Hmmm。。。。 This book made me surprisingly sad。 I am very familiar with the Montessori method。 My mother sent me to a Montessori school when I was young and she definitely prescribed to the method。 I was always treated like a tiny adult and she made everything about my life designed to build the best brain。 I also incorporated a lot of Montessori principles and activities in my children's homeschooling （along with principles of many other philosophies） and have read many books on Montessori's teach Hmmm。。。。 This book made me surprisingly sad。 I am very familiar with the Montessori method。 My mother sent me to a Montessori school when I was young and she definitely prescribed to the method。 I was always treated like a tiny adult and she made everything about my life designed to build the best brain。 I also incorporated a lot of Montessori principles and activities in my children's homeschooling （along with principles of many other philosophies） and have read many books on Montessori's teachings。 Another mom told me years ago that they say that "Montessori schools are all work and no play， and that Waldorf schools are all play and no work。" That's a generalization and an unfair one at that， but there is some truth to it。 This book really teaches you how to treat your child like a tiny adult from infancy。 It recommends a floor bed for your infant -- a mattress on the floor -- so your baby can be self sufficient literally from a few months old or even birth。 If they roll off the mattress that's fine because they can just fall back asleep on the floor。 Obviously this makes a whole lot of assumptions about your living space， finances and parenting style。 Likewise， you're supposed to buy a tiny table for your baby to sit at from 6 months old so he or she can learn to sit like a person from the start， complete with tiny metal silverware and a tiny glass。 I get it， I know the reasoning behind all of this， and I did incorporate some of this stuff with my own kids （they too used jelly jars for glasses， for instance， and I taught them the coat flip so they could put on their own coats）。 But oh my goodness， this is just so dry and sad and does remind me so much of my own sad， practical， brain-building childhood （though my childhood was mostly sad for much more serious reasons）。 Don't let them have pretend play before age 6 because they don't understand fantasy well enough。 Don't have many toys， and no electronic ones。 No pretend play， no unicorns， no Disney。 Have mostly practical， real-world objects for them to use for "play。" Be firm but kind about everything。 Standards and rules everywhere。 Teach the proper way to do everything。 Firm but kind， firm but kind， firm but kind。 No playing， missy。 Sigh。There's great stuff in here。 The section on "toys" is good （educational materials really， each designed to instruct and help with some developmental need）。 We had a lot of those。 There's great advice if you like minimalist homes。 It's interesting learning about Montessori principles regarding infancy。 Shrug。 But I would also suggest checking out books on Waldorf， Charlotte Mason， unschooling， attachment parenting， Reggio， and play-based learning。 Take the best of all of them and use what works best in your home and follows the needs of your child。 This is a great book to teach you some of Montessori's principles for that。I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review。 。。。more