Authentic, real experiences are critical for children. One of my Montessori instructors at MEIPN opened a session with an exercise she coined “Abstract Orange” to emphasize the importance of authentic, concrete experiences for children and their developing brains. She said: “We are adults with the ability to think abstractly so imagine you are holding a […]
Why Your Child Repeats Himself – Child Development
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‘Maybe, just maybe, if you waited a moment, the child would dump the puzzle over and do it again. Maybe if you paused and observed the child instead of interrupting the work, or even giving a “great work!” you allow the child to own that experience and perfect his work. Praising might send a confusing […]
The Importance of Gross Motor Development
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Gross motor development is critical to balance, coordination, and the connection to other body functions. Gross Motor Skills – Definition What do we mean when we say “gross motor skills”? When I think of gross motor skills or development, I think of the use of our big muscles. For example, legs and arms. Gross motor […]
A few thoughts on language development
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The Montessori language philosophy had me at “hello.” “The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experiences.” ~ Dr. Montessori Dr. Maria Montessori viewed child development as a holistic process. There should not be memorization of skills and knowledge thereby “transferring” skills and knowledge to […]
Montessori Theory: Thoughts on Pretend Play
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One of the big “concerns” or “criticisms” of Montessori is that Pretend Play is not encouraged in the classroom. Generally, I believe that pretend play is based in reality. So, if we expose children to real-life through meaningful, productive work and experiences and allow them to open their eyes to the great big world around […]