Montessori Parenting: Unveiling the Authentic Self

Montessori Parenting, is is a true gem.  It has openend my heart to child behaviors that I really never appreciated, and totally changed how I communicate with them.  

First I’ll digress into a little background.  Sonnie and Jim Mcfarland lay out the history of Maria Montessori, which I found fascinating.  From being the first female doctor in Italy then becoming a leader in childhood development.  All the way to connections she made with Ghandi, Yogananda, and the sages of the early 20th century.  She digs deep into how children tap into their inner lights and explains in a simple ways their behaviors.

My children’s local school has a public Montessori program.  I even went to a Montessori school as a kid for 3 years, and never truly understood the logic behind the system, I love it!  If you want to learn more, read the book, it will change your parenting to help you become more patient and also communicate better.

Even if you are not sending your kids to Montessori school, but are curious, this book will open your eyes to what our kids are doing and feeling, and why.

One of the parts I keep going back to, and actually had to read over and over again is Chapter 14 Communicating with Compassion.  You know the feeling when your kid is having a tantrum about something small, and you try to “talk” them out of it?  Well, Sonnie actually has a chapter about this!  It turns out, that kids actually want to be heard.  So, I take a deep breath, and sit with them, and ask them what is wrong.  I let them explain it to me a few times, and then repeat what they said.  I make sure that I understand the problem.  She says to wait for them to relax, and then if the opening allow it and they ask for help or something, you can solve it, but often, just the process of hearing them will calm them down!  For me this works almost 50% of the time!  Magic! (Or wisdom :-) Thanks Sonnie and Jim!)

There are so many more levels of why this book changed how I parent, so I’d just say read it.  You can buy it here.