you’re hungry. You’ll often see things that you could
buy at Pier One or stores like that, little cheese plates
that will break. They’re not made of plastic. You find
little forks and knives that are their size, little glasses
that fit in the hand of a toddler, and they will prepare
their own food when they’re ready.
We use very lightweight tables. All our classroom
furniture is within the ability of the age range of the
class to move around the room. The whole idea is to
assist the development of the dignity of the child.
KELLY: I know that you want everything to be real
life. What’s the harm of, say, someone who wants to
go to Disneyland or let their children see Frozen, the
movie? Tell us about the philosophy on those princesses
and things like that.
TIM: Well, there are several issues. One of the most
basic ones is that young children don’t need any help
with fantasy. They have it down pat. Children come
into the world just filled with a natural tendency to
make-believe. They don’t need to visit Walt Disney
for that. It will happen all over the world, naturally.
What they need help with is learning about reality.
It’s not that fantasy is bad, or that we would tell a
parent, “Don’t ever do that.” What we say is to help
them learn how to manage things that are real. Many
toys and movies are meant to distract and entertain,
but they’re not connected to reality.
What we’re trying to do is to teach people empathy
and understanding of reality instead of having everything
be ‘cartoonish.’ That’s number one.
That has to do with independence and to know
the difference between a cartoon that shows people
flying and what really happens if you jump out of
a tree.
The second is that many things children experience
are created by big business and designed to turn
children into consumers. We could get a really interesting
conversation going about the true stories
of princesses hundreds of years ago and how the
middle class, the working class, and the peasants felt
about princesses and princes.
Today we’ve turned that into fantasy land to sell
toys, cereals, and everything else. Is it horrible? No! I
mean, my children enjoyed Disneyland. I just think
that we need to remember the kids don’t need a lot
of help with the fantasy part. They’ve got that.
KELLY: Where can people go for more information
about Montessori in general, if they wanted to read
and learn more about the philosophy?
TIM: Well, anyone could Google Montessori and
they’ll come up with probably 300,000 websites.
Certainly, one source is our website, montessori.org.
We focus on trying to help parents understand Montessori
and use its principles at home. We sponsor an
international association of Montessori parents called
the Montessori Family Alliance. ��
The Mission of IngeniousBaby.com
There is a genius in every baby. We believe that
the intelligence of a baby is highly malleable
and dependent on structure on environment.
To help parents uncover this, we share the
latest research, discovery, technologies and
information relating to child development and
early childhood learning. We are not here to
promote any particular dogma, but with an
open heart and mind, truly helping babies
explore and discover their highest potential.
The foundation of our efforts is based upon
the work and advice of some of the world’s
top educators and leading authorities in
pediatrics, psychology and neuroscience as
well as certified geniuses and their parents.
Our goal: To uncover the secrets of childhood
development and share with you the most
effective techniques and activities to help your
child discover and achieve his or her highest
potential. We also seek commonalities among
disparate group of genius, professionals to see
if there is some kind of unifying thread to tie all
of these people together.
Kelly Krueger Thomas
is the creator and host of
Ingenious Baby, a YouTube
show featuring interviews with
top experts in newborn and child education,
pediatrics, psychology, and neuroscience which
has attracted more than 18K subscribers. She
is deeply involved in her community, serving
as vice president for the San Francisco Opera’s
BRAVO! Club and on the Bay Area Discovery
Museum’s Friend’s Council, as well as other
charitable organizations. Kelly is a graduate of
Colorado State University with a B.S. degree in
Business Administration.
“WE’RE GOING TO
TEACH THEM HOW
TO DO THINGS FOR
THEMSELVES BECAUSE
THE GOALS, OF
COURSE, ARE TO BE
ABLE TO OPERATE
THROUGHOUT THE
CLASSROOM ON YOUR
OWN, TO PREPARE
YOUR SLEEPING MAT,
TO GET FOOD WHEN
YOU’RE HUNGRY. “
10 TOMORROW'S CHILD © �� OCTOBER 2020 �� WWW.MONTESSORI.ORG
/montessori.org
/IngeniousBaby.com
/WWW.MONTESSORI.ORG
