Shelf Help

Every breastfeeding journey is very individualized. At some point, this journey will come to an end. In this episode Nicole and Amy are sharing some thoughts about Montessori and weaning from breastfeeding. We share insights into our weaning journeys and how we have approached weaning as Montessori parents.    Show Notes: https://www.thekavanaughreport.com/2021/10/MontessoriWeaningBreastfeeding.ht...

There are many myths about what it means to raise an independent child within Montessori circles. In this week's episode, Nicole and Amy dive into the journey of independence and what it truly looks like in a Montessori home. They share how they support children on their individual journeys and the importance of the prepared adult in this process.  Show Notes: https://www.thekavanaughreport.com/20...

Shelf Help season 2 is here! Nicole and Amy are back with new episodes of Shelf Help to share more about their journey as Montessori parents. In this week's episode, we're reintroducing ourselves and catching up from the summer off.  Show Notes: https://www.thekavanaughreport.com/2021/10/shelf-help-season-2-ep-1-welcome-back.html

Puzzles are such fun Montessori friendly toys. While not every child will enjoy using a puzzle, there is a large variety of puzzles available that children might be interested in. In this week's mini-episode, Nicole and Amy share why they move puzzles so much for children. And, they talk about some of their favorite types of puzzles, and the order in which they introduce each to their children.  ...

In this week's episode, Nicole and Amy are chatting about transitional positions - all the little movements that babies make between birth and starting to crawl and move. These movements are sometimes not given the time and attention they deserve. We give tips on how to support transitional positions throughout babyhood.  Show Notes: https://www.thekavanaughreport.com/2021/09/babymovementpositions...

Every Montessori home should strive to give children as much independence as possible. In this week's episode, Nicole and Amy talk about one of the most useful ways to give children independence at home - with a stool! We talk about some of our favorites and how we use them. Show Notes: https://www.thekavanaughreport.com/2021/09/MontessoriStoolsForKids.html

This week's episode is our first in our new mini summer series where we are diving into smaller topics. Today's episode is all about reading with older children, specifically reading chapter books. Nicole and Amy share some of their favorite chapter book recommendations and more about why they still choose to read aloud even to their older children.  Show Notes: https://www.thekavanaughreport.com/...

Montessori parenting is so full of joy and wonder. In this week's episode, Amy and Nicole are sharing some of their personal highlights and "ah-ha" moments of bringing Montessori into their homes. We hope this helps you take some time to reflect on the ways that Montessori has brought joy into your parenting. Show Notes: https://www.thekavanaughreport.com/2021/06/MontessoriParentingHighlightsPodca...

As Montessori parents we need to balance our child's freedom of movement with safety. We always want to make sure our children are safe and able to explore their environments. In this week's episode, Nicole and Amy offer tips on how to balance safety, our own expectations, and our Montessori environment, particularly with babies and toddlers. We dive into sleep spaces, multiple age spaces, and adu...

In a Montessori environment manners are approached differently than in many traditional spaces. In Montessori grace and courtesy lessons are used to give children the keys to unspoken social rules. In this week's episode we address how to give grace and courtesy lessons, what to do when challenges arise, and how to engage older children in these important lessons.  Show Notes: https://www.thekavan...

In this week's episode, Nicole and Amy talk about ten Montessori terms you should know when using Montessori at home. These Montessori fundamentals are important to understanding how children learn and develop. Nicole and Amy give examples of how to apply these terms in your Montessori home and how they influence Montessori parents. Show Notes: https://www.thekavanaughreport.com/2021/05/Montessori...

This week, Nicole and Amy are tired from dealing with sleep regressions. So they play a quick game of Montessori true and false answering listener questions and assumptions. In this episode, they address whether Montessori is just for the rich, if it's right for every child, whether they want more babies, and more!  Show Notes: https://www.thekavanaughreport.com/2021/05/IsMontessoriForEveryChild.h...

RIE®️ is a respectful childcare method created by Magda Gerber. With it's emphasis on intentional caregiving and predictable environments RIE®️ is beautiful. In this week's episode, Nicole and Amy discuss RIE®️ and how its principles are similar and different to Montessori for infants and toddlers. We share our experiences with RIE®️, which parts speak most to us, and which parts we find challengi...

Montessori bedrooms can look and feel a lot of different ways depending on a family's space. In this episode, we talk about how they have used Montessori to create their children's sleeping spaces. They explore the qualities that are important to find in Montessori bedrooms. Finally, they address some of the challenges of creating a bedroom space including sharing rooms and what toys to have in th...

This week we return to the topic of screen time and answer some listener questions about how we approach certain screen time scenarios. Questions included how we approach sports, restaurants and traveling. Again, we stress that every family will make decisions that feel right for their own individual families and children.  Show Notes: https://www.thekavanaughreport.com/2021/04/montessoriscreentim...

Tiny babies can interact with their environment in so many interesting ways. The Montessori mobiles offer a variety of interesting experiences for babies to explore in developmentally appropriate ways. In this week's episode, Nicole and Amy talk about their experiences with Montessori mobiles. We address a variety of mobiles, when to introduce them, and how we use them.  Show Notes here: https://w...

Screen time can be a hot button issue for many parents. This week, Nicole and Amy approach screen time from a Montessori perspective. We discuss some Montessori principles that influence our choices to limit screen time with our families. We share how much screen time we allow and what television shows we show our children.  Show Notes: https://www.thekavanaughreport.com/2021/03/shelf-help-ep-46-h...

As the world slowly reopens, many of us are looking forward to seeing family and friends again. In this week's episode, Nicole and Amy discuss how they approach family members and friends who may not be into or know about Montessori. How do we open up these parenting conversations in these cases? This episode includes a discussion on how we approach grandparents, cousins, screen time, and playdate...

In this week's episode, Nicole and Amy talk about raising intuitive eaters and developing a healthy relationship to food. We talk about how we balance offering choice, providing structure, and trust when it comes to eating. We share some of the challenges our families have faced and some of the ways we are scaffolding our kids to success.  Show Notes here: https://www.thekavanaughreport.com/2021/0...

Themed shelves for every holiday? Weekly shelf rotations? Open ended toys? In this week's episode Nicole and Amy discuss toy rotations in their Montessori homes. We talk about how we approach toy rotations, themed work, and our rotation rhythms. From our own observations, to actually choosing toys, we talk about everything toy rotations.  Show Notes here: https://www.thekavanaughreport.com/2021/02...

Deciding on a school can be difficult choice for many families. In this week's episode, Nicole and Amy talk about what they look for when deciding on a Montessori school for their children. They examine some of the "must haves" and some of the things that would give them pause about specific schools. They also have an honest discussion on the pros and cons of public verses private Montessori schoo...

In this week's episode, Nicole and Amy address breastfeeding and weaning. From those early newborn days through toddlerhood, Montessori parents can enjoy a breastfeeding relationship with their children. We discuss how to create an environment to support that relationship, and how to respectfully stop nursing when the time comes.  Show Notes here: https://www.thekavanaughreport.com/2021/02/shelf-h...

Amy is back with her new baby Frances! In this week's episode, we catch up with Amy to see how she and her family are adjusting to their new baby. This week we talk about using Montessori from birth and how that can be different in many ways from mainstream parenting. Nicole and Amy discuss Montessori newborn basics including care routines, playtime, and helping siblings to adjust.  Show Notes her...

With Amy still on maternity leave we have another question and answer session! We talk about a variety of topics including the Montessori approach to chore charts, to baby routines, and baby gates. Nicole and Amy also have a long discussion about toddler independence, separation anxiety and what to do when toddler's say "no!" Show Notes: https://www.thekavanaughreport.com/2021/01/shelf-help-ep-39-...

Amy's baby has been born and she is officially on maternity leave. Today we have part 1 of a pre-recorded question and answer session where we answer a variety of Montessori questions submitted on our Instagrams. We talk about everything from Montessori with older kids, play spaces for 1-year-olds, and how to approach kids that aren't interested in independent work.  Show notes found here: https:/...