Giving Montessori a whirl

I've got a long time fascination going with Montessori, probably in part because I'm such a disorganized lass myself, it satisfies some inner goddess of order and cleanliness that I have lurking in there somewhere.

Things have been kind of coocoomungo around here lately so I'm trying to get my smart on and set a few things in place that will make it a little easier to get through the day. One thing I've had simmering on the back burner of my mind is doing a little Montessori with Bruno. I got this shelf and I'm just going to try rotating out four little activities a day or every couple of days. We did it today and yesterday. Bruno really enjoyed it, though when he was done he was really done and I had to shuffle him off right quick so he wouldn't just destroy and scatter all the nice little work I had set up. Le sigh, such is my life.

I'm glad I finally did it, because I've always thought Bruno would really take to Montessori and feared that I was missing some big amazing boat by letting his absorbent-mind years pass on by without getting him in some groovy and so-super-expensive and full-time program (those last two elements just continue to prevent me from getting him in anywhere) but I have to say also I feel like setting up this little shelf is more for me than for him... he could surely survive and turn out just righty-dandy without it, but for me as a busy mom with a monkey mind... impatient, easily bored, restless... it gives me something to seize onto and helps me to focus on Bruno, just Bruno, for that little chunk of time. And I know that's what he needs more than anything else, and I think that more than anything, that good focus and engagement, will help tip the scales of this household back from pure mayhem to peaceful and serene. Well, a girl can dream.

It was really easy actually to find activities. Two of those things are just little puzzles I found at Savers yesterday and I have several more planned to do with just stuff we have laying around the house. It's nice to know you don't have to shell out big bucks for awesome enriching materials. If you're interested at all, there's lots of blogs out there that will provide you with ideas aplenty. Some ones I keep up with are Chasing Cheerios, My Montessori Journey, and The Wonder Years.