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Following!! I did the same thing with a school tour and got to sit in a class for an hour as well and totally feel in love with everything I saw!! Unfortunitly the school is double the price of every other program in our area and DH doesn't want to pay that much for our 2 yr old to go to school for 15 hrs a week! But I totally want to start implanting some of the practices at home!

Have fun at your tour!!

@spaniellove: thanks! I've read Mrs. Lions posts and visited How we Montessori. Just wondering if there were other favorites with the Bees?

we do montessori at school and a lot of montessori principles at home. my favorite resources are actually pinterest for home ideas, and there's a good chore list that's google-able. I think it's easy to overthink, but the basic premise is really practical - real tools, real materials, real participation in the household, everything accessible. I think it's in large part what already want to do.

How We Montessori and Carrots are Orange are where I get a lot of information I am not montessori trained at all, but I love the practical life aspect and building independence.

To get an idea of what kids should be doing at what age, I go by the Montessori Compass. The infant section covers all areas up to 18 months, and then after 18 months there are individual subject areas. If you want to get an idea of what your child will most likely be doing in their classroom it's a great resource! I use it to determine what kinds of things we can be working on at home

ETA: The website is a bit overwhelming if you get into the full fledged scope and sequence (infant is pretty straightforward but the other sections are intense). Since you are looking at what you would do at home, the best starting point would be the practical life section. I put a link to that below the overall link

http://montessoricompass.com/scope-and-sequence

http://montessoricompass.com/practical-life

Well darn, the Internet just ate my detailed response! Here it is in shorthand!

@spaniellove: thanks for the site, I hadn't heard of that one!

@Rockies11: I definitely think I'm overthinking things and making it more complicated in my mind than it needs to be. I have a lot of things that could be use as work items, I just need to put it into action .

@Mrs. Lion: thanks for the website! I just reread all your posts and they are super helpful, especially the pics to see how it all plays out! I wish there was a Montessori consultant to hire to come to your home and make it over "Montessori" style, since I'm definitely more a hire it out kind of gal vs a DIYer!

@littlejoy: thanks for starting this thread and sorry if I hijacked it! The school I saw just really amazed me and I'm super bummed LO can't go this year. I think there are quite a bit of Bees in Portland that you could also reach out to for advice about schools.

@littlejoy: just found these two sites with lots of pictures for how to set up your home!!

http://jen-peacefulparenting.blogspot.com/2011/01/our-montessori-home.html?m=1

http://www.racheous.com/montessori-home/montessori-home-tips-room/

@HTownMom: so fun! Did he love it??

My daughter is only 5 months so she isn't in any shool yet, but I am a big Montessori fan and have done my best to incorporate the philosophy in our home since she was born.

I highly recommend reading "The Joyful Child". It does such a great job of capturing the essence of Montessori and isn't as heavy a read as some of the other books on the subject.

Also if you're on Facebook, check out the group "Montessori 101". It's a great resource and gets you connected with other Montessori moms and teachers. https://www.facebook.com/montessori101

Here are a couple of pictures of my daughter in her Montessori nursery.

@HTownMom: With the kids rooms we really didn't have a furniture issue, because we started with a blank slate...that said, I would give it some time and see if this is something that works for you, then consider maybe selling the things you don't need? What kind of furniture is getting in your way? Maybe there is a way to utilize it. With sticking with Montessori principals we actually find that we don't need a TON of storage space, because we don't have a lot of typical "kid" stuff, like giant plastic toys or exersaucers, etc.

@Mrs. Lion: I bought both of them from Etsy. My daughter especially loves the wooden bell chimes one in the lower picture!!

@Mrs. Lion: you are right! So I went to Ikea and got some of the forward facings shelves so that I could update LO room. I took away a ton of tons and books to be able to rotate in at a later time! Everything else we had in our house and got repurposed or moved a bit.

@spaniellove: so we haven't taken the crib out yet or the dresser but in the one picture next to the mirror, those drawers are easy for her to open and I put in two clothes options as well as a comb and two braclets to pick. She can't really put her clothes on yet but I'm hoping with the chair there it will start the process!

@pui: I'm not on Facebook but I'm on Google+ which I'm sure has something similar when I search!

@QueensBee: I have been slowly make little trays for "work" that she can do. She doesn't get it yet and definitely doesn't put anything back after playing but I understand its a slow process learning new things especially because she doesn't have other kids to observe doing it at home like she would in a class.

Here are the three areas I updated today! Super excited about the new separate spaces!

@pui: thanks, it matches the dresser and other pieces we have in our room. It was my DH grandmothers' I think! Amazing quality! Definitly easy for her to open. She was pumped for the mirror too!

@Mrs. Lion: wow thanks! That means a lot to hear! Definitely something to think about after we finish all the spaces!