Parenting Resources

Parenting presents numerous challenges, growing in complexity as children age.

These parenting resources provide guidance for dilemmas you may be facing. Several articles are from Montessori Life  which is the American Montessori Society’s parent magazine. The guides on independence are original documents from TMA.

Inside Montessori: A Documentary

The film explores what Montessori education is and how it differs from traditional education. It showcases how Montessori is giving children of all ages the chance to achieve their full potential.

Montessori Life

A few curated articles from Montessori Life magazine.

Separation: The Beginning of Letting Go

Your child needs your support and encouragement to learn to separate. When she took her first steps, you held out your arms, smiling and urging her to walk toward you. If he fell, you encouraged him to get back up and try again. The same is true with separating!

Bringing Montessori Home

The gifts we can give our children are adequate time, an economy of age-appropriate and well-communicated expectations, and trust in their innate capabilities, which are the same principles that support Montessori’s educational philosophy!

Starting Each Day: Tips to Get out the Door On Time

It’s possible to make the morning routine a team effort, rather than a competition with parents doing all the heavy lifting. The keys are to be prepared, give yourself plenty of time, and allow your children to be independent.

Your Smartphone or Your Life

he device’s ubiquitous presence at the dinner table, on the nature walk, and during drive time and downtime signals to sons and daughters that they must compete with these inanimate objects for their parents’ attention or simply resign themselves to the shared attention.

Talking Respectfully to Your Children

We often jump to conclusions and step in without taking into account what our child might be doing, thinking, or feeling. Put down the phone, turn off the television, watch, and look into your child’s eyes when you speak.

Creating Emotional Safety: Tantrums & Crying

We don’t need to control children; we need to control our own feelings and our own behavior. Our job is to guide them, to be with them, and to support and enable them to feel safe while they release what they need to release.

Montessori Blog Posts

Toddler Bubble Whisking, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
Montessori bubble whisking is a Practical Life activity that builds fine motor skills, concentration, and independence for toddlers and early childhood—at school and at home.
Early Childhood Dry Pouring, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
Montessori dry and wet pouring activities help toddlers and young children build fine motor skills, concentration, and independence using simple materials at home.
Early Childhood Flower Arranging, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
The process of flower arranging is predictably sequenced with precision and care,  as are all of the practical life activities, to best support the development of coordination, concentration, order, and independence.
Early Childhood Science, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
Simple science tools are a part of our classroom curriculum and are easy to replicate at home.
Early Childhood Practical Life Folding, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
Folding is a wonderful Montessori exercise in building independence, confidence and fine motor skills, by utilizing an everyday object, cloth.
Early Childhood Food Prep, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
Food prep is a multi-stepped lesson that requires concentration, order, and coordination to be successful. The child has to first wash her hands, set out the material, prepare the food to serve, and then use social skills to offer the food to her peers.
Practical Life Sewing, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
Maria Montessori designed the Practical Life curriculum to teach children concentration, independence, and a great love for work.She discovered that children have an innate need to imitate the activities of adults, as this is their way of learning about their role within society and their environment.
Early Childhood Knobbed Puzzles, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
The Knobbed Puzzles, like many Montessori materials, have layers of engagement. From a child’s first experience of manipulating the knobbed pieces, to practicing literacy by reading labels, the knobbed puzzles are a well-loved material in the Montessori classroom.
Early Childhood Cosmic Nesting Boxes, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
The Cosmic Nesting Boxes are an important material for Montessori Cosmic Education. The purpose of this material is to teach children how a place exists within a larger place.
Early Childhood Outdoor Easel Painting, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
For the 3 to 6 year old child, painting is a way to strengthen muscles and refine motor skills. It improves concentration and coordination.
Early Childhood Sandpaper Letters, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
The Sandpaper Letters are iconic, pink or blue oversized cursive letters in rough sandpaper for a child to take to a table and practice tracing and pairing with a known phonetic sound.
Early Childhood Broad Stair, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
One of our favorites, the Broad Stair or Brown Stair is a […]
Early Childhood Plant Polishing, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
Early Childhood – Plant Polishing Through the process of first receiving a […]
Early Childhood Dressing Frames, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
Early Childhood – Dressing Frames The purpose of the dressing frames is […]
Early Childhood Circle of Life, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
Early Childhood – Circle of Life: Ceremony of Death Celebrations and rituals […]
Infant - Natural Gross Motor Development,, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
He practices the transitional pose called the half sit. This strengthens his arms while he learns how to bring his legs underneath and in front of him.
Multi-age Classroom, The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Private School Arlington TX
Montessori classrooms foster life-long leadership skills. In each mixed age classroom, the older students have the opportunity to become like mentors to the younger students.