montessori baby

Montessori Baby Timeline- Our favorite Montessori Mobiles, Rattles and Books for the first 6 Months

September 5, 2019 by jayabalar Leave a Comment

I recently had the opportunity to work together on Instagram with some amazing Montessori mum’s who shared lots of fantastic information for our miniseries called ‘#themontessoribaby’. Check it out if you haven’t already! I enjoyed sharing timelines for most topics as a way of reflecting back on past 6 months depending on what has been Anika’s favorite and how each book, mobile and rattle has worked for her developmentally. Montessori mobiles, rattles and books are baby’s “main toys” for the first 6 months and here is our timeline for each….

Babies have an immense capacity to concentrate for long periods of time and these early years are a sensitive period to build concentration. Montessori mobiles are scientific in the sense that they are developmentally appropriate to a child’s growing visual sense. Here is the sequence we introduced the Montessori mobiles in…

Munari mobile– We introduced this to her when she a month old. Since babies can see only high contrast colors in early days, this black and white mobile was perfect for developing tracking skills and concentration.
Octahedron Mobile– introduced at 6 weeks old. Babies eye sight develops at rapid pace. This mobile introduced primary colors in 3 dimensions.
Gobbi Mobile– introduced at 8 weeks old. Gobbi introduced gradation of colors from the darkest to the lightest.
Rainbow mobile– introduced at 9 weeks old. Introduces secondary colors and was Anika’s favorite mobile.
Dancers mobile– introduced at 11 weeks old. It shows realistic shapes, movements and bodily expressions.
Wooden figure/ whale mobile– introduced at 13 weeks old. Represents concrete and realistic form which aids in visual development and tracking.
Ring on ribbon or bell chimes mobile– introduced at 15 weeks old. Strengthens grasping skills that is developing at around this time.

We have read heaps of baby books from day. 1 and we have read lots. Anika showed a preference for the following during each month….

1 Month Old and 2 Months Old– We loved reading black and white books as she could only see in high contrast. She also enjoyed concentrating on high contrast flash cards. She enjoyed the visual aspect more than the oratory, so we spoke little and watched more.
3 Months Old- She could see primary colors well and we loved reading small simple books with 1 picture per page and no words. We started talking a wee bit more about each page.
4 Months Old– She started grasping everything. We loved reading the ‘indestructible series‘ for grasping and chewing. Instead of constantly saying No, we choose books that were safe for her to mouth and chew on.
5 Months Old– She was fascinated with ‘lift the flap books’ which made her an active participant in our reading time. For the first few weeks, she watched me open the flaps and slowly she started trying to do it herself. I have written about our top 3 favorite lift the flap books here. She also enjoyed visual as much as oratory, so we talk heaps. I also added a lot of synonyms and actions into each page; example- elephant was too big is described as he was huge, gigantic, humongous, massive (with actions) etc. She seemed to understand some words and many actions, even if not she enjoys the description.
6 Months Old- She was fascinated with body parts and loved to stare and play with my eyes, nose, ears etc. So we loved reading “My first Body” book along with some other favorites from the Indestructible series and Lift the flap series.

Rattles help in strengthening hand muscles and developing baby’s grasp. 2 Montessori concepts we always follow with any material are:

Are they ready for it?- Never set them up for failure! It should be doable, not too easy (results in boredom) and nor too difficult (results in low self esteem).
Order of introduction- Every material is introduced in order from the easiest to the most difficult, when they are ready for it. So here is the rattle timeline that we followed with Anika…

2 Months old- We introduced the soft crochet black and white rattle. This soft and light weight (and safe!) bell rattle perfectly fit in small hands.
3 Months old– We introduced the stick rattle. We love this willow rattle and also the wooden rattle. The stick is a firmer texture for a babies growing hand control and excellent for grasp refinement.
4 Months old- We introduced circular rattles, which gave her a different grasp to work with. It also gave her an opportunity to practice hand to hand transfer.
5 Months old- Anika could grasp and hold things with both her hands and the egg rattle was great to practice that skill.
6 Months old– Anika was slithering and the rolling rattle encouraged her to move more.

Observations at 6 Months old

September 5, 2019 by jayabalar Leave a Comment

My little girl is growing too fast! I miss all the cuddles in the carrier all afternoon already! Well, she is happy to sleep in bed now. My cuddle time is replaced with lots of food preps and cleaning time cause little Anika loves to eat by herself and I love to cook for her. Its a way to love her, if you know what I mean?

Here are some observations at 6 months old:

PHYSICAL

She rolls both ways swiftly and can roll all the way across the room.
At the start of this month she could sit independently for 5-10 minutes. At the end of this month, she hardly ever falls back for long periods of time. I still do place my breastfeeding pillow behind her just in case.
She has started staying in push ups (while on tummy) for lot longer and also comes on to her knees. She can slither if she wants to but its a very frustrating experience for her.
Anika can stand when supported for few seconds. Loves playing sit and stand game.

OTHERS

She is obsessed with dots and moles.
She seems really fascinated with body parts. We read lots of books and sang songs for the same.
Her favorite hangout changed from her Montessori room to our bathroom! She can stay playing there all day.
She takes all her day naps in bed, unless unwell then she wants to go back in the carrier.
First few months, people really intimidated her and she preferred to stay with me and my husband. This month, she has loved interacting with people. So we have had lots of outdoor adventures.
She absolutely loves her food and feeds herself during all the three meals.
Shows that she understands some words. Ex- Sasha (family dog, looks around for her), scream (responds by screaming when we row row row the boat), trees, lift, pull, push (does all the actions correctly), come……
Shows that she has a good memory. Ex- searches for the converter in the wall socket that was there yesterday.
Reading books, dancing, gnawing in her teethers, exploring treasure baskets and understanding the cause/effect of everything at home were her favorites this month.
She loves action songs and her favorite for the month was ‘wheels on the bus’.
Shows strong logic/ reasoning and keen interest in making sense of the world. She looks below the basin to see where the water goes. She cries if we put music on our phone without showing her where the voice is actually coming from.
Pulls the neckline of my tops towards her when she wants to feed.
Loves playing with strings, zips, labels and keys.
She directs me towards where she wants to go with her arms and legs (extended out or flexed back) and her eyes.
She loves discovering every little detail at home. She has learnt to pull and push most doors at home! Her current favorites are watching me manipulate the pedal to open and close our rubbish bin, pulling out the toilet paper roll and watching the shower water disappear in the drain! She guides me to these favorites and demands I show her or let her do it 😀

She is shown her personality more and more this month. She feels so aware, so happy and so strong-willed. I am sure there are heaps more which I cannot recollect at the moment…but all in all time is passing by too fast and I am trying to make the most of the days, when I can still call her my ‘baby’.

Observations at 5 Months old

August 2, 2019 by jayabalar Leave a Comment

Anika is 6 months today. I feel so elated and grateful. She is everything and more than what I had prayed for. I am so grateful for these wonderful 6 months, where has settled in well and has been so healthy too. Months seem to be passing by faster and faster. Everyday, I am grateful for this little girl and the joy she brings to me. The happiest thing for me about this month was that she is napping heaps more in bed (about 50% bed and 50% carrier, which is huge) and also that she is happy to be in the car seat now. The hardest thing about this month has been the huge amount of clean up required after every meal 🙂 Here are some observations at 5 months.

COMMUNICATION

I have used the word “come come…” before picking her up from birth. Now she understands this word (and few more) and extends her arms when I say it.
She also extends her arms when she wants to be picked up.
Anika is constantly finding new ways to communicate. She often ‘head bangs’ when she wants to entertain/ make us laugh.
Extends forward when she wants to touch something. Flexes back when does not want it.
Laughs out loud when she finds something funny or when we kiss her.
Her babbles sound more like language. My favorite word of the month is ‘gugu’.
She is constantly testing her pitch. Loves making loud voices.

MOVEMENT

Can sit unaided for 5 minutes at a time. I only propped her to sit once at the start of 5 months but it didn’t feel right, so I never did it again. Last week, I let her sit on bed and was surprised to see how long she could balance for.
She does not need the harness in her high chair anymore. She sits upright very well.
She has started lifting up on her arms during tummy time.
Rolls smoothly from tummy to back on both sides. Still figuring out the other way.
Does not like being physically constrained at all. High chairs or car seat. Although we have made a HUGE progress with car seats recently.
Puts her toes in her mouth.
She can do a 360 degree turn when we play our movement game. She can push with both her feet, while on her back to go upward.

OTHERS

Tries to take the balloons out of the books and mole from my skin ;-D
Towards the end of 5 months, she has started attempting to feed herself. She gets annoyed when the banana slips off her finger and absolutely loves holding her broccoli (like a flower) and munching on it. She gets annoyed if I feed her! Miss independent 🙂
Loves tapping with her legs and hands on different surfaces to hear the sound.
Loves lifting things to see what’s under.
Fascinated with labels and zips.
Particularly loves lift a flap books.
Stares at light bulbs and loves when I dim and then brighten our bed lamp.
She is settling so well and has actually started enjoying other people, babies and new places. We have started going to markets, library, supermarkets and lots more play dates.
Loves putting her hands in my mouth while she is feeding.
She is obsessed with finding the source of sound. It helps her understand how the world works.
Her 3 most favorite things are brushing her teeth, trying to flush the toilet and she loves to play with the (computer) mouse. It tells me that babies learn by imitating.
Likes routines and familiarity, ex- same books.
Has gained a good understanding of ’cause and effect’ in the home environment. We do water play in the sink after breakfast and she loves to take the plug off to see the water disappear.
Loves playing peekaboo by herself.
Can take a scarf away from her eyes and face.

That’s all I can think of. I look forward to lots more months and years of observing my child. Being able to do it so closely and consistently, it almost feels like a miracle is unfolding- so special!

Three Ways to make Car rides entertaining for Babies

July 30, 2019 by jayabalar 1 Comment

Some babies dont like being physically constrained in any way and Anika is one of them. Since birth she disliked her baby bath, so we moved her to the adult bath, with just 2 inches of water, a cloth underneath (to prevent slipping) and over her tummy (to keep her warm) and since she has loved baths. Play time has always been on floor and we have never used swings, bouncers, walkers etc. She is OK with going in her stroller as long as she can see and admire trees 🙂

Car seat has been the hardest battle and the most difficult to figure out. For the same reason, we had kept our outings to a minimum but that is not really feasible long term. I have tried heaps of things and the following 3 ways have worked well for her…Now Anika is ok to travel in car seats for an hour at a stretch and also sleeps in them. Life has become so much easier since! We now visit shops, supermarket, friends and also go for baby sensory classes. These ideas are only inspired by following my child and seeing what she was interested in. But, I thought maybe this would work for more babies, so I should share 🙂

Silk scarf– Her MOST favorite toy of all time is this silk scarf. She loves the colors and the texture. We love that it stays in her lap (its soo long) and does not slip down even if she lets go of it. She loves chewing on it and playing peekaboo by herself.

Babies love seeing other babies. Anika loves watching her car friends 🙂

Pictures of babies- Babies love looking at other babies. My purpose of sticking these pictures (found on google images) was to aid her developing vision, concentration, acceptance of others and imbibe diversity at a young age. Well, she has loved looking at her ‘car friends’ and I highly recommend this.

Allowing her favorite objects to grasp while in the car seat- spoon and toothbrush

Toothbrush or spoon– Babies learn through imitation. And the things that fascinate my little one the most is holding a spoon (and eating) and bushing with a toothbrush (like she sees me doing everyday). Letting her practice grasping her 2 favorite objects in the car seat has made it much more entertaining for her to be in there. As a reminder, I would only give this to a baby if its safe for them. (i.e.: they dont hit their face accidentally anymore)

Other than above, if Anika gets unsettled and I am driving, I sing to her and that works too. It has been 5 months of repeated exposure to the car seat for brief periods and also an understanding that I am still around in the drivers seat, but the above has helped heaps to ease the transition of being ok in the car seat. Hope this was useful to someone 🙂

Montessori Shelf at 5 Months Old

July 3, 2019 by jayabalar Leave a Comment

Anika is 5 months old already! It reminds me to savor moments like these….

Love cuddling her when she is asleep and awake!

Anika is rolling over and has got a lot more mobile on her tummy and her back. So it was time to make some important changes in the room. While Anika slept in the stroller this morning, I quickly re organised her room and shelf. The final look for this month is…

The 2 most important changes in the room are:

We replaced our much loved rainbow wool rug with this large thick play mat (PVC and phthalate free). So she now has more space to explore her movements. We found this rug at Baby Show in Auckland last year, but you can find similar one here.
I have placed my breastfeeding pillow, near the shelf. We now spend 5-10 minutes every work cycle doing assisted sitting practice. Sitting is the only gross motor skill that babies need to “practice” with help before they can master it on their own and 5 months is the perfect time to start this. To be honest, 2 pillows joined at an angle will work just fine.

For a few more days, her favorite bell chimes mobile stays because she absolutely loves working with it. I am always in the room with her, so it’s ok but generally as soon as babies start to roll over its safer to take all the mobiles out.

Practicing assisted sitting with pillow and my hand

Now time for our exciting shelfie!!

We were very happy to receive some amazing rattles from Sarah at Every Educaid. I love this company and all their beautiful natural and hands-on educational resources. Anika has come a long way with her grasp this last month, so these beautiful rattles are just perfect for 5th month to further refine her grasp.

Thank you Sarah (Every Educaid) for these beautiful rattles + wooden spiky balls for heuristic basket

Top shelf Details:

Wooden bowls- are from flea markets in Bali.

First bowl– Playsilk since Anika is REALLY into peekaboo atm. She is trying to make sense of order permanence.

Second bowl– Interlocking discs. During 5th month a very important thing happens with hands- TRANSFER FROM ONE HAND TO ANOTHER. So if there is only 1 resource I recommend for this age, it would be this beautiful discs designed ideally for hand to hand transfer.

Third, fourth, fifth and sixth bowls- are all rattles from Every Educaid. Anika hardly misses grasping what she wants now. These rattles are much more trickier to hold than her previous ones, which will further refine her grasp.

First box- has willow rattle (from Every Educaid) and wooden rattle from Essential Montessori.

Hug a Planet– We LOVE this cloth ball. It gives a great height and support to work with specially when Anika is practicing sitting.

Skwish Toy– Still a favorite at 5 months!

Montessori Perfect Pacifier– we use it as a teether and its easy to hold and great to gnaw on.

We have another basket with toys in the living room. That includes her all time favorite teether- Sophie the Giraffe and lots of books! Happy Wednesday everyone.

Settling a newborn- the Montessori way (Montessori Voices magazine version)

July 1, 2019 by jayabalar Leave a Comment

I love writing for Montessori Voices (NZ Montessori magazine). I am grateful to have met Cathy, the lovely editor and executive direction of MANZ, NZ at our AMI 0-3 certificate training last year. My first article was released at the start of this year on “Preparing a Montessori Newborn Space” and I choose to write the second article on ‘Settling a Newborn-the Montessori way” because I found the birth month really hard and was immensely grateful to have read about the Montessori way and the crucial importance of those first few weeks of life. I hope you find this article useful and please do share with any new mum you know…

Symbiotic Period is the first 6-8 weeks in a newborns life that have a significant impact on their overall development depending on the level of care provided by the mother/primary caregiver. The mother-child relationship is established through the following three forms of contact:

Holding- The body language from the primary caregiver as she holds it provides the newborn information about their caregiver’s attitude and feelings towards the baby. When a newborn is held with loving kindness it provides them a reassurance that they are accepted and loved.

Much research has shown that the extent and quality of care the mother provides the child are strongly conditioned by the amount of time they spent together during the first days after birth.- Dr. Montanaro.

Handling- A caregiver’s positive involvement while changing, dressing and bathing the newborn becomes another vital tool for the baby’s smooth transition into their new environment. By involving a newborn in his/her care routine by slowing down and letting them know what is going to happen to them next helps the baby feel secure and respected.

Feeding- Breast milk is recommended as the most optimum food for an infant. Apart from it being the most appropriate biological food, it also gives the infant and mother a sense of unity which helps in building secure attachment. If, you need to bottle fed, it is recommended that the primary caregiver feeds the infant during this period.

If all these experiences have been positive during the Symbiotic Period then the necessary integration between the child’s mind and body has happened and this becomes the moment of their psychological birth. The profound meaning of what happens in this period will have an effect throughout life.

Here are some Montessori guidelines that ease the transition during the Symbiotic Period:

Observing, Responding and Following the child– It is important to pay attention and be intuitive about our babies. A fantastic aid in the beginning few weeks while we got to know and understand each other was the Dunston baby language. All babies have a similar voice/ cry for the same reason. Once we understood the reason for the crying, we responded immediately.

“This basic trust produces optimistic individuals who will perceive the world as a beautiful place and who believe, no matter how difficult circumstances become, that external help can be found.”- Dr. Montanaro.

Freedom of movement is crucial from birth. So minimal or if possible don’t use of mittens, pacifier, swaddle, containers (swings, bouncers). Instead baby uses the floor bed and movement mat on the floor to have a complete view of their environment and freedom to move their body. It is also crucial that their “points of reference”, which is their memory during their time in the womb, are always available for a smooth transition during this period. These are mother’s voice, her heartbeat and freedom to touch their own body.

Importance of concentration– A newborn has an immense capacity to concentrate for long periods of time and Montessori mobiles are a great aid to concentration. The role of an adult is to not disturb the baby once they start concentrating. The scientific sequence to Montessori mobiles is developmentally appropriate to a child’s growing visual sense. Here is the sequence we followed:

Birth to 3 weeks- the child absorbs the environment, while placed on a movement mat.

4^th week- introduced Munari mobile (black and white)

6^th week- introduced mobile (introduction to primary colours)

8^th week- introduced Rainbow mobile (introduction to secondary colours)

9^th week- introduced Gobbi mobile (introduction to gradation of colours from darkest to lightest)

11^th week- introduced dancer’s mobile (realistic shapes and represents movement, flexibility, bodily expression and potency).

This is followed by batting and grasping mobiles.

It is our capacity to become altered by sustained attention to our surroundings that is the most spiritual quality of human beings.- Montessori from the Start

Respect the child- Respectis a crucial part of the Montessori philosophy. Some ways to respect a newborn are:

– Follow the child: It is developmentally not possible to spoil a baby! So when a baby wants to cluster feed or be held for long periods, follow the child because that’s what they need to feel secure in this new world.

– Communicate and involve them during personal cares: Letting them know what is about to happen to them before actually doing it lets them know what to expect and lays the foundation for their self-esteem and respect in relationships.

– Respect their need for personal space: It is recommended to keep visitors at a minimum in these first few weeks. Bonding as a family and keeping this personal space is crucial and eases their transition in the new environment. Close family and friends use a topponcino (security pillow) to carry the newborn so the child is handled securely.

Adjust the environment- Adjusting the home environment to bea little warmer, lights little dimmer and less noise will provide the child a smooth transition from their life in the womb.

The family is certainly a prime determinant for the positive development of the child. The parents should therefore understand that they hold the key to the development of a happy, integrated, strong human being.
Dr. Montanaro

The first few weeks are crucial and challenging period not just for the baby but also for the new mother/primary caregiver, who has a great responsibility of settling the baby while still recovering from birth. This article is only a guideline because every child and family works differently and have diverse circumstances. Along with a primary caregiver’s intuition and Montessori principles of following the child, respecting the child, observing and responding appropriately and freedom of movement a newborn settles in their new environment with ease.

20 Montessori Inspired Activities at 4 Months old

June 26, 2019 by jayabalar 2 Comments

At 4 months old, babies have discovered their hands and feet, they are refining their grasp and are very aware/fascinated with the outside world. Since Anika’s awake time has increased to 2 hours, we can do lots more than feed, change, concentrate on Montessori mobiles and tummy time 🙂

At 4 months old, Anika is obsessed with hands and feet. Here she is catching her toes and watching how mine move..

I recently posted several activities we love doing at 4 months old on Instagram. I am thrilled with all the feedback. Anika will be 5 months on this weekend, so I thought I should share all the various activities we have enjoyed doing this past month. To reiterate from my last post, these are all extra’s, the most important thing a baby needs is you (primary caregiver) and your loving attention.

Let’s start with the activity that got over 30 K views and 750 likes on Instagram :-O

Balloons loosely tied to the wrist- Between 3 and 6 months, the robotic arm and leg movements begin to disappear and this is replaced by more conscious and graceful movements. One of our favorite ‘rainy day’ activity for concentration + movement refinement is exploring loosely tied helium balloons on wrist. If you watch the video, you will see how much babies enjoy balloons. Any play with balloons should always be supervised.

Dance with bell socks- Here is a proof that babies learn through imitation. That’s why its always important for me to reflect on all I do and say. Dancing together with bells is a great way for us to connect and for Anika to practice rhythmic movement. She had been gifted these rattle socks and I made mine from inserting 2 loose bells in a pipe cleaner and tying it around my ankle.

Wooden figure mobile– Mobiles are a wonderful aid to concentration in the first few months of life. We have loved the Montessori mobile sequence during the first 3 months. At 3.5 months, we changed to this whales mobile, which helped in visual development through realistic shape and movement. At 3.5 months Anika started ‘grasping’ the whales instead of watching and batting them, so we changed to the ring/ bell chimes mobile.

Whales mobile provides a great stimulation for ‘grasping’ and
when they do, its time for bell chimes mobile

Bell chimes mobile– This is a fun and exciting extension to the Montessori ‘ring on ribbon’ mobile. I did a DIY ‘elastic on ring’ mobile, but Anika didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as she loved clashing the bells (cause and effect) on her bell chimes mobile.

Bell chimes mobile has been great for grasping with
a very pleasant soothing effect of the chimes

Still a great challenge to grasp during tummy time but its work in progress…

Anika enjoying a simple DIY Montessori elastic on ring mobile

Provide grasping opportunities on back and tummy– At 4 months, it’s all about ‘grasping’. Apart from trying to grasp everyone’s nose, lips and hair :-D, Anika has loved working with a variety of grasping toys.

Anika loves grasping her Hevea star ball which can be easily attached to any playgym

Tie double knot to silk scarf and hang it on your playgym. They are great for grasping and mouthing 🙂

Water play in the sink- One is never too young for water play! Most babies love playing with water. At 4 months old, babies can’t sit independently but they are developing stronger spine muscles to hold the supported sitting position for few minutes. We do a short water play in the sink every afternoon before getting changed and recently its become the highlight of the day for Anika. She splashes with her hands and feet and loves feeling her hands under running water. She is incredibly fascinated with the tap as well and is trying to figure it out.

Never too young for water play 😉 Sink works well at this age.

Go Outside- We go outside everyday (unless windy) and Anika kicks with excitement as soon as I bring her warm clothes out. She cooes and chats with the trees and loves each minute outdoors. I have spoken more about exactly why and how we do it in ‘Forest school for babies’.

Play with various textured balls- Balls are such a wonderful open-ended and sensorial toy. At 4 months old, we are using them to refine our grasp, feel different textures, taste them 😉 and encourage movement.

Grasping the crochet ball during tummy time

Since babies love bringing their hands together at 4 months. Holding various textured balls with both hands strengthens their hand muscles.

Science for babies- We have not introduced any bath toys yet. Anika is too busy cooing with me, splashing or chewing on her face cloth during bath time. So this set up with stones sinking at the bottom and duck floating was really fascinating for a little 4 month old.

First experience of sink and float for babies

Let them feel– the world and people around. Babies love feeling people’s faces, hair, clothes etc with their hands. They also love feeling everything in the environment, from a metal tap, wooden door to sand. Since their hand to mouth reflex is still not super quick, this is a wonderful age to let them feel their world.

Let them feel various textures in nature.

Read with them- We have tried to instill a love for books from birth. I have earlier blogged about our ‘Top 10 Montessori approved baby books”.

This book is our current favorite with lots of different textures to feel

Introduce the home environment- In the first 6 months, babies make a mental picture of the home environment so they are ready to go, once they start crawling 🙂 Anika absolutely loves it when I take her around the house and show her how the washing machine works or how to rotate the door knob. These are their “first practical life” lessons. We aid this by baby wearing and doing tummy time in various nooks and corners of home.

Anika gets to touch and feel all things around home and food is her favorite 🙂

Tummy time at random places around the house keeps her entertained without toys+ encourages new discoveries. Here she discovered, her hands slide under the mat and disappear!

Give them real-life things to explore-More than any toy, Anika loves to observe us do “real-life” things, like eat and brush. What intrigues babies the most at this stage is how our hands and feet move while doing those things. With the recent introduction to solids, she is figuring out how to hold a spoon and loves exploring this. She also loves playing with random things like my wooden bangle, house keys, remote control for heat pump etc. Please note, we only started giving her these ‘real objects’ towards the end of 4th month, once she had mastered the hand control enough to not hurt her face/ eyes.

Exploring a spoon and working out ‘the hold’

Let them watch the world- At 4 months old, babies are now more comfortable with the world around them. Every little thing amazes them, so we try to give Anika as many real-lie experiences as possible. She loves watching rain fall, watching cars drive past, people walking by….

Watching the rain fall is a wonderful sensorial experience for babies

At 4 months, babies can perceive the world of smooth transitions and love watching cars and people pass by..

Yoga with mum- For the past 3-4 months, I have found it impossible to take out time for self-care (yoga for me). Until recently, I figured yoga with Anika on the same mat would be kind of fun + my bit of ‘role modelling’. Yoga has had an immense impact on my life and as Anika is busy absorbing everything I do, I hope this becomes an integral part of her life too. Anika is obsessed with hands and feet and seeing my body move in different ways and from a different angle inspires her to move and ‘experiment’ more with her body too. Sometimes we do it for 2 minutes and sometimes 10 minutes, but something is better than nothing. For Anika, she is fascinated and trying to move too!

Watching mama’s hands and feet do funny things!

Never too young for yoga! Role modelling encourages her to move too.

Give them pictures to look at- We have loved these black and white cards from etsy in the first 4 months. Since she now moves 180 degrees and sometimes even moves 360 degrees during tummy time, I set up various cards/ pictures to encourage movement.

Looking at our favorite black and white images, which is a great tummy time incentive to move

Give them space and time to work on themselves- As a rule of thumb, Anika does tummy time (since day 4) as soon as she wakes up from a nap. We dont disturb her concentration, unless she calls us. This time/ space is essential for babies to work on their skills. We let her do this wherever we are and always respond to her needs but if she chooses to just work by herself, we respect that too. If you do use swings, bouncers or walkers, ensure that baby has ‘floor time’ as it is crucial for their growth and development.

All of this month has been about doing the ‘flying’ move during tummy time to build core strength for rolling + crawling

Practical life for babies- is watching adults do chores. In a Montessori classroom, adults do “presentations” to demonstrate the work. In home environment a baby is constantly watching the adult and absorbing “how things are done”. We like to include Anika in our daily life by getting her on our eye level while one of us do the chores and let her see us. This absolutely fascinates her! Concentration while absorbing chores is 100%.

Practical life for babies= watch us do chores

Sing and play instruments- We can’t play any musical instrument but randomly strum this ukelele (last Christmas present for hubby) and sing songs and dance every night. Hallelujah to screen free house! And I promise, babies think music is music even if you don’t know what cord you are playing 🙂

Trying to strum the ukelele like mama and daddy

Play dates- While babies love looking at other babies pictures in the books, what they love even more is seeing them in real-life. At 4 months old, babies are increasingly aware and bonding with other babies is a wonderful opportunity for them. During Anika’s first play date, she and her little buddy looked at each other and both simultaneously squealed in excitement and disbelief!

Hope this post gave you some ideas on fun ways to explore the world while aiding your babies development. Even though, I have tagged this as ‘4 month old’ activities, these will be enjoyed on repeat for us till at least she is 6 months old. Any more to add?

3 Most Loved Montessori materials in the first 3 months

June 12, 2019 by jayabalar Leave a Comment

I have written a detailed post about ‘Preparing a Montessori Newborn Space‘ earlier. Here is a quick guide to Montessori playroom furniture and three materials we have loved in the first three months.

A Montessori playroom for babies has 2 main pieces of furniture, which are used daily for many years:

Horizontal mirror– Easily our most loved and used piece of furniture. Anika has loved looking in this safe acrylic mirror since the first few days after birth. Some uses of the mirror for a baby are: it helps the child to have an extended view of their environment, Anika enjoys the mirror image of the mobiles, she watches her face and tries out facial expressions, she watches her hands and feet move, she enjoys interacting with others through the mirror, she prefers to be held (by a new person) while looking in the mirror so she knows whats happening with her body. Basically I cant recommend it enough 🙂 I love this particular mirror because we can easily move it, does not damage the walls and it can be reconfigured vertically when she starts walking.
An infant shelf- Babies are sensitive to order. So having this piece of furniture to store their play materials neatly in trays adheres to this sense of order and they learn from start and things belong to and have to be put back in their place. We got a wooden infant shelf from a local woodsman in Auckland , which will be used for years to come. But a shelf from Ikea or Kmart works well too.

As far as Montessori materials go, here are top 3 that we have used heaps and absolutely loved….

Montessori mobiles have been the most loved in these first 3 months

Montessori mobiles– We have had so much fun with these! They have been marvelous to develop Anika’s concentration. This being our main ‘toy’ for the first 3 months (and even now!) these mobiles have been totally worth its use.

Baby books and these black and white flash cards have been loved!

Baby books– Reading books has been a great way to bond and also form concrete routines for us. Anika loves these books and they are Montessori (real-life images) approved. We also love using these books and the black and white flashcards as our tummy time incentive.

Lovevery Play gym-this Montessori inspired playgym has been a big hit for us. Anika loved the black and white images, mirror, mobiles…I love that the little guide book that comes with it and tells you how to change the material every few months according to their development stage. It can be used right till she is a toddler.

Highly Recommended Montessori + other Parenting Books

June 6, 2019 by jayabalar Leave a Comment

Words by some incredible educators/scientists/ philosophers have opened up not just the horizons of my mind but also completely changed the way I parent. There is so much to say about how I have loved each of these books but I will keep it short for the sake of simplicity. Let’s start with if you only want to read 1 Montessori baby book, it would be…

My most highly recommended Montessori book from birth to three years

Montessori from the start– comprehensive, easy to read, easy to understand and easy to implement Montessori curriculum from birth to three years.

Some of my other favorite Montessori baby books are:

Understanding the Human Being– this is “the Montessori baby book” written by Dr. Montanaro who worked closely with Dr.Montessori and established what Montessori should look like from birth to three years. I LOVE this book! Its written in Montessori language, so a bit more scientific to read. Highly recommended!

The Joyful Child- Another Montessori bible from birth to three years. I love how it is so easy to read and understand.

The Absorbent Mind– written by Dr.Montessori this is for me the best “Montessori read” for an overall idea of this philosophy. She has also given many insights into the early years.

Other books that greatly influence my parenting…I will talk about authors/philosophies and their best work rather than just books here..

RIE– known as “resources for infant educarers” was founded by Magda Gerber who worked with Dr. Emmi Pikkler, a pediatriacian. To put it in brief “respecting the baby” forms the basis of this method and my favorite book is “Your self confident baby” by Magda Gerber. I also love Janet Lansbury’s blog!

The conscious parent– this book (and even the awakened family) by Dr. Shefali Tsabary wiped a bit of the fog of my ‘childhood conditioning’ and gave me an insight into my patterns and ways of being. Reflection is the first step in parenting, I think! Just can’t recommend these books and this lady enough.

Osho/ Sadhguru– I have listened to both of these mystics regularly for past few years on YouTube and love reading their books. I have loved their methods/ meditations too. Osho is not for the soft hearted! His words are powerful, bare and authentic. I love “the book of children“, which gives a great insight if you wish to raise a child not conditioned by the society but who is just truly themselves.

What respecting a baby means to us- Our do’s and dont’s

June 2, 2019 by jayabalar 2 Comments

In today’s time, we have some really incredible children (rather humanitarian) advocates whose work is well known and their voices have reached millions of families around the world. Some of my favorites are Dr. Montessori, Janet Lansbury, Magda Gerber, Dr. Shefali Tsabary, Alfie Kohn….

Past 3 months, has been an incredible journey for us as a family. Hubby and I agree and have observed below:

How sensitive babies really are!
How they can gauge if we truly see them as worthy individuals or not.
How they can pick up the energy levels of people, what they say etc even if they dont understand our words.
How much more settled, content and engaged they are when respected vs when not.

But well ‘respecting a baby’ can be quite a hazy thing. In the format of do’s and don’t’s, here is what respect means to us regarding our daughter…..

DO’s:

We inform our daughter what is going to happen next on a continuous basis, e.g.: now I am going to pick you up…
We give her space. Which means if she is concentrating or is engaged in her environment or her toys, we do not interrupt.
We observe her to understand through her body language, nuances, expressions and cooes.
We model grace and courtesy. Babies are sponges, who absorb every little thing they see.
We talk to her and everyone else in soft kind voices.
We listen to her and let her know she matters.
We give her routines with slight changes every now and then, so she knows what to expect, trust this new world and feels safe.
We talk to her directly and not as a third person.
We acknowledge her feelings. So instead of saying, “its ok”, we say ‘I hear you are upset, lets…..’
We follow her lead and leave our prerogatives behind as much as we can.
We do say sorry, please and thank you to her.

DON’T’S:

We do not put her in any unnatural physical position. That means, we don’t sit her/ walk her if she cant do this independently.
We do not fling her in the air or shake her.
We do not tickle her, babies can’t tell you to stop if they dont like it. Plus their nervous system is not strong enough for all the stimulation!
We do not put her upside down, same reason as above.
We do not pick her up from behind. We come in front and let her know what is going to happen first.
We do not scream, bully or belittle anyone, just because we are in the ‘power’ to do so. We make a conscious effort to not just treat humans with respect and kindness but also our family dog and other animals.
We do not slap, flick or spank, even as a joke! These days so much is done in the name of love!
We do not undermine natural processes. Ex- stinky poo! Cause if not for that she would be constipated!
We do not use terms like “good girl.” Good for who? Good is comparative. Good means my child must live their life to make you happy? If she does not please you, then bad girl? We instead use terms like- I love you, brave, wise, funny, kind…..
“When people see things as beautiful, ugliness is created. When people see things as good, evil is created.”- Lao Tzu

In saying above, we always try our best, make several mistakes and learn each time. But we choose to view her as a respected small individual rather than a helpless one. As a teacher, I have observed the below with children:

Only a child that has been respected, can truly respect another being.
Children are a reflection of what we see them as.
Children are also a reflection of who we are. So we as parents constantly work at being our most authentic, loving and kind self.

“Many awful things have been done in the name of love, but nothing awful can be done in the name of respect.”- Magda Gerber.

These are our beliefs and what we have known and learned. We don’t judge other parents (cause everyone has their own way) and we expect to not be judged either. Does this resonate with anyone?

montessori baby

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