Sponsor Introduction & Celebration

Photo courtesy of Ben Becker

I'm really excited to share some of my favorite independent businesses with you all!

First, there's Sebrina of Mismikado Creations. She designed my new and improved header for this blog, so I know from first-hand experience that she is super-fun and easy to work with, very accommodating, positive, responsive, and creative--just what you want in a graphic designer.

Then there's Carrie and Shane of Beginning Montessori. They are a husband and wife team that hand makes Montessori materials to support the development of infants and toddlers. How sweet is that? All their products are recommended by the AMI (Association Montessori Internationale), which is the most prestigious certifying body for Montessori teachers worldwide. All materials are as natural as possible to give children real knowledge about their world and to limit exposure to toxins. For example, check out their Newborn Pack of toys. Henry has the bell cylinder and the ball cylinder to encourage his crawling. They are beautiful toys that even I love looking at and touching (and I certainly don't mind setting them out on our shelves in the living room).

Next we have MontessoriHouse who offers curriculum binders for various ages about how to do Montessori in the home. They created the albums based on what they learned during their Montessori trainings. The infants and young toddlers binder includes 90 pages of teaching projects and instructions. I just wish I would have known about this shop before Henry was born. They have albums through kindergarten. For those of you who are interested in learning more about how to implement Montessori ideas in the home, you might have realized that it's very difficult to find accurate, concise, relevant information. These binders are very user-friendly and easy to read!


I'm also super-excited to introduce my internet friend, Kelly, who is working on an amazing project over at One Hundred Scarves. She says, "My One Hundred Scarves Project is part dare, part charity, part therapy, part financial goal, and part creative experiment. After my job as a school librarian was downsized and I suffered a miscarriage, I decided to create a big, audacious goal for myself: to make one hundred scarves." And, to top it off, 5% of the profits from every sale will be donated to an organization that help people coping with loss. I have to confess that I spend entirely too long eying each scarf, trying to decide which is my favorite. You can subscribe to her blog to read the back-story on each scarf (also very addictive) and see when new scarves get added to the shop.

And then there's April of goosedesigns. She offers Montessori materials for newborns and toddlers. I went straight to her shop when I needed a Gobbi mobile for Henry. I had tried to make my own but quickly gave up after realizing just how difficult the process truly was. Check out her shop if you want a gift pack for a teething baby or want to promote reaching and grasping. Her gift packs are beautiful packaged and would make awesome baby shower gifts. She also sells interlocking discs, which are great for developing opposing wrist rotation, eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills--all of which indirectly prepare children to hold pencils and write!

And last, but certainly not least, there's At Home with Montessori. Meg's shop has things that I just haven't been able to find in the States, such as several of these Montessori Infant Mobiles. She also sells Materials for Hand Development, Materials for Cognitive Development, items for Your Child's Sleeping Environment, and Materials for Weaning. The site also includes an amazing blog full of very useful information about how to implement Montessori in the home. For example, she just did a series about five things to do in the home for each month of your child's first nine months. She also gives away great tutorials and downloadables.

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If you run a business that you think would be a good fit for Feeding the Soil, please contact me for ad rates! I will also consider bartering. Happy Weekend!

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