Help - my daughters world is a Montessori nightmare!

[Shanny2032]

OK, so long story here, bare with me if you can.  DD and I lived with my sister and niece for a year.  DD is 2, my niece is 4.  They both co sleep so the 3rd bedroom was their playroom.  My sister and I are world's apart on toys, ways of learning, playing and working but I think we did a decent job of meeting in the middle for the most part.  Yes, a ton of the toys were plastic crap but we did cut down on the amount and rotated them so at least it didn't look like the Toys r Us store threw up 24/7 like her daughters room normally does.  We have since moved in to our first house and it is just the 2 of us again.  When we moved I found so many of her "baby" toys and she was thrilled to see them so now we pretty much have toys for all age ranges from 0-4 which is just too many.  I put some away of course but it is still not the ideal set up.  I really want to get back to my ideal playroom but I just don't know where to begin?  Box up all the baby/young toddler stuff again?  We recently took a small suitcase of toys/books/puzzles to my Dad's for a week and it was so wonderful to see her engage with these same toys day after day.  I swore I would come home and make some changes to start seeing that at home again.

Also, I am a Nanny and DD goes to work with me 50 hours a week.  Let's just say that it is my idea of hell as far as the toy selection, arrangements go.  Barbie and Princesses is the prevailing them in the house and it is BAD.  The problem is that then this is what my dd covets.  We have a few of these type things at home and I am OK I guess with that but she just practically salivates when we are at work all day!  I do what I can in terms of purchasing and set up but I can only do so much with some else's house and kids when they single handedly keep the American Girl store in business

She is in a MDO program a couple of mornings a week and they are in a Montessori school.  Last year they just had some Montessori work and practical life materials but this year they have gotten rid of all toys, primary colored plastic etc and are presenting a much truer Montessori experience.  This is great because in January she moves to her first "real" Montessori school for the Primary Program.

The rest of our house is great Montessori-wise.  She has access to everything, has chores and loves to help me, a learning tower to help in the kitchen, a stool in the bathroom to wash her hands by herself. etc etc but her playroom is not what I envisioned.

Lastly, I have discovered that I have an issue with how kids play with things and i think it may have something to do with my love of Montessori.  It drives me crazy when kids use things "wrong".  Checker pieces as soup...UGH!  The stroller as a carry all to transport a collection of random stuff around the house???  Makes me bonkers!  I know I need to let this go, please pass on some words of wisdom to help me do so.  My daughter is a little more logical but the other 2 little ladies I mentioned above are very "creative" in their use of toys and they have certainly passed some of this on to dd! 

If you read all that...thanks!

[ollyoxenfree]

It sounds like you are doing well. I think it's common for children to enjoy playing with old favourites, even if they have developmentally outgrown the toy. I've noticed that my kids would play with toys that they rediscovered after a clean up or de-cluttering session. It usually lasted for a couple of days before they lost interest. I wouldn't get rid of all of the baby toys at once, but perhaps continue to whittle them down. 

Originally Posted by Shanny2032 

Lastly, I have discovered that I have an issue with how kids play with things and i think it may have something to do with my love of Montessori.  It drives me crazy when kids use things "wrong".  Checker pieces as soup...UGH!  The stroller as a carry all to transport a collection of random stuff around the house???  Makes me bonkers!  I know I need to let this go, please pass on some words of wisdom to help me do so.  My daughter is a little more logical but the other 2 little ladies I mentioned above are very "creative" in their use of toys and they have certainly passed some of this on to dd! 

Montessori is often accused of being anti-creative because children are encouraged to use materials and equipment correctly for their intended purposes. I think that the ideas behind teaching proper use and taking good care of the materials are sound but I also think some open-ended play is fine, as long as the materials aren't being damaged.  After all, what else would most 2 year-olds do with Checkers pieces? A lot of them won't have the attention span or interest to play a game of Checkers.  Using a stroller as a buggy to carry stuff seems pretty obvious to me - as long as it isn't damaging the floors and furniture in the house.  I've often seen moms at the shopping mall or grocery store with packages in the buggy or hanging off of It. I think if you try to view this as creative play and encourage, or at least tolerate it, you'll feel better about it. Unless they are playing in a destructive manner, in which case, some gentle correction or demonstration is warranted.