I had only one baby, a little girl, the first time I read a description of this pedagogy. I had seen a picture of a crib lying on the floor that was described as Montessori style. Intrigued, I did a research. It was a revelation. What first pushed me to integrate it into our lives is the famous sentence: Help me to do it alone. Fostering autonomy is something that resonated with my vision of early childhood. I immediately wanted to find out more about the subject.jet.
At that time, my favorite baby toys were the ones that I thought were the most "stimulating", those with sounds and lights. I had bought into the idea that a colorful toy that spoke and sang the alphabet should logically be the best choice. Babies like it after everything, no
Upon discovering Montessori, my vision began to change. I discovered a parallel universe where several visions of childhood are rubbed shoulders. After opening up to Montessori, I discovered the principles of Waldorf-Steiner then highscope, and many others.
I grew up thinking there was only one way to do, and now I discovered all the other possibilities. The image that I had made myself from childhood then appeared to me less and less the way to to follow. The more I read, the more I felt that alternative pedagogies were the best choice to support my child in his development.
In the following years, I took the TV off, gave it all the plastic toys, bought all the wooden toys, then gave back a part of the wooden toys to have a more refined environment. Oh come in time, I also had 4 other babies, studied child development and had an alternative home childcare service.
I realized that my choices, not only to toys, but also in terms of schedule, food, layout (and so many others!) had a great influence on the behavior of my children. The more I moved away from the battery-powered childhood, the more my children were calm and happy.
You know, the idealized vision that we have from our childhood to us, where the child plays for hours outside or inside, alone or with others children, to invent a world This vision that seems so difficult to to reach in 2019, it is possible to approach it. I'm not saying that the alternative will make your family life perfect, but yes it is possible to do different. For my family, this is the winning recipe.
I have spent the last 8 years rethinking childhood, navigate around the different pedagogies until finding a balance. I have took the best of each pedagogy to integrate elements into our daily.
Throughout this journey, I have experienced a lot, observed (you could almost say I've tried everything!) and that's what I want to to share with you. I want to avoid my mistakes and present to you a universe of possibility for you to find what could be interesting for your family.
In short, my name is Zoe, I have five children from 0 to 9 years old and I am passionate about alternative pedagogies, play and childhood. At pleasure to discuss with you!
Signed Five minutes to play - Zoé L. Sirois
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