baby Tour Guide's Montessori Babies Podcast

I am beyond excited about introducing you to Baby Tour Guide's Montessori Babies Podcast! The host, Bianca, is a wealth of information about babies and shares so much invaluable information on this podcast. I have interviewed her below to help you get to know about Bianca and her podcast a little more before diving in. I am also excited to announce that I am featured in an episode on this very podcast! Bianca interviewed me about my transition from teaching in a traditional public school setting to homeschooling using the Montessori method. My episode can be found here on Spotify or here on Apple Podcasts.

Enjoy!

Who are you? 

"Thank you so much for the opportunity to be featured on your website! My name is Bianca Solorzano and I am a Montessori Infant Teacher and Host of the Montessori Babies Podcast. I am a new mama to an amazing toddler boy who I am raising with my wonderful husband. We live in Orange County, CA. I have been working with Montessori babies and their amazing parents, teachers, and schools for just about 15 years now. I am AMI Montessori trained from birth to toddlerhood, with my Bachelor's Degree in Child Development (minor in Early Childhood Education), and my Master's Degree in Montessori Education. I spent the majority of my field experience leading my own Montessori Nido (Montessori Infant Classroom), but I also spent some time on the Admissions side, guiding families as they discovered whether or not Montessori Education was right for them. I started helping families in-home because I had a baby in my Montessori Nido who had to withdraw for health reasons and I offered to support them in-home to continue her Montessori education. The approach brought so much peace and support to their child and family, while igniting a passion in me to continue helping families support their baby's development through Montessori at home. "

Tell us about your connection to Montessori and the philosophy.

"I initially learned about Montessori because my mom worked for a group of Montessori schools in SoCal. I then heard about it again through a family I nannied for in college whose child attended Montessori. Both my mom and the family had nothing but wonderful things to say about their experiences. My mom was able to schedule an observation for me at that school and I was astonished at the peaceful joy that I had witnessed and knew I wanted to be a part of it. The rest is history I guess! I got hired into the school as an Assistant Teacher in a Nido and then got my AMI Montessori training and led my own Nido for many years. I simultaneously got my B.S. in Child Development, which really fueled my love for Montessori because of how wonderfully the Montessori pedagogy and child development theory aligned. I later spent some time working in Admissions and also got my Master's Degree in Montessori Education. Today, I am still an advocate for Montessori from the start because of how easily and beautifully the principles can support the uniqueness of each child, parent, and family community. Of course I use the approach at home with my son! He is a joyful little guy who has a huge drive to learn and an amazing concentration ability for his age. I'm so excited to finally be sharing what I've learned with him."

Tell us about your podcast. 

"My podcast is all about supporting infant development and new parents through a Montessori lens! It is geared primarily toward new or expectant parents, but can be useful to anyone who has or works with infants. We dive into so many topics in infant/toddler development and new parenthood... all through a Montessori lens of course! People can listen to my Montessori Babies Podcast wherever they listen to their podcasts! I'm on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and more!"

Tell us your why. 

"I chose to start this podcast during the 2020 pandemic. My heart and mission is in advocating for our tiniest humans and their amazing families. Infancy sees the fastest growth of their entire life, and also happens to be when the most important pieces of development occur. During the pandemic I had been listening to podcasts of other genres and loved that it felt so personal and easy to learn whilst doing other things... which I figured would be perfect for new parents! So I shifted from blogging to podcasting and it's been the best shift ever. I've had the honor of supporting parents from around the world through this podcast and am so grateful to be able to support their new parenthood journeys however I can."

Your best advice for new parents.

"I'd say that some good advice for new parents is to try to consciously slow down and connect with your baby as often as possible. I know how wild those first months and even years can feel... It feels like there's endless things to do with a constantly evolving baby. But if you slow your pace and center yourself, you'll not only be a calmer, happier self, but it's the easiest way to boost your baby's development. The #1 way they learn is by watching you (modeling). So when you slow down, talk, read, sing, and offer those serve and return experiences, you'll be offering an incredible and totally free boost for their development, while offering those simple, joyful moments of connection to fill your own cup too."

Where do you see your podcast going from here?

"I plan on continuing my podcast for as long as possible! We'll be diving into a wide range of topics within infancy, toddlerhood, and new parenthood on the show and I can't wait for what's to come!"

Anything else you’d like the readers to know or any final words?

"Not really! I'm just very grateful to be able to support my Montessori Babies Community however I can!"

You can find all episodes of this podcast on the streaming platforms linked on her website here: The Montessori Babies Podcast

You can also find Bianca on her Instagram page @babytourguide