What are some Montessorri activities I can do with my 4 month old?

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Vee

I am looking for some activities that I can do with my 4 month old that are Montessori-inspired. Right now I am working on getting her to roll over, to reach for toys that are dangled in front of her, and to spend more time on her tummy for more head control. Any ideas?

Answer
I don't have a lot of infant ideas, since I teach 3-6 year olds.

I would recommend this book:
http://astore.amazon.com/monteblog-20/detail/0805211128

Really, what I would suggest, thinking about Montessori, is your actual environment. Not so much specific activities, but I would look and see whether the environment is set up for the child. When your daughter is old enough to crawl, is everywhere she crawls safe for her?

Right now, language is playing a huge role in development. Not that she'll start talking, but it is important to make sure you talk to her a lot, sing and play games, and she sees positive communication from you.

What can cause abnormally fast strength and skill development in infants?

K

My 10 week old infant has been gaining certain abilities at a very fast rate. He started trying to lift his head the day after he was born. At 3 weeks old he had full control of his head and learned how to roll over from his tummy to his back. At 7.5 weeks he started trying to roll from his back to his stomach. At 8 weeks he started trying to crawl. He can't get his knees under him but he manages to travel across the designated play spot at a very slow pace. He hates tummy time and fights to get out of the position which results in the rolling over and crawling. I try to encourage play with toys because tummy time is good for him but he just screams so he has gotten limited practice. At 10 weeks he can almost sit, has full control of his back, can roll from tummy to back, can almost roll from back to tummy, and is in the process of gaining skills to crawl. He also has a very strong grip and very strong legs. When we are holding him he tries to stand on our laps. If he is laying down and holding our hands, if we try to pull our hands away, instead of him letting go he holds on and his whole body comes up with us.
What causes this abnormal amount of strength and skill development?
How can I get him to have more tummy time without screaming his head off?
Is this considered a birth defect?
This is not me thinking my child is special or trying to brag. Some of the stuff he's doing typically doesn't occur till 5 months or later. I'm asking what can cause this and if it's reason for concern.
Then why did the doctor say he's very strong for his age? He also said it was abnormal for him to have full control of his head. I've also had other parents saying it's weird and how their kids couldn't do this. He can crawl it's just very slow and not up on hands and knees. I read that kids don't roll from tummy to back till 5 months and back to stomach even later and he did it at 3 weeks and gets 3/4 over from back to tummy. So I wanted to know if he can hurt himself or if there is something wrong.

Answer
Your baby is on a normal development track. Being "almost" able to do something is not the same as doing it. He does not have full control of his back if he can not sit unsupported. Babies try to make the motions of crawling often for months before actually being able to do so. Rolling over can easily occur early depending on the muscles he is using to accomplish the task. I am not trying to minimize your son's performance, but from a developmental standpoint he is not so advanced that you have need to worry about something being wrong. Just let him develop at his own pace.

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