Free Resources for Montessori Infant Education

I stumbled upon an awesome resource for free information about raising infants in the Montessori way. The company is ultimately trying to sell their products, so the information is riddled with side advertisements, but the information is helpful nonetheless.

Here's a snippet of what I learned:

"We know very little about what a baby really experiences during those nine months in the womb, what he senses, feels, intuits, thinks about, and understands. But we do know that he responds to voices and to sounds and to music. So we offer the best by every day spending some quiet time talking to him, singing, and playing beautiful music."

• I love the idea of spending a few moments of quiet time talking to the baby in utero. I would also love to sing and play beautiful music. What great ways to build a connection and facilitate stress reduction. Next Steps: Make a playlist of good songs specifically for this purpose.

"It is not an accident that the focusing distance of the eyes of a newborn matches exactly the space between his face and that of the mother while nursing. Perhaps the best first communication experiences are provided while nursing the baby."

"We can feed the child's intense interest in language and prepare for later spoken language, by speaking clearly, not using baby talk, by not raising our voice to an unnatural pitch often reserved for speaking to pets, and not oversimplifying language in the presence of the child." "We can tell funny and interesting stories of our lives, recite favorite poems, talk about what we are doing, 'Now I am washing your feet, rubbing each toe to get it really clean' and enjoy ourselves in this important communication. And we can listen: to music, to silence, and to each other."

• I've read research about how important this kind of communication is with young children. As a teacher, I've seen the benefits that children reap when they are raised in this kind of environment. The point about using baby talk is an interesting one. There's research out there that highlights the benefits of using baby talk. I think I fall on the anti-baby talk side, since I think accurate modeling (although in a simplified, scaffolded way) is a great way to teach something. Next Steps: Pay attention to my use of baby talk (specifically with regard to my dog!), and analyze its function and purpose in my life.

There's other stuff about soothing a crying infant and raising children who do not depend upon adults in order to go to sleep. There's so much to learn! It's all very exciting.

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