A Montessori Home Tour: Caroline of @budding. and. blossoming

This week I interviewed Caroline of Instagram account @budding.and.blossoming. I've been following her since the beginning of her account and I have to say, I really wish it existed when Layla was a baby! Her posts are simple, beautiful and make sense. There is an organic and uncomplicated feel to the materials, activities and books she has in her space. Caroline truly makes having a Montessori home look achievable. I really enjoyed interviewing her this week and I hope you enjoy taking a peek into her home and learning more!

Tell me about yourself...

My name is Caroline and I’m a wife, mum and primary school teacher. I am from sunny Queensland in Australia. My childhood of daily bush walks with my dad and weekly library visits, crafts and reading with my mum turned me into a nature and craft loving adult.

How old is your child?

Alfred is 9 months old.

When did you first learn about Montessori?

I first learnt about Montessori during a history of early childhood theory class at university. I remember the way they discussed it was “all the way over in Italy...” Then I did a 4 week teaching prac in a Montessori room with 2-3 year olds. This showed me some wonderful things about Montessori but also, as I later learnt, some common misconceptions. I thought that the children had no freedom to play as they couldn’t move on to a new material without first mastering the original one they are presented. I later realised that the importance a child gains from mastery and that they really enjoyed the materials.

How have you created a Prepared Environment in your home?

We have:

• Ensured all our rooms are accessible for Alfred

• Each room has something of interest for him to explore e.g kitchen cupboards with containers, a cart with some random objects in the bathroom, pillows to climb in the bedrooms

• A shelf with 6-8 materials in the living room, rotated weekly to match his current interests/development

• Children’s board books on the bottom level of our book shelves

• A bath caddy for him to access his own bath toys and wash cloths

Soon I’m looking forward to adding his weaning chair and table (on order from my dad) and introducing more aspects of practical life such as using a wash basket, cutlery sorting, picking tomatoes etc

What are your top 3 activities to do with Alfred or to watch him do?

1. Going for walks and watching him stare intensely at things, such as the ducks swimming in the pond, the man playing guitar, the statues in the garden.

2. I love seeing him learn a new skill, in my mind I am wildly clapping and dancing while I try not to distract him e.g the first time he put a ball in the DIY object permanence box.

3. Seeing him have fun (is that too corny to include?) He has recently started clapping and kicking his legs at the same time while sitting up, usually for no apparent reason but that he’s happy.