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Raising independent and capable children is a win-win situation for parents and children alike.

Kids feel empowered to make their own decisions and do things for themselves (reducing the frequency of tantrums- surely the biggest win of all?!), and parents get more time to do the things they need to whilst their children manage their own basic needs.

But deciding to adopt a Montessori style approach to parenting requires a little bit of preparation to make your house accessible to toddlers in this way.

Allow me to help you, by outlining how you can set your house up to raise children using the fundamentals of the Montessori approach.

But first…

What is the Montessori approach?

The Montessori philosophy was developed by Maria Montessori, an Italian physician and educator. This approach emphasizes independence, freedom (within limits), and works in harmony with the child’s natural psychological development.

In schools, Montessori classrooms include lots of open ended toys and loose parts, promoting exploration, imagination and self-directed learning.

But where does this come in to our lives at home? Well…

…Development of practical life skills is considered just as important as academic subjects to child development & success, and some of our best life skills come from time spent with our family as kids.

So how can we make our homes accessible to toddlers using the Montessori approach?

Fostering independence is far more likely within an accessible and child-centered environment. If your child cannot reach their coat on a peg, they cannot get themselves ready to leave the house without your input, for example.

Toddlers (like all humans) tend to learn through observation. When they see you put your coat on before you leave the house every day, this will eventually translate as something that needs to be done before they leave the house too.

Similarly, toddlers spend a lot of time practising mimicry and imaginative play. This is an effective way for them to learn and develop socially.

We can take advantage of this by setting our homes out in such a way that our children can mimic our routines and learn directly from us.

First things first; safety

All parents of toddlers and more mobile babies will be well aware of the importance of child-proofing a house! And you have probably experienced you child finding something dangerous to do even when you thought your home environment was super safe (you can ALWAYS trust a crawling baby to find a tiny object to put in her mouth, no matter how many months or years ago you thought you had lost it!).

Allowing your child to do things independently means being able to trust them to do things alone. To this end, hanging your child’s coat on a low coat rack is fair & well until it’s a very heavy & unstable piece of furniture, and your child pulls on their coat only to bring the entire structure over on top of them.

Securing furniture, covering electrical outlets, and installing safety gates are all very reasonable steps to take.

Whilst I am very aware that the Montessori approach doesn’t advocate the use of stair gates, I personally find them a game changer.

In our house, we close them at night (to prevent a toddler wandering around in the dark at the top of ungated stairs) and also when I am getting everyone showered and dressed in the morning & evening to keep them nearby and easier to encourage into their clean clothes!

Of course, stair gates can be left open throughout the day to encourage a child’s independence if you wish. For us, this is an ideal balance of safety and freedom of movement.

Arranging your home environment for child independence

Expecting your kids to wash their hands after using the toilet is unreasonable if they can’t reach the sink or have the hand strength to turn on a stiff tap. Adding a step underneath the sink or a faucet extender like THIS can bring them the ability to complete this task alone, far sooner than they would without these aids.

Furniture is another one. Clearly most furniture is made with adults in mind, and even hauling a child up into their high chair regularly requires a lot of time on your part. Child sized tables and chairs are perfect for encouraging crafts, or bringing independence to meal and snack times.

And let’s not forget the most important one; toys and books! If it’s important to you that your child is an avid reader but they cannot access their books whenever they feel the urge to look at one, it’s unlikely to become an early passion for them.

Low storage for books and toys is a great way to encourage them to entertain themselves for five minutes while you complete a task, but where on Earth can you put all of those toys where they can reach? Especially if, like us, you don’t have a playroom!

This is where a book and toy rotation works wonders. If this is quite a new concept to you then I have written a blog post on book rotations before which you can find HERE, and I highly recommend you check it out, rotations are a GAME CHANGER!

Nurture those learning opportunities:

The way you lay out your spaces can stimulate your child’s independence, imagination and curiosity.

This can take some thought on your part to think about how you can best achieve this for your child and their unique personality.

To help start you off, here are some ideas for you to play around with:

– Set up a reading nook with comfy seating and accessible books

– Create a designated art and creativity corner with child-friendly (and home friendly!) art supplies

– Design a play area that encourages gross motor skills and imaginative play. For most people this might be in the garden but it doesn’t have to be!

– Utilising visual cues and labels to help children when tidying up

– Designate a quiet, relaxing and cozy space for quiet time, maybe I ncorporating soothing elements like soft lighting, calming colors, and comforting textures.

Some, or all of these may be suitable for your family, or maybe you can think of other ways to make your space more approachable for your child. Either way, remember that these need to work for the whole family; don’t make your own life a misery by lending the entire house over to the cause- you need some places to work for you, too!

And finally…

As with anything to do with kids, continuous adaptation of your home, environment, routines and systems is both inevitable and essential.

Take some time to regularly consider your child’s needs as they develop and ensure your home is still working to suit your family, and make alterations to anything that no longer serves you.

Using these child friendly spaces around the home can free you up for other things many times over, which means more time to spend doing something you love or extra play time with your kids.

And of course, if you come up with any handy home adaptations please be sure to let me know!

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