A Montessori Farm School Reflection When I was growing up, I was a good number of years younger than my mom’s first two daughters. By the time I came along, she often said she had learned something important about parenting. She had learned to slow down. She used to tell me, “My job was to bring you into the world, and your job is to show me the world through your eyes.” It took me years to understand what she meant. Maria Montessori observed this same phenomenon more than a century ago. She...

From the outside, a Montessori classroom can look different than what many adults expect school to look like. Children are often working with one another, moving purposefully around the room, solving problems together, and deeply engaged in their own chosen work. Collaboration happens naturally, without a teacher directing every step or managing every interaction. Rather than controlling the flow of the day, the environment and the children themselves carry much of the work. So what are...

The world feels loud, fast, and overwhelming—especially for young children. Co-regulation is the idea that children learn to regulate their emotions through calm, responsive relationships with adults. Before children can consistently calm themselves, they borrow our calm. This doesn’t mean adults must be perfectly regulated. It means being present, steady, and connected. Co-regulation looks like slowing your body, getting down to a child’s level, naming feelings without judgment, and offering...