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When you ask a young child how old they are, they will likely hold up fingers like a badge of honor while proudly announcing their age. Birthdays and ages are one of the first tangible markers of time that children understand. They anticipate their birthday for months, excited about advancing to the next age. The rituals and traditions around birthday celebrations become beloved memories as children grow. Their love of birthdays also reflects children’s natural desire to understand themselves and their place in the world as they grow. Montessori supports this desire in children by offering a unique birthday celebration that centers the child’s individual growth within the earth’s cycles. Known as a “ Montessori Birthday Walk ” or “ Walk Around the Sun ” ceremony, the Montessori birthday tradition honors each year of a child’s life and development as they age. In the Montessori classroom, a depiction of the sun is placed in the center of the room and a small candle or light is placed on top. The classroom of children all sit around the sun in a circle while the birthday child stands and holds a globe or representation of the Earth. Just like the Earth completes one orbit around the sun each year, the birthday child completes one “orbit” around the circle for each year of their life. After each time around the sun, the child, a parent, or caregiver shares memories including photos and stories about that year of the child’s life. For example, after the first “orbit” a parent may share baby photos and stories about the child learning to crawl. The child completes as many orbits as they are years old. This special Montessori birthday tradition allows children to tangibly experience the journey of aging while self-reflecting and sharing beloved memories with friends and teachers. The celebration centers the child while connecting their personal history and growth with the world around them. Next time you celebrate your child’s birthday, you can try a version of the Walk Around the Sun at home! Print out pictures of them at each age and prepare to share some of your favorite memories. You can also ask your child to share their own favorite memories from each year. This can be a wonderful opportunity to help your child integrate their memories while reflecting on the joy of early childhood. photo credit: BirchStreetGoods Etsy

Montessori math education is rooted in concrete experience with physical materials to help children's self-discovery of abstract mathematical concepts.

“A child’s work is based on doing things for their own sake. There is an end towards which his work is taking him: through his work, he is building the man he will become. But the child doesn’t know this; he only knows that he takes delight in doing certain things. This is his work” -Dr. Maria Montessori

Reading with your child is one of the most impactful practices you can do in the early years. Book reading is beneficial for children of all ages, starting from birth. Listening to stories helps children grow their emergent literacy skills even long before they can speak. Research shows that reading aloud to children, ideally daily, supports a love of literacy, advanced language development, and future ability to read independently. Additionally, taking the time to read storybooks aloud together also enhances the parent-child bond and supports a variety of cognitive and social-emotional skills, including critical thinking and emotional resilience. A few reasons for this host of benefits from reading together is that children learn best when their knowledge is scaffolded by an adult. Scaffolding is when an adult adapts their behavior and the way they give instructions based on the knowledge level of the child. Scaffolding is achieved by first recognizing what your child knows, and then providing incremental challenges to help support their learning. One research-based technique for scaffolding your child’s learning while reading is known as dialogic reading . Dialogic reading is where an adult and child have a meaningful conversation about a book before, during, and after the book. This goes beyond the typical experience of an adult reading while a child simply listens. Through dialogic reading, children are actively involved in learning how to become the storyteller. The goal of dialogic reading is to have the child increasingly lead the reading experience. The basic structure of dialogic reading is the acronym PEER : P rompt the child to talk about the book. Parent, pointing to a picture of a dump truck: “Ooh, what is that?” Child: “A truck!” E valuate the child’s response Parent: “Yes, a dump truck!” E xpand upon their response by adding information Parent: “The dump truck is yellow.” R epeat the prompt or word to see what they learned from the new information. Parent: pointing to the dump truck again “Can you say dump truck?” Child: “A dump truck!” There are five types of p rompts to try out, which you can remember with the acronym CROWD : C ompletion , fill in the blank type questions “This is a _______ truck” R ecall , asking your child to remember or summarize something from the story “Can you tell me what happened to the dump truck in this story?” O pen-Ended , focused on the images in the book “Can you describe what’s going on in this picture?” W h- , asking specific what, where, when, why, and how questions “What is that called?” D istancing , asking your child to connect elements of the story or pictures to their real-life experiences “This book was about a dump truck! Do you remember when a dump truck came to our house? Did it look like any of the trucks in this book?” To practice dialogic reading, try reading a new book to your child. Read it once through, while pointing to interesting images and encouraging your child to repeat new words. The next time you read the book, you can scaffold their knowledge by practicing the PEER method. Ask increasingly complex questions about the book. As you read the same book multiple times, you will start to read the words on the pages less as your child engages in conversation around the story more and more. It’s an incredible thing to witness! A few more ideas for making reading aloud a central and enjoyable practice for the whole family are : Create family routines around reading aloud to ensure it is part of your child’s day. Many families choose to incorporate books into the bedtime routine Read both fiction and nonfiction books, including different genres, with rich illustrations Choose books connected to your child’s cultural background and ethnicity Follow your child’s interests and explore topics that they enjoy through literature Pay attention to your child’s behavior while reading and adjust as necessary Utilize your local library to access countless options for both board and picture books

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends avoiding screen media exposure (except for video chat, which is appropriate for children of all ages) before age 18 months and setting screen time limits of one hour per day or less for older toddlers and preschoolers. However, recent research shows that young children are spending an average of 2.5 hours DAILY on screens. If you find this number alarming, you’re not alone! Digital technologies such as televisions, tablets, and smartphones have become central to modern society. Screens can be a valuable tool for parents to use with and for their children. However, face-to-face human interaction will always be the primary and preferred way for young children to learn. A child ages 0-6 is in the absorbent mind stage of development, soaking in everything in the environment easily and completely. This means the good and the bad are taken in equally. It also means the child cannot absorb what is not there, so as adults it's our responsibility to provide an environment rich in concrete experiences, language(s), art, culture, discovery, exploration, and most importantly, emotional connection and a sense of love and security. Technology is useful, but not essential, for young children. Whether or not your family chooses to engage with technology in the home is a personal decision. Evaluating your unique family situation and values is important to determine whether and how technology fits in. There is a distinct difference between intentional, mindful media use that contributes to a child’s knowledge and development and habitual media use without a clear benefit to the child. It’s necessary to carefully consider the impact of our technological choices on growing young minds. In the same way that Montessori materials are introduced to children with a set of lessons, safety precautions, and guidelines, home media use for young children requires a knowledgeable guide. Parents play an essential role in shaping children’s media literacy and guiding them to learn healthy boundaries around using technology as a tool. While technology is rarely included in the Montessori classroom, applying Montessori principles to screen time provides a framework for home media use with young children. Here are a few of our favorite Montessori-based approaches to setting healthy boundaries around technology and choosing media that contributes to children's well-being. Freedom Within Limits Set firm boundaries around technology, including what type of devices children can use, how long they can spend on the device, and what type of content they can access. Hold these boundaries in a firm, loving way, and do not change your limits in response to tantrums. Create technology-free times and spaces in your home. Choosing areas such as bedrooms and eating areas to be tech-free encourages healthy boundaries around technology. Prioritizing tech-free meals where the family sits down together to eat and engage in conversation is invaluable for healthy child development. Fit screen time into the gaps of your child’s day rather than making it a central focus. Ensure that your child’s schedule prioritizes the things that matter most for child development, including interaction, play, sleep, meal time, exercise, and reading. Follow the Child Think about the Three Cs when it comes to tech use in childhood: Child - Your child is the “ who ” of the media situation. What are your child’s individual characteristics? Each child experiences media differently depending on their age, developmental level, cognitive skills, past media experiences, preferences, and interests. Choose media that is aligned with your child’s level and interests. Content - The content your child is watching is the “ what ” of their media experience. It is essential to pay close attention to the themes, behaviors, messaging, and design of the media your child is interacting with. Opt for shows with a slower pace of motion, relatable situations, and kind language. Children copy what they see, so it’s important to ensure that the content modeled on the screen is positive and appropriate. Context - Think of context as the “ where, when, how ” of the media situation. What type of device is your child using? Where are they? What time of day is it? Who else is present with your child? As often as possible, engage with your child around their tech use. Screen time is not a babysitter, but it can be used as a tool for education and connection. Try joining your child for their media use and talking about what you see on the screen to help your child connect the screen to real life. Practical Life Seek out age-appropriate and relevant educational media content that contributes to your child’s growth and development. Look for themes and lessons that they find interesting to help support and advance their learning. Behavior Modeling Integrating technology into children’s lives should always be secondary to face-to-face human interactions. Research suggests that parent phone use around children can cause impactful interruptions in parent-child relationships. This happens through a concept coined technoference , when technology causes interference in interpersonal interactions. Consider how often you pick up and look at your phone throughout the day, and be mindful of the ways your children see you interacting with technology. Set screen time limits on all devices. People use screens far more often than they think they do. Set realistic screen time limits on your devices to reduce daily usage. Montessori education is a preparation for life. As caregivers, it's important to consider what kind of life we hope to create for our children. Media use is not essential to childhood, but if you do choose to use media at home we hope that these tips serve as a helpful guide for making the most of your child's screen time experiences. References: Guernsey, L. (2007). Into the minds of babes: How screen time affects children from birth to age five . Basic Books. McDaniel, B. T., & Radesky, J. S. (2018). Technoference: Parent distraction with technology and associations with child behavior problems. Child development , 89(1), 100-109. Ohme, J., Araujo, T., de Vreese, C. H., & Piotrowski, J. T. (2021). Mobile data donations: Assessing self-report accuracy and sample biases with the iOS Screen Time function. Mobile Media & Communication, 9(2), 293-313. Rideout, V., & Robb, M. B. (2020). The Common Sense census: Media use by kids age zero to eight. San  Francisco, CA: Common Sense Media .

Traditions connect the past, present, and future in a tangible way.

When it comes to toddlers and preschoolers, you often hear about the “terrible two” and “threenager” phases. How can you handle these the Montessori way?

When children come into contact with nature, they reveal their strength -Dr. Maria Montessori