Don't get me wrong; I love seeing these. It's inspiring. Sometimes though, my own fickle mind misguides me. When I see these accounts, I think "how can I get my son to do this? I must teach him!" It all seems so idyllic, and it is how I imagine our life looking. I know it needs to happen and believe it is up to me to enforce it all.
Before delving into researching the Montessori Method, I understood it to simply be a teaching platform, with the activities I'd see floating around Pinterest being like lesson plans. I believed it to be something I could physically teach and enforce in my children, and that through efforts all my own, they'd become these perfect and tantrum-free toddlers. Life would be bliss and full of peace. But it is so much more than just a means for teaching. It is a mindset. It must infiltrate your daily life in so many ways that it can seem daunting, but from my understanding now, the Montessori Method and your child following it has nothing to do with enforcing or verbally and physically teaching it to your child.
Maria Montessori explains how a child absorbs all things - language, habits, culture, etc. - through their own personal experiences and observations within their environment. Adults do not teach young children these things. The child is his own teacher. We - the adults - are merely "...collaborators in the building process."
When first I read this information, I was struck by how true it was. An example that came to mind immediately from my own life is potty training. I cannot teach my son what the sensation of a full bladder feels like and when to go use the toilet. He has to make that connection himself through experience. The only thing I can do is follow his lead and guide him when needed. Accidents will happen, but eventually he will learn the sensation of needing to pee and connect it with bladder control and using the toilet.
Going back a couple paragraphs, I stated the child is his own teacher. This doesn't mean we don't have a part to play. Our job is to work along side, observing the child's needs and allowing them independence where they believe they are capable. If a child believes he can do something, he will try on his own. Until the child asks for assistance, we should allow them to work towards their independence without interruption. The exception would be if what the child is doing is dangerous to himself or others around him, then stepping in would be the appropriate response.
A child learns from his environment. If the child's surroundings are crowded or cluttered, the child will learn that this is how all spaces should be. If, alternatively, it is tidy, spacious, and ordered, the child will absorb that information and it will become a part of them.
As the parent, it is my job to prepare the environment to be appealing and garner interest so absorption can occur. It is also my job to model appropriate habits and behaviours. A clean room will only influence a child to be tidy so long as the action of tidying it is modeled. If I clean up the toys once my toddler is in bed, he will believe that messes clean themselves and he need not put any effort in when a mess is to be cleaned. If we do not have respect for our environment and take action, our children will not adopt that quality themselves. I am personally still learning and working towards the prepared environment and shifting my mindset from dictating and demanding to one of invitation and modeling.
There are so many more aspects to Montessori than just the prepared environment and modeling. I have barely scratched the surface in my own research, but the ultimate goal is nurturing independent, confident, and competent children, who will one day be the force of our society.
~Emilie
"... the child is not an inert being who owes everything that he can do to us, as if he were an empty vessel that we have filled. No, it is the child who makes the man, and no man exists who was not made by the child once he was."
~Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind
~Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind
Maria Montessori explains how a child absorbs all things - language, habits, culture, etc. - through their own personal experiences and observations within their environment. Adults do not teach young children these things. The child is his own teacher. We - the adults - are merely "...collaborators in the building process."
When first I read this information, I was struck by how true it was. An example that came to mind immediately from my own life is potty training. I cannot teach my son what the sensation of a full bladder feels like and when to go use the toilet. He has to make that connection himself through experience. The only thing I can do is follow his lead and guide him when needed. Accidents will happen, but eventually he will learn the sensation of needing to pee and connect it with bladder control and using the toilet.
Going back a couple paragraphs, I stated the child is his own teacher. This doesn't mean we don't have a part to play. Our job is to work along side, observing the child's needs and allowing them independence where they believe they are capable. If a child believes he can do something, he will try on his own. Until the child asks for assistance, we should allow them to work towards their independence without interruption. The exception would be if what the child is doing is dangerous to himself or others around him, then stepping in would be the appropriate response.
A child learns from his environment. If the child's surroundings are crowded or cluttered, the child will learn that this is how all spaces should be. If, alternatively, it is tidy, spacious, and ordered, the child will absorb that information and it will become a part of them.
As the parent, it is my job to prepare the environment to be appealing and garner interest so absorption can occur. It is also my job to model appropriate habits and behaviours. A clean room will only influence a child to be tidy so long as the action of tidying it is modeled. If I clean up the toys once my toddler is in bed, he will believe that messes clean themselves and he need not put any effort in when a mess is to be cleaned. If we do not have respect for our environment and take action, our children will not adopt that quality themselves. I am personally still learning and working towards the prepared environment and shifting my mindset from dictating and demanding to one of invitation and modeling.
There are so many more aspects to Montessori than just the prepared environment and modeling. I have barely scratched the surface in my own research, but the ultimate goal is nurturing independent, confident, and competent children, who will one day be the force of our society.
~Emilie
I'd just like to add that I am in no way an expert on Montessori. I know many people are interested in the method, and I find this information fascinating and in line with what I believe to be true about children. My blog is not a Montessori blog, but I do anticipate sharing more of my thoughts, revelations, and experiences with Montessori as it becomes apart of our lives.
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