very young babies. For example, an old white sock can be made into a puppet with permanent red and black markers; or a red, black, and white sock can be tied together; and either sock can have a rattle inside to make noise. Place your baby in front of you, on his back, or wait until he is happily laying on his back and go up to him. Position yourself in front of the baby, by his feet, and slowly move around to his head. Smile at him and gaze into his eyes, and when you are behind his head, take the object and place it on the babys left side--he should be able to track the object, if he cannot track objects yet, discard this as a rolling over exercise and do tracking (see the Tracking an Object lesson). He may try to grasp it, but do not let him, yet. Move the object from the babys left side to behind his head (where you are sitting). He will (hopefully) try to grasp it and attempt to roll over. In other words, he should try to move with the intent to roll over. You can gently roll him, but make sure he tries to do most of the work of rolling over! When the baby rolls over, allow him to grasp the object (or help him to do so by placing it in his hand). Repeat this activity on the right side of the baby. Repeat again on left side, etc., until the baby no longer shows any interest, or cries. You may have to experiment with different objects to find one that attracts your babys attention the most. Pastel colors tend not to attract the attention of young babies four months and younger. When you are finished with your activity, place it in a basket in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the object.

Object Location The age for this activity is six months and up. The indirect aims of this activity are the development of fine and gross motor skills. The direct aim is memory development. The materials you need are a medium-size container or tray and one familiar object (like a favorite stuffed animal or toy). Before introducing this activity to younger infants, place only the container in the environment for the infant to explore. After a few days, begin adding an object for her to extract. Change the object every three or four days (or at least once a week). Clean object as needed, or place it in the dishwasher (if dishwasher safe). When introducing the activity, sit next to the infant with the activity in front of you; take out the object and say, This is a bear, feel how soft. Give object to the infant to hold. Gently take object (or you can say, May I have a turn?) and place it behind the infant. Ask, Where is the bear? It may take the infant several weeks to learn that the bear is behind her. You can also place the bear farther away from the infant, to her far left or to her far right. As she gets older, you can place the object in a box or behind a container for her to retrieve. When infant loses interest, place the object back in the container and place back on shelf (or where ever you keep the container). Make sure the container is accessible to the infant to go to whenever she wants to.

Hide an Object Age: Nine months and up. Indirect Aim: Reinforce object permanence (cognitive skill). Direct Aim: Find the hidden object, hide the object. Materials: A small colorful object, like a rubber duck, and a box.

Place your baby next to you. Take the duck from inside the box and place it down next to the box so the infant can see it. Take the duck and allow the infant to hold it and explore it.

Say to the infant, May I have a turn to hold it? Hold the object and then say to the infant, Watch me hide the duck. Hide the duck bedside the box so the infant can partially see it (for the first lesson). Ask the infant, Where is the duck? The infant can retrieve the duck and give it to you. Hide the duck again, this time so the infant cannot see it, inside the box or behind the box. Ask the infant, Where is the duck? The infant can retrieve the duck and give it to you. If the infant has trouble finding the duck, help him by pointing to it and retrieving it, say Heres the duck! Continue the game. Older infants can have a turn to hide the object: Now it is your turn to hide the object. Take turns hiding and finding the object. When you are finished with your activity, place it in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the object. Other objects to use: Ball, stuffed animal, dish, rattle, sponge, cup, block, toothbrush. You can also play this game without a box as a social game by hiding the object near your leg or behind your back. This game reinforces object permanence, that is, if something cannot be seen it still exists.

The Nature Basket The age for this activity is 18 months and up. The indirect aim of this activity is the practice of large and fine motor movement (walking, bending, grasping, holding), as well as promoting focus, concentration, and the development of language. The direct aim is to explore various objects found outside in nature. The material you need is a basket with a handle (or small bucket). After around eleven to twelve months, most infants and tots exhibit gathering behavior. After a young infant has learned to dump everything out of containers, she begins to gather her toys and the objects around her and places them inside bags and baskets. For example, if your tot has several small blocks, see what happens when you place a box next to them. Before, she would dump the blocks out of the box, but if you show her that she can place them inside the box, after several weeks, she will catch on! Now she will show this behavior with sand toys and a bucket, first taking everything out, then later putting them all back in (or large wooden beads, etc.). When your tot is mobile she wants to gather objects in her environment. It is at this time you can begin a nature basket. A nature basket is especially useful when your child is toddling or walking around and wants to pick everything up and place it in her mouth. Now you can progress the mouthing of objects towards gathering and placing them in a basket.

You can let the child hold the basket if she is interested, or she may drop it at which time you can hold it for her, then encourage her to hold it again. Let the child lead you, with little or no talking from you, the adult. As she finds and picks up an object, help her to place it in the basket. You can use a simple phrase, such as Place the twig in the basket. One must be careful with this activity, as the child will still want to place an object in the mouth. If you are worried about having your child picking up objects in nature and placing them in her mouth, try doing this activity in your front or back yard where you are familiar with the objects in it (and removing any dangerous objects before hand). You can also name the objects when the child is interacting with them. Extension: Ask for the object by name. Can you give me the rock? Thank you.

Stacking Various Items The age for this activity is 15 months and up. Indirect Aim: Indirect preparation for nesting and block play. Direct Aim: Coordinating fine and large motor movements, balancing. Materials: Different household and recycled items that can stack on top of each other: empty oatmeal container, egg carton, tissue box, child size shoe box, cereal box, pieces of Styrofoam, and empty baby wipes; and shallow basket or storage box. You may also want to use a small rug for this activity, as the items can easily get scattered and the rug will give a visual boundary. (And you can use a larger one than shown here, which is a small hand towel.) Place your tot in front of you, place the container of stacking items to the far left of your baby. Take out one item and place it on the rug. Take out a second item and place it on the rug next to the first item. Then, slowly pick up one of the two items and place it on top of the other item. (To be traditional, stack from left to rightof your baby.)

You can stop here for younger tots, and just stack with the two items. Now take down the items, and say to your tot, Your turn! Wait and watch while your tot explores the items and, hopefully, stacks them. It is OK if she just explores them. An older tot who has already spent time exploring these types of household and recycled items may choose to stack them right off the bat! If your tot stacks the two items successfully, you can then show her to stack another item. Eventually, your tot will be able to stack all the items over time. Or she may make two or more stacks with two or more items in each stack! The fun part is to topple the stack over, that is, for the tot to push the items over and restack them. She might not appreciate an adult or older child pushing her tower over, however. To show how to topple the tower over, build your own tower and push it over.

It is also a good idea to put the items back in the container after you are done building your tower, so that when it is the tots turn, all the pieces are in the container. Help her to do the same after she is done for turn taking. In other words, a full turn for the tot who is playing with you or an older child is to 1) take items out of the container, 2) build a tower, 3) push over her own tower, and 4) put the items back in the basket. If the tot is playing on her own you can show her or help her put the activity away by placing all the items back in the container when she is done. Some tots will take out the objects to explore them, then carry or place them around the house. Perhaps she is not ready for stacking. Instead you can make her a treasure basket with large stackable items to explore and cart around. When you are finished with your activity, place it in nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the objects. Extensions: After your tot is adept at making a tower with four or five various large items, create a stacking activity with three rings from a ring toy. (If you dont have rings, try large blocks, although rings are easier to manipulate for younger tots, and the larger the rings, the better.) Take out one ring at a time and place it on the mat, from left to right (of your baby). After all three rings are on the mat, take the ring farthest to your tots left, and stack it on the ring farthest to your tots right (you can sit next to your tot if you wish). Take the second, or what was the middle ring, and stack it. Pause and smile at your tower of rings! Take the rings off, one at a time, and place them (one at a time) back on the basket. Now say to your tot, Your turn. For younger tots, you can place the rings back on the mat.

When you are finished with your activity, place it in nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the objects. Paper Tearing Age: 15 months and up. Indirect Aim: Fine motor development, hand-eye coordination. Direct Aim: Art. Materials: Tissue paper or wrapping paper (the paper should be cut up in pieces the size of both your hands put together or about 5 by 6); a container for the strips, preferably a shallow container like a shoe box lid (in the pictures below I used the lid of a box from a set of perfume); and a mat. For my paper I used old mural paper the children at my school painted. Place your tot in front of you, with the mat between you and the container of paper to your tots left (and to the left of the mat). Pick up one piece of paper and place it on the mat. Next, hold it up so the tot can see it (your hands should be hold the paper at the top edge). Begin tearing the paper into a strip. Let the tot see the strip and say, Strip of paper. Place the strip of paper on the right side of the mat (or in a wicker basket or bowl for collecting them for art projects if you have older children). Repeat by tearing the paper into a strip. Let the tot see the strip and say, Strip of paper. Place the strip of paper on the right side of the mat or in a wicker basket. Say to the tot, Your turn. You can gently guide the tots hands if necessary. Allow the tot to strip, break, tear, crumple, and explore the paper. Hand him another piece of paper as needed. When the tot is done, help put the paper pieces in the wicker basket or recycling bin. Place the activity in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the paper.

Pincer Grasp with Cheerios Age: Nine months and up. Indirect Aim: Develop visual perception, focus, and concentration. Direct Aim: Develop fine motor skills. Materials: A small container or plate with Cheerios, the container or plate should be plain (not patterned) so the baby can see the Cheerios clearly. Place your baby at his eating area, wipe his hands clean, and place the container or plate with Cheerios on the highchair tray or table top. If your baby is inclined to toss the container or plate of Cheerios, use only seven Cheerios and put them on the highchair tray or table top next to an empty container or plate. Pick up a Cheerio and hold it up in front of the infant so he can see it, say Cheerio, or cereal. Place it on his tray or in his container. Pick up the same Cheerio and place it back on his tray or in his container (where ever you picked it up from). You can repeat this step using your other hand. Allow the baby to have a turn. (He may toss the plate and Cheerios, eat them, or bat them around.) When the baby is done exploring, place the activity in a nearby place for future play and lessons. Cheerios are a safe tool for developing pincer grasp because they are edible and dissolve easily in the babys mouth. Also, the baby will put small objects in his mouth and could choke on non food items or other small food items, like whole grapes. Other food items chopped up can be used instead of Cheerios, depending on the age of your baby and advice of your pediatrician.

Hunting for an Object Age: 15 months and up. Indirect Aim: Listening and following directions, large motor movement, solving problems. Direct Aim: Vocabulary development, recognizing objects, colors, shapes, and numbers. Gather three to five familiar objects and place them around the room so they can be easily seen, try not to place them next to other objects in the room, then sit down with the child. Ask the child to find the red block. The child will find the block on the chair. If the child cannot see it or find it, or finds another object, give more details: The red block is on the chair. The child will bring back the block and place it in the basket. Thank you! This is a great activity to play with siblings. Other ideas: letters, I Spy objects, sensorial objects.

Pulling Scarf Game Age: Nine months and up. Indirect Aim: Coordination and balance control. Direct Aim: Social development through cooperation (playing a game). Materials: A long colorful scarf or sock, a basket or container for the scarf. Place your baby in front of you, take the scarf out of the container, and put one end of the scarf in your babys hands and the other end in your hands. Allow the infant time to examine and explore the scarf, and when she pulls or tugs on it, pull it towards you. If the infant cannot hold onto her end of the scarf, you can tie it around her wrist.

If the infant lets go of her end of the scarf, place it back into her hands to grasp. She may also want to mouth it. Create a gentle motion of pulling back and forth between you and the infant, smile, sing a song, and make it fun! Keep playing with the scarf, offering it to her if she drops it, then put it away when she loses interest. You can also use language for this game, pull, tug, and push. You can also begin the game by saying, We are going to play the see-saw game or tug-of-war (or peace) game. When you are finished with your activity, place it in a basket in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the object. Other objects you can use: A stuffed animal, paper towel tub, or an envelope.

CHAPTER 5 PRACTICAL LIFE

Open and Close Using Boxes The age for this activity is 18 months and up. This is a practical life activity for fine motor movement development. The materials needed are three or four small decorative box containers, a tray or basket to hold them, and a mat or small rug. If you have an older child who is 36 months or older, you can use six or seven boxes. (The younger the child the fewer boxes you want to use, which you can change periodically.) This activity works best on the floor. Sit next to the child, place the tray on the left, and the mat next to the tray or on the right. If you are using a large rug, you can place the tray on the rug. If you are using a small mat (as seen in the picture above) you can place the tray off the mat and to the left of the mat. Take out one box using both hands, and place it on the mat (at the far left of the mat as seen below).

Hold the box with your left hand and take off the lid with your right (or your dominant) hand. Say, Open. Now place the lid back on the box and say, Close.

Take out another box using both hands, and place it on the mat (to the right of the first box--you are going from left to right as you place each box on the mat). Hold the box with your left hand and take off the lid with your right (or your dominant) hand. Say, Open. Now place the lid back on the box and say, Close. Continue with each box until they are all lined up on the mat. Put everything back on the tray, from right to left, one at a time (a lesson in itself!). Now say to the child, Your turn! If you see your child having trouble, you can say, May I have a turn? and then show them again what to do. Extension: Use only one container for the child to open, and place a small object inside (a bell, a miniature book, a plastic animal, a car). Make sure the container is not too hard for the child to open.

Squeeze a Sponge Activity: Water Play but with a Purpose The age for this activity is 18 months and up. The indirect aim of this activity is visual and fine motor development. The direct aim is early practical life experience using sponge, water, and squeezing with hands. The materials needed: Small sponge, bowl or dishpan, water, a towel for clean up. You can take a regular size sponge and cut it in half (or in thirds) to fit the childs hands. A different color sponge can be used than your own kitchen sponges, then washed in the dishwasher or placed in the dirty laundry. A small bowl or plastic container can be used, albeit the bowl or container will get turned or knocked over by the tot. You may also try using a dishpan or bucket (square and shallow and fits in your sink). Try also using a small amount

of water, and it can be warm water. This activity is ideal for the kitchen floor. You can also try sponging in the bathtub at bath time. You want your tot to have a fun experiencethe sponge activity is not meant for cleaning up spills, but for sensory exploring with use of language: This is a sponge. Water. Spill. And so forth. Before introducing this activity to younger tots, place only the container and the sponge in the environment for the tot to explore. After a few days or weeks, present the activity with water. (Expect to change clothes if the tot gets too wet, or just use small amounts of water.) When introducing the activity, sit facing the tot. (Have a towel behind you for handy clean up after the tot is done playing the activity.) Take the sponge with BOTH HANDS, dip it in the water, and wait a few seconds, pick it up, and squeeze sponge with BOTH HANDS over the bowl so the water goes back in the bowl. (As with any activity, go from the tots left to right.) Place sponge down next to bowl. Allow the tot to explore. You can gently guide the tot through the steps. You may also wish to place the bowl and sponge in a dishpan. However, the dishpan will most likely get tossed and turned over and could hamper the tots reach. You can also present this activity in the bathtub. When the tot is done exploring the activity, place it back on the shelf or in the activity area, without the water. You can also have an area, perhaps in the kitchen, where the water practical life activities are kept and used. Extension: Bring the same sponge and bowl to the eating area when the tot is eating for wiping up spills. Wipe with the sponge, and squeeze into the bowl. Invite the tot to have a turn. When the child is walking and can easily reach the sink by way of a step stool, he can be shown to squeeze the sponge

in the sink, then place the sponge back in the practical life area (on a plastic tray or bowl) for future use. A small face cloth can be used for drying.

Water Pouring Age: 18 months and up. Indirect Aim: Develop hand-eye coordination. Direct Aim: Early practical life experience with water. Materials: Various containers for pouring, or small watering can, access to water, and a towel or sponge for clean up. This water pouring activity can be done at bath time or at a water table. It should be kept in a plastic storage container near the tub or water table so the tot can repeat this activity. Washcloths and or sponges can also be kept nearby in a basket or on a tray, and used to wipe spills as necessary, as well as a hamper or drying rack for disposing of them when wet. The container for pouring is filled up with water at the tub or water table, and then the water is poured out or into a second container (into the tub or water table), first by the adult, and then the tot.

It is best to start with containers with handles, then graduate to small cups. When she is done with the activity, place the pouring container(s) in the plastic storage box to be put away for future use; then help wipe any spills on the ground with a towel or sponge. The towel is then placed on the drying rack or hamper, the sponge back on the sponge tray (or hamper). Use simple language throughout the activity: pitcher, water, pour, towel, wipe. Change and vary the pouring containers from time to time (a plastic water bottle, a plastic measuring cup, a metal syrup pitcher, a sippy cup with no top, a small pot, etc.). This activity is shown at a child-size sink in infant and toddler classrooms, however, at home it is often not practical, there are nearby soaps, utensils, and breakable dishes, the hot water could be turned on, the water could be too hard to reach, and the sink too high, even with a stool. Extension: You can make a water pouring activity for toddlers (18 months and up) with two small pitchers, a tray for placing them on, water in one of the pitchers, nearby sponges and towels, a hamper, and or a drying rack. The tray can be carried to a work table by the toddler. When the toddler is finished, the activity is put back, and any water is wiped up with a sponge or washcloth. The sponge must be squeezed out, however. Often, a small towel is preferred. The towel is then placed on the drying rack or in the hamper. The toddler can come to the adult and ask for water if he cannot access it easily and safely.

Crumpling Up Paper Age: 15 months and up. Indirect Aim: Fine motor development, hand-eye coordination. Direct Aim: Practical life activity (placing paper into a trash basket). Materials: A shallow box or container with several pieces of paper, like wrapping paper or tissue paper, or paper from the recycling basket, like small paper bags, envelopes, or flyers; and a small trash basket (in the picture, an old gift bag was used). You may also want to use a small rug for this activity, as the paper can easily get scattered and the rug will give a visual boundary. A small hand towel was used in the picture. Place your tot in front of you, put the trash basket to the far right of your tot, and the container of paper to the far left of your tot. Take out one piece of paper and place it on the rug. Begin to crumple the paper with both hands until it is in the shape, roughly, of a ball.

Take the rolled up ball of paper and place it in the trash basket. For older babies 12 months and older who are walking (and wont sit still!) you can have the trash basket on the other side of the room, walk over to the basket, and place the ball of paper in it. Say to the tot, Your turn! Help the tot take out a piece of paper to place on the rug. The tot may take her time exploring the paper, waving it, gumming it, or ripping it. You can then take your own piece of paper to roll in a ball. Or you can ask the tot, Can I have a turn? and begin to roll up his piece of paper, however, if your tot protests, take your own paper to roll up into a ball. You may want to repeat this activity several times for younger tots before they can crumple up the paper, and they may just want to explore the paper on their own in their own way; whereas a tot who has been exploring and playing with paper for several months might enjoy seeing another activity they can do with paper, like roll it into a ball. Extension: For an early walker who wont sit still for paper activities, drop pieces of paper from the recycling basket around the room, and help the baby pick them up and place them back in the basket. This is also a great bending exercise, the tot has to bend over or bend down to pick up the paper. Language: After a few lessons, begin giving the language: paper, trash basket, crumple, and ball. When you are finished with your activity, place it in a nearby place for future play and lessons.

Objects in Lidded Containers Age: 15 months and up. Indirect Aim: Object permanence, early practical life activity skills. Direct Aim: Hand-eye coordination, fine motor development. Materials: A coffee can with plastic lid, or any container with soft plastic lid, five small identical or similar objects and a tray or basket for objects and coffee can, and a mat. Place your tot next to you, set out the objects on the wicker tray and place the coffee can on the mat to the right of the tray of objects. Optional: You can use only one object instead of several. Take out the first stick, hold it over the lid, and push it into the slot. If using more than one object, repeat until all the sticks are in the coffee container. Pick up the container if the bottom has been taken out, or take the lid off, and retrieve the stick(s). Place the stick(s), one at a time, back onto the wicker tray.

Say to your tot, Your turn. You can gently help your babys hand place the stick in the slot if needed. Help your baby to retrieve the stick and place it back on the tray. When you are finished with your activity, place it in a basket in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the object(s).

Other large but thin objects you can use: Old toothbrushes, baby food jar lids, plastic links, and thin wooden shapes. Smaller objects can become choking hazards.

Pulling Objects in Lidded Containers Age: 15 months and up. Indirect Aim: Object permanence, early practical life activity skills. Direct Aim: Hand-eye coordination, fine motor development (pulling). Materials: A coffee can with a plastic lid that has a hole at the top, or any container with a soft plastic lid, a long colorful scarf (or several small ones tied together at the ends), and a tray or basket for scarf and coffee can, and a mat. Please note: This activity requires the assistance of an adult to place the scarf in the container and is not an independent activity. Optional: You can use a paper towel role cut in half, a small hand-held vacuum cleaner attachment tube, or a toilet paper role, instead of a lidded container. Place your tot in front of you and put the coffee can on the mat with the scarf already in the can and one end of it sticking out of the hole. Hold the container with both hands and look at the scarf sticking out of the top. Wrap your arm

around the container, and using your other hand, begin to pull the scarf out of the container. Pull the scarf all the way out. Allow your baby to touch the scarf, then try to get her to put the scarf back in the container (while the lid is off). You will need to put the lid back on and poke one end of the scarf out of the hole in the lid. Say to your tot, Your turn. You can gently help your tots hand pull the scarf. You will need to take the lid off and have your tot help put the scarf back in the container, and poke one end of the scarf out of the hole in the lid. When you are finished with your activity, place it in a basket in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the scarf. Other objects you can use: Several socks tied together; an old pair of tights cut and tied together; a rope.

Other containers you can use: Baby formula, oatmeal, large frozen orange juice can, a pitcher, a plastic baby-wipe container.

Pot and Utensils Activity Age: Six months and up. Indirect Aim: Fine motor movement (hand and eye coordination). Direct Aim: Listening to different sounds made by different objects (auditory discrimination). Materials: A small pot and three utensils made of wood, metal, and plastic. The utensils should be placed on the left side of the pot (traditional methodtakes longer) before giving the demonstration, or inside the pot (progressive method--faster). Sit next to your baby and, going from left to right, take one utensil and hit the side of the pot several times. Pause. Place the utensil down (on the right side of the pot or inside). Take the next utensil and hit the side of the pot several times. Pause. Place the utensil down (on the right side of the pot or inside). Take the third utensil and hit the side of the pot several times. Pause. Place the utensil down (on the right side

of the pot or inside). Take the utensils and place them back on the left side of the pot or keep them in the pot. Allow your baby to explore the utensils and the pot, gently guiding her hand if necessary to help her pick up, hold, and or bang the utensils. When you are finished with your activity, place it in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the utensils and pot. Extension: Allow your baby to explore a variety of containers on a low shelf or in a cabinet; place several utensils in a bowl for your baby to explore.

Placing Spoons in a Bowl Age: Nine months and up. Indirect Aim: Fine motor, future sorting and counting. Direct Aim: Grasping spoons and eating utensils. Materials: Four identical spoons, bowl or plastic container that will not tip over very easily. Have your baby facing you, line up the spoons and place the bowl close to them (so that the spoons are on her left and the bowl is on her right). Begin picking up the first spoon and placing it in the bowl, followed by the second spoon, place it in the bowl, then the third, and the fourth. Carefully take one spoon out of the bowl and place it back on the mat or rug. Repeat until all the spoons are back in their place. Give the baby the first spoon and help her place it in the bowl and say, Place the spoon in the bowl. You may assist the baby if need be. Now sit away and allow her time to explore. When you are finished with your activity, place it in a basket in a nearby place for future play and lessons.

From time to time, replace the eating objects with forks, small identical cups, or bowls and use a container that is the appropriate size to hold them. Language: Name the object when you hold it.

Spoon Feeding with Utensils and Baby Food for Oral Motor Development Age: Three months and up. Indirect Aim: Becoming familiar with food textures and tastes. Direct Aim: Oral motor development. Materials: Baby spoon, small bowl, baby food, face cloth. Place the materials in front of you and sit in front of the baby. Take hold of the spoon and place it on the babys lips. You can make noises such as, Yum! and Mmmm! and smile so as to encourage the baby. You may only get as far as the lips the first few times. Another time try to place the spoon between the lips. Make noises such as, Yum! and Mmmm! and smile.

Another time try to place the spoon further in mouth on tongue. Make noises such as, Yum! or Mmmm! and smile. Another time try to place the spoon in the cheek and swipe food so it stays in the cheek and mouth. Make noises such as, Yum! and Mmmm! and smile. Each time observe your baby to see how he reacts to the spoon and the baby food, making sure you keep a positive attitude. Do this exercise two times a day in between nursing and or bottle feeding. This is not a feeding exercise, nor should it replace nursing or bottle feeding. Your goal is to get your baby used to having a spoon in his mouth with a new texture (and different tastes); allow the baby to explore the food and spoon with his mouth and lips, strengthening them for speech (and future eating of solid foods); and to learn sucking for oral motor development. Tips: 1) Use a flat-bowled spoon for easy sucking, 2) use warm rice cereal the first few times (it tastes closest to breast milk and formula), 3) make sure your baby can look at you without moving his head up or down but straight ahead (while feeding him with spoon), 4) when you remove the spoon, pull it straight out (dont lift it up as is the habit) to encourage the baby to close his lips around spoon, 5) keep distractions to a minimum (put on a classical music CD), 6) this is a pre munching exercise for babies ready to suck and swallow (not chew), 7) suckling comes before sucking in oral motor development (followed by strong sucking and munching, side to side movement of food).

Working on a Bench at a Table Age: When child can sit up safely unattended (nine to 12 months). Indirect Aim: Sitting on a stool and working at a table top. Direct Aim: Practice sitting up with knees bent (90/90 sitting) and working on a high surface. Materials: A stool 4 to 6 inches high (so that the infants feet can lay flat on the floor) and a table top high enough so the infants knees can go under it but low enough for her to rest her arms and hands. A plastic storage box turned upside down is a great makeshift stool! You can also use a small wooden stool found in childrens boutiques. A table can be made out of another stool with four legs, a box turned upside down, or a small handmade wooden table (sometimes found at a childrens second-hand store). A low coffee table may suffice. Place the table against a couch or wall (or it can be easily moved by the infant) and put the stool in front of it. Place a toy or favorite object on the table: Would you like to sit on

the stool? Begin placing child on stool and allow her to play with the toy or object. If she resists, leave it for another day. Meantime, she can explore the bench and table on her own. Eventually, she will sit for longer periods on the stool and at that time you can present more detailed activities that require more of her focus and attention. She will enjoy her new found skill, be less likely to crawl or toddle away, and may actually take the lesson and repeat it! (This is a great way to give lessons!) Early Social Grace and Courtesy: Wipe Your Nose Age: 18 months and up. Indirect Aim: Fine motor development and independence. Direct Aim: Care of self. Materials: Box of tissue, waste basket, small mirror secured to the wall (optional), small table and stool (optional). If your child has a runny nose, this is the best opportunity to show her how to wipe her nose with a tissue (older children two and up can also wash their hands afterwards). You can have a small table and stool set up, with a small mirror secured to the wall, and a box of tissue and a small waste paper basket. If this is not an option, place the tissue box on a low shelf with a basket nearby. A mirror is ideal so the child can see her runny nose. This activity can also lead to blowing the nose with a tissue. Place the tissue box between you and the baby, carefully pull a tissue from the box, I am going to wipe (or blow) my nose. Wipe your nose slowly, then put the tissue in the basket, Now I throw the tissue away. Ask the baby to have a turn, guiding her hands gently if needed through the process. You can also present the lesson a second time if the baby shows no interest (some babies like to watch and may not imitate you). If you have a mirror, sit facing the mirror while you do the activity.

You will probably have to hold the tissue box down with one hand while pulling the tissue with the other. Some babies will want to only take the tissue out of the box as a fun activity, or repeat the nose wiping over and over because it is fun to take the tissues out of the box--so have lots of tissue boxes in storage! Soon your baby will understand tissue and wipe your nose so that the next time she has a runny nose you can ask her to go get the tissue box and wipe her nose (if she is still not able to wipe her nose independently, then just ask her to get the tissue box and you will show her or help her). Some babies do not like to have their faces wiped, so a mirror can be used to show them they have a runny nose. Older tots (toddlers) can learn about germs and sicknesses to help them understand the importance of wiping and blowing their nose (and washing their hands!). When you are finished with your activity, place it in a nearby place for future use. Language: Tissue, wipe, nose, blow, runny, waste basket or trash, mirror. More Social Grace and Courtesy: Saying please, thank you, and may I, washing hands and face, and put away dishes after meal.

Putting In and Taking Out Age: Nine months and up. Indirect Aim: Teach the process and concept of putting in and taking out; language of in and out; sorting skills. Direct Aim: Coordination of hands and eyes (hand-eye skills). Materials: One basket, plastic or metal container, or bowl and a small ball or block of a contrasting color. Use a container that is all one color: you want the baby to be able to see the object when inside the container (a red ball and a white bowl, for example). It is also nice to use a metal container and a hard object so the object will make a noise when dropped or placed in the container. Lastly, a small ball is easier for a younger baby to hold in one hand as compared to a block. Place your baby in front of you, with the metal bowl and object in between you (the object will be on the left side of the bowl--the babys left). Take the ball and place it in the bowl.

(Optional: smile and or clap and or say Yeah! after the ball drops.) Slowly take the ball out of the bowl. Take the ball again and place it in the bowl. Say In after the ball drops. Slowly take the ball out of the bowl and say Out. Now ask the baby, Put the ball in. (For the first few times you give this lesson, it is better to end your request with the word in so that you are emphasizing the word in, rather than saying Put the ball in the bowl as the word in gets a little lost in the middle of the sentence.) Now ask the baby, Take the ball out. (For the first few times you give this lesson, it is better to end your request with the word out so that you are emphasizing the word out, rather than saying Take the ball out of the bowl as the word out gets a little lost in the middle of the sentence.) Your baby may dump the ball out of the bowl, if this is the case, gently take her hand and help her take the ball out of the bowl to help develop hand-eye coordination. When you are finished with your activity, place it in a nearby place for future play and lessons. From time to time, replace the object and or the container. To begin teaching the concepts of putting in and taking out, use one object ONLY so as to isolate both the task and the concept you want the child to learn, and eventually master. And remember to keep your child challenged and working at his skill level (the task should not be too easy, which can cause boredom, or too hard, which can cause frustration). Begin your first lesson with one sphere (ball) in a bowl or container; or use one soft object in a bowl for babies who cannot hold a ball. Advance every few weeks or so, to a contrasting shape: 1) One cube (block) in a bowl or container, 2) one triangular prism in a bowl or container, 3) one sphere (ball) in a box, truck, or simple toy-like container; or one soft object in a box, truck, or simple toy-like container for babies who cannot hold a ball or a cube, 4) one cube (block) in a box, truck, or simple

toy-like container, and 5) one triangular prism in a box, truck, or simple toy-like container. Sequence of Putting In and Taking Out Part Two: Shaped Containers Use one object ONLY so as to isolate both tasks (picking up an object, placing it in a container, taking out an object) and the concepts (putting in, taking out) that you want the child to learn, and eventually master.

One sphere (ball) in a shaped container or one soft object in shaped container; one cube (block) in a shape container; one triangular prism in a shape sorter.

Sequence of Putting In and Taking Out Part Three: Shape Sorters Start with simple shape sorters (with three different shapes); use only one shape, like a sphere, until the child has mastered putting that shape into the sorter, then progress to a contrasting shape, like a cube.

Use only the cube shape until the child has mastered putting that shape into the sorter then progress to a contrasting shape, like a triangular prism. Use only the triangular prism shape until the child has mastered putting that shape into the sorter then progress to two contrasting shapes, like a triangular prism and a sphere. Use only the triangular prism and the sphere until the child has mastered putting those shapes into the sorter then progress to two contrasting shapes, like a triangular prism and a cube. Use only the triangular prism and the sphere until the child has mastered putting those shapes into the sorter then progress to two contrasting shapes, like a cube and a sphere. Use only the cube and the sphere until the child has mastered putting those shapes into the sorter then progress to three contrasting shapes, like a cube, a triangular prism, and a sphere.

When your child has mastered putting three different shapes into a simple shape sorter, begin using more advanced shape sorters, with four to six shapes. Give your child only one of each shape, however. And you may need to take the top off for easy access to the appropriate shapes.

CHAPTER 6 QUESTIONS ABOUT BEHAVIOR Never underestimate a childs ability to get into more trouble.Stephen Wright

My 11-month-old daughter and I keep getting into little spats. She loves her toothbrush and every time weve had her brush her teeth she refuses to give up the toothbrush after were done with it and she cries horribly if I take it from her. Also, she keeps grabbing at things she wants that I dont want to let her have, like my diet chocolate bar or my glasses or my laptop; and when I keep or take it away from her she gets angry, starts crying, and she even bit me once. Should I just not let her see me eating my chocolate bars, taking off my glasses, or working on my laptop? Or should I start enforcing these boundaries, because I know shes going to need to learn them eventually, its just NOW she seems really eager to push the issue! You summed up motherhood in a nutshell: Where and when to draw the line!? I agree you want to draw the line or your baby will grow up to think there is no such word as No. But you dont want to have constant battles with your very strong-willed infant! It will wear YOU down (not her!). Toothbrush: Try a bait and switch. Let her use it during brushing teeth time (twice a day). Then offer her something else, like a brush or a comb or a washcloth. Some parents try food, but this is a slippery slope! That is, you offer her a cracker for the toothbrush...Ill leave that one up to you. As for other items that she is not allowed to touch, you have to pick and choose your battles; some items you hide from her or else get into a battle with her, others you dont and teach her, Mommys turn (instead of saying, No). A laptop is expensive and I think it is worth the battle! A food item not so much. Besides, you want her to stay interested in what you eat so, at times, she can try it to get and keep her interested in different kinds of foods. The real battles begin around age two! So think ahead! Shell be stronger and louder and more apt to not let go of what she wants. In infant and tot stage it is easier to get their

attention away from what they want (your laptop) and onto something else (an old remote control that is never used!). As for the Montessori approach, remember we are typically talking about a classroom environment. Most everything is accessible. But still, there are boundaries (like the phone and the office and certain cabinets). What I try to get parents to understand is that, in a Montessori world, we focus A LOT on the environment, first. So start there. Take away trouble items if you can, or keep them up high, but eventually, the battle will come. Just try not to have too many! So, yes, have a few items out of reach and out of sight (like your laptop); and others be willing to let go of, like the toothbrush; and battle over chocolate bars (I would! Were talking chocolate!). And try to get into the habit of saying Mommys turn! or No, thank you! Because eventually she will repeat it back to you and to other children! You have a strong-willed child! This will be great in the long run! In the short run (until around age three) it will be a challenge, so dont be afraid to say No (or Mommys turn!). Its OK to rearrange your home environment to have fewer battles, and to also let a few things go! *** My baby flips and turns during his diaper changes and fusses when I put clothes on him; any suggestions? When a child goes from an infant to a tot and toddler, they start to form their own self-identity, apart from mom, and they learn they can actually be in control of their bodies, their environment, their decisions...but their skill level and speech are lacking! So they get frustrated! Changing clothes: Until your child is able to do it himself, you will need to do it for him, but easier said than done! You can try motivators: If you let mom help you get your clothes on, then we can have breakfast, or watch a video,

or go outside and play... For bedtime, it is easier to change him after a bath. Here are some tips: Sing songs while changing. Play a CD of baby or childrens songs. Give your baby a toy to hold and play with. Have a mobile above the changing area. Dress your baby in clothes that dont take too long for dressing and undressingno snaps, no buttons, and nothing tight. Try using the floor for changing instead of a table. Change your baby upon waking when he is less active. When your baby is close to walking, take away the changing table and use a bench or stool. *** What about a baby who is constantly throwing things on the ground? How can the Montessori Method be applied? This is a newly learned skill for a baby and it will pass, but it is also an important stage of development. To avoid injuries during this throwing phase, replace plastic and wooden toys with soft ones. You may have to put puzzles and books away for a while if they are getting thrown. When your baby turns 18 months old, you will need to regulate her throwing because the object can hit another child. It is around this time you can say, No throwing toys, and Balls are for throwing outside. But an infant under the age of 18 months should be allowed to throw. *** When I put my 18-month-old down so I can cut up items for cooking, for example, she clings to me and whines, or goes somewhere else in the house and starts pulling out every book in her bookshelf or something similar, strewing them about her room and down the hallway. Also, I am still breastfeeding and suddenly she wants to nurse a lot more often. Is this going to cause problems with dependency? Should I be refusing? After a certain age toddlers begin to use nursing and bottles (and pacifiers) to soothe themselves. The more your tot uses nursing to calm herself, the more she

will rely on you (your anatomy) and not herself. But because of the childs age (18 months) it will be hard to wean her. If a child has not weaned off of the bottle, the pacifier, and/or nursing at a certain age, you almost have to leave it up to them to stop. But this could mean until age three in some cases. So to help your tot wean herself off of nursing, she needs an attachment object (besides you), like a favorite blanket or stuffed animal. You will have to trade one for the other! Throwing toys and books: This is very common at this age since tots cannot use their words to express their feelings, especially when they are mad and fussy! If your child uses books to vent her anger the best thing to do is ignore it while she is doing it. Then, when she is fast asleep at bedtime, take all the books away and place them up high where she cannot reach them to throw them and make a mess with them. Wait a few days, and place only a few back into the environment and tell her we do not throw them. Do the same with anything else she throws out of anger. If she repeats the behavior, let her know we do not throw books on the floor (throwing books leads to throwing blocks and other toys and this gets dangerous around other children and small pets, and even mom or dad can get hit with a flying toy). It is, in fact, one of the biggest complaints from parentstheir child throws toys and/or books to vent (express their feelings of anger or frustration). If the problem persists, take books and plastic and wood toys out of the environment. Instead, have soft toys and cloth books until your child outgrows this behavior, and of course have balls outside for them to throw. *** My 19-month-old has recently begun resisting getting his teeth brushed. He used to put the brush in his mouth on his own at first, then Id brush his teeth before we were done. Now he doesnt want to hold the brush and will turn his

head, push his tongue out, and press his lips down. Make it your goal not to brush your sons teeth when he starts to resist. Instead, make it your goal to have him LOVE brushing his teeth. Due to his tender age, you have to tread very carefully, so carefully, you might have to stop brushing his teeth for him because it will become a battle of the wills (a battle of the toothbrushes!). Pushing the issue (of you brushing his teeth) could turn your son off to the whole idea of brushing his teeth forever and ever and ever and then where would you be? In the dentists office with problems galore! So let him do it himself. Give him fun flavors of toothpaste and a score of toothbrushes for him to choose from after each mealtime. Then do not interfere. Soon your tot will LOVE brushing his teeth! It will be his job; and even though he might not actually be brushing his teeth but sucking and chewing on the toothbrush, thats OK. Once in a while, ask to have a turn at it, and count to twenty when you brush. Your tot will love to hear you counting! What I also recommend is taking your child to the dentist and talking about the issue. If your dentist is concerned about your childs teeth and gums and finds problems, and tells you that YOU HAVE TO BRUSH HIS TEETH OR ELSE, then you will have to fight the brushing teeth battleand if your child is teething and sensitive, try using a cloth instead of a brush. *** Can you explain the cotton pant and potty training concept to me further? This seems like it would be messy. The tot wears cotton so he or she feels wet, instead of diapers or pullups. However, the tot is not ready to go on the potty when she feels the urge and so has to be placed on the potty by an adult. During this process, the Montessori classroom assistant charts

when the tot goes. If the tot always goes after lunch, for example, then the assistant will place the tot on the potty after lunch, as a matter of routine and habit. My question is, do you have an assistant at home? Probably not! Some parents and teachers potty train as early as the walking stage; others wait until age two or three. I feel there is no right or wrong answer or age. Each has its pros and cons! The choice is yours! And you can always ask your pediatrician for advice! In a Montessori infant toddler classroom setting, potty training typically happens in the late fall (October) and all the toddlers train at the same time...But it seems the trend has changed to no potty training at school! Teachers feel it should be up to the child and not the teacher or parents as to when to start potty training. Id say, start when your child shows interest in the potty! Get a potty chair next year and have it in the bathroom. Youll know when your toddler is interested! (And typically they will show a passion for water play when they are ready for potty training, and that happens at around age two- to two and a half.)

CHAPTER 7 QUESTIONS ABOUT SLEEP, ROUTINES & BEDTIME There never was a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him asleep. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Is there a specific daily routine or work period I should follow for an infant? At what age should I start one? A daily routine typically starts around age 18 months (45-minute morning work period, snack, 20-minute outside time, 10minute circle, lunch, nap). Until then, the best routine is to have an activity period after your infant has slept, been changed, and eaten. As for stories and songs (like a circle time but with the infant on your lap) you want to do that before your infant goes down for a nap and at bedtime as they are less likely to be active. Typically there will be a short activity time after dinner, so I suggest having your infant (and tot and toddler when she gets to that stage) bathed and in her PJs before dinner! Trying to do it after dinner can be a real challenge! Plus, when they get to be independent, they are less tired and cranky before dinner. As for bedtime, allow for 30 to 60 minutes of activity time beforehand (so lets say your infant falls asleep at 6:30 p.m., you would start a bath and get into PJs at 5 p.m., followed by dinner at 5:15 or so, then, at 5:30, a story, then time in her room to be active before bedtime). This is more for when shes crawling and trying to walk... *** I have a daughter of 12 months and I am expecting another baby within three monthsI noticed you posted on your blog an article about how to get your child to fall asleep, and you recommended the every five-minute check-in method. Should this method be used for nighttime as well as for day naps? My daughter takes two naps in the daytime. It has worked well to just place her in her stroller facing a window and leaving her there. She falls asleep all by herself. At night, I have to lie with her on her floor bed and it can take a while for her to fall asleep. Ideally, I would like to

get her to stop napping in her stroller. Id also like to get her to not have to depend on me to fall asleep in the nighttime, and I worry about getting a routine down so that she and I can rest easy before the new baby comes. Do you suggest I break her stroller habit? Id like to but it is just so convenient (for me, of course). Should I try the five-minute thing for her nap times as well on her floor bed? I think you should work on nighttime sleeping first. Try the five-minute method and give it three to seven days (and buy ear plugs!). However, and this is more important, put your daughter to bed 30 minutes to an hour before her usual sleep time (the actual time she falls asleep) and allow her to play in her room (you might need a baby gate in her doorway). Do your usual routine, like reading a few books, and instead of lying down with her, give her a hug and a kiss and tell her she can play in her room by herself for a while. She wont be tired yet, since you are putting her to bed early. She will play and eventually fall asleep. If she cries at any point, start the five-minute method. I think this is more successful than putting a child to bed and expecting her to fall asleep all by herself if she has not yet learned how to do so and depends on mom or dad. And when babies and toddlers are tired, let alone overtired, it is harder for them to fall asleep independently. Also, they look forward to bedtime since they have a choice to play. As for napping in her stroller, I think that is OK for now. She will grow out of her second nap soon enough. Work on the nighttime sleep issue. If you try to change both nap and night sleep routines, it may be too much for BOTH of you! When your tot goes down to one nap a day (and it will be a longer nap!) try having her nap in her room/bed since she will be napping up to three hours.

*** I have a 20-month-old daughter and we still have to rock her to sleep. Our bedtime routine used to take at most an hour (including the bath), but now its taking much longer. Shes getting big and has a hard time getting comfortable on our laps. We would like to be able to just put her down in her crib after singing a few songs. But she cries a lot and very loudly. Any suggestions? Also, at what age should we have her sleep in a toddler bed? Lets start with the crib. What I recommend is to have both the crib and a toddler bed in the room (it might be a tight squeeze for a while!). And let your daughter decide. Some infants and toddlers like the security of their crib and arent ready for a bed! Others cant wait to leave the crib! So in order for your child to decide, have both in the room. If you have a crib that turns into a toddler bed, put a mat on the floor or a quilt with a pillow and keep the crib up. Make sure your child has an attachment object at bedtime (a favorite blanket or stuffed animal). What is happening is that she is still dependent on you to fall asleep; she has not learned to go to sleep on her own. And the question is, how do you teach her to fall asleep on her own? To get her to go to sleep on her own, you begin weaning her off of what she cannot do on her own, the rocking. This is what I like to recommend when weaning: start with what you do now and work backwards. If you are rocking her for an hour, set a timer and begin rocking her for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes put her in her bed regardless of whether she is asleep or not (we will get to the crying part later). Do this several nights in a row. Next, set a timer and rock her for only 30 minutes. After 30 minutes put her in her bed regardless and continue for

several nights in a row. Then rock her for only 15 minutes and set a timer. After 15 minutes put her in her bed regardless and continue for several nights in a row. Now comes the hard part, getting rid of the rocker. Put it in the garage or the attic or sell it. Instead of rocking, you will read her a bedtime story. If she is in a toddler bed, you can sit on the bed while she is lying down. If she still wants to sleep in her crib, read it to her while you are both sitting on the floor. Bottles at bedtime: Typically at this age toddlers drink out of a cup and no longer drink from a bottle (and bottles are no longer nutritionally necessary unless a doctor tells you it is needed), but at bedtime it is a comfort. (It is not recommended to have bottles at bedtime due to tooth decay, but you are weaning her off the bottle at bedtime.) So how do you change it? Wean the same way by doing what you are doing now and work backwards. Continue to give her a bottle when you put her in the bed but instead of eight ounces, give her six. After several nights (or weeks if she is really attached), give her four ounces; after several more nights give her two ounces. When you are down to two ounces, and after several nights, you can replace her bottle with a cup and give her water instead of milk so you dont have to worry about tooth decay. If reducing the liquid does not work, reduce the milk by adding water so that by the end of several weeks she has only water in her bottle. Crying! Oh, yes, there will be crying! She will be rightfully upset! She has not learned to go to sleep on her own, so crying is to be expected. You have to be ready for it! But you dont have to abandon her altogether in her bed while she cries. When you put her in her bed, leave for five minutes. She will cry. Let her cry for five minutes, then check in on her.

Place her back down, pat her once or twice, and then leave for 10 minutes. She will cry. Let her cry for 10 minutes, then check on her. Place her back down, pat her once or twice, and then leave the room for 15 minutes. She will cry. Let her cry for 15 minutes, then check on her. Place her back down and pat her once or twice, then leave the room for 20 minutes. She will cry, but by now she will be so tired she will fall asleep, hopefully. (And do not talk when you go back into the room each time! It leads to her responding to what you say and prolonging the process.) You will need to repeat this five-minute method for three to seven days. Thats how long it usually takes. It will be hard for the family. But it will help her to learn to fall asleep in her room without feeling totally abandoned. The reason for checking in on her after the given time is to see if she is poopy, has a fever, has fallen down, or to reassure her with your presence with a pat or two. I dont think it is safe (or necessary) to leave a child and let her cry it out. I also think it is easier on the parents if they can go in at certain intervals. During this time, let her have her attachment object(s) in her bed. Soon she will use them for comfort and depend less on you. Some parents leave the light on, but a nightlight should suffice. You might play music but you dont want to keep going back in the room to replay it! So I always recommend a white noise machine that will play continuously throughout the night, or use a child-safe fan. Know this: the longer you wait to wean her off you at bedtime the harder it will be! But dont start the process unless YOU are ready! And dont start if you are moving, going on vacation, or changing day cares or babysitters...start the process after all known life changes have occurred.

Another tip to help with bedtime is to allow some books in the bed so if she is not tired she can look at books. Another tip is to have a musical aquarium for them to play. It is also OK if a child is not tired and wants to play in their room rather than go right to sleep (and let them pass out on the floor if necessary). Although it takes some getting used to by the parents! And it presents its own issues, but its better than a crying, hysterical child!

CHAPTER 8 QUESTIONS ABOUT GIVING LESSONS & DOING ACTIVITIES I work with my hands and learn by doing. What I hear I forget, what I do I remember. Maria Montessori

Is it safe to say that I should be getting rid of all the following toys: Leapfrog pull toy that sings letters and numbers, Leapfrog drum that sings letters and numbers, Leapfrog magnetic phonic that sticks on the fridge and says the alphabet or word combinations... I am not sure if these will support my son in learning letters and numbers I suspect they might just be distracting, plus it seems like the Montessori Method has its own way of teaching to read and write and I dont know if these toys will help. Also, I see toys from various commercial manufacturers (including Melissa and Doug) that have primary colors all over them. And most things are printed with letters and numbers and other embellishments. I typically recommend a slow weeding out process. As you add more Montessori activities to your home, take out a few of the Toys R Us type commercial toys. Typically, children first show an interest in colors, then shapes, then numbers by age two, and lastly the letters of the alphabet by age three. Also, you can decide over time (and in observing your child) whether you want only Montessori materials or a combination of traditional toys, depending on your childs interest. I noticed Montessori materials are mostly plain. What do you think about just plain wood toys in natural color? It can be a challenge to get certain children interested in the plain wood, natural toys because theyve been exposed to so many commercial toys at such a young age. What you want in the home are activities that your child repeats and shows the most interest in, and you wont know until you have a lot of the Montessori activities. I think youll be surprised that hell choose many of the Montessori activities over the traditional ones, at his age! Children will learn concepts no matter what: from both commercial toys and non-commercial ones, from Montessori

activities, books, DVDs, and puzzles, so it is really up to your family to decide what to have in the home! And if your goal is to have only traditional Montessori activities, you can do it slowly over time (three to six months). *** Since Montessori work is kept on open shelves, how do I do that while preventing my younger daughter, who is 10 months old, from getting to all the stuff and messing it up? There are two ways: Create a gated-off area if your infant is in the same room as your older daughters activities, or gate off the room entirely. Take out those activities and put them in a closet, like a linen closet. You will have to get some of the activities for your daughter when she requests them, and maybe she can use a stool to reach some of them. *** If the child has mastered an item should I remove it? Ive read that it is important to leave things out so that they can revisit the materials. Both are true. If you have limited space, remove the material when the child shows no interest or has mastered it or because you want to make room for something else. You can always rotate it back in. You can also tell your older child she can ask for it if it has been put away. *** If Im working with my daughter, my son tends to use the materials inappropriately. When this happens, the material gets put away (probably by you!) and your son has to do one other activity by himself before he goes back to it. We did this in our classroom instead of time-outs or losing playtime. So lets say you are working with your daughter and your son spills his bean-pouring activity on purpose. You put it away, back on the shelf (he can help you or watch). You tell him to do one activity by himself (like looking at a book,

thats an easy one). After he does that activity, he can choose the pouring again. It is natural for your son to want to do what his sister is doing. We had this happen in our classroom with the younger children who wanted to do what the older children were doing. So they had a choice to watch the older child. Watching meant get a chair, sit in the chair, hands folded in your lap, no talking and no touching. If the child talked or touched the material, he had to put his chair away and do something else. He could come back and try again, but only after doing one activity. Watching other children was a work, an activity, and we gave lessons on how to watch, just like how to pour. This is how you watch your sister. Show him. Now it is your turn. He sits and watches. If you talk, or touch her work, you will need to put your chair away and do something else. He may have to put his chair away 20 times a day before he gets it but he will get it if you stick to it! As for giving your daughter a lesson, try to limit your lesson to 10 minutes. Make them short until your son is more able to be independent. If your toddler is not interested in the Color Tablets, but you still think he is interested in learning colors, try a set of different objects, like plastic Teddy bear objects typically used for counting, or crayons. It is true that toddlers are harder to give lessons to! So that may be the challenge! *** During free play should I give my eight-month-old infant, who is not crawling yet, the toys to play with or should I leave them next to the wall and let her get the toys herself? Yes, leave them next to the wall or place them within reach so that she has to reach out her hands and fingers, barely touching the activity (so that she has to stretch).

I suggest infant swim classes as the best way to get your infant crawling if she is delayed. Your doctor can also work with you and answer questions on time lines for crawling. *** If, after I show her how to use the spoon with the pot activity, does it matter if she chooses the spoons in order, or holds the spoon by the handle rather than at the other end, or hits the pot the same way that I did? No, its about exploration for her, and not until she is actually spoon-feeding herself do you need to help her with holding a spoonif shell let you! Some infants and tots do not like a parent to interfere! They have to learn the hard way! One way to help with this issue (holding forks and spoons, etc.) is to have your baby sit at the table while your family eats and she will watch you! For now, just let her explore, and observe her interests. *** Do you think I should use a chair for my infant? I do not recommend a chair; instead, I always recommend a stool! Make sure the stool is steady. Check to see if it is tipsy when you move your hand across it and push down on it, and on the ends of the seat. So that means you should buy the stool(s) in the store and not online! You can get plastic ones or wooden ones or both! *** These days Im watching competition developing in my 13month-old twins. Sometimes the boys lose interest when they have the object they want because they notice their brother has something different. Then one might take the object away from his brother, who protests or cries. I spend a lot of time finding creative ways of distracting the one whose feelings are hurt, or alternately the one who covets what his brother has, and finding substitutions for one or the other throughout the day. So Im wondering if, when buying a toy or object, I should purchase two of the same (and ultimately provide less

variety because of the expense) in order to avoid rivalry, or continue to provide a variety of objects and encourage them to take turns. Are they old enough to understand the concept of sharing, or will it create emotional trauma that can be avoided right now until theyre a little older? I agree that you should have two of the same activities if possible, and have fewer activities out; and then rotate them each week or two. At the same time, you can introduce turn taking while playing with them (rather than saying you need to share, which is not effective at this age). An example of turn taking would be playing on the floor with a ball, and rolling back and forth to each other (including you), and each time say, Jasons turn! Roll the ball to Jason! and make it fun and lively. However, when they are toddlers, they will more than likely play side by side (parallel play) where they each have their own ball. And it can be done with books (Jasons turn to turn the page!) and many other activities. However, not until after age three will their social development come in to play so that they actually want to play together and take turns. Until then, there will be little interest in playing together and taking turns. You will almost always have to be involved. Competing: You are correct that they are competing due to the fact that they are the same age. So you may have to be a little tough on their behavior when they fight over a toy or an object; take it away and give them something else to play with instead. This will eventually teach them that if they fight over something rather than take turns, share, or wait their turn, the object gets taken awayso better to take turns or move on to something else. So to avoid having to be so tough and take away toys all day, have two of everything when possible, or sit with them and teach turn taking (you can teach this with just one twin while the other one is doing something else).

And as they get older, you can say more about turn taking in the family, like Mom takes turns with daddy or grandma. Take any chance you get to talk about it and enforce it at home (for the next two years!). And since they are 13 months old, obviously they cannot do this on their own (play and take turns), so you will be stuck as the moderator, but start now! They are actually better off with each other to learn this, because when you have an only child there is no one to do this with, so it can be a harder concept to teach. And if you are thinking about daycare or Montessori school, best to teach them how to get along (by taking turns) now, to prepare them to be around other kids! And lastly, if one particular toy or activity causes so much trouble no matter what you do or say, take it out of the environmentsince this is going to be your main strategy, controlling the environment as much as possible (instead of controlling your children). In other words, always look to the environment to see what you can do or change or modify, as a way of affecting your childrenas an indirect way of controlling them. *** Many Montessori lessons seem to assume that there is one parent and one baby in the mix. Should I attempt to do the activities with both babies at the same time? Yes, you can do the activities if both babies are interested. One might stay with the activity longer than the other, so interact with each of them, first making eye contact with one baby, then when its the other babys turn, make eye contact with the other baby. At the same time, say the babys name: Lisas turn! Make each babys turn brief, if possible. Sometimes you have to have two of the same activities. This is easier with the handmade or homemade activities and the less expensive activities. Lets say you have two fabric baskets; if both babies are exploring one of them, and there is

a problem, you can get the other fabric basket out for one of the babies. Of course, then the other baby will want it! Sharing an activity is great; however, turn taking is the key! And you will need to teach that and monitor it. Some babies and tots who are more social like to share and take turns, and others do not. But turn taking and sharing does not have to be forced. In a preschool classroom, children do not have to share or take turns with materials, but the fiveyear-old children are taught how to play with younger children, and taking turns and sharing is part of that. But that is a long way off! Another thing you can do at this age is bait and switch. Babies and tots are easily sidetracked! You can get them interested in a different activity very easily (until they turn two!), so try that method from time to time if need be. *** Should I use a schedule of how and when to incorporate the Montessori activities into my infants day? How many different activities should we expect to do during the day? Should I offer the same activity just once per day, or multiple times (in the morning, and again in the afternoon)? Also, how do I recognize during the day when my infant is most receptive to focusing on an activity? I dont recommend schedules for the infants, as their development changes so quickly from month to month! Instead, I recommend time lines. As for how many activities, you can have as many as YOU can manage, because youll be the one to clean them up! I used to have seven per room (seven in the living room, seven in the upper hallway, and seven in my sons room when he was an infant). You can have more than that; its up to you. Allow the infant to explore them at will, so have them all out at oncein each room that your infant has access to, all day and evening.

You can introduce an activity when your infant shows an interest in it, as well as when you make or buy a new activity. As for the infants interest, the best times of the day are mornings after the infant has been changed and fed; same for afternoonsafter the infant has taken a nap, been changed, and fed. As for nighttime, it is OK before bedtime, after the infant has been fed and changed. Some infants and toddlers are very active before bed and need activities to do in their room (simple ones!). My doctor told me to put my son to bed one hour early (and let him play!). It was the best advice he gave us! If you wait until your infant or toddler is tired, they are more likely to cry, tantrum, get clingy, get frustrated, have a meltdown...and that is when you get stuck helping them get to sleepsometimes spending up to two hours with them (as one mom confessed to me) because they are too tired to do it themselves. It is always easier to get them off to bed early when they still have energy and can (eventually) do all the steps and follow the routine, but that means they will play in their room for 15 to 60 minutes. Clean up: The best times to clean up the activities are when the infant is busy eating and/or sleeping! Otherwise, the infant will just undo all your cleanup! You can change what the infant chooses by what you put out in each room. Messier activities can go in or near the kitchen, quieter activities including books in the bedroom or sleeping area, challenging activities in the family or living room. You want to be able to see the infant so you can observe him: what are his interests? what milestones did he reach? what frustrates him? what does he choose the most or the least? ***

Ive been doing a few Montessori activities with my son since he was born. Hes now nine months old. Heres a question Ive been wondering about for a while. When I present an activity, my son has very little interest in copying me and doing the intended activity. I know that sometimes its appropriate for the child to use the materials in his own way, but other times it indicates that he is not ready for the activity and I should just put it away. But how do I tell the difference? When I presented the Putting Spoons in a Bowl activity, my son picked up the spoons and put them in his mouth, and tapped them together, both of which I thought were probably OK. But then he took a spoon in each hand and started crawling away (he loves to crawl while holding things). I decided that this was not a good idea, because he wasnt using the materials in any investigative way, so I took the spoons away from him and he was really mad. Do you have any tips on this for the infant stage? I, too, asked myself this question, over and over and over again when my son was an infant! Especially since I had an infant with Down syndrome! What I advise for the infant (and tot and toddler ages) is to allow exploration as much as possible, and dont worry about misuse of materials until age two and a half to three. What you do need to be concerned about is safety. Is your baby safe crawling around with spoons? Yes, no, maybe, not sure, will watch closely and see...the answer is not so clear sometimes! Sometimes my son walked around to brush his teeth; this really upset my husband, who thought hed trip and fall and do damage with a toothbrush in his mouth. I was not so worried and it did not bother me as much; however, I supported my husband when he asked my son to sit down or go stand in the bathroom in front of the mirror to brush his teeth. (I use

this as an example that two parents can disagree on what is safe and what is not!) So use safety as your reasoning for allowing or not allowing your infant to use and misuse a material. And when you think about it, doing the spoons in the bowl and then putting them in his mouth is indirect preparation for eating! So your baby is doing the right thing by mouthing them...but crawling with them in his mouth might not feel safe (holding them is OK). However, if you still do not want your infant crawling around with little spoons for a variety of reasons (he loses them, he falls and hits his eye...) do a bait and switch: give him something else to hold like a toilet paper roll or a ladle. In general, your baby will not sit and do a lesson with you from beginning to end until age two or three or sometimes four years old! So you have a long way to go! Lastly, if any material becomes an issue, take it out of the environment and try it again at a different stage! *** What is a good number of toys in the living room for a 17month-old? That depends on how much you are willing to clean up and how much stuff you want to put away over, and over, and over. If you feel overwhelmed at all the activities being taken out and played with while you get stuck putting them away, then take roughly half of them out. If you are able to handle the amount, then leave it as is. It also depends on how often you can rotate: the more you rotate activities, the less you can have out; the less you rotate the more you should have out. You should also consider how it affects you as a mom with a young child to care for. There is no magic Montessori number. Obviously, in an infant Montessori classroom, there are many activities because of the amount of children. I always believe less is more. I dont believe you need to have a room filled to the brim with activities and toys. As

your tot grows you want him or her to be able to put the activities and books away, so too many would be hard for him or her to manage. So try 10 activities if you rotate them a lot; or 15 if you tend to leave them out and not change them very often. *** Can I expect my 17-month-old to sit on a mat for activities? Nope! Expect your 17-month-old to move all over the place and go from one activity to the next, to the kitchen cupboard, to the bedroom, to basically explore. You will be the one to put activities away, maybe while your tot is eating or napping (not while they are playing or youll drive yourself crazy because the minute you put an activity away they will go and play with it again!). Eventually, you can ask your tot to help you put things away before mealtime and outside time so that by the age of two and a half to three they will be doing it on their own! *** I have 22-month-old twins and when working on an activity one twin may be interested and the other twin may not and walk away or try to take away the prop from the other twin. What can I do in such a situation? They have a short attention span for sitting for a Three Period Lesson, in general, or it is fleeting (one day they do, one day they dont). Toddlers like to be in control and dont like lessons or even help from an adult. They do not have the social skills to say, Im done, lets put this away! or I want to do something else now. They are still in a large motor movement stage of development, so they will not sit for long. Although interested in other kids, a toddler is still a parallel player and can play alongside another child but not with. Dont expect them to put their work away (ask or show them, but you will have to be the example and put the activi-

ties away when you can or do a group cleanup and have them pitch in and help). Suggestions: Have activities that do not require a lesson. Try giving a lesson two or three times a week. Spend more time at this age observing your child for what their interests are and are not (one likes puzzles, the other likes water play); their skill level (one can hold a piece of chalk, the other can pour pasta); and so forth. And by observing, you can add, rotate, and change activities, as well as really get to know your toddlers. As for one twin taking an object from the other, first, observe to see what happens. Does one twin protest or ignore it? Is the other wanting to play, wanting attention, or just curious? This is also the age to encourage (but not expect) using your words. If one twin is taking an object, say, Would you like a turn when your brother is finished? I dont expect toddlers to share. They can, however, take turns when the other is finished with an activity. If the other twin protests, encourage him to use his words: Please wait your turn! or My turn! and youll need to get the object back. You can also redirect the twin who is walking away to choose another activity: Would you like to look at the new book on cats mommy put in the book basket? For now, give few if any lessons; help them with using words and taking turns and instead of waiting for a turn go choose something else; let them play apart but right next to each other; do more group projects at a table where they can both sit and do collage or play dough or finger paint. And it is OK to be loose about everything (have high hopes but low expectations)! *** How should I introduce the activities to my tot, one by one, until each is mastered? How many different lessons should I

give a day? I would allow your tot to choose his activities at will, and if it is new and he needs a lesson or help with it, (based on your observation of him) then help him with the activity and/or give him a lesson on it, rather than use a formula or a plan of how many. *** Im not sure which baby activity to buy. Do you think the Interlocking Discs, String of Beads, and Baby Rattles are suitable for my baby? I have a toy xylophone. This toy is probably too advanced for her, right? She seems to spend more time playing with the wand than hitting the wand against the xylophone. The rattles are very age appropriate but not the discs, as they are too sharp edged and too hard to pull apart and to loosen. And I dont see much interest in the beads for an infant unless the beads make a sound when the infant shakes them! So Id go with the rattles! Your baby will show an interest in the xylophone after finger feeding (age nine to 12 months) and when she can sit up on the floor and/or on a stool! So try rotating it out for now and back into the environment in a month or two! *** Do you work on one activity per day repeated over a week, until baby masters it, and then you move to the next one? Or do you do more than one activity per day? You can introduce one or two new activities into the environment per week, and as your baby masters them, rotate them out with other new activities being rotated in, then rotate them back againI cant give you a time table as each baby is different. It is best to try to keep the same activities in the environment for as long as possible, so the baby can repeat them, but change the objects in those activities each week. You can rotate the books in your home, so that each week there is at least one or two new books, and take out one

or two books that your child did not show, or stopped showing, an interest in. If your child enjoys stacking, have one stacking activity out, then rotate it with another one every two weeks or so. One day you might add an activity and your baby does it once and never goes back to it. Take it out after a week or two and replace it with another activity. Or you might add an activity and she repeats it many times over one month, and then loses interest: take it out and replace it. This (rotating) is also how you find out what interests your baby, and what does not. As you get to know your babys interests, it will get easier! *** Where do you recommend introducing activities? Until age 18 months or so, your baby will want to play right next to you, so introduce activities where you are going to be: in the kitchen, your home office, family room, a spot on the floor near where you will be working, eating, relaxing (ha!), and watching TV. Sometimes your baby will venture off, but will want you to be in his line of vision. *** Any particular time of day for introducing an activity (or maybe I should say any particular place in the daily routine)? The best time to introduce an activity is after your baby has had a nap (slept) and has been fed. *** Do you recommend having activities out in several rooms (i.e., kitchen, living room, her bedroom)? I recommend a book corner or book basket in your childs bedroom, as well as all her musical toys since they will disrupt other areas in the house!

I find children spend less time in their room, but do enjoy quiet time to themselves, so keep it simple in her roomnot too much! As for the kitchen, Id wait a few more months, and use that area for art and Practical Life activities: water pouring, food prep like cutting cheese, sweeping, sponging, and scrubbing. If your family spends a lot of time in the living room, then that is the best place for most of her activities (as it is probably the largest room in the house, as well). If your living room and dining room are connected (one big room), you can use the dining room area for his bench for getting dressed and undressed, his coat rack, and shoe basket. The living room area can have all your babys activities, if it is also where your family spends most of your time reading, watching TV, or listening to music. His room can have a large treasure basket with soft animals and scarves in it to explore, and one or two musical toys. I am thinking about reorganizing the toys and taking them out of the toy baskets and putting them on small bookshelves with bins. You can also have two large wicker baskets filled with various objects; I call them large treasure baskets (a Montessori Treasure Basket is a basket of objects for the infant of 6 to 12 months to exploreand usually mouth. Be careful not to put small items in it that are choking hazards.) Your infant will bring one to you for further exploration, for the language (the name). After dumping most of the objects out, he will enjoy putting them back in (and then dumping them back out again!). Thats when observing the child as he interacts in the environment becomes so important! *** I bought three different knobbed puzzles today and I am letting my tot explore all of them before I have her choose

one each time for an activity. Do you have any suggestions on how to solve the choice of one or the other puzzle when they want all of them? Id say put one in each room, or just let her explore them all. And when she brings you a puzzle piece, give her the language. Before it is time for snack, lunch, nap, and/or playtime have her help you straighten up, which includes putting back the puzzles. This method works nicely when tots are too young to put one work away before they get the next work outnot until after 21 months are they ready or interested! *** Regarding the puzzles, when you said that I should try puzzles rather than crayons for dexterity I was thinking that would also work for her lack of interest in using feeding utensils. I think from 15 to 18 months, tots have rough utensil skills, and can show mild interest. As they reach 21 months, their fine motor builds up; they will have better dexterity (and interest). I think that language is more of an interest; after a child learns to walk, they are ready and most interested in talking! Later comes fine motorbut I would not spoon-feed her too much longer! Let her do it on her own, at least in the beginning of each meal, when she is hungry. After she gets tired or loses interest, help her along. *** I have a question regarding the rugs or mats. I have read about them in certain Montessori books and have received catalogues that sell them. Should they be a certain color? Id say go with a neutral color, like gray or tan, for rugs and mats. Otherwise, whatever you have on hand or can afford. You can also use solid cotton kitchen towels, not terrycloth like hand towels, but the kind you use to dry your dishes with, etc. As for rugs, you can use a large piece of felt, but it does not wash well, so have maybe a roll on hand to make more, a few times a year.

If you buy rugs from a supplier, they should not be machine washed: it ruins the backing and makes them harder to roll, so use rug shampoo or spot spray! *** How consistent do I have to be with using the demonstration rug with my 16-month-old? Sometimes hell take an activity himself but obviously does not lay out the rug, or place it properly, etc. Do I need to intervene and do it, or leave him to do the activity independently instead? Leave your tot to do the activity independently instead! Rugs and mats are more for classroom environments, and some children are more prone to use them than others. Mats never worked for us at home. My son wore them on his head, or threw them, or put them on the cat! To this day we dont use them (for art we use a tray, however). *** How many lessons should I present during a day? Less is more for children under the age of three. You want to encourage independence and build your infants and toddlers attention on a focused task. So Id say two or three lessons a week. (Four- and five-year-olds can get one or two a day as they begin academics.) After I present the lesson and say your turn, if she either is not interested or wants to play or explore (mouth), should I say, OK, we will do this another day (or time)? Yes. Allow your infant to play and explore and mouth. In the situation where she just wants to play and explore, should I just let her? Isnt that how they learn? Yes, exactly! The lesson is really an introduction of a sensorial experience, a new concept, a new skill, and new words to learn. And right now, the language is most interesting to the young toddleractivities involving fine motor skills will become more interesting when the toddler has developed language skills first. ***

My son is 10 months old. I think my first questions would be concerning setting up our environment. When I generally try to start activities with him, he wont stay and work for any period of time. You are correct in your observation regarding where I generally try to start activities with him, he wont stay and work for any period of time; this will be the case until age 15 to 18 months! Your son is entering the Sensory Motor stage! He will not sit still for very long and wants to move about the house exploring every nook and cranny, stopping momentarily to play with an object or two that he finds along the way. However, there are certain milestones he will be reaching, and you can help him along the way (and even though he has a short attention span, he will remember what you do with him, so all is not lost!). *** I watch her play with her nesting stacking cups and she can put them in order by size, but when I give her the metal measuring cups she is either not interested or wants to put them in a different order. This is fine; she may also want to bang them, place them in a drawer, or combine them with another material, and it is all very natural. Just place them back correctly for her when shes done exploringand invite her to help! *** Do stacking cup activities have to be one color? My toddler has stacking and nesting cups that are pastel colors and she just loves to stack and put them inside each other. The reasoning behind using all one color, like the Pink Tower, the Knob Cylinders, etc., is to isolate only one aspect of the material that is different, its size. This discrimination of size is also an indirect preparation for distinguishing the differences in numbers and letters. But if your toddler is enjoying and repeating an activity, keep it in the environment. At a later date, you can add a Montessori stacking or nesting that is all one color.

*** My 12-month-old son is a firecracker. He doesnt sit still for much and is constantly on the go. When I try to present a lesson to him he looks at it for a second, and then grabs some of the materials and runs off on to something new. Sometimes he gets particularly interested in a toy (like putting a block in the shape sorter), but rarely. What is the best way to introduce him to the lessons? Our doctor said he is doing things on par with a 15-month-old, and I get the feeling sometimes that he just gets bored with everything quickly. This is typical of an active tot at this age! The main interest and focus of a tot 15 to 18 months old is gross motor, after which comes language, and then fine motor. No, he will not sit for long to do lessons and activities. Creating and introducing activities (and later rotating them), however, is still not lost. It gives you a chance to learn to focus on the environment, both as a way to teach (and sometimes manage) your child, and as a way to understand what interests him, and what does not, as he develops. The energy in his body is concentrated on gross motor walking, and by introducing activities you have learned this firsthand! Eventually he will slow down and begin to show an interest in certain activities that you provide. Another main interest at this stage is self feeding learning to use a spoon, a fork, and a cupand this might be the only activity that holds his interest for more than a few minutes! Ball activities can also be a fun interest at this stage! *** Do you repeat the lesson? Or just give it once, and let the child go from there? Often the term re-present is used. You can re-present the activity at a later time in the day or the next day. You can also walk up to the child and say, May I have a turn? and re-present that way. If so, how often? Once or twice, and if the activity is still too hard, remove the activity from the environment and re-

present it in a month; or remake the activity with fewer pieces and/or steps. At this stage, a 15- to 18-month-old is still exploring so you want to continue to foster that. If an infant or young tot wants to bang his nesting materials together, for example, or place them in moms purse, that is OK! But not a three-year-old! Until the child is two to two and a half, I would not expect them to follow through 100 percent on a lesson given from beginning to middle to end and do it the way it was shown how. Thats not to say we want them to throw nesting cups at the pet or a visitorif a child enjoys banging more than nesting, then make banging activities. If a child wants to throw, introduce a bean bag toss (and let him throw balls outside). He seems to be enjoying figuring out how things work lately, like the light switches and the drain in the tub, and does quite well. Is there something I can do to encourage or create more opportunities for this? Let him explore on his own. Baby proof the house, allow him to explore lower cabinets and drawers, the paper recycling basket, and empty boxes; and take cushions off the couch for him to crawl on, and so forth. *** My daughter is 11 months old and I have been doing the Montessori activities with her since she was six months old. She is a very active girl and very perceptive, so I am having trouble keeping her still to demonstrate the activities now that she is walking. A typical demonstration will start with me demonstrating the activity, and about halfway through she will either reach for what Im demonstrating or walk off. She does not simply sit there the entire time. Sometimes she will watch the whole demonstration and will copy me once and then walk off. Do you have any suggestions on how to keep her focused? This is typical infant-who-is-walking

behavior! Not until age two to two and a half is a child (tot or toddler) expected to sit for a lesson! However, you can make your presentations very, very short! And make them more dramatic, with big facial expressions (wide open eyes and open mouth), larger movements with your arms and hands, and fun sounds (Ah ha! Whats this!) Also, let her hold one of the objects while you are presenting them to her rather than have her wait. Many parents are eager to give lessons, especially on something new we just made or bought, only to have the child rush away to chase the cat or play with the coasters on the coffee table. You can also spend more time watching and observing your 11-month-old to see where (and in what) she is showing interest. Just so you know, this is the most popular question I get! So you are not alone! *** Should the lessons be presented at the same time during the day every day (or obviously on days that are convenient)? And is school (work time) supposed to be 45 minutes to one and a half hours? You want to begin to establish a routine so that by the time they are two to two and a half, they will be secure in their daily routine. This helps them focus on more challenging lessons and activities. Have work time, snack, playtime, and nap time at the same time each day. As for the length of the school work time, 45 minutes in the morning is fine (until age three), then a break, and then maybe another short work time. This is typical in toddler Montessori: 45-minute work period followed by snack, playtime, and then another short work time, followed by a

circle or group time like stories and/or music, followed by lunch and then nap. *** About setting up a Montessori area, we have a small house. I have his Montessori activities in the living room since we congregate there most frequently. Is this a good idea (provided the TV isnt on)? Yes, you can have them there! You can have your childs activities in the living room but if he gets too distracted with his videos, DVDs, or the TV on, keep the activities in his room where it is quiet with no distractions. He can still bring them out into the living room. I have space for 10 activities and more space in the shelf in the coffee table (he likes to stand and work at the coffee table, but also has a table and chair in the living room). This is nice for him! Standing and working is actually a great way for toddlers to do activities. *** When my tot runs off after finishing an activity, what should I do? What do I do if he runs off and quickly gets into something else? Because your child is under the age of two, you can be loose about it. Offer to help him put the activity away or do it yourself. Typically the ability to put work away before getting another activity out is developed slowly over time so that by age two and a half or three, you can expect your child to do it. Here is what I recommend: before your child has breakfast, snack, outside playtime, lunch, and dinner, go with him to each room and help him put his toys and activities away and make it fun and not a chore. But make sure you stay with him to direct him: Lets put the books away first. Thank you! Now lets put the blocks away. Great! We are almost done, now lets put your cars away. Also, what should I be doing while hes working on an activity? It seems like he wants me pretty nearby and just watching. Is that OK? This is typical for toddlers and only-

children! What you can do to get him a little more independent is to walk away for five minutes at a time and tell him where you are going and what you are doing: Im going to go get the laundry out of the dryer, Ill be right back. He may want to go with you and help, or stay and play. Over time, make the time you spend in another part of the house a little longer, 10 minutes, then 15, etc. *** If a child at the age of 16 months comes to me, which lesson do I start with first? Shall I start with the Sensorial, the Language, the Math, or Practical Life lesson? How many types of lessons can be done in a day and how many hours for each lesson? You need to observe the child in your environment first, to see what he chooses to play and work with; then you will know what other materials to add to the environment. Maybe the child loves trucks, so have lots of trucks and give the names of the trucks, or do counting with them, or learn the colors of the truck, or the noises they make. When that same child is two or three, make a washing truck work (Practical Life); a sorting truck work (Sensorial); draw a truck when they are three or four; learn to sound out the work t-r-uck, and write it. What Im trying to say is you need to observe the child in your environment to see what he or she is interested in, and give them activities that are not too hard or too easy, and sometimes you wont know what is too hard or too easy until you make or buy the activity and place it on your shelves. A 16-month-old is not as interested in lessons as an older child of three; they want to explore! They are not ready for math unless they show an interest in counting, which you can do through counting books for children, counting food at snack, counting blocks.

Language is more of an interest in building vocabulary: names of things, as well as singing songs and nursery rhymes at circle time. Practical Life interest comes at two to two and a half years of age. *** I need some advice in arranging the environment for two six-month-old baby girls. You want activities arranged around the room for easy access to the infants. You can take the activities out for them, and eventually they will go explore them. Put the activities in baskets, and avoid shelves for now, as its too easy to pull them over! You also want to give them a lot of floor time! Lots of time on their tummies for pre-crawling! So clean floors with open spaces, and place activities around to entice them to crawl. You will be putting the activities away in the same place (each activity has its own place) and clean them as needed. You will also want to change the objects as needed. Typically no cribs are used, just floor mats, for sleeping. *** My son is six months old; do I do one lesson at a time, or several? You can do several activities with your baby, maybe three or more in a 30-minute period, and repeat them during other activity periods (other than feeding, sleeping, and changing diapers). A good time to do activities is after your baby wakes up and has been changed and fed.

CHAPTER 9 QUESTIONS ABOUT FOOD & MEALTIME A child is fed with milk and praise.Mary Lamb

My infant is six months old. When should I start finger foods? Seven months old is the recommended age for finger feeding with bits and pieces of food for your baby to chew on and explore including various textures and tastes. Babies begin to show an interest in self feeding at around this time, a sensitive period, if you will, for finger foods, which disappears after twelve months. So it is important not to miss this window of opportunity when your infant has a strong interest for tasting different textures and flavors. Ask your doctor for his or her recommendations for various finger foods, as some can be choking hazards. And a great book to read is The First Twelve Months of Life, Your Babys Growth Month by Month by Caplan. After twelve months of age, this sensitive period for finger feeding disappears, and a baby who did not explore many types of food will often reject solids, various textures and tastes, and get stuck on jar food and bottles. The finger food stage is fun but messy! And remember to talk to your pediatrician. *** My child isnt feeding herself. Should I be helping her learn how to feed herself? How do I do this? You should have your baby sit with you while you eat, and let her watch you and your family during mealtime. When she is eating, having a bottle, and or getting spoon fed, give her finger foods (on or right after age seven months) on her tray in her high chair to explore. Give her finger foods when she is in her stroller, too. We used to use beef jerky a lot! (Teething biscuits were so messy.) You want to try food she can pick up, but not choke on. When you feed her solids, use a spoon, and give her a spoon of her own to hold onto while you feed her! *** My 16-month-old will eat two or three teaspoons of food by himself if he likes it and then points to toys, books, etc. I

often end up feeding him myself while he plays with kitchen stuff (opening and closing bottles, putting beads in them, etc.). It is a sore topic for me as I feel I should not be distracting him while he eats, but also that he should actually eat something! Because he is 16 months old, and the fact that he is always on the go, feeding tots while they play and explore is fine. They will slow down, eventually. Not to worry! Also, if he does not eat what I give him, should I offer him foods until he actually likes something? What I find works best is to offer many choices at once, rather than one or two foods at a time. Offer five or six choices at a time, one or two of which you know he likes. Eventually, you can ask him what he wants to eat to save you prep time. *** My tot sits on a high chair and loves being at the table with us. Should I still get him a low table and chair and try feeding him there? Is 16 months a good time for this? Yes, you can give your tot a low table and chair and try feeding him there. It will give him the freedom to stop eating when hes done and get out of his chair! For now, have his high chair as well as a little table, and chairs or stools, and let him decide where he wants to eat. Sooner or later hell give up the high chair all together, and then you can store it away! *** Why do you suggest using a stool versus a chair with a back? Should I be transitioning my child from her high chair to sitting at a toddler table? Chairs can flip over, and they are hard to push in and pull out from tables (they are hard to maneuver). Id wait for stools and chairs until your baby is cruising (walking while holding onto the couch or a table). However, you can have one around for her to explore when shes ready (a stool or chair and table).

*** Water pouring is my 16-month-old tots favorite activity while eating. He has his water cup in front of him at the table so he is very tempted to just start pouring water. Should I allow him to do it (and play with other things) and feed him, or should I stop the meal as soon as he stops eating by himself? Your tot is showing an interest in pouring; however, pouring his drink at mealtime is not the best option for obvious reasons. Its messy, for one. What you want to do is provide water pouring activities for him to choose during the day, first and foremost. You are giving him a choice to stop eating and pour water instead, or continue eating but not pour his drink. Then after he has done the pouring activities for a few days, when he starts pouring at mealtime, direct him to the pouring activity. You can do this by bringing the pouring activity to him and saying, This is for pouring water. If you want to pour water, lets put the food away and go and pour water. Then put the water pouring activity back on the shelf. Or you can bring him to the pouring activity and say, This is for pouring water. If you want to pour water, lets put the food away, and go and pour water. Remember, when a child learns a new skill, he or she wants to repeat it! So if you observe that your child is repeating an activity (like pouring his cup at mealtime) he is demonstrating a new skillit is up to you to create the appropriate materials in the environment for him to repeat this activity, and direct him to it. *** I have been using the low table and chair for eating but what happens most of the time is that my 16-month-old, after a couple of mouthfuls, gets up and leaves the table. He starts wandering around and comes over from time to time for the next spoonful. This is typical behavior for a 16month-old! But the question is, how strict should you be? If

he were in a daycare setting, or a Montessori infant toddler class, he would not be doing thisthe teachers would work with him to help him learn to sit while eating, then, when finished, get up and go play and perhaps wash his face and go into the bathroom. Plus, he would be learning how to stay seated by watching the other children at the table. Sixteen months is very young to be strict; at the same time you want to teach him good habits! My suggestions for this age: Try to get your tot to say (or baby sign) all done when he is in his high chair and the meal is over; or if he gets up from his low table, you will need to ask him each time if he is done. If he says no, ask him to sit back down to eat. If he says yes, then ask him to say (or baby sign) all done. To help the situation, give your tot less food to eat on his plate, or in his bowl. Also, encourage him to ask for (or baby sign) more. This is the best way to handle it. If he wants more, not only will he learn to ask for it, he will want to stay seated to get more. If he does not want more, he will be able to communicate it by using words or signs, before he gets up from the table. Try this method until your tot is around two years old, because when he is two, he will want to participate in the cleanup part, so it will get easier (except he will want to do everything you have been doingputting the dishes away, wiping the table, sweeping the floor, etc.!). I try to avoid situations when my tot snacks while walking around the room and playing. It usually happens when he sees us eating and comes over to have a try, and then if he likes it, comes again for the next bite. This is actually very smart on your part, because you are getting your tot interested in other foods he might otherwise reject! Dont worry so much that he is not sitting down himself, and that he is up playing, etc. It is more important that you get him interested in and trying out different foods NOW. Why? This is the age

that they are willing to try other new foods. I call it a window of interest. And once that window closes (and it will, at age two and probably sooner!) there is almost nothing you can do about it! Most toddlers and three-year-olds REJECT ALL NEW FOODS! They can reject any food they are not familiar with, and then some! So get him interested in trying all foods NOW, even if it means standing on your head while you do it! *** If I sit my tot at the high chair, he wants to get out because he has already eaten and wants to play. Yet I know that following the Montessori approach he should not be eating if not at the table. Do I leave it as it is? Leave well enough alone! Dont put your tot in the high chair. Remember, your primary goal at 16 to 19 months of age is to get him trying different foods while he is willing and interested, while that window is still open! It will shut tight soon! *** With meals, when should I start with the whole place mat, plates, and utensils? He currently sits in a high chair although I am planning to change that. No later than two years but not before 15 to 18 months; however, you can give him a spoon, etc., to hold onto while you feed him. They now make booster seats with trays that you can attach to a chair at the dinner table, or just use the table and no tray! *** I have found the little Montessori chairs, but they are very expensive. Is there an alternative? A stool is more appropriate at this age; its less likely to tip over, and stools are smaller (shorter) than child-size chairs, and thus easier for the child to get in and out of. *** My daughter wants to drink out of a cup and shes very good at it, but shes also at a stage where she really wants to pour, which I know is an essential skill and a normal exploration.

What happens, though, is she will drink a couple of sips of her juice, then pour the rest into her plate of food, and then stir it all up for a few minutes, then pour the entire contents of her plate out on her tray (high chair). I know the Montessori Method would have her eating at her own table, but we have her in her high chair so she is on our level during dinner, and we eat together. Should I be changing this? How do I encourage drinking from her cup? Nine times out of ten it means the tot is done eating but does not realize it yet. Here are some mealtime tips: When she is a little older your toddler can help clear her plate, dishes, and table. Feed your child only when she is really, really hungry (this works also for picky eaters). So if dinner is at 6 p.m., try eating 15 to 30 minutes later. Or if lunch is at 11:30 a.m., try waiting 15 to 30 minutes. Do not let your child snack all day at will; only provide snack at snack time, which is usually between breakfast and lunch, and after nap (or between lunch and dinner). This includes fluids like juice and water. If you are nursing in the morning, chances are your child wont be as hungry for breakfast, so give her a tiny bit of food at a time, and as she asks for more, give it to her, but in tiny portions. When you sense she is done (not hungry) say all done and get her interested in something elselike giving her a small sponge for her tray or table top to wipe with, or a toothbrush for her to brush her teeth; or entice her with a book she likes but has to get out of her high chair to look at. Another tactic is to use colors and number counting and language while she is finishing up her meal; and when you see her playing redirect her: How many orange peels are there? Lets count: one, two, three What color is the milk? White. Can you say white? What is this called? A bowl, can you say bowl? As you do this clear off the items you are naming or counting while at the same time redirect her with

the sponge or toothbrush, etc. Are you ready for the sponge? Do you want to brush your teeth now?

CHAPTER 10 QUESTIONS ABOUT SPECIAL NEEDS & DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS When I approach a child, he inspires in me two sentiments; tenderness for what he is, and respect for what he may become.Louis Pasteur

I have two-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. My daughter was born with Down syndrome. I like the Montessori school in our area, but now I am trying to see if its the best fit for them. We still need to meet with the teacher, at which time she will also meet with the kids and see if its a good fit. Can you recommend any questions that I should ask the teacher in regards to working with my daughter, to see if she is a good fit for her? I can understand the emphasis on having the child become independent, but to a certain degree it makes me nervous. What if she needs extra help and guidance before becoming so independent; will this model work with her needs? I would appreciate your feedback. I think you may consider having your daughter go for a very short time each day. She can go for the morning work period and snack, but you pick her up during playtime. Try this for several months, and then, when she and the teacher(s) are ready, have her stay for lunch, or keep it at a half day until she is three. When she is three, keep her in the toddler program, as the preschool class may be too advanced, especially socially, and language will be an issue (as well as potty training). When she is three, you and the teachers decide if she is ready to stay for lunch and nap. There are no questions I can think of to ask the teacher; just offer her the willingness to be flexible (like go half days and pick her up a playtime, if need be), and the willingness to keep her in the toddler program until she is three and a half or four. Also, try to be consistent at home and do what the teacher suggests (like sitting down while eating, washing hands after eating) at home, to follow the same rules as the classroom. But you may find she is not ready for a Montessori environment yet, and should wait until she is three to go to the

toddler program. In the meantime, have her try a traditional infant toddler class. My son was in an infant toddler Head Start program from 18 months to three years old. At age three, he went into a toddler Montessori class (with 18- to 36-month-old children). When he turned four he entered the Montessori preschool class. Language was still an issue, so his social skills were lacking. He could share and take turns, but he could not communicate with the other children (he said one word but it was hard to understand his words). In his toddler class, it was not an issue. What will be nice about the toddler environment for your daughter is that the expectations will not be too high, and she will have a lot more wiggle room! *** My daughter was also born with Down syndrome and I always wanted to try Montessori at home. Where do I start? How effective is it? She is now two years and four months. I started doing Montessori infant at home at age 10 months with my son, and continue to use Montessori at home. But what really helped my sons development was to have him integrated into a daycare classroom setting with children ages six to 36 months old; he went to an Early Head Start program (for birth to three-year-olds) at 18 months until he turned three. What I did not do (and I made this decision early on) was, I did not place him in our local special needs preschool at age three (paid for by the county). This was the biggest decision I made for him. I went against the grain; however, most of the Down syndrome (and other special needs) kids go to this school, and get their therapies there, too, free. But I also had to pay privately for his daycare and Montessori class. If you decide at age three not to send your child to your local special needs school, try babysitting kids her age at

home, or get on the waiting list for your local Head Start preschool. Or pay for her to go part time to a toddler or preschool class, three half days a week. Some families do both: pay for part-time preschool and send their child to the local special needs school. I did not do this because the special needs preschool was the complete opposite of a Montessori school. And it is important to be consistent with children, especially if they are between the ages of two and five (Montessoris Sensitive Period for Order). *** My daughter just started to walk this week. She can say about 25 to 30 words, knows some sign language, feeds herself with some spillage with fork and spoon, and uses an open cup for liquids and also a cup with a straw. She started an infant program for special needs children (in her classroom two were typical and six had Down syndrome) when she was 15 months old. Everyone in town thinks it is the best school for these kids, but I wasnt happy. My daughter was starting to imitate bad habits and attitudes from the others and throwing food all over the place. Also, it was too intense: 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. I decided to take her out and try home schooling using Montessori, along with group activities outside the home with typical kids such as Kindermusik and Gymboree. She is also on private physical therapy, speech therapy, and aquatic therapy and has a home teacher that comes once a week. I am hoping next year when she turns three, I can enroll her in a Montessori school part time. Any ideas, suggestions, thoughts? Sounds like she is doing very well! And, yes, you are on the right track by having her spend time around other children her age to aid in her development. If you want to enroll her in a Montessori school, Id suggest a toddler Montessori program when she is three, if you can find one in your area. In a Montessori toddler program the

children do not have to be potty trained, nor is speech as much of an issue (she wont stand out because she does not talk like the other kids), and she will get a lot of social interaction without high social expectations from older children ages four to six. Also, the teacher to child ratio is better (one teacher for every six toddlers). And typically the toddlers stay half days (from 9 to 11:30 a.m. or so). Some toddler programs will include lunch, some will not (for half days). In the meantime, you can begin to work on your home environment, transforming it into a Montessori style environment. *** My fourth child, who is 14 months old, has Down syndrome. I am also interested in Montessori for him because many of the public school teachers today lack a real understanding of development. Any great resources to point me towards? Any tips toward trying to convince a Montessori school who has no kids with special needs into accepting him? Id appreciate any insights. As far as finding a school that accepts a special needs child, each one is different. You have to call and make an appointment to observe the school and talk to the director. Some schools will welcome you with open arms, even if they never had a child with special needs, and some will not. This has been my experience. I remember visiting many Montessori and nonMontessori schools (within our budget and close to home) when my son was 15 months old, looking for a toddler program for him when he turned 24 months old. I did both scheduled observations (and talked to the teacher in the classroom) as well as a school tour (where you typically talk to the director). Then my son got into the Early Head Start program at 18 months of age, 10 blocks away from our house. They already had a child enrolled with Down syndrome, and after my son

started, they accepted another one a few months later. They were a wonderful and committed staff. As for traditional schools, I looked at only one, which was very open to special needs and already had a girl with Down syndrome enrolled. As for Montessori schools I observed three; two were very open to having my son enrolled in their toddler program, and one was not. So again, you just have to feel it out when you visit and talk to the teacher and director. During this process, you can consider an aide for your child to be with him or her in the classroom or daycare. This is not uncommon; we had to get an aide for our son when he turned four and entered the Montessori preschool classroom. *** My son is two-years old. He has a speech delay due to a premature birth. He only says Mam and Dada. How do I handle the language portion of the Montessori lessons? You can still use language when presenting activities (giving lessons), but if your child cannot repeat back to you that is OK, you can skip that part. (No need to say, This is a cube, can you say cube? Instead say, This a cube.) Typically when giving a lesson in a Montessori classroom the teacher does not talk while presenting, but for children with language delays, I encourage you to use language and to talk, as I did with my child. I also encourage using sign language. *** If Dr. Maria Montessori were alive, would she suggest sign language? I used to ask myself that question a lot! I do not think she would be against it since she worked with handicapped and special needs children early on in her career. But I dont think she would have included it into her infant toddler curriculum, eitherjust a hunch.

I was opposed to it for my son, who has Down syndrome, until I watched a DVD for parents of young children with Down syndrome. And it had to do with auditory skills. For example, if I were to say to my son, juice, he might hear juh or u or s but not juice. Now, lets say I hold up a cup of his juice and I sign juice, he would understand me by seeing the sign and the juice, but he probably would not hear the word correctly. (It later turned out my son had hearing loss.) So now you sign to him juice, and he has a mental picture of juice and can sign it back. After I watched this DVD and they talked about sign language, and how I understood it for my son, I was convinced it was the right choice for my son. However, he did not show an interest in baby signs (and sign language) until age two. I do not think you can harm your babys language development by using sign language. If you want to teach signs, use the concrete object as much as possible (I think Maria Montessori would agree with that). *** My son, age 20 months, is adopted. He does not walk but can take six steps at a time. He says a word once and then usually doesnt say it anymore after that. He does not feed himself with a spoon or have a pincer grasp. I need advice! His language is still emerging, so give it time. Babies and tots develop in their language after they learn to walk. So focus on his large motor movement using his bare feet: climbing stairs, getting on and off the couch, and walking. After he walks, he will start to develop more speech, and after speech develops comes fine motor (age three and four). Thats the general order of a childs development. Try giving him a fork instead of a spoon, as spoons are harder to control. And give him food that is easy to pick up

with a fork, like cut-up bananas and French toast. The pincer grasp may not develop until three or three and a half. Give him lots of knobbed puzzles and chalk and a chalkboard to help develop his pincer grasp. *** Due to the therapy, he has recently begun to place one block on top of the other, but the next one you hand him he still will throw it. Then only give him two blocks, two objects, two toys, two books at a time. Once he can handle this, give him three. If he wants to throw, give him bean bags (balls are harder to throw and you should be outside when you play with balls). Indoors he can learn how to roll a small ball. *** I changed to another doctor who recommended he go to a center for physical, speech, and occupational therapies. He started going twice a week (an hour one day and an hour and a half another day). He has become increasingly angry and frustrated with the therapies and now screams and fights having to get in his car seat once we leave the center. Am I off the mark when I object to the therapies? Everyone in this area thinks that this is a very appropriate method. There has not been any diagnosis concerning my sons delays at this point, but reading about your child on your website has given me encouragement that I can work with him at his own pace at home and use POSITIVE motivation to help him to grow. You are the best judge; if you feel the therapies are not helping, hold off for a few months. You cant force a child to develop. And sometimes it is a matter of finding the right therapists. You (and your son) can only handle so much in one day! Take the most important issue first, like his gross motor, and give it 100 percent. Then, when you are ready, take on the next issue, like speech therapy. I feel the best thing for a childs development (who has special needs or delays in their development) is to be around

other children close to their own age. Your son will learn a lot from being around other children. Try to find a co-op nearby or an in-home daycare that he can go to a few mornings or half days per week. Or you may want to sign him up for a toddler program. There are also mommy-and-me gymnastics, play spots (indoor play centers), and play groups in your local mothers club. Making my child (now 20 months old) sit in a chair restrained by a tray for 30 minutes to an hour and forcing him to focus and concentrate is not my idea of helping him. I agree. This is not age appropriate, not when your child is still learning how to walk and needs to have freedom of movement. Find a physical therapist who can come to your home or who has a studio with lots of mats, balls, some stairs, tunnels, and the like. *** Can you recommend Montessori activities for developmental delays? Open and Close is a great activity; you can put a little object or mini hard book inside the container. Since speech is the next milestone, think about only using real objects (and only books with real objects in them) in the environment to enhance speech. For example, use wood or plastic animals, household items, realistic looking cars, trucks, boats...and take out fantasy objects that have no meaning. And you can also begin, if you havent already, to say colors of objectsthe blue ball, the red truck. It also helps to limit your objects in each activity. A peg board with three pegs (instead of 20); three or four blocks or cups for stacking (instead of ten); four books; three balls; a childs back pack with three or four objects hidden inside that they can pull out; three or four open and close containers. You can also ask his therapists to use this approach! I think a great pre-puzzle activity is shape sorting, but they can be a challenge! You can redesign them by substitut-

ing the objects. For example, if you have a shape sorter with three openings at the top (like a circle, a square, and a triangle) use large wooden beads or small plastic animals, and give the language or the color as part of the game. And limit it to only three objects! PLUS the child will repeat the activity if there are fewer objects! He may attempt an activity with 15 objects one time (and typically throw them) but will repeat the activity 10 times if it only has three objects! This will also increase his attention span.

Recommended Reading Curtis, Barbara. The Mommy Manual: Planting Roots That Give Your Children Wings. Hainstock, Elizabeth. The Essential Montessori Updated Edition: An Introduction to the Woman, the Writings, the Method, and the Movement. Katzen-Luchenta, Jan. Awakening Your Toddlers Love of Learning, A Stroll Down the Road Less Toddled. Lillard, Paul Polk. Montessori From The Start, The Child at Home, from Birth to Age Three. Montessori, Maria. Education for a New World (The Clio Montessori Series). Pitamic, Maja. Childs Play: Montessori games and activities for your baby and toddler. Seldin, Tim. How to Raise an Amazing Child The Montessori Way.

Acknowledgments A big thank you to the Early Head Start in San Rafael; the Montessori School of Central Marin; and Spring Hill Montessori, for welcoming my special needs son with open arms and helping him to grow and reach his full potential. A special thanks to the moms of the San Rafael Mothers Club and the Novato Mothers Club, as well as all the parents and educators who have contacted me over the years through my Montessori online programs at Montessori for the Earth, and my blog, Confessions of a Montessori Mom! And last but not least, thanks to my trustworthy friends Yvonne and Chris; my helpful and cheerful mother-in-law, Heather; and my patient, affectionate husband, Sean.

About the Author Lisa Nolan is also an author, a stay-at-home and work-athome mom, a webmaster, and a blogger. She is also a trained and certified Montessori teacher. She has taught Montessori in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1986. She took her Montessori primary training in 1986 at The Maria Montessori School of the Golden Gate in San Francisco with the late headmistress, Ursula Thrush. She then took her Montessori lower elementary training 1988 at The Maria Montessori School of the Golden Gate in San Francisco through the University Extension, University of California Berkeley. She received an MA from San Francisco State University. After her son was born with Down syndrome in 2004, Lisa Nolan has used Montessori concepts and principles for his education since his birth. She has been involved and committed to the field of early childhood education since 1982 when, as a college student, she interned at a local Head Start preschool. This experience gave her more joy than any job she ever had (at the ripe age of 20). A few years later, remembering that experience, she began working as a teachers assistant at a local preschool. One year later she was hired as an assistant in the toddler classroom at a Montessori school. She took her Montessori

primary training at the same time (and later her lower elementary Montessori training). In 1993, while in graduate school, she founded and directed a childrens theater program at the Marsh, a local theater in San Francisco, developing matinees and classes for young children. In 1998 she took her teaching experience and Montessori training to the Internet and created her website, Montessori for the Earth, offering Montessori online programs to parents, teachers, and homeschoolers. During the years that followed, she left the field of early childhood education several times, only to return again because no other field gives her such joy and satisfaction. Lisa Nolan blogs at Confessions of a Montessori Mom, and Montessori on a Budget, and Life Happens Then Write. Her Montessori memoir, Confessions of a Montessori Mom, is coming out soon. You can reach Lisa Nolan through her website: LisaNolan.com.

A Note from the Author I wanted to place a picture of my dad in my book but I could not really fit it in, so here he is with my son at his second-year birthday party Whenever my dad interacted with my son, it was like my dad discovered the fountain of youth I am working on a memoir about my dad, you can read some of it here: Shoulders to the Trees. Lisa Nolan.