The Montessori Notebook podcast :: a Montessori parenting podcast with Simone Davies

Hello there! I'm popping into your podcast feed with a catch up on what has been happening the last 2.5 years since the last podcast episode, including the launch of The Montessori Child book. The book picks up where The Montessori Toddler leaves off, covering how to bring Montessori into your home with 3-12 year olds, including a bonus chapter on adolescence. At the end of the epidsode, I also answer a listener question about talking to our children about war. Links from the episode The Mon...

Welcome to the last episode of Season 2. And it’s a good one. Today I get to chat to Montessori educator and a nationally recognised anti-bias educator in the US, Britt Hawthorne. She’s all about creating inclusive and equitable environments for all learners and understandably her work has been recognized by none other than PBS, Drew Barrymore, Google Edu, Association Montessori Internationale, and more. I have learned so much from Britt over the last year and a half, yes, about being an anti...

I have not just one amazing guest but two for a conversation about Montessori at home. I invited Jeanne-Marie Paynel, Your Parenting Mentor, and Pilar Bewley from Mainly Montessori to look at how we can apply Montessori principles in our homes whether we are homeschooling our child, they go to a Montessori school or not and we want to apply Montessori at home. We cover children from 0 to 12 in this conversation, how Montessori can be done on a budget, Montessori and minimalism, Montessori tra...

Hi everyone and welcome to another episode of The Montessori Notebook podcast. Today I'm talking with Hannah Baynham from Collaborative Montessori about some of the big picture principles in Montessori. Hannah is a teacher educator who is passionate about issues of social justice, sustainability and the spiritual preparation of the guide. Having worked in schools around the world, she has a unique view of the importance of Cosmic Education in our early years environments. Don’t k...

Welcome to another episode of The Montessori Notebook podcast. Today’s conversation is a little different as we transport ourselves to Nigeria and get to see how Montessori looks there. This conversation is with Ochuko Prudence Daniels, the founder of Momahill Montessori who found Montessori through her children and, as you’ll hear, she didn’t choose to become a Montessori teacher. It just happened. You’ll learn so much from Pru as we talk about how they apply Montessori in their home and in ...

So lovely to learn more about Theresa from Montessori In Real Life who we all love following on Instagram. She shares so much in this episode from how she gets her children to pack away, to what they are loving outdoors, organising spaces with siblings, their favourite practical life, her own anti-bias journey and so much more. Links from the show Theresa from Montessori in Real Life - Website / InstagramQuote from Aubrey Hargis hereBritt & Tiffany's course - their 4 week course is curre...

Something I get asked a lot about is how to do Montessori with twins. I loved this conversation with Ana-Kay of Pickneys at Play who shared with us everything from eating and toileting with two, when they copy each other doing something that's not safe, some travelling tips and how they incorporated their religion and Jamaican culture into their home. Links from the show Pickneys at Play - InstagramFrom Childhood to Adolescence, by Dr Montessoristand up diaper changelanguage matching activit...

I said last week I’d have to do a podcast soon all about babies, and after our book launch Zoom party for The Montessori Baby last week where Junnifa and I were talking all about our love for babies, I decided it could be fun to share the recording from the book launch party for this week’s podcast. We talked about how we show respect for babies in the Montessori approach, we give you a virtual tour of the book, and even some of the people featured in the book were live on the call and able t...

In this episode, Barbara and Ferne share so much wisdom from years of Montessori teaching, Montessori parenting and being a Montessori grandparent. By the end of the episode, you'll want to adopt both of them as surrogate grandparents in your home too! Links from the show Barbara Isaacs - Montessori Europe, Montessori Musings, Montessori Granny, My Montessori Life podcastFerne van Zyl - The Independent Child, InstagramThe book you wish your parents had read, by Philippa PerryOn Children by K...

This episode about Marvin Reyes and sustainability Such a fun conversation today with Marvin of Vincerola nurseries & preschools in Cologne, Germany. We were planning to interview some of the children but with 4 and 5 year olds whose native language isn't English, well, you'll have to listen to hear how that went. Keeping it real. Then I got to ask Marvin all about their sustainability projects in their Montessori school. We talked about building bee hotels, nature visits and how they ar...

Today I have an amazing conversation to share with Gabriel Salomão of Lar Montessori in Brazil. His native language is Portuguese and yet speaks so eloquently, gently and respectfully about the Montessori approach. I always learn something from our conversations and am so happy to be able to share this conversation with you on the podcast today. Lar Montessori: Website / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube Gabriel works with families and schools in Brazil and abroad, including training Montesso...

Mars (Instagram/website) was a Montessori educator and owned her own school and now homeschools her daughter Cara. I asked Mars if I could interview her daughter Cara about their Montessori homeschooling and we spoke for over an hour! I'm sure you'll enjoy this conversation as much as I did. At the end Mars also talks about how she supports Cara's learning and what "successful" homeschooling looks like to them. Links from the episode How to Save a Planet - podcast about climate change...

Hi everyone! Simone here and I'm super excited to be back with another season of The Montessori Notebook podcast. Today I'll be talking with Nusaibah Macadam from Rumi Montessori. It was a beautiful conversation covering: Montessori through the four planes of developmentHow Nusaibah sees Montessori as being of serviceHow to develop trust in the Montessori methodHow using Montessori can be joyful and not stressfulHow to stay calm when a child is having a hard timeDoes Montessori mean children ...

Happy to be back with another Q&A episode. So many valuable questions, it was hard to choose! I've selected the most commonly asked questions as well as a few less often asked but useful to answer as I haven't seen them often discussed elsewhere. In this episode I answer your questions about: when you learn about Montessori, make some changes, and things seem to be getting worse rather than betterhow much to let our children play independently and how much to do together like cooking, pla...

I love it when Montessori teachers share their secrets and today's conversation with Nichole Holtvluwer of Radicle Beginnings is just like that. Nichole talks us through why children need boundaries, and we can set these limits in a calm and clear way from a child hitting to a fussy eater. Nichole is so respectful in how she communicates with children right down to making intentional word choices and how she speaks with them to keep them curious about the world around them. She is an expert w...

This week I have a beautiful conversation with Junnifa all the way over in Nigeria. You may know Junnifa from her blog, Nduoma or instagram or her school, Fruitful Orchard Montessori. You'll leave this episode feeling inspired to either parent in a more Montessori way, maybe take a Montessori training, or simply to be more calm and present in whatever role you are taking on right now. In our conversation we cover: 🌿how she juggles running a Montessori school, her Montessori trainings, being ...

On today's podcast I had so much fun chatting to Nicole Kavanaugh of The Kavanaugh Report, mother of four children (and a dog), raising four children in a Montessori way. So if you've ever thought it might be easy to raise children in a Montessori way with one child, but struggled once there were some siblings involved, this episode will help you breathe a sigh of relief and give you an insight into how it can be a more relaxing way to parent, even in larger families. We cover so much in this...

Today I share my conversation with Bill Conway which is a little different to others in the series where we zoom out and look at the big picture of Montessori. Bill is the Head of School at Montessori East in Sydney, Australia and I loved getting to ask him the tough questions like "does Montessori prepare children for the real world?", asking him if Montessori is still relevant in today's modern world, and how they deal with conflict in the classroom and bullying. We also cover: parent’s co...

I had so much fun in this episode catching up with Heleen who used to come to my Montessori playgroup here in Amsterdam with her daughter Josie. We hear all about the Montessori principles they still use in their home now that Josie is 6 and even though Josie doesn't go to a Montessori school. We have a beautiful conversation covering: Montessori at hometheir Montessori spacesconflict resolution between childrenthe grey cloud of early motherhood for Heleen and how she got through itinvolving ...

I loved putting together this episode of the podcast. So many great questions have been submitted about the Montessori approach and today I spend the whole episode answering lots of them. Hope it will be super useful to all of you no matter where you are on your Montessori journey. Topics we cover in today’s episode include: A Montessori approach to night sleepIncorporating Montessori as working parentsDiscipline advice for aggressive behaviour (pulling hair, pinching, etc.) without spanking ...

Today's episode is a positive and heartwarming conversation with Andy Lulka, a Montessori teacher, parent and child. As someone who has spent their whole life around Montessori, you'll hear about: growing up in a Montessori schoolwhat a middle school Montessori program looks likehow Judaism is brought into the Jewish Day School programhow we can do better with anti-bias education touching on equity, diversity, inclusion and intersectionality (and where Simone puts up her hand to say, "I'm los...

Today we get into the woman behind the Montessori approach - yes, Dr Montessori herself in a lovely conversation with her great granddaughter, Carolina Montessori. Listen to this conversation and learn about: Dr Montessori's years working in psychiatric hospitals and anthropology before working in educationHer work as a feministHow she became so well-known in an era before the internet and instagramAn insight into her relationship with her own son, Mario, who was born out of wedlockCarolina's...

A deep conversation with Eloise from @mightymother_ in the UK all about creating a beautiful childhood and how they incorporate Montessori into their eclectic homeschooling days. And even if you aren't homeschooling, you'll learn: * alternatives to praise * building a family rhythm rather than a schedule * creating cosy spaces at different ages * what morning time looks like in their home - from tea to poetry to Latin and French - you are going to want to hear why a 4.5 year old is into these...

Simone has a fascinating conversation with Trina from DIY Corporate Mom from The Philippines about how she embraces the Montessori philosophy as a way of parenting as a working parent. We cover so many questions like: if it's possible to do Montessori at home if you workwhat about Montessori and Disney? (two things you don't often see in the same sentence)how we can say goodbye in a respectful way with our childworking parents and stay-at-home parentshow to guide the carers/grandparents looki...

Want to really know what it's like to be a Montessori family? I'll be talking to my daughter Emma and my son Oliver who went to Montessori school up until 12 years old. And how they found the transition to a "regular" school (spoiler: not so difficult it appears). We talk about what it's like to be bilingual, things they remember from Montessori school, what it's like having a Montessori teacher as a parent, and even sex education in the Netherlands. I'll also be talking to their Dad, Luke, ...

Perhaps you don’t know yet what Montessori is. Or you may have been on a Montessori journey for a long time. Your children may or may not be at Montessori school. Or still a baby, already a teenager, or having families of their own. There will be something for everyone, Montessori parents, teachers, or just if you have a curious mind. Your host, Simone Davies, is a Montessori teacher and parent and aims to make Montessori accessible to anyone, help you be more calm, understanding and support...