Posts Tagged ‘Dr. Montessori’
Love of Order
Posted on: August 10, 2011
Most of our society thinks of children as impulsive and chaotic beings. Dr. Maria Montessori found, however, that even the youngest children display a need for and a sense of order in their environment. The infant needs the constancy of his mother’s and father’s faces; the toddler must have his “blankee” and favorite stuffed animals to go to sleep. The room in which the young child spends most of his time must remain constant in the location of his bed, toys, chair, etc. because his environment is, to him, “like the sea to the fish and the air to the birds”, said Dr. Montessori.
Even young children will see items out-of-place and put them back. This is his divine drive for constancy, as part of his construction, and we must recognize it and allow it to be expressed. A parent once asked one of our teachers, “Why does my son take the front door mat to his room and put his toys on it?” Of course we know the answer: The child loves an orderly environment and has learned how satisfying it is to have a safe place to “work.” Adults do not realize how young children thrive on the same environment, and things always in their place. As Dr. Montessori mentioned, during the period of active construction of his psyche, “the child often feels the deepest impulse to bring order into what, according to his logic, is in a state of confusion” (1995).
One year I allowed about twenty teachers in training to visit one of our large classrooms for a short while, maybe thirty minutes. The adults came in while the children were working, and the new teachers took off their shoes and put them by the double doors. Then they found places around the room to sit and watch. Not too long afterwards, we all looked over and saw two children by the doorway. They observed the twenty pairs of shoes and found the matches for each one, placing them in pairs along the wall.
Although the child appears to be primarily fixed on his external world, he also possesses an internal order in his body. The internal sense of order “makes him aware of the different parts of his own body and their relative positions” (1966). He thrives on a definite schedule of eating and sleeping, playing, and learning. Without it, he becomes distracted and loses concentration.
Interesting events of the day:
1. I was amazed and inspired by the beautiful, complete shelves of materials in all areas, especially cultural and language. This was a surprise because the materials were not completed last November when the class began. Every small detail was in place. Wenru surprised even me with her ability. I made the right decision to choose her as our trainer in China, but now I remember that God told me she was His choice as Chinese trainer.
2. I presented in-depth philosophy, especially about parenting, which seemed to touch the students: unconditional love, forgiveness, eating dinner together as a family, words of respect in the family and in the classroom.
3. I outlined the parts of circle planning and gave examples of themes. The students seemed to understand them, including grace and courtesy (pantomiming the tea party), group snack and the words of “thank you,” “you are welcome,” and “yes, please.”
4. The active songs we sang gave the students a chance to move and see another way of relating to children.
5. I saw a joy and confidence in the students’ use of the geopgraphy materials.
6. I was invigorated by presenting the new, lovely history materials to the new students, as if it were a toy given to newborn babes.
Wenru picked me up at 8am as class was to begin at 8:30am. Fortunately, we are only 5 minutes away from the training classroom. It is on the second floor of a training facility.
Wentru has arranged the areas of learning very beautifully: the large classroom holds everything except practical learning, sensorial, and language. When I came in, students hugged me and were happy to see me. I was thrilled to see them, again. There were 14 women and 1 man. (PS: The man owns 7 schools with 100 children in each. He laughs a lot and some of his ways are rather manly).
I began reading, “Mama, Do You Love Me?,” and asked why I would show them this book. We talked about how they will give parent classes and lectures, and how important bedtime “tucking in” is and the time to tell your children that you will “always love them.” Wenru will take this book home to see what her smart twin daughters say about it.
One young woman asked how to conduct cirle and what it was. So, I spent about an hour discussing:
1. Traditional versus Montessori thinking
2. The change of heart and mind needed to be a Montessori teacher
3. The current problem of intervention of work and using Montessori materials as teaching materials at circle.
The morning “bowl test” for practical life went exceedingly well. I can see Wenru’s hard work in giving good lessons. There were the usual problems of standing up with the work in hand, or using one hand to wipe the table. Wenru had prepared matching large water activities that were beautiful.
After lunch I showed the Good Shepherd. I had shown it last November, so I had told the students that they could have a longer lunch if they didn’t want to see it again. All of them came, including Ruth, Wenru’s friend, who took the London Montessori Course and taught in Shanghai for two years. Since the students had already had a “bowl test” over the Chinese language materials, we had a test over the English materials. I was shocked how well the 15 Chinese students did on the test, especially capable of pronouncing the short phonetic sounds very accurately. A couple of the students needed help in feeling the complete sandpaper letter without lifting their fingers. Most of them did a lovely job of picking up the pencil with two hands.
Even though I was freezing in the classroom, I was warmed and in awe of God’s work through MIA in China, of what His plans for these students might be, and how they will assist children to learn through their full potential. We ended the day by summarizing the bowls a discussion of the lesson as a scientific learning experience for each teacher and child.
4-8 am: Read Hebrews and prayed. Then, wrote notes for the 3-hour speech, “Global Montessori,” for sixty people who want to know the latest of Montessori around the world. Ate in the fabulous buffet mostly fruit since the eggs were cold.
9:15am: Went to Dandelion Kindergarten of Director Yu-Fan Liu, her husband, and son, Eric. Eric took his business degree in CA and was our excellent translator 2 years. He will translate again for me. Dandelion Kindergarten is one of the first MIA schools in Taitung (www.miaworld.org).
Visited a toddler classroom with 7 children and 3 teachers, none trained so they were co-intervening. The toddlers were amazing, however, in their ability to match picture to picture and replica to picture. We plan to give the training in Taiwan soon. First Jane Suchen Wang and Dr. Shu-Fang will go to Beijing this summer for the Birth-3, come back and begin training for the poor, indigenous tribes near Taitung U.
Jane got her 2 1/2 to 6 certificate in 1993, began training in Taiwan for MIA in 1994, and took her Birth-to-3 Course from MTP of WA, Kent, in 1998 (www.montessoriplus.org). She will be the teacher for the training. Dr. Shu-Fang Chen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Early Childhood Ed at National Taitung University where Jane is now completing her thesis for her Master’s Degree.
Had to climb up about 15 steps to the second floor but it was worth it because hallways overlooked the huge playground and had many plants. It was like a garden. There were 4 classrooms with 2 put together for one set of equipment and a walk removed between. I had trouble finding many 3’s but they were gone to music, I guess, just for the morning. Two years ago we were here and they only had single-age classrooms. Because I spoke to them about it, now they have mixed ages. The children were using a lot of Chinese language materials, made by Jane and her teachers. A little boy gave me Ritz cracker with jam between the two. Another boy used the knobbed cylinders by picking up the cylinder first, then just trying each socket. I asked Jane to give him a lesson, and she did, and the boy then looked up at me with a quizzical look. It was just amazing to see how dedicated the children were to their work and how well the new teachers and interns were doing. I was inspired to continue to work hard for children. One child cut an egg while the teacher bent down to watch.
Yu-Fang and Eric took us past their house about a block away, a small estate, and then onto an organic restaurant, vegetarian as well. The owners also have a cancer hospital next door and supply good food to the patients as well as to the public. Amazing! It is Catholic. God does so many things through His children.
1-3pm: I rested but couldn’t sleep.
3-5pm: Jane and I met with Dr. Fang and planned the future of Montessori in Taiwan together, e.g., using Birth-3 DVD’s, bringing students this summer to Kent, and going to the new Beijing course for Birth-3, etc. We are cooperating with Taitung U to give MIA 2 1/2 to 6 level courses contained within the Taitung U curriculum. We plan to open a Birth-to-3 course also through Taitung U with the goal of helping young women, especially the indigenous tribal women who live near Taitung to know how to care for their young children in a Montessori way.
6-8pm: Dinner with Dr. Jane and her 12 year old son, Jane and Joanna. We talked many spiritual things, Dr. Jane’s health, and the goodness of God in our lives. They all wish that Don were with us. Jane is spending every moment with the students at the U, getting the materials ready for the bowl test. She is very tired. I am finally waking up at a normal time (5am) and am feeling energetic and ready to go.
I took many pictures at the school and will share them later.
May God bless and lead us today and give the students a peaceful heart. Sharlet.
***
The Montessori students take all of their Montessori courses as part of their curriculum to graduate with a degree. It is the only full Montessori program, leading to an international teaching certificate, in the country of Taiwan. Dr. Shu-Fang supervises the course in Jane’s absence in the US and says that she sees the difference in the early childhood students after they take the MIA course: they are focused, give attention to detail, have learned how to speak with respect to the children, and have a huge enthusiasm for teaching young children.
Work vs. Play
Posted on: March 8, 2011
When you visit a Montessori classroom, you will probably hear the children say, “This is my work.” This concept is a foundational principle in Montessori education. I remember a new child’s words to his mother when she can back to pick him up: “Guess what, Mom, we “work” here. We don’t “play”! But how can it be that young children work, not play, in the Montessori classroom?
The concept of work for the young child is built upon Dr. Maria Montessori’s philosophy of “self-construction.” It is the child who constructs himself, not the adult. It is the adult’s task to nurture and care for the child’s well-being in all areas of his development, but not to take the burden for it upon ourselves. As Dr. Montessori defined “work” for children, the child forms his personality and “builds himself” through his instinct and desire for work (Montessori, 1966). The child is like a beautiful plant, growing and blossoming according to his own biological plan. No one can change him into a different “plant” but yet he can wither or be scorched from lack or excess of care and attention.
In our Montessori classrooms, therefore, our children are surrounded in an environment where they satisfy their instinct of work through carefully-designed learning materials at their own pace. It is through a “purposeful play,” our children acquire skills that help them meet their intrinsic need for growth and development. For example, allowing a child to choose his own work, with as many repetitions as he wants to end the activity, enables the child to not only builds his self-confidence, but also helps him to perfect his inner life – his true desire as a human-being.
I remember hearing an experienced Montessori teacher respond to a parent’s question, “When will my child learn to read?” He said, “He will begin to read when he wants to!” This concept of self-construction is very difficult for many parents to understand because they want to do everything for the child. We must remember, “Whatever a child can do for himself, he should be able to do.” Real love is allowing the child to grow in independence and self-confidence.
7) ABSORBENT MIND:
At the beginning of the 20th century, the human brain was still a mystery. No PET scanning machines were available to reveal the activity of the human brain, but Dr. Montessori saw “into” the child through the work the children used with their hands. With her remarkable intuition, almost a century ahead of her time, she realized that the young child is in a unique phase of her life. Learning comes as naturally to her as play. Never again would learning be this easy or real to her life. As Dr. Montessori said, “The child absorbs knowledge directly into his psychic life….impressions do not merely enter his mind, they form it.”
6) MATERIALS:
For Dr. Montessori, the classroom provided an environment for young children that is a growing, living place. It is a reflection of all that is in the world, with a special emphasis upon those things that interest the teacher and children. In her training, our Montessori teacher is challenged “to give the child the world!” Our classrooms display materials, therefore, from all of the areas of learning for the world of the young child: practical living, sensorial, math, language, geography, history, science, art, and music. Our teachers enjoy introducing new handmade or purchased materials and present them with enthusiasm and excitement to our happy children.
5) SENSITIVE PERIODS:
Through her observations, Dr. Montessori labeled two modes of early learning: unconscious (0-3) and conscious (3-6) learning, within which sensitivity for certain aspects of learning can be seen. For instance, waiting until age five or six to assist young children to read is too late. By waiting until late in their formative period (0-6) to begin preparation for reading, the child’s crucial years of keen hearing and great interest in sounds and letters have passed by. She found that young children, at ages 3 and 4, who play games with phonetic sounds are usually reading by 4 ½ or 5 years and have taught themselves to read. They step into the wonderful world of books and never leave it.
4) FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT:
One of Dr. Montessori’s first premises was that, in order for the young child’s intellect to be free and to create, his body must be physically free as well. Since the first Montessori schools opened in the U.S. in the early 20th century, most early childhood specialists have feared that the Montessori child would focus on academic skills at the expense of socialization and play. If Montessori education were paper and pencil work at a table, they might be right. A Montessori classroom, however, is founded on the free but controlled movement of the child. Her first small, low tables were not nailed to the floor but were portable and available for the young children to carry them as they needed. Purposeful movement in young children, ages two-and-a-half to six, brings awe to the observer. How can these children know what to choose and where to get it? How can physical and mental discipline come about with such freedom of movement? Is it possible for these children to be well-disciplined without being made to sit for long periods in their desk? Finally today, researchers on the human brain are finding that real and profound learning happens when children are allowed to move their bodies throughout space in the classroom. Entrusted by teachers, the child sharpens his pencil and uses the bathroom at will. He moves about as a free agent, only limited by his own muscle development and will.
3) ABILITY TO CHOOSE:
In every culture and in every family, parents try to help their children to learn and grow. As this pattern becomes a habit, so it can interfere with the child’s natural development of choice-making. Parents may continue caring for their infant. Dr. Montessori found that the young child wants to master his environment and to “do it himself.” This is the cry of the human child. The Montessori teacher, moreover, is trained to assist young children in such a way that she can allow children to make their own choices, within limits. She provides many opportunities for children of all ages and developmental levels and allows the child to select the work he prefers. As the child chooses, his ability to choose well improves, and his self-confidence marches on in a natural progression. At home, allowing the children to select small things, such as deciding between two kinds of cereal for breakfast, or whether to brush his teeth or wash his face first, affirms his longing for adult trust. He wants his parents to have confidence in him, and he thrives when it is given to him.
Montessori Plus School 