Montessori Bedroom
Dr. Maria Montessori’s educational philosophy goes far beyond the classroom walls and often intertwines the home environment into shaping the child’s future as well.
The Montessori Method of education from the stage of infancy curates a prepared environment that accommodates all the tools to facilitate optimum holistic development.
In fact, the Montessori Prepared Environment and the Montessori Principles are not just limited to the Montessori classroom.
The Montessori Method of education is more than just a pedagog, instead, it is a way of living for some parents who want to provide a nurturing environment for their children even at home.
The Home Environment in Montessori not only helps ease the task of parenting and facilitates development in children but also bridges what is being taught in school.
Montessori Home Environment is specifically designed to promote your child to become a well-rounded confident and independent entity from a very young age.
Montessori Bedrooms are an integral part of the Montessori Home Environment that provides your child with an individualized, calm, and peaceful space of their own.
When thinking about a Montessori Bedroom the images of Montessori Floor Beds and Montessori Cribs often conjure up, however, a Montessori Bedroom incorporates much more than that.
If you are a parent or an immediate caregiver who wants to set up a Montessori Bedroom for your child, look no further.
Here is all you need to know about Montessori Bedrooms to help you create a Montessori Bedroom that caters to all your child’s developmental needs.
Contents
What is a Montessori Bedroom?
Montessori Bedrooms are an essential part of the Montessori Home environment that fosters the quality of self-reliance and independence in children from the early stages of their development.
But what is a Montessori Bedroom away and how is it different from a common toddler’s bedroom or a nursery?
These child-proofed and child-safe bedroom spaces incorporate all the elements which help facilitate optimum development in children from the time they open their eyes to the time they fall into a deep slumber.
For most parents who are familiar with the Montessori Philosophy images of a Montessori Floor Bed may conjure up when thinking about a Montessori Bedroom.
However, a Montessori Bed is more than just a Montessori mattress, floor bed, or crib; it integrates several pieces of Montessori Furniture and other furniture that align with the Montessori Philosophy.
What are the benefits of a Montessori Bedroom?
The Montessori method of education is celebrated in the parent community for its effective methods of imparting values of self-reliance and confidence along with promoting the child to achieve higher levels of academic attainments.
Just like the Montessori Classroom Environment, the Montessori Home Environment incorporates the same tools to promote holistic development in children.
Montessori Bedrooms follow the same Montessori Principles to help your child embark on a journey to become a well-rounded individual.
There are myriad benefits of creating a Montessori Bedroom for your child ranging from physical and emotional to even cognitive development.
Here are some of the benefits of creating a Montessori Bedroom in your home environment:
- Promotes sensory development in children by providing them with just the right stimuli without overwhelming them.
- Promotes the development of critical thinking by prompting the child to make their own decisions from the time they open their eyes in the morning.
- Promotes the development of both gross motor and fine motor skills in children by allowing them to perform self-care tasks independently.
- Develops the skills of organization, self-discipline, order, and structure by keeping their bedroom clean and clutter-free.
- Promotes emotional development along with the development of a sense of authority in children by providing them with their very own space.
Montessori Prepared Environment Principles to Remember when creating a Montessori Bedroom:
An authentic Montessori Bedroom should be aligned with Montessori Philosophy and the principles of the Montessori Prepared Environment.
These principles promote holistic development in children, provide them with age-appropriate stimuli, and help create a proper balance and flow in the classroom.
A Montessori Bedroom applies the same Prepared Environment principles to bring about peace and order in the home environment.
The principles of the Prepared Environment incorporated into the Montessori Bedroom are delineated below:
Autonomy and Freedom:
The Montessori method encourages children to move around the classroom freely in order to participate in activities.
The Prepared Environment in Montessori promotes children to independently interact with Montessori Materials and Activities as well as make their very own decisions.
The Home environment is no different, just like the School Environment the Home Environment should also provide children with free space to move around freely.
The parents should provide their children with a free and open space where they can move around and interact with their surroundings as well as materials and apparatus.
Structure and Order:
Along with freedom the children also have to acquire a sense of responsibility. It is essential to impart systematic and structured values to young developing minds. Dr. Maria Montessori noticed significant periods of order between the age of one and three.
During these sensitive periods, the child begins to draw conclusions and has an absorbent mind.
The Montessori Prepared Environment should be clutter-free and systematically organized to create a sense of order and structure.
Minimal:
The aesthetics are as important as the academics in the Montessori method of education.
Unlike a traditional preschool that integrates brightly colored walls and flashy decorations, the Montessori Environment is minimal, clutter-free, and neutral.
From the furniture to toys, decorations, and even lighting, the Montessori Environment should be minimal, neutral, and comfortable, to avoid overwhelming the child with sensorial stimuli.
Reality Based:
According to Dr. Montessori, nature should act as a medium of inspiration for children and should not be confined to the classroom.
The Montessori method promotes physical activities and uses materials and apparatus made with materials like wood, cotton, bamboo, metal, and glass.
The furniture and materials in the classroom should be “child-sized”.
Social:
The development of social skills and basic manners during early childhood is necessary.
The Montessori method encourages children to socialize with other children in the classroom at their own pace and become socially aware.
Intellectual:
Without the recognition of the above five principles, it will be impossible to facilitate a proper intellectual environment.
After combining all five principles, the teacher has to create a space of learning where the curriculum and development of the child can flourish.
In an intellectual environment, children are provided with all the appropriate activities, materials, and apparatus that promote cognitive intelligence in young minds.
How to set up a Montessori Bedroom?
The Montessori bedroom for the child should be a safe, clean, and clutter-free zone that should be designated to perform tasks like:
– self-care
– rest
– dressing
– sleeping
The bedroom should have a child-sized bed along with other child-size bedroom furniture.
The child-sized furniture is more accessible and functional for children.
When Setting up a Montessori Bedroom for your child it is important to take into account of elements mentioned below:
1. Color of the Montessori Bedroom:
The Montessori Bedroom should be minimalistic and neutral in terms of appearance and colors.
The colors should be light, warm, and neutral while the decorations in the Montessori bedroom should be minimal to provide children with just the right stimuli without overwhelming the child.
2. Montessori Bedroom Furniture:
Another important element of the Montessori Bedroom is the Montessori Furniture which is child-sized to promote accessibility and independence.
Here is what you will need to set up a Montessori Bedroom for your child:
- Montessori Shelves for Montessori Materials and activities
- Montessori bookshelves for Montessori Books for Toddlers
- Montessori Floor Bed for toddlers or preschoolers or a Montessori Crib for infants
- Montessori Wardrobes to accommodate your child’s clothes
- Montessori Storage cabinets and bins to accommodate the child’s belongings, Montessori Toys, and Montessori Materials.
3. The lighting of the room:
The lighting of the room should be warm, bright, and inviting during the day while the bedroom should be dark during the night.
Instead of using electrical lighting parents should prefer using natural sunlight during the day and control the lighting setup with the help of thick curtains.
4. Dressing Stations:
Montessori Bedrooms should incorporate a Montessori Dressing station that promotes the child to indulge in self-care and practical life activities.
A dressing station should comprise a Montessori Wardrobe, Montessori Shelves, Montessori Dresser drawers, a hairbrush, and a child-sized mirror to help the child get ready independently before they hit the door.
5. Open Space:
The Parents should promote their children to keep the bedroom clean and maintain tidiness independently.
Children should be provided with open space in their Montessori Bedroom to autonomously engage in Montessori activities and open-ended play that promotes physical development.
6. Minimalistic Design:
Lastly, the Montessori Bedroom should be clutter-free, minimal, organized, and systematically arranged to develop the quality of self-discipline in children.
The decoration should be close to reality, incorporating nature-based elements to bring the child one step closer to their natural surroundings.
To make things exciting you can also add an indoor play gym, tent, tepee, or Pikler triangle to promote open-ended play and physical development.
The Montessori Bedroom should only integrate the absolute essential furniture, toys, materials, and decorations systematically arranged to optimize the child’s productivity.
So, is Montessori Bedroom meant for your home?
Montessori bedrooms are more than just traditional children’s bedrooms, in fact, these bedrooms act as a safe place for the child and allow them to become confident as well as self-reliant from a young age.
A Montessori Bedroom is a safe place for your child where they can independently partake in self-directed self-care activities and develop discipline from within.
If you as a parent are interested in promoting your child to naturally develop the quality of self-reliance, independence, and confidence from a very young age, then a Montessori Bedroom Environment is meant for your home.