Casa Luminosa: an in-home Montessori preschool inspired by nature

With our first snow ❄️ of the season looming, I felt like it was that time to share some of my favorite gear to make outdoor play fun all year long! I’m trying it on a Pinterest board this year (https://pin.it/YxUeFLD), and having way too much fun finding new activities to try. I’ve found lots of our gear secondhand, or accumulated things over the years, so by no means do you need all of this! But if you’re looking for recommendations of new ways to play or specific gear, I’ve had the experience with my own children and those in our community to learn what seems to hold up and work for building independence, while still keeping them warm and dry. 😊

So much joy and love filled our morning today! We had so much excitement and happiness to pitch in and help.
Thanks for partnering with us, The Science Zone!!

Casa Luminosa & The Science Zone built 25 Holiday Food Boxes for local kids!! 💜💜💜

They asked for our food list, drooped by and picked up tape & 25 boxes, then filled the boxes with Food they sourced for each box!!

This incredible effort was the brainchild of Carmen, the founder of Casa Luminosa.

There are so many ways to help!

Welcome to Casa Luminosa, Tsunami. 🌊🐠
We picked out and brought home a betta fish one week ago today (after spending about a month getting our tank prepped and cycled). On Monday, the children and I brainstormed then voted on his name (though honestly, one of my daughters picked it on the ride home then lobbied to get everyone on board 🤣).
From the first picture where we were acclimating him to the tank to today, he has grown, and his colors are so much more vibrant. He is adored, and I think he’s pretty happy too 🥰

To celebrate Maria Montessori’s birthday, and the independence of children she inspires, we prepared a communal lunch today. 🧑🏽‍🍳👩🏾‍🍳 Each child had an opportunity to contribute using the food prep skills we’ve been working on all year: lemon juicing, carrot peeling and cutting, cucumber peeling and slicing, egg peeling and slicing, baking bread, and making zucchini muffins. The best part is we were able to use cucumbers, tomatoes, and zucchini from our garden—the children planted the seeds for it back in March!

We do Forest School, a morning immersed in nature with freedom to explore and learn based on the interests of children, one day each week throughout the year. This past week was our first ever Forest School Camp though—an entire week up on the mountain totaling around 20 hours. Here are some glimpses into the play of children in the wild.

One of the things I didn’t realize when I started a school with my daughters as two of my students is that I would be helping them make my own Mother’s Day gifts. 😁

This year, we took on a stick weaving craft often used in Forest Schools, a god’s eye. Ojos de Dios were first created by the Huichol indigenous people of western Mexico. “The ends of the sticks represent the basic elements – earth, water, wind, and fire, and the four cardinal directions – north, south, east and west. The center of the eye symbolizes the power of seeing and understanding things we normally cannot see.”—Museum of International Folk Art

Our legs are tired, our faces sunkissed, and our hearts full! We celebrated Earth Day by playing in nature for Forest School, then picking up litter along the riverbank. These children of the Earth were more than willing to do their part to care for our home. 🌎🌍🌏

On (and every day), I celebrate Maria Montessori. She aimed high and persisted against societal norms about women and children. Her observations and writings insist on seeing the child not as an empty vessel, but as a human individual with infinite potential. The respect, even reverence, she offered children is what I strive for, and I learn more from and about her continually.

“The secret of good teaching is to regard the child’s intelligence as a fertile field in which seeds may be sown, to grow under the heat of flaming imagination. Our aim therefore is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to his inmost core.” (To Educate the Human Potential)