I’ve had a few people ask me recently about how to “do” Montessori at home and some credible resources for Montessori philosophy or products to buy for the home. So here we go!

The best place to find 100% credible resources is for you to read Maria Montessori’s books. A few of my favorite titles include: The Discovery of the Child, The Absorbent Mind, The Secret of Childhood, and The Formation of Man. Paula Polk-Lillard’s books Montessori: A Modern Approach and Montessori From The Start are two additional resources that are brilliant.

The following information has been gathered from Montessori lectures, literature, and the North American Montessori Teacher’s Association (NAMTA).

Practicing Montessori Philosophy At Home

Compared to many contemporary approaches to early childhood education, Maria Montessori had a unique view of the child. She understood that education was meant for the whole child. This was established by clear principles and methods in interacting with children. According to Montessori practice, children need choice, freedom, the space for concentration, and activities.

Children have within them a spontaneous discipline that emerges from the love of the adult and the love of the environment. Looking at the development of the whole child, Maria Montessori realized that the parents at home needed to unite with the school with common goals and ideals.

Montessori is more than an educational head start or a classroom method. It is a child-rearing approach that is dedicated to the psychological and developmental involvement of parents with their children. It is not something you purchase at a store, recite in mantra, but something that you intrinsically believe, practice, and participate in. The idea of Montessori encompasses the idea of “Help me to do it by myself”. This means, that day to day activities within the home should be led naturally with the child as an active force.

Children must be allowed the independence and education to work side by side with their parents. Choose and involvement are not a forced construct, rather they are an activity of daily life that each individual in the household participates in.

At a very early age, children work spontaneously because they want to help. Cooking should be a daily affair, and it is completely alright and natural that some days the moments of interaction are longer or shorter than others.

Mistakes, especially as the child is learning should be guided but not corrected. The child is in a process of learning, and correction is a vital part of that learning process. Pretty much every work or activity that a child participates in has a control of error. You do not need to point out to the child that they have spilled something and berate them. The presence of the spill is knowledge enough. The child then learns that the natural consequence for “moving too fast” for example, is the spilling of their material. Language and reaction plays an important role here. We do not huff and react with frustration. We do not say, “Oh look what you have done!” but say rather, “Now we may get out the spill-sponge!”

The child self-corrects by growth and experience. Creating a friendly view towards error is so important. Children are completely absorbed by the processes they take on, and we must allow them to do so as many times as they want. A child can clean a floor twenty times even though it is already clean–and they deserve the space and respect to do so!

Helping the child to do for himself means providing minimal assistance. This means breaking down the analysis of movement with an activity and only offering assistance when the child requires it. For example, if a child is having a hard time putting on a pair of shoes, perhaps you only need to hold down the heel or lift the tongue. Offer the least assistance that they need. Putting on something as simple as a coat has a sequence of events which the child is learning and practicing. Patience is important. An adult is able to do things quickly while a child needs time. Remember, “what you give to the adult, you take from the child.” Don’t give the adult “more time” in turn for your child’s spiritual, gross motor, and intellectual development.

Adults do things because we have to, there is a necessity of an external purpose. A child enjoys the process. Their mind is completely absorbed with the process of a task, and is very frequently uninterested by the result. Because their aims are different, we must be in less of a hurry to accomplish the objective task. Do not just put on their shoes or put on their jacket. Assist them, help them, to help themselves.

It is important to observe the child’s needs and offer additional tasks that engage their learning and challenge their tasks at a time. Try to stay one step ahead of their development and have activities that they can participate in, even if it’s a “little more” than what they can accomplish on their own. Avoid the urge to hurry up your child and do things for them that they can do on their own! This could include any number of things from buttering their toast, changing their clothes, putting on their shoes, washing their hands, to putting away their toys/work. This should be expressed to older siblings as well.

But How Do I Get Started?

The first principle is to prepare an environment at home which conforms to the child’s size and energy. Select furniture that is light so the child is able to move and manipulate it to suit their needs. Photographs and art should be placed at eye level of the child so that they are able to look at it. A bed should be on the floor so they are able to get up should they wake early or want to sleep independently. Everything must be accessible to the child! The stove, sinks, toilets, light switches etc. Modifications such as stools and pull switches are fantastic resources.

The workings of household mechanics should be shared with the child. They are able to do all activities next to the adult. Participating in household activities gives the child a sense of pride, belonging, and security. When we draw the child into family chores there are of course difficulties and frustrations, but keep in mind that including the child in these activities is much easier than trying to keep them occupied.

The human being wants to feel valued and know their skills are appreciated. Do not offer rewards/punishments. This includes praise. “Good Job” should never, ever be uttered. If a parent wants to remark on a child’s task, they may say, “I see you vacuumed that all by yourself!” Give your child the opportunity to grow self respect and pride in their work by simply accomplishing the task independently.

It is important to show all phases of “cleaning up” and “putting away”. Model for your child the behavior you wish to facilitate. Do not throw socks across the room into a bin, take shortcuts with chores, or procrastinate obvious tasks that must be tended to.

Find in your home a space for the child. A child’s corner in every room facilitates the child’s coexistence with the family. Each individual finds comfort in their own center of activity.

Care of the environment includes care of living things. Watering plants, feeding the dogs, and helping set the table and flower arranging are important. Never hinder or stop the child when they are working. Children work for purposes (however mundane they appear to adults) we are unable to see–they are constructing themselves. Adults may watch from the sidelines without abandonment or intervention. As we teachers always say, “FADE AND OBSERVE!”



Apart from work tasks, it is important to make the child feel at home in the natural world. All children, must be taken on walks. Between the age of a year and a half and two, they can walk a mile and even take on difficult tasks such as hills and stairs. We must remember that adults walk for a different purpose than children. The world of nature is a natural playground with continuous surprises. These experiences enhance coordination and promote learning as well. Adults walk to reach point A to point B, where children seek to learn the world around them. Take the time to smell a flower with them, for they are falling in love with the world around them, and in turn, themselves.

Although the child is involved in their physical environment, another real component of Montessori at home is the physical presence of the parents. Nature inspires both parents with love and their little ones. This is not something artificial, it is something that inspires sacrifice and the dedication of one ego to another ego, the service of others. There is no compromise for parents, and because of their unique tie they are able to offer more to the children than anyone else. All parents recognize the end of the day as being a quiet time. Reading to a child is a great activity, passing on a heritage of language to the next generation is passing a part of yourself. Children are able to read not only the words, but the underlying emotions.