Notes from the nursery

Somewhere to put the answers we find ourselves giving over and over at the door, written down properly so you can read them at a sensible hour rather than at pick up with a toddler on your hip.

There is no schedule. We add one when we have something genuinely worth saying, which is closer to monthly than weekly, and we would rather leave a gap than pad it out.

What we write about

Six things, roughly. Some of these are still waiting to be written, and we have said so rather than leaving you to click and find out.

Starting nursery: First visits, the goodbye at the door, and the fortnight after that.
How a Montessori day works: What the materials are for, why the morning is shaped the way it is.
The same ideas at home nothing yet: Small changes to a kitchen or a bedroom that make a real difference.
The practical bits: Funding, hours, what to pack, and the questions we get asked most.
Getting ready for school nothing yet: What reception teachers actually hope for, which is rarely reading.
Life here nothing yet: The garden through the year, and what the children are busy with.

Is there something you would like us to write about? Say so when you visit, or email info@childrensmontessori.co.uk. Most of what is here started as a question from a parent.

The notes

A key person kneeling at a child’s height by the door of a Montessori room, the child holding a small bag

17 August 2026 · 4 min read

Settling in: what the first few weeks really look like

Starting nursery is a bigger change for a two year old than most guides admit. What we do over the first few weeks, what usually happens in week two, and what helps at home.

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A Montessori classroom mid morning, several children working separately at low tables and on floor mats

13 July 2026 · 4 min read

The three hour morning, and why we try not to interrupt it

A Montessori morning is one long uninterrupted stretch rather than a timetable of activities. What that looks like from the doorway, and why the restless hour in the middle of it is the part that matters.

A young child sitting on a low bench in a nursery cloakroom, doing up their own coat, with a row of pegs and coats behind them

15 June 2026 · 4 min read

What to actually look at when you visit a nursery

Every nursery looks lovely on a tour. Here is what is worth noticing instead, including the questions that are hard for us to answer well and are therefore the most useful ones to ask.

About the photographs

The pictures on this site are illustrations. They were made for these pages, and they do not show our rooms, our children or the people who work here.

We would much rather use our own. Doing that properly means asking every family and every member of staff who would appear in them, and giving each of them a real chance to say no. That takes time, and it is time worth taking. Until it is done, we would rather show you something honest than something that quietly implies more than it should.

The only way to see the real rooms is to stand in them, which you are very welcome to do.

Reading about it only gets you so far. The rooms are the thing.

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