A guide to educational play Montessori style offers ideas for activities and games to supplement preschool learning.

As adults, we often underestimate the value that play has in developing children both physically and mentally. In the first few years of a child¿s life, the brain is growing at a rapid rate and play cannot be overvalued at this time as it allows a child to engage and make sense of the world. Child¿s Play is an activity book filled with play ideas for parents to enjoy with their toddlers, from 12 months through to three years of age. Each game offers parents the chance to relish, encourage and assist in their child¿s key developmental stage, and all activities are based on sound techniques of early-childhood education. They are presented with guidelines and suggestions that progress in terms of difficulty, and no specialised knowledge or equipment is necessary. From encouraging your infant to explore the sense of touch and increase their coordination to performing action songs and discovering the garden or local park, Child¿s Play offers children and parents the chance to learn and play together.

Announcing that rare parenting book that will not only help you become a more effective parent but actually change how you see your children. Written by Montessori educator Simone Davies, this book shows you how to bring the educational values of a Montessori classroom into your home—while turning the whole idea of the “terrible twos” on its head. Here is how to set up Montessori-friendly spaces in your home. Principles for fostering curiosity in your child—and in yourself. Specific Montessori skills—the winter coat flip; getting your toddler to pour his or her own water and clean up whatever spills might occur. And it goes much deeper, showing how a parent can really be present, be the child’s guide, and handle tantrums and problematic behavior without resorting to bribes, threats, or punishment and truly celebrate every stage. It’s also that rare parenting book that’s beautiful to look at, with a bright, airy design and simple color illustrations and photographs.

It’s time to change the way we see babies. Drawing on principles developed by the educator Dr Maria Montessori, The Montessori Baby shows how to raise your baby from birth to age one with love, respect, insight, and a surprising sense of calm. Cowritten by Simone Davies, author of the bestselling The Montessori Toddler, and Junnifa Uzodike, it’s a book filled with hundreds of practical ideas for understanding what is actually happening with your baby, and how you can mindfully assist in their learning and development. Including how to: Prepare yourself for parenthood–physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. Become an active observer to understand what your baby is really telling you. Create Montessori spaces in your home, including “yes” spaces where nothing is off-limits. Set up activities that encourage baby’s movement and language development at their own pace Raise a secure baby who’s ready to explore the world with confidence.

Help toddlers learn and develop with the Montessori method Some of children's most important social and emotional developments happen during their toddler years. Encourage learning and inspire discovery at home with this toddler activity book based on the Montessori method, a child-centered and scientifically based approach to engaging kids in their own development. From moving to music to creating a suncatcher and playing card games, this wide range of fun activities for toddlers will foster independence and build confidence. Discover a Montessori activity book that includes: Purposeful exercises—Each activity focuses on a specific developmental skill and provides clear instructions on how to carry out the activities in the Montessori way. Key learning areas—Exercises are organized into five learning areas based on Montessori principles: motor skills, art, daily or practical life, sensory stimulation, and language. Tips and modifications—Find pointers for using everyday household items to prepare the exercises in this toddler activity book, and learn how to increase or decrease an activity's level of difficulty. Support and encourage children's natural development with The Montessori Toddler Activity Book.

A fresh, comprehensive biography of the pioneering educator and activist who changed the way we look at children’s minds, from the author of Oriana Fallaci. Born in 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy, Maria Montessori would grow up to embody almost every trait men of her era detested in the fairer sex. She was self-confident, strong-willed, and had a fiery temper at a time when women were supposed to be soft and pliable. She studied until she became a doctor at a time when female graduates in Italy provoked outright scandal. She never wanted to marry or have children—the accepted destiny for all women of her milieu in late nineteenth-century bourgeois Rome—and when she became pregnant by a colleague of hers, she gave up her son to continue pursuing her career. At around age thirty, Montessori was struck by the condition of children in the slums of Rome’s San Lorenzo neighborhood, and realized what she wanted to do with her life: change the school, and therefore the world, through a new approach to the child’s mind. In spite of the resistance she faced from all sides—scientists accused her of being too mystical, and the clergy of being too scientific, traditionalists of giving children too much freedom, and anarchists of giving them too much structure—she would garner acclaim and establish the influential Montessori method, which is now practiced throughout the world. A thorough, nuanced portrait of this often controversial woman, The Child Is the Teacher is the first biographical work on Maria Montessori written by an author who is not a member of the Montessori movement, but who has been granted access to original letters, diaries, notes, and texts written by Montessori herself, including an array of previously unpublished material.

Angeline Stoll Lillard here shows that science has finally caught up with Maria Montessori. Lillard presents the research behind eight principles that provide the foundation for Montessori education and describes how each principle is applied in the Montessori classroom.