Montessori Education: The Absorbent Mind book review

I have a 4 year old and have been a Montessori mom for exactly a year and 2 months. My child attends a public school Montessori program, so I am extremely fortunate. The school has been great about inviting parents to events to learn about Montessori education and even offers free books for us to learn more. I have recently begun reading "The Absorbent Mind" by Maria Montessori and it has been extremely helpful in helping me understand the concept of the "guide" in the Montessori classroom. I would suggest this book to anyone thinking of sending their child to a Montessori program. The book begins with birth and talks about the education of the child into adulthood. The primary theme is that the child's brain is learning from the day he/she leaves the womb and it's up to us as parents to foster that....this was a breakthrough concept in the early 19th century and still relevant today as a lot of times we think we need to save money for our kids education when they are older, but Montessori challenges that by saying invest today. The investment can be a time commitment as well as just paying attention to the child's needs and interests. These interests can be in everyday life like picking of up language and speech or cooking or math equations. I haven't finished the book, but already Montessori has convinced me that my child needs an extra language course, so he currently attends Language Stars, a fun class that teaches many different languages to young children. My son loves and looks forward to this class on Saturday mornings, and so do I. He's learning a new language without even realizing it and working on his social skills outside of his everyday classroom. In the spring, the program will focus on gardening other outdoor life skills.

Toddler Birthday Party: Spider Man Party at Pump It Up Indoor Bounce House

So, this year, my little one is getting close to the end of his beloved toddler years, so I thought, we’d bring in year 4 with a fun mix of his favorite things: music, jumping around and spider-man all in one place. Enter “Pump It Up”, Pump it up is a fun company that has indoor bouncing fun in 2 different rooms and then a fun and colorful birthday party room with cake and a visit from a special character upon request. You can even add features like a bubble machine, air hockey and a wind machine.

We really loved this year’s party theme of spider-man, too. The funny thing is the 4-year-old boys love Spider man, however, it takes a while for them to get used to him in person, so we had a few tears at first as they warmed up to him. Here are some fun photos from the party.

I would highly recommend Pump It Up as a party destination and the best part is….no clean up. The company orders a pizza from Papa John’s and drinks but they allow you to bring in a veggie tray. I have a lactose intolerance so I couldn’t eat the pizza from Papa John’s and some of the other parents opted for the veggie tray as well. We also, had a non-dairy cake this year, which made everyone’s waistline happy.

https://www.pumpitupparty.com/