Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Skirting the Full Monte(ssori)

I may have screwed my son up by confining him in a crib...he will never learn to think outside the box now.

Although there are certain concepts of Montessori that seem abstract or odd to the average person (having a child sleep on a mattress on the floor from birth, with a mirror beside it), there are other concepts that so perfectly and clearly make sense.


Practical Participation
So begins our journey with Montessori. One of the concepts that I believe in strongly, I'd say the most of all of the Montessori theories is what I'll refer to as "practical participation" (they refer to it as Practical Life). This is the idea that having children do practical, daily, perhaps mundane, things is actually more stimulating and healthy for them than playing with noisy, flashing, toys that supposedly teach them the alphabet. Interestingly, this is something that is sadly lost with modern moms, especially working moms. Children used to partake in household chores at a young age, now they are not around for those chores or they are put in front of a TV show while these chores take place. Of course I am not saying this isn't possible to impliment practical participation while working; I do it. As a working mom, we just tend to value the little time we do have and want to fill it with fun and play. However, we don't realize how much fun a kid can have participating in daily chores. Instead of saving it for after the kid goes to bed, have him help you make his lunch for the next day, "fold" the laundry, dust the shelves and so on. Avoid entertaining them with the TV while you race to get your household duties completed before bedtime. A child would much rather be involved with you than the TV, even if they don't know it yet.

Practical Participation can either cause WAY more stress or take stress away from from you. In the beginning you may hate it. It will all depend on how you look at it. It's kind of like working overtime today for a great vacation tomorrow. You are not only building amazing neurons and pathways in your child's brain, you are also teaching them independence, pride, and self esteem. Don't set yourself up for disaster and distress thinking that you will get the task done the same way and in the same amount of time. Does it take me longer to empty the dishwasher when Jack helps? YES, you betchya...more than double. But I am also killing two or more birds with one stone, or plate.

What a dishwasher can teach that Elmo doesn't:

Jack helping at 10 months

  • Sorting (placing the small plates, large plates, spoons in piles)
  • Everything has a place (something some adults still don't get)
  • Community (as a family unit we work together and help each other out)
  • Cycles (every chore, activity, has a clear beginning, middle and end)
  • Concentration (Montessori puts a huge emphasis on the power of concentration and brain development. I'm not going to get into the science behind this, but it is very convincing)
  • Pride ("I can do something!" Instead of me shoving him away from the dishwasher while I try to empty it with record speed)
  • Language (naming items)
  • Big/Little (comparing sizes of objects)
  • Matching (matching lid sizes for tupperware)
  • Hand Play (Montessori also emphasizes how important working with the hands are to brain development. This is another very interesting Montessori concept to look into if you have the time.)
  • Careful (allowing a child to handle fragile things gives them the opportunity to understand the concept of being careful and gentle with certain items)

I am sure there are many more, and they change as a child gets older. In the beginning Jack just grabbed silverwear and threw it into the drawer. Then he would hand me pieces, and I would sort (this also practiced "thank you"), now he is beginning to sort items on his own on the floor and then I put them in the cabinet. Again, I am not creating a workhorse here. This is not a means to enslave a child and pass on a chore. In fact, watching us do this it looks more like a lesson than a chore.

Beyond anything this teaches both of us that you can learn in every moment of your life; therefore, creating my ultimate goal for him: LIFE LONG LEARNER

Some other practical participation we do at 18 months:
  • Laundry (moving items into the basket from the dryer, putting items into the drawers)
  • Dusting
  • Throwing away garbage
  • Putting clothing in hamper
  • Cleaning highchair
  • Cutting food (using a vegetable cutter is great because it isn't sharp)
  • Pouring drinks
  • Vacuuming
  • Feeding Pets (feeding the dog is probably Jack's favorite activity)
  • Making food (only about 25-50% of the time does he help, but I try to have him at least help with his meals...the only reason he doesn't help more is because I am a little bit of a neat freak, that's my issue, not his)
  • Letting the dog out to go to the bathroom
  • Cleaning up toys before bed
  • Retreval Tasks (at first I felt weird about this, like it was playing fetch with my child, but he loves it and it has been great for vocabulary building, "Go get your blanket" "Give daddy his apple")
I will continue to post different activities that we do/have done that are based in or skirt the Montessori philosophies, but I think this is one of the most powerful and easiest starting points.