A Montessori Home Tour: Natalie of Little Dawns

This week I interviewed Natalie of Instagram account @littledawns. I really enjoy following her account. She is a working mom (teacher!) of two who brings daily positivity and inspiration to her followers. Natalie has fantastic ideas for Montessori activities with babies and toddlers, and I was so excited to learn more about how she has created a prepared environment in her home. I hope you enjoy the interview and home tour!

Tell me about yourself...

My name is a Natalie and I’m a teacher on the Gold Coast, Australia. I have been a teacher for 8 years. I have taught in England, Sydney, and Far North Queensland (remote Australia). I was born in South Africa and have been living in Australia for over 20 years.

How old are your children?

Ari is 2 years old

Shiloh is 9 months old

When did you first learn about Montessori?

I was first introduced to the Montessori philosophy by my mother-in-law. She studied AMI Montessori 0-3 and ran three schools in Sydney for over ten years. When I had my son and she started to teach me how to incorporate practical tips into our home environment, I fell in love with all things Montessori.

How have you created a Prepared Environment in your home?

We have tried to prepare the environment for our toddler and baby. Both of our children sleep on floor beds. We love seeing Shiloh crawl off her bed in the mornings with a huge smile on her face.

For Ari, we have lots of shelves at his height so that he can reach his activities easily. I’ve also recently bought him a clothing rack so that he can reach his clothes and dress himself in the morning. He also has his own shelf in each room in the house. The top section is for him but since Shiloh has started to pull up on everything, we’ve had to ensure the activities are not dangerous for her.