Maria Montessori believed that children's educational environments should be clean, orderly, and aesthetically appealing. Since I believe that our home is our children's primary educational environment, I apply this concept to our home.
I can vividly remember how unorganized my fifth grade classroom was. There was junk piled all over the room, on counter tops, and even stacked on top of cupboards to the ceiling. I remember sitting in that classroom during countless lessons, completely distracted by the mess. I wanted to clean it up so badly! I could not concentrate in that mess - not the best recipe for educational success! (If Mrs. Hall was still in room 19, I'd go straight there and clean it up right now!)
In an organized home, everything has a place. That does not mean that everything is always in it's place, let's be real! It means that, when it's time to clean up, there's no question about where things go. I strive to keep our home organized so it runs efficiently, but also because a cluttered space leads to a cluttered mind. Children learn through play, and if they're surrounded by clutter, their learning will be muddled.
The best way to maintain an organized home is to not have too much stuff in it. I follow one rule of thumb when it comes to deciding what to keep in our home. I ask myself two questions: "Does it add function?" and "Does it add beauty?" If I get two no's, the item goes.
Haha, i agree. I always ask myself those two questions too!
ReplyDeleteTr Izzy