I said last week I’d have to do a podcast soon all about babies, and after our book launch Zoom party for The Montessori Baby last week where Junnifa and I were talking all about our love for babies, I decided it could be fun to share the recording from the book launch party for this week’s podcast. We talked about how we show respect for babies in the Montessori approach, we give you a virtual tour of the book, and even some of the people featured in the book were live on the call and able to talk about how it’s been for them to apply Montessori in their lives. And the most fun is Dr Ayize Sabater of the Black Montessori Education Fund. He kindly agreed to host the event and you can just feel his joy and his passion for Montessori. Enjoy...
Links from the show
This week's listener question
I'd love to hear more about your journey incorporating Montessori and bilingualism, Simone. Where we are moving next (in the US), we'll have to choose between one or the other for schooling (a Montessori school or an immersion school). The second language is not my first language, but we'd still like to introduce a second language. How did you navigate this or do you have any tips or resources you recommend? Thank you! - Sarah
I said last week I’d have to do a podcast soon all about babies, and after our book launch Zoom party for The Montessori Baby last week where Junnifa and I were talking all about our love for babies, I decided it could be fun to share the recording from the book launch party for this week’s podcast. We talked about how we show respect for babies in the Montessori approach, we give you a virtual tour of the book, and even some of the people featured in the book were live on the call and able to talk about how it’s been for them to apply Montessori in their lives. And the most fun is Dr Ayize Sabater of the Black Montessori Education Fund. He kindly agreed to host the event and you can just feel his joy and his passion for Montessori. Enjoy...
Links from the show
This week's listener question
I'd love to hear more about your journey incorporating Montessori and bilingualism, Simone. Where we are moving next (in the US), we'll have to choose between one or the other for schooling (a Montessori school or an immersion school). The second language is not my first language, but we'd still like to introduce a second language. How did you navigate this or do you have any tips or resources you recommend? Thank you! - Sarah
Hi everyone Simone here and welcome to The Montessori Notebook podcast. How are you all doing? I'm here to hopefully fill your day with a little bit of peace and positivity as we learn from others about applying the Montessori approach. And I said last week that I have to do a podcast soon all about babies. And after our book launch zoom party for the Montessori baby last week, where Junnifa and I were talking all about our love for babies. I thought it could be really fun to share the recording from the book launch party for this week's podcast. We talked a lot about how we show respect for babies in the Montessori approach. We give you a virtual tour of the book and even some of the people featured in the book were live on the call and able to talk about how it's been for them to apply Montessori from birth. And I think one of the most fun things is Dr. Ayize Sabater from the Black Montessori Education Fund. He kindly agreed to host the event and you can just feel his joy and his passion for Montessori. So I hope you enjoy it. But speaking of joy, I wanted to talk to you about finding the joy in bringing Montessori into the home, because there was a comment on one of my Instagram posts. And I asked them if I could share it on the podcast. And they agreed. And the comment said, in order to do Montessori properly, one must have no full time job meals to make personal interests or activities other than solely focusing on one's offspring. I love Montessori but it's too overwhelming some days. And there was a similar question that came up during the book event too. And what you'll hear us say is that we do need to be careful in these child centered approaches that we aren't forgetting ourselves, or our own needs, and it becomes all about the child. Because it can seem like we have to put everything for our lives on hold with like the comments, they're not working or need to prepare meals or having a life outside of our children. And yet, we can't give from an empty cup. And we're also being a model for our children. And to me, that means that we need to have interests outside of raising kids so we can model for our children what it's like to be curious about the world and that we are lifelong learners. For some of us, it's exercising or eating nourishing food, conversations with adults study work, being in nature, taking a break from parenting, even having other people who love our children take on some of the care sometimes or being creative to make that happen. If you don't have family nearby, whatever it is for you. It's part of what we call in Montessori, the preparation of the adults. And if we work full time, I've said before that we can still do Montessori in the hours that we're at home, in choosing the people who are looking after our children when we are there. And that kind of thing. We can be like intentional in the moments we are with our children connecting with them before we leave when we get back slowing down, especially when we are there. And that to me is just as much Montessori as setting up any Montessori shelf. And I think the thing that has helped me enjoy being a parent the most with Montessori, and that may feel quite spacious is that we have a guide. And so we're holding space for the child as they go through their ups and downs rather than taking like everything personally or rushing in to try and fix it. So we're excited for them when they work something out. And it's hard to see them having a hard time. But we are there as a guide to hold space to support them rather than rushing in to fix everything or taking it personally. And another thing about being a guide is that means we're not being their boss, and just giving instructions all the time, or being their servant and doing everything for them. So it's more like doing things together rather than nagging or doing it for them. So in Montessori, we talk a lot about getting kids involved in the things we need to be doing anyway, like meal preparation, so you get dinner cooked, they're helping and learning a lot. And we have time for connection during it. It might be a bit messier or slower. And they may not want to help every time. But we are building that family culture of working together as a family. And I also spoke to the idea that one story takes a lot of time. A few episodes back in the introduction, I think to Episode Three. And for those that missed it in shortly was basically to say that I think that one story saved me time in the long run. So investing time in connecting with the children meant less explosions, more being able to solve problems together with the children, spending some time to have inviting spaces met, the children were more engaged and happy to play independently. spending the time to help children scaffold the skills could mean that they could do more for themselves. And then I'm able to step back and let them take over more and more. And then going back to joy. There is joy in watching the make all the discoveries. There's joy in looking at the world around us with our children, and there's joy in making the discoveries and being together. So everyone I hope that this might give you permission to drop the perfection. Find more connection and look at how everyone in the family can have their needs met so you, your children, if you have a partner, however your family looks and find some joy today. Ah, one last thing. I also recommend nonviolent communication, which can be a useful tool to add to your backpack as a way for your family to be able to communicate their needs. So that might be something you want to look at as well. But only if you find a fun, I don't want to add anything else to your to do list. And now it's time for us to take a listen to the book launch soon party for the Montessori baby book. The quality of the audio may not be so great as we are on three different continents with the recording with Junnifa in Nigeria, Dr. Ayize was in the US and I was here in the Netherlands. But it's still pretty clear. And I hope you enjoy it. And I'll be back after to answer another question. Welcome, everyone. It's so lovely to have you here to celebrate with us. Today we'll have we have Dr. Ayize Sabater. He's going to be moderating the session for us. That's a easy is the executive director of AMI USA. He's also one of the founders of the black Montessori Education Fund. And I'll let him tell us more about himself and also about the BMEF. Thank you all so much for being here. So exciting to see so many faces. Yes, it is really an exciting opportunity to be with you all for this a book party. This is really tremendous. So yes, as Junnifa stated, I am the co founder of the BMEF. The BMEF stands for the Black Montessori Education Fund. And it was actually through the BMEF that I was fortunate to even connect with Simone and some of the amazing team members with Montessori Everywhere. And the BMEF is really just striving to have more black individuals from around the globe to engage in Montessori, whether it's Montessori teachers, whether as helping to start up Montessori schools, doing research on the lived experience of Black Folk in Montessori, so a way to get more engagement from the, you know, African diasporic community, into Montessori. And so we are really excited. In fact, right now, we are in our second round of funding, the first round, we gave away almost 30 over$30,000. And this time, we're looking to even exceed that. And so if you know any black individuals who might be interested in Montessori, send them to our website. It's blackmontessorieducationfund.org. And if I get a moment, I'll put it in the chat for you all if for folks who are interested. And so, you know, I do that as a Montessori parent myself as one that was a, you know, Montessori School founder and, you know, excited to have worked with, you know, Simone Montessori everywhere, to, you know, really expand this to a global footprint now. And so we're really excited for not only the BMEF. But even more importantly, to be here today with this tremendous, you know, we want to say, you know, congratulations for the birthing of the Montessori baby book. And so we are really excited. And, you know, in talking with Simone, and Junnifa, they said that this is really their love letter, their love letter to babies. And so I am really excited to get into this conversation with the creators of The Montessori Baby. So we're gonna go ahead and open up with just a small conversation with the, with the authors. And then we will go into a book tour, and then continue on this journey for this, this this tremendous resource that so many will benefit from. And so, Simone and Junnifa, what I want to begin with is how did you all even meet, as you know, co creators here of the Montessori baby book? Do you want to talk about our baby? Sure. So how did you meet? I actually had an interaction with Simone online. I remember in 2013, I had written a blog post that I posted it on one of the I don't remember which one now but one of the Facebook groups, and I had asked for feedbacks from feedback from other Montessori teachers and creators. And she responded to me and she was so gracious to provide feedback, which I really appreciated. And I said thank you, and he just kept in touch after that. And then in 2000...I want to say 2018. I was I happen to be in Amsterdam for One of the AMI board meetings. And I asked Simone, if I could come observe her playgroup, which I did. And so that was the first time that we met in person. And then in 2019, when I went back for the another AMI board meeting, she invited me over to have dinner like a home cooked meal at her at her home. And while I was there, she mentioned that she was thinking about writing a baby book. And I was like, Oh, that's interesting. On the flight here, I was also thinking that I would really love to write a baby book. And she was like, oh, let's write it together. And I was like, sure. And so you set that over dinner, and drafted an outline for the book. And even, you know, had a much like an idea of who would write what, and just talks about it there. And then, so, so that was 2019. And we started to write a little bit, but most of the writing actually happened in 2020, during the lockdown, over lots of zoom calls, Whatsapp calls, dropped calls, lots of frustrations. But we've actually only met twice and are really connected by technology. So yes, that's how we met. And that's how he came to. Know that is tremendous tomorrow, did you want to add any any flavor to that? I'm just so blessed I got to write this book with Junnifa, because if anyone has met Junnifa or heard her speak, which you will today, like it is just comes from her heart. And her three beautiful children have made such a contribution to this book. I didn't get to do Montessori with my own babies. I've helped many families. So you can come to my classes for 15 years. But I really wanted to also co write it with someone who had had that experience. And she contributed and beyond. So yeah, it's a blessing to get to work together. Yes, no, I think it is not only a blessing for you all to work together, but you have blessed the world with this amazing resource, you know, as I have looked through it, and you know, it is so practical, so hands on, and it is oozing with love and respect and care for the child. And so, you know, I've really appreciated that. And I guess, you know, Junnifa, you shared a little bit about how you all decided to, you know, come upon writing the book, I guess the question that I had was, you know, the the realization of trying to respect the child because it you know, it comes across so much you're really heavy, pronounced. directive to parents to respect the child. Well, where did that come from? Oh, you won't really talk to them. Yeah, sure. I mean, I respect is something that I really think we learned in our zero to three training. And when I saw Judi Orion speak to the baby, for the first time, I'm like, Ah, this is a different way to be with a baby. It's not like, Oh, I need to teach them everything they need to know like trying to fill them with facts. And this is blue. And this is green. It was this soft, welcome, intentional, graceful kind of way of being with a baby. And that's what we really wanted to express to everyone is that Montessori is you don't have to buy any of the materials, but that we can show them respect with our hands. So the way that we actually actually one of the first things I remember about Junnifa working with her was we had, she was on the Montessori Show with Jeanne-Marie. Hi Jeanne-Marie. And she talked about her RIE training and how they really express this in their RIE training, which is Resources for Infacnt Educarers how you use soft hands with a child. And that really shows respect, because compare that to when you kind of consciously undressing your child, you know, not really respecting them at all, instead of when you actually say I'm going to pick you up, or I'm going to change your diaper or I'm going to put your coat on, and you just pause to let them respond and you're handling them with such care that shows them how the world respects them, how we respect them. And we can show them with our homes, how we set up spaces that are intentional. You know, like if someone's made guest room available for you, you feel so welcoming to space. And it's a bit like that too, when we don't go overboard, but we just make a really inviting space for our children with our time because I think with babies actually just allowing them the time for movement, the time for connection, particularly like when you're changing diapers and things like that, when you don't need to rush through those moments, you can actually connect and enjoy the type changing diaper. They're learning so much from that interaction and for conversation as well as the silence right, I should add that as well. And then also respecting their bodies because not you know, like you just see so many people holding their babies to get them to walk so early or even worse, those extra sources, putting them in a position before they're ready. And Montessori is so respectful to say I trust your body is on its own timeline and will develop as it will. Um, so we love talking about that as well. Yeah, I think that having had three children who I've been privileged to use Montessori from birth for. I think that if you spend time with children and you just you know, get to know them, and how amazing and capable they are, it's hard to treat them with anything but respect, like, you know, they started looking so helpless. And then you see how they literally create themselves because you don't teach them how to walk, you don't teach them how to talk, you don't actually do much, but then you watch them become, you know, humans, you know, like the humans when they're born, but you just see how they become their own personality, you see them coming to themselves. And I think that once you've experienced that, especially when you're looking at them with the right lenses from the beginning, it's hard to not respect them. So our hope is that, you know, we invite parents and caregivers to start to see children in the way that they truly are from the very beginning. So yeah. No, that is tremendous. And again, you know, the book is, you know, just the same warmth, and love that you all just, you know, I perceive in their response is what you get from the book. And so, you know, in looking at the book, it is chock full of pictures and diagrams and figures. So it is so very practical. And to that point that they just said, you know, one point, they just say, you know, people have notions around how you're supposed to interact and get all these educational materials for the children. And they just say, you know, let's stop, and let's recenter ourselves in terms of how we view and look to interact with the children. And so again, that love and respect truly comes through this love letter, the Montessori baby. So I know we're going to take a book tour. But before we do the book tour, what I want to do is one last question is, if people could take away one thing from the book, what might it be? And I'm, and I'm asking this for the global community, as I see folk on from Canada, from Singapore from the United States. Oh, yeah. So what would be that one thing you want to offer this global gathering that they could take away from this, this gem? I think for me, would just be to change the way that we see babies to see them as capable. Actually, I have to choose two things. I can't say one thing, but I think changing the way that we see babies is number one. And the second one is just that being a Montessori parent is mostly about you and your interactions with your baby. Yes, we can prepare the environment. Yes, we can buy the right material. Yes, we can do all of those things. But I think that truly raising our Montessori babies really in the way that we see see our child, because when we see them the right way, then we respond to them the right way. We're talking to them with respect, we're touching them with respect, we're giving them the opportunity to be all that they can be we're giving them freedom, we're allowing them to be independent, we're guiding them, but it's all of those things. The root of it is how we see our babies, we have to see them as being able, we have to see them as deserving of our time deserving of our respect deserving of our connection. So I think that for me, it would just be changing how we see our babies and seeing them as you know, like Dr. Montessori said, cute, they're human beings deserving of respect. So when we can start to see them as every other thing falls into place, and we find ways to meet their needs, with whatever we have. So that's what I hope that parents take out of this, that it starts with you like even if you were stranded in a desert, with just your baby, you would be able to be a Montessori Montessori parent. So all of that, and that I'm so happy to maybe make Dr. Montessori, his wisdom, which is so beautiful, more accessible to parents, because it's written to educators, it's hard to get into. And if you're a new parent, it's not so easy to understand how that would apply in daily life. So we'd also talk about Montessori bringing a lot of joy to parenting, because people say that it takes more time. But I actually feel like it was an investment in my time in that first year, and I got all the more backward it was an easier way to parent so much more joyful, and the connection with my kids like now that I'm in the fourth plane. It just is paid off in spades. So I hope that everyone gets that foundation from birth and so I'm so excited. Perfect. Well, again, I hope you all this global gathering, I hope you all are feeling that excitement, feeling the love feeling the you know, the respect that they share that is you know, again, it oozes all through this love letter. So let's now shift gears and do a quick book tour of the Montessori on baby book. Okay, this is a virtual book tour of the Montessori baby for those who haven't got their copies yet. So basically, we're going to walk you through the book, we started with chapter one, which was like our introduction. It was so fun to write this, like, it's time to change the way we see babies like what Junnifa said before they're capable. This is what's going on for them and what we And let's like Dr. Ayize picked up as well, like, let's just need to know. stop with like trying to force them to learn faster, because like 80% of the brain develops in the first three years, we think we need to do more for them. So that's where we started. Let's reframe how we see babies. And then in chapter two, we talk a little bit about the Montessori principles, just Montessori principles just taking it back talking about the absorbent mind and give you a brief to your history of Montessori, human tendencies, just some of those core Montessori principles in the second chapter to prepare the environment and how to observe and all of this. Yeah, the core Montssori principles are covered in chapter two, then I think I love all the chapters, but I really love chapter three, because it's not something that's written about much, which is those first six to eight weeks in which we call the period of symbiosis. So I'm gonna leave you hanging, you have to get in the book to find out what this symbiotic period is, if you don't know already. In chapter four, we give some practical tips on how to set up your home for your child, and the different changes that she would make as your child starts to grow. We also share some perspectives from some Montessori parents like Pilar Bewley, Mainly Montessori, in that chapter. And we have Pilar on the call, Hi Pilar, we will get to chat to you in a bit later. And beautiful pictures from the home of Nicole Kavanaugh is also on the call. Thank you so much, Nicole, for letting us share your beautiful spaces. And this is another one of the illustrations that's in the book that shows the diagrams going from zero to five months, what the space might look like, how would change to five to nine months, and then from nine to 12 months. And if anyone's done the A to I training, then you'll recognize these diagrams, I've just updated them a little to make them more modern. So in chapter five, we talk about the practical thoughts on parenting how to gain a you know the importance, trust, the importance of acceptance in our parenting, haven't we, from the beginning, we've already talked a lot about respect we kind of hone in on that in this chapter. We talked about encouraging concentration, freedom of movement, basically the things that we do for our children as parents, and I saw that somebody asked if this book was only for parents. I think that as caregivers, even in the classroom, the children are kind of like our children, you know, and many of the while we we talk a lot about the home. Many of the practical ideas about how to parent is really how to care for a child how to interact with a child. So this chapter even though it says parenting, the Montessori baby could be caring for the Montessori baby guiding the Montessori baby just talks about how to how to care for a Montessori baby. Yeah, and I think that's a really valid point because I know a lot of people read the Montessori toddler and used it for assistants in the classroom, for example, and in settings that aren't Montessori as well. So then chapter six is all about Montessori activities. for babies. This is a huge chapter, because it talks about the importance of movement, the importance of language, and things that we can do without a lot of money, you know, to encourage these things, and basically always looking at what is my baby developing right now. And of course, we give some guidelines on what kind of activities might be typical for ages. But we always keep saying your child is unique. So please keep looking at your child. And we give lots of tips on observation, what to observe at each age and each stage. And there's just so many beautiful illustrations throughout the book. There's a lot of text, like it's over 280 pages, but I'm saying even though I did such a beautiful job of translating our Montessori materials into these gorgeous illustrations, that makes it really accessible as well. So um, chapter seven is putting it into practice. This is another this is actually really my favorite chapter actually. I think that you know, when we hear it, we learn a lot about Montessori in all the chapters we hear about, but in this chapter, it really answers a lot of the questions that always come up in caring for children, talking about rhythms, sleep, siblings, basically the nitty gritty how to some of the things that would come up as you care for your baby at the different stages. In this chapter, we basically go into the details about all of the things that you have questions about how do I get my baby to sleep? What if my baby is you know what if I have an older child, how did he deal with the younger one? What if I give birth to twins? How do I Montessori with twins? So there are lots of practical tips and advice in this chapter. But it's basically putting it into practice. So in real life, what does it look like? How? Yeah, those kinds of questions. Chapter Eight is the preparation of adult because Dr. Montessori talks so much about the preparation of adults. And it's actually really like Junnifa said, at the very beginning, without any materials, it's where the most important material for a particularly in that first year, so we give some tips on the kind of work that we can do to prepare ourselves before we have the baby, how we can take care of ourselves, the spiritual, mental, you know, just the things that we need to be thinking about on our parenting journey. Chapter nine is working together, all of us know that when we're caring for our babies in Nigeria, and in most African countries, we say it takes a village, there are so many people that you have to work with your partner, maybe your your parents might be helping, you might have nannies, your guide working with the parents, and if you're the parent working with your child's guide, if they're in school. So we're working, we're usually collaborating with other adults to care for our babies. And this chapter kind of addresses some of the things that might come up in those relationships, how to collaborate ideally. And there's a really lovely letter to visit us to have a baby, putting into words in a really nice way. So some of the things that we struggle with how to interact with the baby. That's what this letter is just a letter to the other adults who visit our home or who visit our space where the baby stays, and how to interact with the baby in a Montessori way. So many of us have that, you know, we get a lot of questions about what is my mother in law? or Why did my mom doesn't? How can I tell her so we kind of helped you tell them some of those things in fewer words, or I need the respectful way. Absolutely. And then we don't leave you hanging, we go on to what's coming next as well. So we talk about the toddler years and then the four planes of development as well, so that you have a little perspective on what's to come. And then I think I've always loved these parts of both the Montessori toddler and the Montessori baby is when we get to also highlight families from around the world. It's not just Junnifa and I have had a great experience with it, we get to highlight and we're so grateful to all of the contributors who have just been Yes, we'd love to be a part of this book. So these are just a couple of the pages. From Forest Montessori for Montessori Chapters, we have Maria and Charlie on the call, who will chat to us as well. And from Montessori by Heart Neus, John and Julia, and of course, Junnifa and family, they're just a couple of the pages. Yes, no, this is tremendous and really exciting. And I see the excitement building in the chat. And what I also want to you know, again, this is their, you know, their love letter to children, I only know two babies and really is a tremendous compliment to be able to show families in in a real practical way how to do that. And also any dependencies, you will see they have a very practical timeline, even month by month milestones and ways in which families might Prepare to be able to immerse our children in the love that we know that they deserve. And so this is really a very practical resource for not only for for parents, but also caregivers. And, you know, many settings to be able to demonstrate that love and respect. Alright, so what I want to do now is shift gears to be able to really allow not only send a thank you to some of the other contributors that have just been mentioned, but to also just allow us to hear from some other voices. So I'm first I'm going to ask if Maria from Montessori Chapters might want to unmute herself and again, we definitely want to say thank you to, you know, to Maria, I'm really each one of the the extra special contributors, please Maria. Hello. Hi, I'm Maria and this is Charlie, my husband. And I just wanted to say thank you so much for Yeah, writing this book, and also for giving us a chance to make a little contribution towards it and share a little bit of what we do in our family in there. So, yeah, I found out about Montessori. Before my son Lucas was born, my dad loves charity shops loves books, and he got me. He found an interesting Montessori book, and he gave it to us. It was really interesting and I I just thought Wow. And I googled it. And I found a really quick YouTube video that was about three minutes long, just summarizing what Montessori was about. And from that moment, I just thought it was incredible. And I was hooked. And I, we've been learning about it ever since, really. And we've been applying the philosophy. Pretty much since Lucas, our son was born. He's nearly three now. And the connection has just been so lovely to have with him. And it's really enabled me to just trust him and just kind of, yeah, we would be talking about the respect and just even from the day he was born, we've just spoken to him, just pretty much like we would like with an adult, you know, a little bit more kind of more gentle and things, but it's just been, yeah, really amazing. And felt really, really natural kind of so many things we've never thought about, like, the cop bed that I've always grown up just kind of thinking the baby's you know, sleeping cots. But when we had learned a bit more about it, it was just so interesting that, you know, it makes so much sense for them to be able to have that control and to be able to get out when they when they want to. Yeah, so we just couldn't really think of doing it any other way now that we The more we learn about it, and it's just been Yeah, like he's he's had the joy elements such a joy to see Lucas develop. And yeah, it's been, it's been lovely. Yes, the only thing I'd add Maria has covered most very nicely. But just whenever we've had the opportunity, we try to observe and follow and nurture and encourage whatever he's drawn to. So some of our friends and families sometimes joke and laugh at the way we end up rearranging the home every few months when he has a new interest and climbing frame here and mirrors on the floor. And then they stood up and adapting thing. So it's been really nice to give him a place to flourish and watch him very to grow into and out of everything, and then on to the next thing so that we know, thank you so much for sharing know, and again, I think this is a great, you know, contribution to add some other perspectives to be able to, you know, brought in just the, the realization of how we can change our perspective in interacting in a very loving, respectful way with our children. Alright, so what I want to do now is so thank you, Montessori Chapters, we're going to shift gears to Neus to go ahead and share a little bit of Montessori by Heart. And again, thank you so much for bringing that perspective to the book too. So Neus, please unmute yourself. Yes. Hello, everyone, I'm so glad and excited to be here. Thank you so much for this opportunity, and to be able to share our life and our story, in this wonderful book that I truly, truly love. I'm so I'm a Montessori teacher, I also zero to six. So I think for me was just like, another process because you know, as I'm one of the saurians in the classroom is way different than at home. And as a parent, you know, my hat has to be changed. And as I explained to Junnifa, and Simone, at first, I was like, the teacher and me like trying to go over all the materials. And I stopped one day and I observed my daughter, and it was like, she's in love with this move. While I shouldn't change it, I need to follow her, I need to respect her will. And I need to respect what she needs in the moment. So that was a click, and she actually taught me that I need to slow down. And I needed to be a mom. And I feel like Montessori also allowed me to those first days where it's, you know, everyone wants to visit you and everyone wants to see the baby allowed me to just know, have that space to bond with my daughter and have my husband like dancing with her every day. Like you know, kind of going and bonding with her. And this is something that is continuing until now like she's a toddler now and she keeps going and dancing with my husband and having that bonding time together. So she remind me that it's important to follow the child is important not to have all the materials just to show respect as low down and give the child what they need and a space for moving and a space for nursing and have those spaces beautifully organized and simple. Like a lot of people was like oh, why you don't have the nursery ready? Why is not painted? Why is everything? No To organize, and I was like, because it's not, because she doesn't need 10,000 things in her nursery, she just needs a space for her to be able to sleep. And this is what he's gonna do. But it took a while. And I love the fact that there's a letter for families because I anticipate that we come from different cultures, me my husband, so we come from Spanish and Brazilian, and they like just like to be a home and be and make a party out of a children's life. And it's beautiful. But at the same time, I noticed that my daughter was like, what's going on? This is too much. So topponcino help, you know, come like cousins will come and just grab for but it was really slowly. And I asked everyone to come one at a time. So I think Montessori gave me time to connect with her and give her some space. And also let her be coming to this world respectfully and beautifully. So yes, no, thank you so much. No, that is great. And I think that is one of the points that is well made in the book in terms of how to become an active observer, and to really savor the moment with your with your child. And so I definitely want to thank you for your contribution. We got to move now to also thank Nicole Kavanaugh and the Kavanaugh Report, if you want to go ahead and unmute yourself, and you know, please bring some perspective. I am so honored to be involved in this book in any tiny way, it was such a blessing to be asked to share some glimpses into our home. And I think it's hard to sum up what Montessori has done for my life, it has just changed everything about our lives and our experience in raising and being with children. And I'm Teddy here is my fourth baby. And the third that I've gotten to use Montessori with and why Wow, it's just it's such an incredible blessing to parents. And I think in in them, the biggest gift I think has been the ability and time to slow down. A year goes by like that. And if you're continuously worrying about whatever these things that you could be worrying about. Montessori just gives you that space to sit down and enjoy that baby right where they are right in the second because if you blink, that time is just there. They're off to school, they're you know, they're, they're elementary school children and, and it just gives you that joy and that time to love your babies and be with them right where they are. And so that is the greatest gift I think that Montessori has given me and it was an honor to be asked to participate in the very small way that I did. So thank you both. Congratulations, you know, as you're showing BND Nicole's pictures, yes, I think the point is well made, because if you blink, the children will be already off to college. So let us savor these moments. So now I see we've got to not only allow Pilar, with Mainly Montessori, but then I also see Cindy and Maisie with Workman Publishing Publishing to say something. So if you will, and Pilar please unmute yourself and give us your Hi, thank you so much. I am so thrilled about the work that the two of you have done, and that I could contribute to it. And I was just thinking about how, you know, Simone when I had a toddler, and I'm not zero to six trained, I'm three to 12 trained. And so those three first years were just terrifying for me, and being able to see the work that you were doing in the Montessori Notebook. And this was 10 years ago, almost 10 years ago. But being able to see the work that you were doing in your writings, just gave me so much confidence and let me know that it was, um, there was no like one right way. But it was very much about connecting with your child and keeping it simple. And so that has that was a huge takeaway. And Junnie, you and I go way back. And I have followed your journey and I have been in awe of your transformation. And I cannot tell you how beautiful this is to see your baby being birthed after your other three babies. Um, and I just wanted to what really stands out for me in in your book and in Montessori is how there is no one right way to to do this. Right. And so it's not about the shoulds it's about the connection, and I love that you're brings in different families from different parts of the world with different backgrounds. Because it helps us to know that this is doable, right? And, and it really kind of gets rid of these, this, these misconceptions about Montessori about it being all about structure are all about letting them do whatever they want, right. And so it's, it's more about this dance between the child and the parent and nature. And I think that, you know, from what I was able to see in the book, you really were able to highlight that and show how every family does it differently. And, and the the power that it brings up to it, you know, not just to transform the relationship between the parent and the child, but to really transform society and to to, you know, to bring about peace and understanding. So, you know, I want you to know that your book is going to have a profound impact beyond, you know, just parent and child. So congratulations, I am so thrilled that I was able to contribute in my own little way, and made this touch millions of families around the world is that we took a blog posts that I've written from the perspective of her son about how he explored his Montessori environment and how that it made him feel so capable. So it was just such a beautiful other perspective that we really wanted to include that. Sorry, no, no, no, that is tremendous. No, I think again, you know, getting the charge the touch, you know, millions is a tremendous charge. And I love it. So I know we have Maisie, excuse me for chopping your name, if I did, and Cindy from workman publishing, if you want to also give a perspective from from Yeah, from workman publishing. Hi, I'm so excited to be here. I'm Maisie. You did it, you did it perfectly, is that it perfectly. Um, I had the great pleasure of being Simone and Junnifa editor on this book. And I concur with what everyone has said about the the wonderfulness of bringing Montessori to to parents everywhere. I'll just speak briefly about the pleasures of, of working with Simone and Junnifa, on the actual mechanics of putting this book together. And the the the to say attention to detail would be an understatement. Every, every line, every paragraph, every chapter in this book is meant to take parents through the to the most step by step, easy unfolding of what for some might feel somewhat intimidating, a totally new idea, Simone and Junnifa do so much to make it feel not just too easy, but like an extension of of what already feels natural. You know, it's it's not about getting new things. It's not about buying anything. It's not about completely changing your life. It's about folding, it's about introducing Montessori in a way that you can fold it into the life that you're already leading. And I think that that is what makes this book so special. And what makes it so accessible. And what will make it so popular, I think. And it's really to Simone and Junnifa's credit that they make it seem so, so doable. Anyway, so I'm so thrilled This is finally out in the world was a huge labor of love, emphasis on labor, and over a very unusual year. And I'm just so excited. I'm so excited that everyone gets to enjoy it. So thank you so much for having me. And thank you, Simone and Junnifa for doing such a wonderful job of being stewards to this such an important thing. Amazing thanks to Maisie. You have no idea how much like when she says attention to detail were like, sorry, that finger is not like a child would hold that rattle, can you please change it? So Maisie has had to really yeah, with the attention to detail is very important for our Montessorians and our observation. So you just carried it all off with grace and humor and indulged us and we're so grateful to Workman for spreading this so far wide and deep. Thank you to her to you were so patient with us. And you know, not you know, taking it. You just went with us and just carried us and carried our all of our ideas carried you know, helped us to look deeper and helped us to see you know, and we really appreciate. My pleasure so much. Thank you. My pleasure. Perfect. And now I see a great point in the chat in terms of how can somebody order a case of these? Because it might be a great gift to give to an expecting parent or new parents so how can folks order these by the case. I feel like this is a great time for me to quickly jump in. Hi, I'm Cindy. I'm also from Workman Publishing. I am the marketer for the Montessori baby and just basically echo everything Maisie said about working with Junnifa and Simone. They're an absolute delight to work with. And I'm just so excited to celebrate Finally, the launch of the Montessori baby. And it's so great to see all of these lovely comments from Montessori ins around the world. And some I just mentioned here just included those specialmarkets@workman.com email address if you reach out there, yes, they do great discounts for 10+ books. And congratulations again, Simone. And Junnifa, I'm so excited that the Montessori baby is finally out in the world. Thank you so much, Cindy. And again, I see some comments starting to come in and questions in the chat if you all want to start populating because we're going to shift to q&a. But I don't know Simone. And Junnifa, if you wanted to say anything to Cindy. Yes, absolutely. Big thanks to Cindy. Like she just worked tirelessly and always says yes, no problem. And I got to work with her both on the Montessori Toddler and this book. And I love working with you and Lana, I don't think she's on the call. So a huge thank you to Ilana too who also reached out to do lots of publicity. That's not Junnifa, my favorite bit is like putting ourselves out there. So we are so grateful that Cindy and Ilana could help us, yeah, to get in front of all these amazing people. Thank you. We both love working with you so much. So thank you. Perfect. All right. So yes, Junnifa go ahead. No, I was just going to concur. Thank you so much, Cindy. Again, I think the biggest thing that I appreciate about workman is just the patience, the the willingness to go into detail in the way that we want it to just going the extra mile. And I really, really appreciate that. I can't imagine if we had to market or you know, promote the book ourselves. So I really, really appreciate all that you're doing to help us get the book to the world. So thank you, Cindy. Thank you, Maisie. And thank you, Ilana. Thank you, I easy before we move into the q&a, I also just want to thank everyone here. Like there's so many people in this room that have held us like just conversations and connecting. And there's two special people as well. Oliver and Emma are on the call, and their dad, Luke. So thank you family for showing up. I've kind of feel embarrassed as a mama bear. But they hold me. Yeah. And Emma even got to proofread the book one time because I was too busy. And I'm like Emma, can you check the edits have gone through? And her comment was at the end and was there was you can just see how much you love you and Junnifa love babies. So our love letter to babies. Thank you my babies. Perfect. Well, again, yes, this is a tremendous love letter to babies. And if you want to put your question in the chat, you can but I think we also could just you know have folks to unmute themselves. And what I want to say is, you know, I want to maybe take a quick privilege to say that I'm so fortunate here with AMI USA that Simone and Junnifa have an article in our forthcoming journal where they are also sharing some of Montessori. They say don't keep the the wisdom of Dr. Montessori secret and they want to share it with the world. So if you all want to get a you know, a quick sneak preview, you can check out the AMI USA journal spring journal 2021 for some more wisdom by Simone and Junnifa. Alright, so with that said, I don't know if we want to open up for questions. So if you have a question, then please unmute yourself and less because I don't see so many in the chat that we haven't hit and again, if you want to to get the cases of books, so that you might be able to give this as a ideal gift for expecting or new parents then special markets at workman calm it's there in the chat and or you can also reach out to Cindy. So let's go ahead and open it up for q&a. Yes, hi. Hello from Los Angeles. I'm also multitasking right now feeding my little one. We're so excited about this book. It's been on my calendar and and I'm thrilled it's out. I have a question and it's not to be a downer, but I just wanted to dress the reality of a five month year old we've been doing Montessori from the start. I'm a Montessori child as well and it was the best thing that happened to me in my life. Truly But sometimes there is with the little ones, I find I get to moments where I get stuck, or maybe a little bored for the day starts to feel perhaps like a little repetitive, or we've played with the triangles, and I'm sitting observing her and I was just wondering, is that a normal part of it? Or is there something there that I could be doing shift wise, I'll observe her if we do something on my own. But could we speak to that at all, just because babies seem to be on such a different you know, they're on their own schedule and their own plane of discovery, it's different than ours. So, um, I guess it depends on your perspective, and what, what, what makes you like, what makes you tick? I think that at that stage, around five months, it could feel that way. One thing that helped me was just going outside in the book, we talk about going out with our babies. I don't know what your days look like, but a part of our days was just going outside going to the park. And for me, it adds to, you know, gives me something to do, it gives me more things to look at. My always had other things that I was doing to keep busy. I don't know, I guess it really depends on how you look at it. But I think like, you know, it's just going at every stage, however, it seems to be seems boring. If it seems like you know, the children are too active, whatever you feel, it's actually only for a short in the grand scheme of things for a short period of time. So I just find that you know, looking for things, looking for ways to enjoy it as much as you can. And very soon that baby will be crawling or slithering and getting into things, and then you'll look back and miss that time when they were just, you know, staying and looking at their mirrors. So I think that it's really about perspective. But if you're feeling like exploring, finding ways to, to make you happy for yourself, finding things that you enjoy, and baby can also participate in. I think in the book, we talk a lot about meeting your own needs. If your needs are not met, you can't really enjoy the process, you can't really meet the baby's needs. So make sure that you're finding time to meet your needs, make sure that you're making a little bit of time to maybe visit your own friends, making a little bit of time to do things that fill your cup and give you joy. Yeah, that's what comes to my response to that question for me. Yeah, and I think it's just looking when you're observing, it's like looking for the joy, because every time they connect with, like, new thing that moves, they're like, I made that move. As opposed to I saw the movies, it's like, oh, this is the first time they've ever done this. And Junnifa talks about taking her children to the market, and like going to the market, then I found more interesting, because I'm like, I'm getting to show them all of these things, and they can smell the mango, you know, that I'm handing over to me, Wade, and involving them in daily life. So kind of seeing his joy that way. Definitely what Junnifa says about filling out own cups. And you know, it's not just about the baby. It's like, how can I have fun? And how can they have fun zoo. And so one thing that we did as well, like I had, for me, I like to have something on each day in the morning to do like a little outing, and then the afternoons would be very relaxed at home, and one of them was going to visit a nursing home. And so we'd go and visit these two ladies, my nursing home. And the ladies thought it was amazing. It was so good for my children to also see all that the older generation as well. And that gave us a really positive experience. So it's also being a little bit creative about your days. And at the moment with COVID were a little bit more limited. So we have to be there more. Yes. Yes, I was just going to mention that there's a little more limitation, but we're coming out of it. But um, lovely advice. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Yes, thank you so much for that question. And I see there is another question here in the chat around the approach of speaking two languages to babies. This is Michelle and if I'm messing up the question, Michelle says I want to I want our baby to grow up bilingual. I don't want to miss the sensitive period. What is the Montessori approach to raising a bilingual child? And then should Is there a balance that one should look for in that approach? I love this because babies under six years old have the absorbent mind. So it's the perfect time to introduce extra languages. I Michelle, you're welcome to unmute yourself. I'm not sure exactly which languages are your home languages and things like that. But there's two kind of different approaches that has one person one language when someone makes the Spanish in your house and the other person might speak English. So speaking their mother tongue, there's also and which doesn't get talks about as much but it's domains of use, which is sorry, I live in the Netherlands, we might speak English at home. And then that's when we're out of the house, and the children get used to where you're speaking the language. And then Eowyn Criswell is the lady who's always done the bilingual seminars for our classes. She's amazing. And she talks about knowing what your goals are. So bilingualism might be that they do supermarket shopping in their language, or does that mean they're going to be studying in university in that language? What are your actual literacy goals, and you can only make decisions right now for where you are. So you might need to pivot if you change country, and all those kind of things. But basically, you try and spend about 30% of your week. So you actually need to write out how many hours you are talking in that language to get the input if you want it to be a literacy language. So that's a very brief answer. Do you want to add anything, Junnifa, just but you know, if you have another person who's speaking, like, posts, only speaking the other language to them, that seems to be what has worked best that I knew about, like, when you speak one language and another person speaks that speaks the other language and both of you are speaking one language, one person, that seems to be the best. Most of the people who have been successful in that I know in raising children usually have a consistent person speaking a language that was maybe a mom speaking in one language, and that is speaking another language or it could even be like a grandma, or just that they're learning one language with their caregiver, that nanny or someone who is speaking another language. So that's what I knew that was with my daughter, I actually spoke people to her and my husband spoke English to her as a baby. And she that's how she didn't talk to us. There you go. Little some pizzazz from the child. So yeah. So in in the Montessori book, definitely. We will not only hear about the that love in that respect. But the question came, will this be translated in Spanish? And I think Michelle said that the two languages were Spanish and English. But the question is, what about a Spanish translation for the book, the length, the book has been translated into over 15 languages. It hasn't been translated yet in Spanish, that I know but keep your eye out because the Toddler book has been translated into both the world edition and in addition for Spain, so cross fingers that we can do the same for Baby because that would be great. Yeah. I don't know if there are any other questions or comments for the creators of the baby. Yes, I'm here because I loved the Montessori toddler, as a parent, my baby was, I think, six months. And I was like, I can't wait for that to be a toddler. And I've been using, you know, some of the principles that I read there, and it's been great. But one thing that we did realize is my toddler actually has autism. And you know, and with that, even though, even though she has it, it's been very, very useful. But I mean, there's another layer of difficulty that comes with parenting, a baby with autism. So I'm just wondering if, you know, if you have any advice, or if you do address that in the book, or if you could address it now. Thank you. That's a beautiful question. And what I always say about any child with, you know, that's differently wired that has a difference is that I love that one series applies uniquely to every child. So we just are meeting them where they're at, and you observe to see what milestones your child is at what how you can support them the most, when they need more help to develop skills, and how we can also, you know, my story is about giving as much help as necessary and as least possible. So we had children in our classrooms who had cerebral palsy, who haven't had like the gross motor skills to be able to do some things. So we support them with the gross motor things, because they're called new development is still at the same level as a two and a half year old or whatever. And so with autism, it's the same. It's like, does my child need help managing emotions, does my child need help managing social situations? How much input do they need? and Debbie was on the call earlier, she has an amazing podcast called tilt parenting, and she has such a supportive community for lots of differently wired children. So I think that that is my one number one resource for anyone raising a differently wired child. Alright, and I think I see Paula has her hand up. Yes, Paula. Hi. Yes. Paula here from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Thank you so much for this beautiful book. I wish it was in my hand a year ago. As I have my last, my third child has just turned one in March. My older one is seven, four and one is my little girl. And lucky to have both Montessori at home. Thanks to the Montessori from beginning At the beginning, and I am so thankful for the book for this time right now. And I wanted to ask since I have those three, the three kids right out of home and the little ones, sometimes I feel overwhelmed. How do you have them together sometimes that I want to sort of point where the little one it's...., but she wants to do what the four year old is doing in Nigeria? How do you manage that at home? How do you help them to still have their time and follow all three of them at the same time and give them still that independence. And it is lovely to see my seven year old wanting to help the one with some time, and it's just too much of seeing at home. But I believe in following them I believe in give him that independence and give them the love and attendance to what their needs are. But sometimes can be very overwhelmed with at home, especially under the pandemic, it was stressful to have a newborn and have them at home at the same time with virtual school. If you can just I know both Junnifa and some someone had kids with that age difference. And I think I would love to hear from both of you. Thank you. So yes, happy challenging sometimes I think, especially under the conditions that we've all had to go through in the last year. So but I think that the most important thing for me, is making sure that when they when I read this somewhere and really that's what works for me as they escalate, you try to be the escalate, but just always be a calming presence. I think in Montessori classrooms, mature classrooms are mixed age classrooms. And I almost think she got that idea maybe from homes where you have children of different ages. But I found for my children is that I sometimes sit and just kind of sportscast, like, you know, talk through what is happening with them. A allow sometimes they have disagreements, and that's okay. I think as adults we are. For many of us, it's almost like when your children argue it's a trigger, like you almost feel like you always want them to be at peace. But if that, like they have disagreement, and I'm there to be the calming one who kind of calms that down. And I allow it because that's, that's normal, I tried to provide activities that they can work on together, that we can work on at different levels, things like blocks, blocks are great, because you know, every child can build at their own pace, oh, at their own level, something more intricate. Something that I found to work also is that when I see that maybe the My youngest might be interfering with the oldest some work because usually the older ones want to do more intricate things, right, and the younger one wants to participate, but maybe cannot do so appropriately. So I might join it and just maybe play or work with my youngest. So we're all together, I'm engaging her because she's looking to just socialize. And that allows the older ones to do what they need to do. So I do that. But mostly, I just tried to encourage them to just enjoy each other's company, we spent a lot of time together, we also do a lot of practical life, things that require all of us to work together. So we we cook a lot together, we read books together, I just do a lot to make us get used to being together. So for them that's been more they used to I I have never had like I think maybe when they were much younger, I tried to have separate spaces for them. But for the most part, they always had one space that they always had to share. And so over time they learn how to live together, this is your sibling, you guys are going to share this route, maybe for 18 years, maybe more. So you kind of have to learn how to get along. And so we build we do things to build our relationship together. And then when they have disagreement, we just try to get out of it as peacefully as we can, knowing that it's part of life. So but I know that this year has been a little challenging because of the my my secret weapon when everything else fails, we go outside to like outside, outside this. climb trees, right. to score the hike, I find that outside. I don't know it does something for us. There's enough space for everyone. Everyone finds what they enjoy. Everyone can move at their own pace. So I think that you know, even with the lockdown, I hope that everyone is finding opportunities and time to go outside because I think it's healing and it's such an important part of my my children's relationship is the time spent outside. Yeah. Thank you No, great, great. I think that is tremendous. And the secret weapon speaks to one of the other questions in terms of getting outside to some extent. So again, I know there are so many questions, I have many more questions also. So we're going to have to get the book and you know, really delve into this love letter, and really be able to soak up many of the questions and really just the the wisdom that they share in this book. So with that said, again, thank you so much to everyone that is joined us for this birthing celebration, has been tremendous. And I'm going to hand the mic back over to Simone and Junnifa, and just say, congratulations. We need to all be popping some more balloons or something right now. We just say a big thank you to Dr. Ayize. Yeah, there's the balloons for hosting this book launch. He always brings so much joy. So we couldn't think of anyone better to celebrate with and to all of you for joining us enter. And lovely, Junnifa, thank you so much for writing this book with me. Well, I can't imagine like writing it. Anyone else Thank you, for this has been a lot for me with teaching having young children running a school. So the only way we've been able to do it has been possible to carry some of the extra weight, you know, like so any of the things that I don't have to do, she doesn't let me do it, she does the extra. And I really appreciate that. Thank you for being patient, thank you for giving so much of yourself. It has been such a blessing and an honor. And I'm so grateful thank you to everyone for honoring our invitation and for being here. I really hope that this book touches you and touches your family, and your friends and everyone that you share with. And I hope that all of this work, all of the love that we're sowing into our children, I hope that it is so much fruit for the world. I mean, I hope that the world, I know that the world will be better. Because of our children. I know that I always think about, you know, maybe we can't reach everyone. But when I think about cooking food or even like a room, you need only one bulb. And there's lights in the room, we don't need to have like, you know, even if you don't have 100 bulbs, we just have one bulb, the room is bright already. And if you cook a pot of food and you just put a little bit of salt, already, the food is tasty, even if you don't have you know, as much salt as rice. And I think about our children as the lights as the salt that is going to make the world better. And I'm so grateful for this opportunity to support your families and to just know you and walk this walk together. So thank you, thank you so much. Thank you what she said. Thank you everyone. That was a delight. Thank you all so much. So you all continue to be blessed. And again, take this little bit of love so that we can transform the world. It's so fun to get to re listen to that book launch. There was so many special people with us to celebrate that day. And we're so excited that the book is here. And a big thank you also to Raising Yannis, Forest Montessori, Montessori in real life and Karin Slabaugh who are also in the book but couldn't be on the call. And if you want to see some of the visuals that we were talking about from the book tour part, I'll pop a link in the show notes to the YouTube where you can see the video of the book launch as well. And now it's time for another listener question. And today's question is from Sarah and Sarah asks, I'd love to hear more about your journey incorporating Montessori and bilingualism Simone. Where are we moving next in the US will have to choose between one or other for schooling and Montessori school or an immersion school? The second language is not my first language, but we'd still like to introduce a second language. How did you navigate this? Or do you have any tips or resources you recommend? And there was a similar question that came up during the book event too. So for us, we moved from Australia to the Netherlands when the children were five and a half years old and four years old, and none of us spoke any Dutch and they were enrolled to go to a Dutch Montessori School for us other than the international schools, which weren't an option for us. They weren't any other English speaking schools. And we really wanted them to continue with Montessori. And here it's available in the public system. So we were really lucky to get a space and we were also just moving for a year and thought it would be a great way to get the full Dutch experience. Probably were quite naive and didn't give it too much thought. Knowing and having heard that children will pick up a second language ease So it was really interesting to see how both of them learn the language. They weren't given any formal extra Dutch lessons. So it was full immersion, just being in their Dutch school environment. And because at least they were in a Montessori classroom that was at least familiar when everything else, including the language was different. And then at home, we kept reading books in English and continued to speak English with them. Oliver, I noticed was probably more consciously learning Dutch, like he'd say, Oh, this sounds like good in English and heard in Dutch. Where am I maybe was listening more, and we had some workbooks in Dutch for them. And it took probably about six months for them to start speaking Dutch at school. And I would say quite a bit longer for them to really be understanding at the same level as say, another six year old when you start later, like we did. And that said, they weren't much faster than me learning to speak Dutch. And they have a much better accent than I ever will. They've done all of their work through school in Dutch, they did a small amount of English in primary school. And in high school, they had English as an official subject to a pretty high level. So we're pretty happy with that as well. I'd say they're the level of a native English speaker. But they haven't done say loads of writing assets in English, but they probably read mostly in English these days. And ever since then, I met Eowyn Crisfield who has been running workshops for parents who come to my classes about bilingualism, and I found out so much more about learning multiple languages. Everything from that bilingual could mean doing your shopping in another language to studying in another language, which would be like more literacy language. So it's important to actually understand what your goals are for that second language. And that it's also important to keep the mother tongue really strong for the second or additional languages to build on. So sometimes people will say, oh, they're not picking up so much. So you should read,like not be speaking English at home, and that would be bad advice according to Eowyn and four a literacy language, you need to be spending about 30% of the child's awake hours with input in that language. So basically, she's advocating to make a plan for your languages and not just being naive like we were. So that would be some tips and for resources, a wind now has a book out and it's called "Bilingual
Families:a practical language planning guide". And we also have a recording from her workshop called "raising a bilingual child" on my website, too. So not just for bilingualism, but also multilingualism. She also recommends a book by Colin Baker, called "a parents and teachers guide to bilingualism "and that kind of has, like all the questions you'll ask about raising multilingual children. So I'll pop all of the links to those in the show notes too. And I hope that helps you make a decision and for anyone else thinking about additional languages in your family. And that's it for today. I'll be back next Friday with another episode of the podcast until then everyone bye... Thanks for joining me for the Montessori notebook podcast. The podcast was edited by Luke Davies from Filmprov media, and podcast art by Hiyoko Imai. To find out more about me and my online courses visit thmontessorinotebook.com follow me on Instagram at themontessorinotebook, or pick up a copy of my book The Montessori Toddler for its new prequel The Montessori Baby from your local bookstore, Amazon or where books are sold. They're also available as ebooks, audio books, and have been translated into over 20 languages. I'll be back in a week with more Montessori inspiration. And in the meantime, perhaps you'll join me in spreading some more peace and positivity around the world.