After a month of designing, purchasing and experimenting, I’m finally happy with the Montessori design of our new home.

When we first moved in, Mark and I agreed that the thick, dark-green carpeting in the living room had to go immediately. Within a week, Mark had put in brand-new laminate wood flooring. It cost less than $300 and completely transformed and uplifted the energy of the house! (Home Depot and a handy husband is all it takes, my friends). We then agreed that since the children will be spending the most time at home, we would set up their work space here on the first floor in the living room.

I’m so glad Mark and I are on the same page about our children: their education is our priority and you can see it when you come to our home.

Here are a few pictures of the children’s new work space:

On the other side of the room is my favorite thing of all – a child-sized sink that my husband designed and built! It is both luxurious (because so few homes have it) AND oh-so necessary (I never have to lift them up to the sink, press their stomach into the cold ledge of the sink and then hurry them through the whole washing process again!). Powered by a pump, it runs water up from a container through the faucet and then drains back down into the same container.

Here are some pictures of my amazing husband at work:

This is a standard sink from Home Depot, which Mark sawed down to size. Here he is installing the faucet. A goose-neck faucet makes it possible for children to fill up watering cans or pitchers at the sink.

He puts plumber’s putty around the drain ring in order to secure it to the sink

This container is from a fishing and marine store. For convenience’s sake, the water comes out of here and drains back here. We change it daily, which is simple to do.

You can’t see the pump, but once it’s plugged in, all you have to do is turn on the faucet and it works!

If you are in our neighborhood or passing through Baltimore, come for a visit! And bring the little ones to come and play with us!

In upcoming posts, I’ll be showing you the other areas in our home, including where we get dressed and where we eat. Stay tuned!

Since we cook rice at home 5-6 days a week, it was great for B and M to learn to make something they eat and experience so regularly. This video was taken over the summer in Denver, when Daisy, my cousin and Montessori teacher of 10 years, came to stay with us. B and M are 19 months here.

Nowadays, I just put the rice cooker at a height they can reach, let one child pour the rice (which I’ve pre-measured and placed in a bowl) and another child pour the water (also premeasured and placed in a pitcher). And then one person gets to close the lid and the other gets to press the ‘on’ button. If you give them the right set-up (rice cooker plugged in, pre-measured rice and water), they can learn to do this on their own without you!

Montessori says, don’t give children ‘pretend’ work because they like real work so much better (this surprised her, she thought it would be the other way around!).  Well, this work is easy, real and VERY practical.

P.S. Before this point, they’ve been primarily exposed to Chinese. Notice how much they love pronouncing those new English words. Children at this age just love and soak up language. More on language later.

There’s usually something I’m cooking that day the children can help with. Or I will find items they can cut or peel and cook with those. Preparing food gives the child opportunities for concentration, developing fine motor control and you can see in those eager eyes just how much they want to participate in family life.

They get so much joy when they get to explore something new and REAL, like the whole corn – husk and all!

This requires maximum effort! Unlike adults, young children love to feel the full capacity of their bodies

Celery can be seriously hard to cut, but when you arm children with the right gear, it’s no problem

Zucchinis cut easily and can be a great place for your toddler to start practicing using a knife

M helps peel a baked purple sweet potato for us at the family table – absolutely delicious!A child can start using a knife as soon as they have the motor skills to do so, but don’t let your apprehension get in the way of letting him/her try. It’s not so different from teaching them to use a pair of scissors (watch the video here). The right presentation goes a long way. Make sure YOU are always holding the handle with both hands when presenting this to the child, because they will do it the way you do it.

The right material is key for your toddler, make sure you consider the size, weight and feel of each item before purchasing it. Here’s where I bought mine:

Knife: Joie makes the best cutter/knife I’ve found for toddlers. The size of the handle is perfect for their little hands. As long as they are holding the handle and cutting with both hands, it’s difficult for them to cut themselves but of course, an adult should be supervising at all times. You can buy it at Bed Bath and Beyond or here: