7 Montessori Ways To Support

Your Baby’s
Learning

Copyright © 2020 Monti Kids, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

“The goal of early childhood
should be to activate the child’s
own natural desire to learn.”

Dr. Maria Montessori

Copyright © 2020 Monti Kids, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 01

Contents

03 Learning Starts at Birth

05 What is Montessori?
10 7 Montessori Ways to Support Your Baby’s Learning
13 About Monti Kids
14 About Authors
16 References

Copyright © 2020 Monti Kids, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 02

Learning Starts at Birth

85% of the brain is formed by age 3

100%

0%
0 years 18 years

The core structure of the brain is formed in the first three years.
By age three, the brain has established a pattern of processing
information that will be used throughout life. As such, a child’s
early experiences affect the quality of their brain architecture,
forming the foundation upon which future development rests. Early
experiences also have a greater impact on the developing brain
because new experiences are stored in relation to previous ones.
Children’s early experiences are ingrained at a deep level and have
lasting effects. Enhancing a child’s early years with Montessori
materials and guidance can help to fulfill and expand a child’s long
term potential.

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Enviroment Shapes Brain
Development

While some say the only toy a baby needs is a cardboard box,
numerous research studies show that children who grow up in
more stimulating environments do better than those who have
fewer opportunities to learn. Brain development is activity
dependent so everything a child touches, tastes, sees, hears, and
smells impacts the brain’s circuitry. Exposing babies to a variety of
age-appropriate stimuli, meeting their developmental needs, and
providing just enough challenge to stretch their skills will lay the
best foundation for the future.

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What is Montessori

Montessori is an educational approach that has been used for over

100 years and implemented by over 20,000 schools around the
world. It is an ideal educational method for young children that
involves a series of toys, designed through research, to meet
their developmental needs. It is comprehensive — addressing
the child’s cognitive, physical, linguistic, social, and emotional
development. Researchers have long recognized the many benefits
of Montessori provide the necessary competencies in a fast-
changing world where learning how to learn is the best foundation
for success.

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Benefits of Montessori

Embodied Learning
Montessori is described as “embodied education” because it
prescribes learning through doing, involving as many senses as
possible to fully capture a child’s attention and to promote the
synthesis of information at every level. Children learn best when
they move. While we often consider them as separate, motor
development and cognitive development are fundamentally
intertwined, tapping into similar areas of the brain. Numerous
research studies show that when educational activities incorporate
movement, learners gain a better understanding of content and
remember that content more accurately. Every Montessori lesson
involves both mind and body; even vocabulary is learned through
incorporating new words in movement games.

Fosters Independence
If given the right tools, a baby is capable of so much, whether
it be self-feeding or choosing and mastering a challenging toy.
Montessori fosters independence and self-direction through the
thoughtful design of each toy, through the layout of the play
space, and through the way the adult interacts with the child.
Enabling a child to act independently helps them grow in self-
confidence and build internal locus of control, the sense of
being capable and powerful. Studies show that when children have
more control over their learning, they work harder, perform better,
retain more information, and are more creative and joyful.

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Benefits of Montessori

Learning Through Play

The Montessori curriculum is the result of Dr. Maria Montessori’s
groundbreaking research on how children learn through play.
Each toy in the curriculum was refined through research to meet
the child’s evolving intellectual needs, feeding curiosity and
creating the conditions for engaging play and deep learning.
Today, countless researchers tout the benefits of guided play for
young children, including advances in language development,
executive function, and brain growth itself.

Studies have shown that babies at play act as researchers,

exploring, experimenting, and imagining new possibilities. Our job
is not to fill children with information but rather, to provide a rich
environment and support their natural drive to learn through play.

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Benefits of Montessori

Instills Perseverance
Children learn most when presented with just the right amount
of challenge, not so easy that they are bored and not so difficult
that they are frustrated. The Montessori curriculum is thoughtfully
designed and timed so that children are repeatedly entering this
ideal zone for learning. Montessori maps a child’s development
so that with each toy, the child goes through the experience of
struggling with a new skill, practicing, and then mastering it.

Mastering challenging activities helps children to develop healthy

self-esteem and a growth mindset, the understanding that
they can improve their skills and increase their intelligence.
Children with a growth mindset persevere longer on challenging
tasks, a habit that leads to greater success in school, career, and
relationships.

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Benefits of Montessori

Cultivates Creativity
In his book, Creating Innovators, Harvard researcher Tony Wagner
describes Montessori education as a pathway to creativity, noting
that some of the greatest innovators of today, like the founders of
Google and Amazon, attended Montessori preschool. Researchers
have compared children across educational programs and found
that those in Montessori programs scored higher on levels of
creativity. Creativity is not a fixed trait but rather, a skill that
can be cultivated in the earliest years. Research has shown that
a child’s environment impacts the development of creativity.
Montessori environments feature the elements that foster creativity
including thoughtful design of the child’s area, a rich selection
of appropriate materials, child-directed learning, and a playful
approach to education.

Triggers Concentration and Flow

Babies are capable of extended periods of concentration, if given
developmentally appropriate toys and allowed uninterrupted time
to explore. Concentration is a prerequisite for all future learning.
Our job as adults is to foster concentration as a skill that can be
developed. Intense, immersive concentration is known as “flow,” a
state when people perform at their best, show the highest levels of
creativity, and derive the most joy from their work. Steven Kotler,
Director for the Flow Genome Project, explains that Montessori
settings are among the highest flow environments that researchers
have found. Triggers of flow such as a rich environment, physical
plus cognitive engagement, self-direction and appropriate
challenge are hallmarks of Montessori.

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7 Montessori Ways to Support
Your Baby’s Learning Today

Follow Your Child

Infants and toddlers are much wiser than many think. They are
driven by their natural instincts to learn and develop. Parents who
recognize and respect that do well in their role as their child’s first
teacher. When your baby or toddler is focused on a toy, a tree, or
even something seemingly unimportant like a pattern on the wall,
they are in the process of learning about the world and building up
their capacity for concentration. Try not to interrupt or distract
your baby with other things. Your child will check back in with
you when they are ready and then you can engage in conversation
or introduce a toy. As long as a child is not hurting themself, others,
or the environment, pause before interrupting and observe to see if
they are focused and engaged – this is when all the best learning
happens!

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Support Learning

Allow For Independence

Montessori said: “These words reveal the child’s inner needs: Help
me to do it by myself.” If you want to raise a child who is self-
confident, self-directed, and self-sufficient, lay the foundation
for independence during the earliest, most formative years.
Provide opportunities for your baby to develop their own skills. For
example, when you first introduce solids, allow your baby to self-
feed with finger foods or with a pre-loaded spoon. For toddlers, buy
clothes that are easy to put on and remove (like pants and skirts
with elastic waistbands) and provide a little guidance rather than
dressing them fully with no collaboration. Remember, never help
a child with anything that they can do themself, but rather,
give them time - time to climb the stairs themselves, time to put
each leg into the pants before standing to pull them up, time to eat
yogurt with a spoon independently. When you see your little one
working hard on a task, resist the urge to provide rescue. Instead,
pause and give your child time. You’ll often find they will manage
on their own if given just a little bit of space. A toddler proudly
exclaiming, “I did it!” is one of those joyful parenting moments that
feels just as good to you as it does to them.

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Support Learning

Prepare the Environment

In order to be able to follow your child and allow for independence,
you must first prepare the environment for your child. This
involves not only baby proofing but also filling the space with
fun, educational toys, books, artwork, music, etc. Research has
established that children have the greatest capacity to learn before
age three when brain development peaks. It is also proven that
the quality of a child’s early environment influences their long-
term development. Provide appropriate stimulation without
overwhelming; provide options without clutter. Aim to create a
beautiful, inviting, and orderly space.

Click here to read our ebook

Why Clutter-Free is Good for Baby’s Brain

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Support Learning

Participate in Home and Family Activities

You can make your home a learning-friendly environment by
thinking of creative ways to provide your child independence in the
daily activities of the home. For example in the kitchen, reserve a
lower cabinet for their things (plates, cups, napkins, dry snacks) so
that they can easily access to make help themselves to a snack.
Provide a step stool or learning tower to access the sink. Involve
your child with the food prep, cooking, and cleaning. Studies
show that getting kids involved in the kitchen makes them more
open to eating healthful foods and reduces picky eating. Young
children take pride in contributing to the family and especially
in having a specific task for which to take responsibility. You
can begin with a simple task such as loading the washing machine
every morning and progress to more complex tasks like setting
the table at dinner. While performing these everyday activities,
your child will learn not only discipline and responsibility but also
concentration, gross and fine motor skills, and mathematical and
scientific concepts. It’s also much easier to establish such habits
now, as most young children are interested in these activities,
rather than later when such activities are seen as a chore.

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Support Learning

Engage Repitition
Babies and toddlers often want to repeat, whether reading a book
many times, walking the same path to the park, or singing a song
over and over. This often means that your child is working on a new
concept and will likely not move on until they have satisfied that
curiosity. Repetition of tasks strengthens the connections in a
child’s brain. Although it can be challenging for adults, your child
is best served if you encourage and respect their desire to repeat.

Learn And Explore With All Senses

Your baby wants to explore their new environment with all of their
senses. Helping your child to develop all of their senses early
on enhances her perception of the world. Whether playing
sports, discovering nature, or creating a recipe in the kitchen, if
they perceive the information around them more accurately, they
can make better choices. You can provide rich stimulation for your
baby by providing them with rattles and other toys that offer a
variety of tactile, auditory, and visual input. As your baby begins
to bring their hand to their mouth, these toys provide fascinating
sensory feedback that encourages exploration. Your child will learn
and develop in different ways when you spend time in nature.
Lying under a tree to observe the movement of the leaves helps
to build your child’s attention span and to relax. Nature walks
are tremendous opportunities for language development and for
helping your child feel comfortable and confident in the world.

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Support Learning

Guide Your Child To Learn on Their Own

You are your baby’s first teacher and role model. The best way to
support your baby’s development is to prepare a rich environment
full of learning opportunities. As Dr. Montessori said, “education
is acquired not by listening to words but by experiences in
the environment.” A parent’s role is not to teach by explaining
concepts, but rather to act as a guide so your child can learn
for them through exploration. This type of experiential learning
helps your child to better understand concepts, to better retain
information, and to later apply that knowledge across domains.
You can facilitate this by carefully choosing what to put in the
environment, observing your child’s development, and introducing
things that meet their developmental needs. You are the link
between your child and their environment.

Copyright © 2020 Monti Kids, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 15

The Peg Board, which develops spatial
reasoning and math skills is 1 of 7 toys
included in the Monti Kids Level 8 Box.

About Monti Kids

Monti Kids gives parents access to the world-renowned Montessori

program for ages zero to three, along with simple guidance from
child development experts. We believe the best way to support
your child is to support you. We provide quarterly deliveries of
Montessori educational toys for your child, along with quick, easy
video tutorials for you. Monti Kids will guide you on how to set up
an ideal play area at home and how to play in ways that promote
your child’s language, motor, cognitive, and social-emotional skills.
Your child can start anytime between birth and age 2.5. Monti Kids
features a built in donation program, thereby reaching families at
all income levels.

Learn more by visiting www.montikids.com

or by emailing us at hello@montikids.com
See how it works by watching the Monti Kids Intro Video

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About the Authors
Zahra Kassam, Founder and CEO

Zahra is Founder and CEO of Monti Kids. Zahra graduated Summa

Cum Laude from Harvard with a BA in Psychology and holds a
Master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
She is an internationally certified AMI Montessori teacher for ages
zero to six. Zahra has worked as a teacher, school administrator,
school counselor, and private consultant to schools and families.
Zahra founded Monti Kids after having her first child and struggling
to prepare a stimulating environment at home and keep up with his
development at every turn.

Chacha is a Global Director of Teacher

Training, Former Board Member of the
Association Montessori Internationale
(AMI), and Montessori Advisor to
Monti Kids. She oversaw the design &
fabrication of the Montessori materials
for babies & toddlers. She has worked as

Maria Teresa a teacher and school administrator for

“Chacha” Vidales, over 30 years and has trained thousands
Montessori Advisor
of teachers in China, Australia, Thailand,
Mexico, Japan, Canada and the US.

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References

Bescancon, M., Lubart, T., & Barbot, B. (2013) Creative giftedness and
educational opportunities. Educational & Child Psychology, 30(2), 79-88.

Davies, D. Jindal-Snape, D., Collier, C., Digby, R., Hay, P., & Howe, A. (2013).
Creative learning environments in education – A systematic literature
review. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 8(0), 80-91.

Diamond, A., & Lee, K. (2011). Interventions shown to aid executive function
development in children 4 to 12 years old. Science, 333(6045), 959-964.

Dweck, C.S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York, NY:
Random House, Inc.

Gopnik, A., Meltzoff, A.N., & Kuhl, P.K. (1999). The scientist in the crib: What
early learning tells us about the mind. New York, NY: Harper Collins, Inc.

Gupta, S. Go ahead, give your toddler a kitchen knife. (2015, September 15).
Retrieved from: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/15/440277209/
go-ahead-give-your-toddler-a-kitchen-knife

Kotler, S. (2014). The rise of superman: Decoding the science of ultimate

human performance. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Inc.

Lillard, A.S. (2007). Montessori: The science behind the genius. New York, NY:
Oxford University Press.

Lillard A.S. (2013). Playful learning and montessori education. American

Journal of Play, 5(2), 157-186.

Wagner, T. (2012). Creating innovators: The making of young people who

will change the world. New York, NY: Scribner, Inc.

White, R.E. The power of play: A research summary on play and learning.
Retrieved from http://www.mcm.org/uploads/MCMResearchSummary.pdf

Copyright © 2020 Monti Kids, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 18