This article contains affiliate Links. Your purchase encourages me to keep sharing colourful impactful resources and books
Toddlers are the most misunderstood humans. We expect them to be “well behaved”? Prim and Proper – No fuss all the time but that’s absolutely impossible! It’s like asking a fly to stay put in a place. It won’t happen! This applies to toddlers too! They are configured to be curious! Jump around, scatter things around the house…. They are “fresh” human beings who don’t understand so much so they have to explore to understand the world around them.
They want to open the door themselves, help you in the kitchen even if you don’t need their help, put on their shoes on by themselves even when you are clearly running late and you’ll miss the bus. They want to be independent. We need to appreciate this about them and see their effort and quest to be independent. This helps us manage them. We see them better through the eyes of their efforts.
I am so glad I read this book – The Montessori Toddler – A Parents Guide to Raising a Curious and Responsible Human Being by Simone Davies.
After reading the book, I started observing my son closely, I am becoming (note becoming) patient with him. I also changed the arrangement of my house so I can give him more space to play and explore. So far it has really helped! I see the difference.
The Book has loads of tips and ideas on how to create an enabling environment for your toddler to be curious and independent.
Here are my Top 5 Lessons from the Book:
✅For a child to develop curiosity in the world around them and a desire to learn, we must provide a rich learning environment and time to explore it.
✅Are we constant worrying about how our child is developing or whether they will hurt themselves? Can we practice setting aside those worries about the future and enjoy where they are today on thier unique journey?
✅Education is not to fill a child with facts but to cultivate their own natural desire to learn.
✅Let children be free; encourage them to run outside when it’s raining; let them remove their shoes when they find a puddle of water. Let them shout and laugh…
✅Rather than trying to get the tantrum to end as soon as possible, allow them to express all their feelings safely until they are calm and show that we are there to help if they need us.
✅Toddlers don’t have a mean bone in them. They are not mean-spirited, spiteful or vengeful. They are simply impulsive following every urge. If they see someone playing with a fox, they may think “I’d like to play with that same toy right now! They do this innocently.
