Forest Montessori

Montessori From Birth

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Archives for April 2019

Top 10 Montessori approved baby books

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“Fantasy is very interesting to the older child, but only confusing to the very young. A rich foundation of stories about the real world is the best preparation for creative imagination. We should check that books present reality, since at this age children are trying to make sense of the environment and the life around them. There is nothing more extraordinary and interesting than our own daily life. Fantasy can come later- after reality has been experienced and absorbed.”- Dr. Montanaro

So Montessori friendly baby books have realistic images and don’t have fictional or fairy tales. I am not very strict about this and do have classics like Goodnight Moon in our library. Here are my top 10 favorites for the first year…

PS- I originally posted this on instagram and heard back from heaps of other Montessori mamas. Here are some other suggestions- ”The big book of beautiful babies” by David Ellwand, “The seasons series” by Gerda Muller, Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney series of boardbooks. Any more to add to the list?

Books that we have used:

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes padded board book

Baby Touch and Feel: Animals

Indestructibles: Baby Faces

Global Babies

I See (Baby Beginner Board Books)

Everywhere Babies

Goodnight Moon

Montessori shelf at 2 months old

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Anika has just started learning to grasp, so I have re-arranged our shelf to include rattles. Top shelf has rattles for grasping. They are arranged and will be introduced from the easiest to the most challenging. Bottom shelf has my DIY sensory bottles and black and white flash cards we use for tummy time, along with skwish toy and bell roller. Our first rattle was the black and white crochet rattle. It fit perfectly in the little hands and Anika loved it. here is a sneak peak…

First black and white crochet rattle at 10 weeks old

The other favorites and easy to grasp rattles have been the Bell Rattle and Wooden Rattle.

I always remember my Montessori mentor, Joy saying “never set a child up for failure.” So here are some signs I looked out for before introducing the rattle:

  • Could hold my little finger for more than a minute at a stretch.
  • Garbs my hair/ cloth with ease.
  • Palms are open more often and the grasp reflex is diminishing.
  • Trying to grab the mat during tummy time.
  • Easily finds her hands to self soothe.
  • Has been observing her hands for a few days.
  • Has been seen practicing the open/ close movements of the hands.
  • Has been consciously batting the mobiles.

Hope you found this useful. Leave a comment with your the signs you observed before you introduced the rattle.