Avoiding Pitfalls when Dining with a Toddler

Who doesn’t love a dinner date? There is something so universally appealing about sharing a meal with your loved one: eating delicious foods whilst engaging in conversation and enjoying each other’s company.

Of course, most of us have a different image in mind when the meal companion is a young child. Below are the three most common pitfalls you can avoid in order to have more enjoyable meals together.

Toddlers eating according to Montessori / Batole a jídlo podle Montessori

Embrace the mess (and the cleanup). Instead of hovering over your children to make sure they won’t spill or drop food, it’s much more pleasant to relax, expect mess to happen, and make sure the child has the tools to clean up (napkin, wet sponge or cloth, sweeper and mop). Here is a promise: if the sight of a two-year-old scrubbing their chair clean won’t make you smile, I will eat this article.
Don’t sweat the calories. It takes a lot of energy to force, plead, or threaten some children into eating the “correct” amount of food. While, in fact, you want your child to listen to their body’s signals and eat only as much as they need. Unless a child has certain medical conditions, it is completely safe and natural for their appetite and nutritional intake to vary widely. If you really find yourself worrying whether your child is eating enough, track the average they eat in a week.
Take the time for meals. Food is interesting and should be enjoyed and explored. However, set the expectation that during meals, we will focus only on food and one another. Just like checking your phone is a faux pas at a dinner date, toys, screens and wandering off should not be acceptable during your child’s meal. This healthy habit is very easy to implement – simply require that a child sits down to eat and help them clean up if they leave the table.

Toddler setting a table according to Montessori / Batole připravuje stůl podle Montessori

Eating with Montessori Toddlers /Jak jí batolata v Montessori jeslích

Teaching children to use cutlery and dishes / Jak učíme děti používat příbor a nádobí

By Michaela Tučková, IMSP Toddler Teacher

Want to learn more? Read our next article:

CREATING A MONTESSORI HOME

Comments

Další články

Communicating with the Toddler Child

As teachers, we are often asked what special tips or tricks we use to get children to cooperate. Most often parents ask questions like “How can I get my child more interested in dressing and eating by themselves?”or “How can we make the mornings run more smoothly?” It can feel challenging when our patience is tested, but we must remember that children are learning to develop their own will and sense of obedience which is a natural process lasting until around six years of age.

Starting Preschool: How to Handle Saying Goodbyes?

Before the age of two, the child undergoes a series of developmental changes making them ready for a new social environment. Although the parents are still the most important people in their world, children now need an expansion of their social horizons: the experience of a peer group, of being socially independent. This is a big and valuable step: learning to function without the parents in a community of friends and teachers.

Montessori Sensorial Materials Lead to Sensory Awareness

The materials in the Sensorial area of the Montessori classroom are quite unique – they speak to the tactile observer in all of us. When you consider the way humans take in information, you realize how often we use more than one sense to explore. Maria Montessori’s work in the Sensorial environment was designed to take advantage of this tendency. Today, I will discuss the materials featured in the Children’s House classroom (ages 3-6).

IMSP Toddlers: Help Me to Do It Myself

One of the key concepts and skills that Montessori education develops in different ways and from different perspectives through the entire childhood and through the entire educational process is independance.

Future of Education

Radka Dohnalova, a parent of three IMSP children, has been researching the future of education in this world. She has summarized her findings in the article below, which was also recently published. Radka wanted to share the results with the IMSP community when her research revealed how Montessori education aligns with where the future of education is heading.