we’ve been reading “montessori from the start” which attempts to apply the montessori method’s emphasis on hands on learning and discovery to infants.

the author’s stress the importance of aiding the budding little sensorial explorer’s ability to learn about the world through interaction with concrete, real objects:

“Young children cannot use imagination or abstract thinking to learn about the world. Because they are not yet capable of abstract thought, they must know the concrete world first and thereby develop the tools that lead to abstract thought and the furthering of their own construction. Children need, then, concrete objects whose qualities they can absorb through their own senses.

Most importantly, these materials must be of the real world.”

well, i have no idea if the theory is proveable and there’s no citations to studies that i can find, but it’s an attractive philosophy since at the very least it could cut down on the number of toy purchases we’ll make in the future!

who needs expensive gadgets when a spatula and a mason jar lid will do just fine 🙂

oh, and odin is nine months old today!