According to Maria Montessori, for a child, play is work.  Even though from the perspective of educational theory, a child might be discovering some important mathematical and physical concepts that turn abstract concepts into concrete ideas via a range of sensory pathways, from the child’s point of view, they’re simply having fun with some interestingly shaped blocks.  This is the whole idea of the various sensorial materials used in a Montessori classroom, such as the cylinders and the pink tower.  Children are naturally curious and want to find out about the world around them and how it works, as any parent who’s spent an afternoon answering odd questions will know.

Montessori Teachers are always looking for opportunities to reinforce learning concepts, even during free time. Every interaction can become an opportunity to extend a child’s knowledge and skill levels.

What’s more, because a child at a Montessori centre can decide for him or herself what “work” they’re going to do, it doesn’t feel like work to the child.  While the teacher certainly will direct the child onto activities they may be ready for and will demonstrate how a particular activity should be done (within reason – with a lot of the materials, much learning is done through using the imagination), the teacher doesn’t tell the child what to do when.  Because their learning/work/play is self-directed, it isn’t a chore and so children will concentrate on the activity for longer, which is one of the key parts of Montessori learning.

The only thing that might feel like work for a child is the responsibility of putting the equipment away properly after using it.  However, courtesy, responsibility and order are all parts of being a good citizen, which is an important part of Montessori education.

Babies:  Simple “look and point” books are best, especially as attention spans are shorter at this stage.  Books that focus on a category, with one big picture per page plus the name of the thing in the picture plus a sentence or so, are ideal.  Nursery rhyme books are also good, as babies love the rhymes and rhythms.

Toddlers: You can now move onto picture books with more of a story to them – just as well, as children at this age want favourites read again and again.  You’ve got a huge range of books to choose from: everything from older books such as Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit series to newer ones such as Mick Inkpen’s Kipper books and Lynley Dodd’s Hairy Maclary series.

Preschoolers:  You’ll probably still read your favourite picture books, but you can also introduce books with more emphasis on the story and less on the picture. Short stories are ideal – Winnie the Pooh and Milly-Molly-Mandy and the My Naughty Little Sister stories are classics of this type.  This is a good stage to introduce fairy and folk tales.

School age: Proper chapter books can be introduced at about this stage – you’ve got hundreds to choose from in all genres.  Choose books depending on the tastes and interests of your child – there really is something for everyone.

The first thing you’ll notice will probably be the children, and these children will be a range of ages, all in together.  Montessori education does not stratify children by age group, and having mixed ages in the classroom is important for children’s social development.  The next thing you’ll notice is that the traditional rows of seats are missing.  There are indeed seats and desks, but they are usually placed in a way that children can work in a group or alone on an activity – you won’t see the desks oriented towards a focus point in the room.  You’ll also see a fair bit of empty floor space where children will be able to roll out mats or work with sets of things on the floor.  You will probably also notice that the classroom has plenty of furniture suitable for children’s smaller bodies.  And you’ll see shelves – lots of shelves holding the different pieces of equipment.

The classroom will probably also be very neat.  Montessori education puts a great deal of emphasis on responsibility and order, and on looking after one’s self, so the equipment will not be lying higgledy-piggledy all over the place but each set of items will have its own place on the shelves.  The children are expected to – and do – put away their gear after they have finished working on it.

As you look more closely, you’ll probably also notice the distinctive Montessori materials on the shelves – the collections of cylinders, tubs, blocks and rods that are designed to help children grasp basic physical and mathematical properties regarding volume, length, size and weight.

If you were stepping into a Montessori classroom for the first time, by this point you should probably stop staring because the teacher will be trying to introduce him/herself to you, modelling good manners and courtesy to the children at the centre.

Good manners and graciousness are just as important in the home as they are at a Montessori early childhood centre.  Nobody’s too old to be polite (or too young) and it’s at home that friction happens most often.  Parents should insist that children be polite with each other – and parents should be polite to each other and to the children, too.

Politeness isn’t the same as formality.  You can still be at ease and casual around your family while being polite.  The author C.S. Lewis compared good manners at home and away to clothing – you might wear old jeans and a T-shirt at home that you would never wear to the office, but you wouldn’t “wear the same shirt until it stank”.  And bad manners at home stink!

Parents should insist on the following at home, for themselves and for their children:

• Saying please when asking for something;
• Replying with “yes, please” or “no, thank you” when offered something;
• Saying “excuse me” when someone’s in your way;
• Not interrupting when someone’s in the middle of talking
• Respecting each other’s personal space (but hugs are always welcome for everyone);
• Greeting each other in the morning and when someone arrives home;
• No put-downs;
• Responding when you’re spoken to, even if that response is only a mumble;

Asking before using someone’s things.

However, you don’t have to wait until the Montessori teacher mentions that your child is beginning to work/play with sandpaper letters and the moveable alphabet.  Reading to your child should begin a long time before this and should continue long after your child is reading confidently – in fact, nobody’s too old for having a story read to them!

Reading to your child isn’t just about exposing them to the printed word and to the alphabet.  At first, reading to your child when he/she is a baby is an excellent way of increasing their vocabulary.  Later, your child will learn how to identify various things in the world around them via pictures in books – naming and identifying colours is easy to do using books.  Later, when a child is learning to indentify letters, he or she will be able to pick them out on the page as you read – and you can probably point out some of the letters they already know.  Later still, your child will be able to read a few of the words on the page and read to you.

And don’t forget the facts that a child is absorbing while you read to him or her.  Only some of us will have the chance to take our children to a foreign country, but everyone can find out about the African savannah through books – to say nothing of how we can learn about places and times we can never visit physically like periods in history or outer space!  Books also provide good discussion points on concepts such as morals, good manners and good citizenship – you can talk about whether the characters in a story did (or didn’t) do the right thing.

And reading with your child is great bonding time – never forget that!

Nobody’s too old to be read to!  Parents who read to their child – and adults who were read to when they were growing up – often remember “storytime” as one of the warmest, closest times spent as a family.

Some people struggle to find time to read to their children.  However, stories fit in admirably to a bedtime routine, and allow your child’s mind to relax and unwind before sleeping, meaning that they are less likely to have sleeping problems.  Books are quite portable, so they can easily be tucked into bags and gloveboxes, meaning that you can whip them out to pass the time if you have to wait somewhere.

As there are thousands of good children’s books in the world, you’ve got a lot to choose from.  However, a number of books have stood the test of time and have many educational benefits that can be reaped from them.  And adults needn’t worry that they will be bored stiff by a “babyish” book with a good story, as the classics have plenty that adults will appreciate and enjoy, too (the same tends to apply to movies).

Preschoolers in particular will want favourites read again and again (and again and again) so reading a book that you find enjoyable will make “storytime” a pleasure rather than a chore.

If you were read to as a child, you probably have a few favourites that you remember (and possibly still have in the shelves), and you are likely to read these to your child.  However, if you don’t know where to start, this very brief list of classic children’s books should be a good place to start.  Try your local library if you want to try out a book before you buy – every child should have a library card if you want to encourage learning!

• Beatrix Potter: The Peter Rabbit series have short, entertaining stories accompanied by beautiful pictures.  They are especially good for increasing vocabulary – you and your child will encounter words like “soporific”, “indignation” and “impertinence” in a context that makes the meaning very clear.  The characters also provide examples of good manners and politeness that reinforce the ethos of the Montessori classroom.  Recommended for toddlers and upwards.
• A. A. Milne: The Winnie the Pooh books are good introductions to books that put more emphasis on the story rather than on the pictures, while having plots and characters that are easy to relate to and enjoy – and also have some subtleties that adults will pick up.  These stories also model good manners and citizenship.
• Shirley Hughes: the Alfie books by this modern author/illustrator are easy for children to relate to and show a boy living in a “Coronation Street” sort of setting dealing with a number of everyday experiences and challenges, ranging from getting accidentally locked in the house alone to having a day at the beach.  The books are very British, but Australian children will still find plenty to relate to in them.  The illustrations are excellent, and related alphabet and counting books are available.
• Lynley Dodd: the Hairy Maclary books are funny and are good for increasing vocabulary with their rollicking rhymes.  If you have a bit of an inner actor who likes to do character voices and sound effects, these are great fun to read.

Myths, Legends and Folk Tales: Every culture has a collection of these stories that is part of that heritage, so every parent should expose their child to the stories from their cultural heritage, whether that heritage is European, Aboriginal, African or Asian.  But don’t limit yourself to stories from your own culture – you can find these traditional tales in collections or separately.

Some people avoid them because of occasional gory elements, but the very clear-cut presentation of good versus evil, with evil being punished and good rewarded, usually appeals to children’s innate sense of justice and the “gore” in a story read aloud is less frightening or disturbing than similar things presented via TV, DVD or computer game.  However, plenty of fairy tales aren’t gory so you can avoid anything unpleasant if you prefer.

However, sometimes we all have those moments when we can’t think what to do when faced with the fruit aisle at the local supermarket (or, depending on where you live, the farmers’ market or the trees in your back garden) apart from raw fruit.  Not that there’s anything wrong with fresh raw fruit, but at times, you need a change or something just a little bit special.

Or, if you’ve got a productive tree or vine in the back garden, you might need to find something to do with a glut of fruit apart from giving it away.

Crumbles and cobblers:  These desserts are delicious and simple to prepare.  Start by choosing your fruit – apples, peaches, plums, pears or a mixture of what you’ve got (melons, passionfruit and citrus are the only fruit that are unsuitable for cobblers and crumbles).  Remove cores, stones and inedible skins (e.g. banana skins) then slice the fruit.

You can stew the fruit with a little water and sugar (or maybe some honey and some spices as well) and thicken the mix with cornflour, or leave “as is”. Place the fruit in a baking dish, which you need to grease for cobblers..

For a crumble, combine about a cup of rolled oats, a cup of flour, half a cup of sugar (more for tart fruits), a pinch of salt, about a cup of cooking oil (or melted butter), and rub the lot together before placing on top of the fruit mix.

For a cobbler, make a basic cake or sweet scone batter (preferably runny) and pour this over the fruit mix. Bake at about 180°C for about half an hour or until the topping is cooked through.

Smoothies: If you want to make smoothies, you need a blender.  All you have to do is put in the fruit (it helps to chop it up a bit first), add some liquid and maybe some sweetener, give it a whizz and there you go!

However, you have to be careful when adding milk, as it curdles with acid fruits.  You’re safe enough with milk and bananas, but for most other fruit, you’re best to use yoghurt if you want a bit of added calcium plus some water.

Don’t stick to just one fruit in a smoothie – try a berry blend, a mixture of fruit and bland-tasting vegetables (carrots and swedes are winners) and experimenting with herbs and spices (kiwifruit, ginger and mint make a great combination).

Granitas and sorbets: The difference between a granita and a sorbet isn’t great: a sorbet can be chunkier and cloudier, while a granita is clear.

To make them, mush or boil up some fruit of your choice with a dash of lemon juice and just a little sugar or honey (not much, though – fruit is sweet enough and if you can learn to enjoy fruits without sugar, you’re doing yourself a favour).  Strain the granita.  Pour your fruit pulp into a tray and freeze it.

When it’s solid, run a fork through it to break it up.  A low-fat equivalent of ice-cream that makes a great party treat.  Berries make excellent sorbets and granitas.

Muffins: Children who are fussy about eating raw fruit will usually eat it cooked in muffins. If you can make ordinary sultana or chocolate chip muffins, you can make fruit muffins.

Use more fruit than you would choc-chips or sultanas, as fruit can shrink.  Berries are old favourites for adding to muffins, but you can try nearly any type of fruit, except perhaps melons (oranges and other citrus fruits can have juice and zest added, but this is best done in combination with other fruits).  A touch of citric or tartaric acid in the batter brings out the flavours of the fruit.

Chocolate-coated: Dark chocolate contains a huge amount of trace elements, so it’s practically a multivitamin pill, as long as you only eat it in moderation.

This “dietary supplement” can enhance fruit and turn it into something really special.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave on low, then dip your fruits in.  Set aside on baking paper to harden before eating.  Good fruit for dipping in chocolate include strawberries, bananas, peaches, cherries, pears and large bits of kiwifruit.

Jams and jellies: This is the best way to use up excess fruit if you have a tree that produces bountifully.  Use equal weights of fruit and sugar to make jams and jellies – the end result isn’t the healthiest, but it is an improvement over something stuffed with artificial this and that.

First, chop up and boil your fruit, using only a little water. When the fruit is pulpy, add the sugar and stir well. When the jam gets thick and sticky (test it on a plate), pour it into warm sterilized screw-top jars with metal lids and seal.

The fruit to use should have plenty of pectin and acid: apples, grapes, apricots, plums, blackcurrants, quinces and citrus are all safe bets, or mix one of these pectin-rich fruits with other fruit such as berries, peaches and pears.

Montessori children need fruit and these are just some of the fun ways you can get them to eat it.

However, Montessori children can and do eat vegetables – at least some types of vegetables, anyway – with a bit of persuasion and a few sneaky tricks.  Hopefully, these ideas should help get you started and help you avoid dinnertime battles.

• Start young.  If you introduce your children to a range of vegetables when you’re first introducing solid food to an infant, they will acquire a taste for them. Lots of veggies mash up easily to the right consistency when cooked and are suitable: potatoes, pumpkin, carrot, spinach/silver beet, swede, parsnip – even fried or steamed onions!  Introduce the veggies slowly, at the rate of about one new one per week.
• I have yet to meet a child that doesn’t like frozen peas, corn and beans – as long as the frozen veggies are still frozen.  The sneaky trick here is to give your child about half a cup full as a treat when you’re preparing dinner, and then don’t make a fuss at dinner time.
• Allow your children to play with their food a bit – broccoli and cauliflower become trees to be chainsawed down (with a knife and fork) and put in the chipper (your mouth).  Build a hill with mashed potatoes and be a giant dinosaur devouring the town.  Sound effects permitted – it’s better than a soundtrack of “do I have to?”
• Look for colourful vegetables, preferably raw ones.  Bright coloured fruits and veggies are the ones that contain the most nutrients anyway, and it’s human instinct to be drawn to them.  And when they’re raw, they tend to have the crunch factor.
• Get Montessori children involved in preparing a meal.  Not only is this a chance for your children to learn some valuable life skills, it also gives them some motivation for eating vegetables – they like to eat what they’ve made themselves.  Make sure that they have appropriate tools for the job – knives that are not too big, a bench or table at the right height.  Put those pouring and measuring skills learned at your Montessori centre to good use!
• Grow your own vegetables, preferably involving your child in the process.  If you’ve watched a lettuce grow from a tiny seedling to a large plant, eating it is the grand finale of the process.  Give your children their own garden space and let them nibble from what they grow (as long as you avoid using sprays to kill insect pests).
• Soups can have a huge amount of vegetables inside them without the eater knowing it.  This is particularly the case for thick pumpkin soup and tomato soup, which most Montessori children like (especially topped with cheese).  In a thick soup, you can hide potato, onion, carrot, capsicum, sweet potato, leeks (the white bits, as green bits are harder to hide), turnip and swede.  Mash well if you’ve got a really fussy eater and don’t say anything.
• If battles are frequent, have a “just one bite” policy: you have to have at least one bite of every type of food on your plate before you get down.
• Have carrots and celery available as snack foods.  Celery filled with peanut butter is a winner with many children, as long as they don’t have a peanut allergy.
• Eat vegetables in season.  This has two advantages.  Firstly, you don’t get stuck in a rut with only a few favourites, with your child refusing to try anything else.  Secondly, different vegetables become something Montessori children look forward to: summer means tomatoes and salads, while winter means pumpkin in roasts and soups.

Despite offering a full Kindergarten program since 1987 and being a four year qualified Early Childhood Teacher, our efforts and those of others in the private sector were not recognised by the education authorities in our State, because we were not a “real” school overseen by the State Education Department.

Thankfully that has been rectified and the benefits of having real teachers in the Early Childhood Industry outside mainstream state education is now welcomed and encouraged by the Government.

I am happy to announce we passed both hurdles with flying colours, and our Montessori Gold Coast program is now officially recognised as a full kindergarten program, and I am a real teacher at last.