The Kavanaugh Report

There is so much joy in watching your baby find themselves into toddlerhood. These first few months with a 1-year-old are really some of the best with your baby, in my opinion. They are still very much babies, but they are more consistent and easier to understand. They interact and have preferences. It's just a lot of fun. Penelope has been such fun that I wanted to share some of her favorite Montessori baby toys and activities at 13 and 14 months.  This is definitely not a complete list of everything she has done over the last couple months, but a good idea of the skills she has been working on and how we have supported her. Remember, observe your own baby when making decisions about what kinds of materials are best suited for them!  Montessori Baby and Young Toddler Favorites Here's a closer look at what she has been up to separated into some larger general categories:  Gross Motor More than anything else these last couple of months, Penelope has been interested in gros...

This week on our Montessori parenting podcast: 

Spring has been slow to pop up in Minnesota this year. We had a few days that felt like summer and a lot of late winter weather. With snow in the forecast again for today, I'm dreaming of the day when we can finally get back outside, wander in the gardens, and in our natural playscape . As I'm dreaming I'm thinking of three things I want to add to our Montessori outdoor spaces this year.  One thing I think is important to remember when it comes to outdoor spaces is that change is often slow. Inside it's sometimes much easier to prepare your space all at once to make it accessible to your child. Outside it takes longer, changes can be expensive, and weather dependent. I try to think less about adding things that are specific to my child's interests now, and more about changes that will last for the long term.  Three Features to Consider for Your Montessori Outdoor Space This year, I want to focus on three different areas as I prepare my space for my five kids. I don...

There is so much change that happens over the first few years of a child's life that it can really become quite overwhelming to think about as a parent. Those first six years are marked by such rapid growth, intense emotions, and so much change. The good news is that children do let you catch your breath a bit into the elementary years - a time that Maria Montessori defined as fairly stable. But, not before one last major transition into the second plane of development .  Maria Montessori described the movement from the first plane to the second plane as a "rebirth." Your child emerges from this period of intense change as a new person. They will learn differently, see the world differently, and approach their own development differently. As Montessori parents, we need to support this time with great care and understanding. The child we had is changing and that is hard on the "mama heart" but we need to let go, embrace the change, and guide in some new ways.  Su...

Penelope is rapidly leaving her baby days behind, and while that crushes my mama heart it is so fun to watch her personality and skills unfold. As a Montessori parent, I know that my children will desire independence. At 14-months-old, we are starting to see more and more interest in working in practical tasks around the house. Particularly in the kitchen, Penelope is really starting to soak in all this wonderful kitchen work her siblings are doing.  Montessori at Home: Work in the Kitchen at 14-Months Now, I'm not going to tell you that Penelope is over here making omelets and scrubbing dishes. While I have no doubt that she will soon be capable of so many incredible things, these early months aren't about teaching specific types of work for us. Instead, we want to create a positive relationship with the kitchen and foster her desire to try it for herself.  In reality this looks like giving her small opportunities to participate in kitchen work. But, also teaching her fundame...

This week on our Montessori parenting podcast:  Lets play a game: Montessori this or that! On this week's Montessori parenting podcast, Nicole and Amy make some choices! Do we pick a weaning cup or a child's knife? A little kitchen or the adult height? A wooden rainbow or unit blocks? A Nugget or a Pikler Triangle? Come listen and find out some hot takes on some popular Montessori friendly topics and products!  Show Notes... Growing Together as Parents / a Q&A with Morgan Pikler Triangle Child's Knives   Weaning Cups   Pikler Platform and Ramp Rocking Boat French Family Montessori LEGO in a Montessori Home Everyday with E and J Magnatiles   Sensitive Periods   Thanks for joining me for today's podcast! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share and leave a review in your favorite podcast app.  If you are interested in finding Shelf Help in a podcast app, it is available on  Apple  |  Spotify  |  Stitcher ...

I feel like a broken record saying this, but so much of our day right now is numbers. Teddy just really loves them right now. Earlier this year, I started brining out some of our Montessori work that connects the concept of quantity to the actual symbols.  sandpaper numbers + silicone numbers   Disclaimer here is that I'm not planning on full time homeschooling Teddy. This is for fun this year to fulfill developmental needs I'm seeing in him while he was too young to start school. So, this might look a bit differently than it would in a strict Montessori classroom. These are the ways we support this learning using Montessori and Montessori friendly materials here at home.  Montessori at Home: Introducing Number Symbols in Preschool Once my toddlers have a solid understanding of quantity and are starting to more accurately count in context, I introduce the number symbols. I do this through the sandpaper numbers. I present them three numbers at a time starting with one, t...

This week on our Montessori podcast... Maria Montessori calls on parents to trust their children with their own development. But, in practice, that is really hard to do, especially with how much we love our children. In this week's episode, Nicole and Amy unpack a Montessori quote about love, fault-finding, trust, and redirection. We talk about some of our success with trust and some of the areas where we are challenged to truly follow our children.  Show Notes... Honoring the Secret of the Child Quote: Maria Montessori Speaks to Parents p. 13- 14: "We can love our children so dearly that it makes us blind to what is best for them. We can desire so eagerly that they shall grow into fine men and women that we correct and frustrate them at every turn without once realizing that they have within themselves the power of their development. We cannot see that a child who is interested and actively carrying out little plans and movements of his own is building up will power and self...