Montessori Learning Space In A Small Apartment

Due to the skyrocketing price tag of real estate all over the world, the ability to buy a house seems impossible most especially to young couples with young children. The best option is to rent an apartment, townhouse or condominium. Whatever situation you have or how small your space is, learning is universal. You can even teach a child under the shade of a tree!

From California, we moved down South to be with our family at Florida, a place where endless summer begins! Well, it’s almost summer time and I can feel the heat now. Audrey can’t wait to visit the beach again and play with the sand. She loves everything about the ocean. So I use the interior designer side of me to arrange space with a taste of ocean in it. You can find photos below how I set up and arrange our learning materials according to the size of our apartment and most importantly “with the child in mind”. I started with the living area where the learning shelf is located.

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Living Room Shelf 

This is our learning shelf at the living room. On top shelf are Botany units materials: Fruits, Flowers, Tree and Leaf. At the bottom from right: Zoology puzzle cabinet, Sandpaper Letters, Sandpaper Numerals, small storage boxes for miniature objects like Safari Toob, insects stamp, finger animal puppets and more. You can also find more tips and ideas about organizing a home school space here.

A globe, tiny ocean shadow box project from last summer and a simple yet beautiful piece of painting art is a treasure I luckily found in a second-hand store.

Ocean Theme Bedroom

I placed the wooden bookshelf in her bedroom with another white shelf with more books in it. Audrey is a lover of books and an early reader. She started to recognize words when she was eighteen to nineteen months old. Following the child, we’ve been a regular in our local library. She also likes to pick up some books at the store if she really likes it, and this stockpile of books are just a portion of it!

The headboard is actually a gym pad that we been using for a year now for indoor gross motor activities like jumping, yoga, stretching and pretend swimming. A queen size bed without a frame is an ideal one when you have a child who loves to do acrobats, oh yeah a lot of jumping and tumblings going on here. This comforter with starfish and seashells was her personal choice when we go shopping for the new place. The round rug is from Ikea. Book shelf is ECR 4 Kids. Tipi Tent by B. is a gift from her Grandma. I have never known this important facts about tipi tent or teepee until I research it. Here’s a quick facts about tipi and symbolism.

Quick Facts about Tipi Tent or TeePee:

Tipi or TeePee Meaning- It is a “dwelling” of Native Americans of the Great Plains. A well structured buffalo hide or birch bark and consists of fifteen foot poles designed in a cone shape. Tipi is a remarkable example of human creativity. Using durable materials that are available to them, the natives are able to construct and design a dwelling that satisfied their needs.

Symbolism:

  • Floor: Represents the Earth on which we live.
  • Wall: Represent the Sky.
  • Pole: Represent the trails that extend from the earth to the spirit world.

Nature & Peace Table

This is our small space for Nature study and Peace table as well. Whatever nature finds she got from our playdates and walks, she will keep it here. This nature life cycle chart is our favorite material for studying life cycles such as life cycle of the Apple Tree,  Monarch Butterfly, Bee, Frog, Fish, Human Development, Sea Turtle and Chicken.

Art Drawer

We use this storage drawer with wheels from Michaels. I find it perfect for our arts and craft materials and activities. I basically group each by activity like cutting, craft punching, watercolor painting , tracing, coloring, stencils and on top are the stickers and small arts and craft materials like glue, paste, buttons, pompoms, pipe cleaners and craft sticks.

This cabinet is my small work station. I do my printing, laminating and cutting here. Inside the cabinet are my materials for making nomenclatures and three part cards.

Patio

A simple and small patio yet an inviting place to just sit down and have a cup of coffee.

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