The Prepared Environment

The “environment” includes every person, place, and thing in your child’s life. Is not neutral or out of your control. The way you prepare our child’s environment can either foster their autonomy, or hinder it. A child-sized environment communicates: “This home is yours too! You can move freely and choose.” 

What does this mean in practice? 

• ORGANIZE a space in the home where your child can access their toys, books, and clothes themselves. 

• LIMIT clutter. Reduce the number of actives they have access to to 10 or less! These activities should be complete and well-organised. 

• ESTABLISH dedicated areas for different activities to help the child keep order in the home and be able to use it functionally. This could be an art area, a snack preparation area, a reading corner, a station where they can wash their own face and brush their teeth…

• GIVE ACCESS to everything the child uses. Make their belongings visible and accessible so they can use them independently. Take mental notes: how often to you have to reach something for your child? If they have to ask you to hand them the same thing every day, it should definitely be kept in a constant place at their level.

A well-prepared environment

frees your child (and also you!)

from constantly needing help.