What is Montessori School?

A Montessori school provides an alternative to traditional education. Based on the principles of Dr. Maria Montessori and her visionary methods, Maria Montessori was an Italian physician who achieved fame because of her inventive teaching methods and her incredible insight into the mechanics behind the learning process of children.

The hands on approach of Montessori schools allow the student to be an active participant in his or her education.

Encompassing all grade levels, most Montessori schools offer programs beginning at age 3. The early childhood years are crucial for learning and setting the stage for future academic success. The brain undergoes tremendous growth between the ages of 2 and 6 and learning capabilities at this age are limitless.

Many parents choose Montessori preschools as a means of laying the foundational building blocks necessary to promote both social and academic growth.

The basic premise of a Montessori education is providing the children with an opportunity to learn at their own pace under the direct guidance of a teacher. Unlike traditional schools that have a one-size fits all method of teaching, Montessori teachers are trained to assess the individual needs of each child and encourage personal development according to exclusive needs.

Montessori School Curriculum

While covering the same subject matter as traditional schools, Montessori allows teachers to gauge what the individual child has learned and then lead him or her into new areas of personal development and academic discovery.

The atmosphere of a Montessori school fosters independence and personal growth by developing confidence and self esteem among the children. Respect for themselves and others is a part of the social responsibility curriculum commonly promoted in Montessori programs. The autonomous approach to learning is balanced with open social interaction among peers, allowing for the perfect combination of individual and social development.

Multi-Age Classes

Classrooms contain a mixed age of students with a range that spans 3 years. This is based on Maria Montessori’s concept that varying ages will guide each other in collective educational. Older children in the group learn leadership skills, acting as mentors to their younger counterparts, while the younger children achieve the benefit of hands on learning from their peers.

Open spaced classrooms have multiple work stations with an abundance of natural materials. During classroom lessons, small groups of children undergo educational instruction while the remainder are free to work independently at the station of choice. If a hands on, multi-faceted education that differs from a traditional classroom setting is what you want for your child, Montessori schools are worth inquiring about.

Family Friday: Time to Share!

Now it’s time for you to share your Family Friday post with the rest of us!  If you’re not sure how it works, read the directions and guidelines for Family Friday here.

Please add your family-related blog post below in the Mr. Linky. Remember, you MUST link your post back to HomemakerBarbi.com. (If your link was deleted, email us.)

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Adding Baby Cereal to Bottles

By the time your baby is a few weeks old, chances are someone has suggested adding cereal to her bottle to make her sleep longer at night. In fact, many parents swear by this method and encourage everyone they know to follow suit.

Yet, there is no scientific evidence to back up this claim. The medical and parenting communities actually say this practice can be harmful! Let’s take a closer look.

(There is a small group of babies who pediatricians may advise adding cereal to their bottles: babies with severe reflux. Always follow your doctor’s advice).

1. Parents claim that adding cereal to the bottle makes baby sleep longer.

Many research studies have been conducted, comparing sleep habits of babies who had cereal added to their bottle and those who did not. Under research conditions, no difference has been found. Babies will “sleep through the night” when they are ready; each one reaches that milestone at a different rate.

2. Cereal is empty calories at this age.

Babies have definite nutrition requirements. Adding cereal to the bottle only adds empty calories to baby’s diet, which isn’t a habit you want to establish at such a young age!

3. Introducing solid foods too early can aggravate food allergies.

Many in the dietetic community feel that food allergies may be triggered by early exposure to the allergen, before the body is ready to process it. Exposing a baby to grains in the form of cereal in their bottle could possibly increase the chance they’ll develop a food allergy.

4. Baby’s feeding mechanisms aren’t designed for processing solids this early.

Young babies have a reflex that pushes their tongue against whatever comes into their mouth. This is necessary for the sucking required at the breast or bottle. This reflex naturally begins to go away around four months of age, making it easier to begin using a spoon to feed baby.

Also, some babies struggle to coordinate everything required in order to suckle properly. Introducing cereal to their bottles could aggravate this, causing them to choke (and potentially aspirate cereal into their lungs).

5. Adding cereal to the bottle alters baby’s fullness cues.

Babies have internal mechanisms that regulate feeding, so they only eat what they need. Adding cereal to the bottle interferes with these mechanisms, causing them to take in more calories than necessary. Researchers fear this can lead to a lifetime habit of overeating, and could contribute to the obesity epidemic we face today.

For all intents and purposes, it appears better to save solid foods until baby is four to six months of age and ready to accept food from a spoon. You can help encourage your baby to sleep better at night by following some of the tips I’ve shared in previous articles. In the meantime, try to snuggle your way through middle-of-the-night feedings with a smile. They won’t last forever, I promise!

Disclaimer: The previous article is not medical advice from a medical professional.  Always consult your physician for medical advice in the health care and treatment of medical concerns with your baby.

Related Articles:

• Nighttime Tips for Sleep Deprived Moms of Newborns
• Newborns: How to Treat Cradle Cap
• Newborn Care: Blocked Tear Ducts
• Moms of Newborns: Dealing with Sleep Deprivation
• Baby’s First Year: Must Capture Photo Moments

How do you spend your weekend?  Are you taking advantage of this time together or scheduling errands and reading blogs? 

You may notice we don’t post much on the weekends on our blogs because we figure people aren’t spending as much time on the computer.  At least that was the reasoning we had… until we realized that we get almost as much traffic from readers on weekend days as weekdays!  What does this mean?

I’m not going to tell you what choices to make, because everyone has different circumstances and priorities in their families.  But today is Sunday, which got me thinking…

I hope you won’t blog as much today.  I hope you won’t do as many chores and errands today.  I hope you’ll take a few minutes for yourself today and spend a few minutes enjoying the togetherness of your family.  Your family is here now, and we never want to take that gift for granted. 

Let us know how you spend your weekends in the comments below.  Have a great Sunday!

More Fun Chores For Toddlers

If you missed last week’s introduction to fun chores for toddlers (part 1), go check it out now before reading on!

• Give your child a dust cloth and have him dust all the tables. You can even make a homemade, non-toxic cleaning spray of vinegar and water for him to use.
• If he spills his drink on the floor or table, have him help you wipe it up.
• Teach him to place dirty dishes into the sink. If he can’t reach, you can leave a step stool nearby that he can bring to the sink or you can teach him to at least places all dishes in a pile near the sink.
• Place a small cup into the pet food container and have him scoop food into the pet bowl.
• Teach him how to water houseplants and pick up any fallen plant leaves and throw them away (any toxic plants should be kept out of the reach of children).

Children can learn very early on to clean up after themselves. Have your child place his dirty clothes in a hamper in his closet or the laundry room. When he is finished playing with his toys have him put them in a basket in his room or the den. Teach him that he will not be allowed to take out another activity until the first one is properly put away.

After you make his bed, have him put the pillow in place along with any stuffed animals. It is never too early to start teaching your child about the importance of being tidy and responsibility. Having him do chores at a young age will help prepare him for added responsibility down the road.

Family Friday: Time to Share!

Now it’s time for you to share your Family Friday post with the rest of us!  If you’re not sure how it works, read the directions and guidelines for Family Friday here.

Please add your family-related blog post below in the Mr. Linky. Remember, you MUST link your post back to HomemakerBarbi.com. (If your link was deleted, email us.)

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How to Treat Cradle Cap

Cradle cap is a condition that most mothers are well aware of. Somewhere in the vicinity of half of all babies have cradle cap in the first few months of life.

Although not pretty, and annoying to deal with, cradle cap isn’t harmful to your baby and can be easily treated at home. Here’s a quick rundown on this common condition and how to treat cradle cap.

What is Cradle Cap?

Cradle cap looks like dandruff on an infant’s scalp. It can also appear as yellow, oily, scaly patches of skin. The dry rash often extends to the area around the ears and the eyebrows.

What Causes Cradle Cap?

Medical professionals think cradle cap is caused by hormonal fluctuations after birth. Maternal hormones circulating in the baby’s system cause glands in the scalp to go into overdrive. These glands release a sticky substance, which makes it difficult for old skin cells to be shed, so they pile up on the scalp. Cradle cap is NOT caused by poor hygiene, infection, or illness.

How is Cradle Cap Treated?

There are many home remedies for cradle cap. Often it takes some experimentation to find which method will work for your baby. Some moms swear by rubbing baby oil on their baby’s scalp, letting it sit awhile, and then using a comb or soft-bristled hair brush to loosen the flakes. You could also use olive oil as a more natural alternative to baby oil. Be sure to shampoo after using this method, as residual oil can clog the pores and cause buildup.

Another home remedy is simply to wash baby’s hair. There are mixed opinions on this method; some people say more frequent shampoos help, others say less frequent. Regardless of how often you shampoo, be sure to use a gentle formula designed for babies. Don’t use dandruff or medicated shampoo unless directed by your pediatrician. Rinse well, and use a soft-bristled brush or comb to loosen the flakes.

There are also many products on the market today designed to treat cradle cap. Many of them can be helpful. If the cradle cap becomes especially bothersome, seek the advice of your pediatrician, who can prescribe medicated shampoos and other treatments.

If the dry patches extend to the eyebrows and facial area, apply a baby-safe lotion to those spots as needed.

How Long Does Cradle Cap Last?

Cradle cap usually clears up by the time a baby reaches six to twelve months of age. Rarely will it persist into the toddler years.

Stay tuned for Life with a Newborn next Thursday for “The Real Deal with Cereal in Baby’s Bottle”.

Disclaimer: The previous article is not medical advice from a medical professional.  Always consult your physician for medical advice in the health care and treatment of medical concerns with your baby.

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• Baby’s First Year: Must Capture Photo Moments

Fun Chores for Toddlers

Many parents wonder when the right age is for children to start helping with household chores. Believe it or not, toddlers and even babies can begin to help out around the house.

Giving your small child a daily task to complete is a great learning experience and will help to set the stage for more advanced chores when he is older. It’s never too early to start involving your child in common household chores.

Even babies can get in on the action. When going form one room to the other with baby in your arms, stop at the light switch and teach him how to switch it on and off as you enter and exit the room.

After diaper changes, hand him the diaper as you approach the garbage and let him drop it into the pail. Even toddlers can walk their diaper to the garbage and drop it in. Doing this every time will become a routine for your baby and he will look forward to participating in the daily task.

Once your child is around 2 years of age, he can participate in many more household chores. When doing laundry, have him transfer clothing from dryer to laundry basket. When folding laundry, have him look through the basket for socks and place them all together in a pile.

Stay tuned next week for more ideas of fun chores for toddlers!

Family Friday: Time to Share!

Now it’s time for you to share your Family Friday post with the rest of us!  If you’re not sure how it works, read the directions and guidelines for Family Friday here.

Please add your family-related blog post below in the Mr. Linky. Remember, you MUST link your post back to HomemakerBarbi.com. (If your link was deleted, email us.)

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Baby’s First Year: Must Capture Photo Milestones

What’s the first thing people ask when talking about babies? “Do you have a picture?” Babies are probably one of the cutest things to photograph. They change so much over the first year, you won’t want to miss a thing. By planning ahead you can be sure to capture all the important milestones on film.

Investing in extra rechargeable batteries for your camera means you’ll always have fresh batteries available when you need them (just remember to keep them charged!). On my personal blog I share some great tips on photographing newborns from Professional Photographers.

Here are some newborn moments you won’t want to miss:

1. Birth/hospital stay (Include any first meetings with relatives!)

2. Religious Ceremonies (i.e. Baptism)

3. First bath

4. First smile

5. Pushing up on arms, and later all fours

6. Crawling

7. Learning to sit

8. Starting solid foods

9. Pulling up/standing

10. First steps

Use your daily activities as a guide too:

• If baby goes to daycare, include some shots of the building and his caretakers.
• If it snows, capture baby’s first experience in the snow.
• If you visit the beach, capture baby playing in the sand.

And don’t forget holiday pictures! You can dress baby up for Halloween even if she’s too young to Trick or Treat. Have your own photo shoot at home, with baby in her costume. Tuck her in an Easter basket for a great Spring shot. You don’t have to pay a fortune to get adorable holiday photographs. Use your own props and you’ll end up with much more personal memories!

By keeping your camera ready for action, and thinking ahead to the moments you want to capture, you’ll be sure to have a great photo collection of baby’s first year. Although you may still want to include some professional studio portraits, you can save time and money by staging your own photo session at home.

Stay tuned for Life with a Newborn next Thursday for Treating Your Newborn’s Cradle Cap.

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August is National Children’s Vision & Learning Month, and while your child may not be doing a lot of learning in August, he should be in a prime position to learn when the school doors open come September.

Vision Problems and Learning

Most schools do a cursory check of your child’s vision using the 20/20 type of test – the chart with the big E on it. This test only measures distance vision, and doesn’t look for coordination between the eyes or adjusting between near and far vision.

If a child has trouble with their vision, it can affect their schoolwork, most notably with their reading. Quite often, children who have trouble reading do not have any difficulties with comprehension or speech. They have difficulty seeing what is literally right in front of them – their textbooks or work books.

They need clear vision to differentiate between the letters. And if their eyes do not cooperate with each other, the lines of text on a page may jump around. They may also face trouble when having to switch between the work on their desk and what the teacher is writing on the blackboard. This adjustment should be seamless, but if your child has a vision problem it may take a few seconds.

When children have undetected vision problems, they learn to cope with them, and not necessarily in a good way. With a child who can’t switch between near and far vision, they may stop looking up at the blackboard. They may rely on what the teacher is saying and missing what is being written.

Undetected problems can also cause normally bright and cheerful children to become frustrated at school and even mimic behavioral problems like ADD or ADHD. Diagnoses of ADD/ADHD depend on a subjective set of characteristics, since there is no definitive test for them. But the characteristics are also symptomatic of problems children have with their eyes working together as a pair. They have trouble focusing up close – reading and writing, causing them to “lose focus” and look away from their schoolwork. Looking away is not a conscious decision. Their eyes know something is wrong, and it is automatic to look up to refocus. If your child is diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, you may consider getting their vision assessed before you start medication.

Other common misdiagnoses are dyslexia and learning disorders, usually mistaken for convergence insufficiency. This issue also affects close work and causes eyestrain, blurry vision, double vision and sometimes headaches. It is worth mentioning that you can still pass a 20/20 vision test and have convergence insufficiency. With any diagnosis, spend the extra time to have your child’s vision tested.

Signs of Vision Problems

Children should have their eyes tested as a newborn, during their first year, at 3.5 years and at 5 years. If you see any of the following symptoms make an appointment to get your child’s eyes tested:

• rubbing their eyes often
• red eyes
• teary eyes
• misalignment of the eyes
• pupil is not purely black
• squinting
• double vision
• light sensitive
• trouble seeing objects far away, like text on a blackboard
• trouble following an object without turning her head (tracking)
• using a finger to keep his place when reading (after learning to read)
• poor focusing
• closing one eye to perform tasks
• difficulty reading

Of course, if you have any other reason to believe there is a problem, they should see a doctor. Give them every advantage you can, but first of all, make sure they can see so they are able to learn.

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Don’t let a rainy day put a damper on your family fun. Instead, take advantage of the lack of sun and explore some creative activities with the kids. The possibilities are endless and you are limited only by your imagination.

Keeping Kids Entertained on Rainy Days

Rainy days are a great opportunity to let kids really be creative. Help them make a fort or clubhouse out of furniture cushions, sheets and blankets, old boxes, etc.

In the garage I keep some old refrigerator boxes that I picked up at a local appliance store. On rainy days I’ll bring some inside and let the kids decorate them with crayons and markers. They will spend hours designing them, then connect them and make tunnels, forts, etc.

If you have a small tent, let the kids set it up in the house and then help them make stovetop or microwave smores for their camp out.

If you don’t have a tent, let them create their own out of blankets and household items. Have everyone get into comfy pajamas, turn down the lights, make a big bowl of popcorn and settle in for a movie night.

Take a newspaper and roll up individual pieces into balls. Divide them evenly and have an indoor snowball fight.

Set up a treasure hunt, give each child a list of what items need to be found after you carefully hide them.

Start up a game of charades.

Have an indoor picnic or tea party on the living room floor. Help them bake some brownies or cupcakes.

Arts and Crafts Projects for Rainy Days

Arts and crafts are excellent rainy day activities. Aside from the basics such as coloring and painting, be creative:

• Spray some shaving cream on the kitchen tables and let the kids create fun shapes in the foam.
• Make some chocolate pudding and let the kids finger paint on a paper plate with it, getting to lick their fingers and the plate clean when they are finished.
• Let the kids help you make home-made play dough with flour and water. Make home made ice cream with ziploc bags, milk and ice.
• Make a sock puppet family.
• Make paper airplanes and then fly them through the house.

The possibilities are limitless. Rainy days activities for kids can be a great opportunity for kids to get back to basics and for families to spend some quality time together.

Family Friday: Time to Share!

Now it’s time for you to share your Family Friday post with the rest of us!  If you’re not sure how it works, read the directions and guidelines for Family Friday here.

Please add your family-related blog post below in the Mr. Linky. Remember, you MUST link your post back to HomemakerBarbi.com. (If your link was deleted, email us.)

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Moms of Newborns: Dealing with Sleep Deprivation

Having a newborn baby goes hand in hand with sleep deprivation. There’s just no way to avoid it. Some nights are better than others, but each night includes interrupted and lost sleep.

During the worst of the worst nights there may be no sleep at all. Baby may be going through a growth spurt, have her days and nights mixed up, teething, or sick. No matter the cause, she may just simply refuse to sleep at all one night. Obviously, that means no sleep for mom and dad either.

Sleep deprivation is a serious thing. Studies have shown that people who suffer chronic sleep deprivation actually operate at a level comparable to someone under the influence! Losing sleep definitely affects mental agility and response time, but it affects your mood as well! Go one too many nights on too little sleep and you’ll probably become a bit grouchy.

To cope with sleep deprivation, most parents reach for that mug of coffee or can of soda. Caffeine will do the trick, in the short term. If you’re looking for a little longer energy boost, try drinking water and eating a healthy snack with a good mix of carbs and protein. Any form of exercise can help as well, as it gets oxygen circulating and improves your mood.

My favorite way to deal with a rough night? I give myself permission to relax the next day. I don’t worry about my to-do list or the chores I “should” be doing. I just plop on the couch and relax when I’m not tending to the baby. I may even catch a nap if all goes well. If the weather is nice I may sit on the porch for some fresh air, or open a window. But I don’t push myself. I allow myself to recuperate and recover from the lack of sleep, instead of putting too much pressure on myself to be up to speed.

If you work outside the home this can be more difficult to accomplish. How about treating yourself to lunch the next day? Or stopping for take-out on the way home? Don’t worry about the household chores that evening. Instead, soak in a bubble bath or take in your favorite TV show. However you choose to do it, giving yourself permission to relax can go a long way towards easing the fallout from a sleepless night.

Stay tuned for Life with a Newborn next Thursday with Tiffany! In the meantime, you might enjoy reading Colic in Babies – Why Does Baby Cry?

Get more mom tips at Works for Me Wednesday.

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