Theory • Carrots Are Orange

Montessori Theory: 4 Reasons Your Child Embraces Repetition & Develops Will in Montessori

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Montessori, Theory Tagged With: Theory This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

‘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 message to the child. He might think, “Wait a moment. Am I doing this work for you?”‘

The Power of Repetition in a Montessori Early Childhood Environment

Those words struck me on many levels. I always understood the importance of repetition but had never dug deeply into the importance. A child doesn't simply repeat an exercise over and over again for repetition sake. A child repeats to perfect, the reinforce a skill, and to internalize the skill in order to garner the deeper significance of the skill – synthesis, problem-solving, and analysis, for example.

Intervening in a Child's Work

Adults should pause, count to ten, whatever the tactic, before intervening in a child's work, play, conflict, or otherwise. If we're doing our job then the child knows what he needs to do but merely needs to perfect it.

{Related Post: “Questions to Ask Before Intervening” if you need a few ideas on how to avoid “solving the child's problem”.}

Within the Context of Brain Development

The idea of what repetition means within the context of brain development is fascinating. There is much more to repetition simply to master an activity or task. There is the reinforcement of the skill and the increased opportunity to succeed as the child continues to practice the work.

Furthermore, the child is able to discern small changes in approach that make or break the exercise. If one approach doesn't work for the child, she will adjust slightly and try another. This is one reason the control of error within Montessori materials so critical.

The Definition of Repetition

Repetition does not mean doing the SAME task again and again but instead practicing the same skill over and over. You can see why variations and extensions play such an important role in the early childhood classroom.

Other Not So Obvious Forms of Repetition

Repetition comes in many forms, not simply the child doing the work himself. A child in a Montessori environment will observe other children doing a work and give lessons to another, often younger, child. Each of these behaviors reinforces the skill.

“Repetition is the secret of perfection” – Dr. Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child

Repetition refines the senses, encourages focus, breeds independence, and develop confidence in our work and ourselves. Only when the child is given the opportunity to repeat an activity with intense interest will he enter into a sensitive period, or move onto the next one.

Additional Resources on Repetition:

Montessori Theory: What is Montessori Parenting & How Can I Make it Happen?

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Montessori at Home, Parenting Tagged With: Montessori, Theory This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

My 2..5-year-old hopped off his chair and walked over to a cabinet. He pulled out dishes and glasses, then ran over to the kitchen table and began setting places for himself and his brothers. This scenario is an example of Montessori parenting.

Montessori embodies this act. Respecting the child. Giving him space and time gives him the opportunity to grow and to develop in a healthy and productive way.

Related Post: What to Say to An Anxious Child

Montessori is a lifestyle. Dr. Montessori, although she wrote extensively about Montessori as an educational approach, did not intend for this approach to guiding children to be limited to the classroom. Quite the contrary, Montessori, with the focus on the development of the whole child, should embrace the child’s life as a whole, including his time in the classroom and outside the classroom, whether with Mother Nature or at home with family.

How to Define Montessori at Home and Montessori Parenting

Montessori parenting is a big part of the Montessori philosophy. Bridging the gap between home and school is critical to raising a Montessori child. Work with your child's teachers to make that happen.

Related Post: 12 Ways to Integrate Montessori at Home

Life offers moments to guide children. Let them put on their own shoes. Offer them support without doing it for them. Don’t assume you have the answer or can solve their problem. Children are capable of doing and being so much. Respecting the potential of our kids to grow and develop based on their own instincts and tendencies is just as much a part of the Montessori classroom as it is a part of the Montessori home environment.

Related Post: Your Child is a Killer Communicator

Opening up our eyes to that possibility is key with integrating Montessori at home. At the risk of sounding cliche, the world is our classroom. What Dr. Montessori emphasized included an approach to communicating with children, disciplining children, guiding children, and preparing the environment to ensure success in a child’s development.

Montessori Theory: Thoughts on Pretend Play

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Montessori, Montessori 101 Tagged With: Theory This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

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 them, they will in turn incorporate these experiences into their play and their imaginations will be richer from it. (Sorry that was a long sentence.) Therefore, the hope is that the play will have a more deeply ingrained impact on their development. I suppose it is like anything in life (going to business school and learning about management as opposed to actually having the experience…for example).

So here are a few thoughts on this extremely controversial topic in Montessori land:

1) The issue is not with the “pretend play” but with the materials. Dr. Montessori wanted the child to gain an experience through the actual experience of cooking, for example, not pretending to cook. She believed that pretend play often comes from watching older siblings and adults. So, the child would act out the process of making soup if he sees his father making soup one day, rather than making the soup on his own. That is why preparing the environment with materials suitable for a child (e.g. a small broom to sweep, a low sink to wash, a small bed to put baby to sleep or building blocks that actually build a tower instead of pretending to build a tower) in order to have these experiences is key.

2) I believe AMS (American Montessori Society) gives a little on this issue whereas AMI (…International) is the more hard core, crack open the vaults for Dr. Montessori's original notebooks, type of school (so look for that in your tours and reading. There will be a slight difference.). Montessori Controversy is a good book to consider reading for your journey. The author (a guy who actually lives in Seattle and happens to be a Montessori expert. Very convenient.) says that even if a classroom excludes all “pretend play” or “fantasy” materials like dress up, blocks, etc a child will still find a way to incorporate this type of play into his development. So a box, cabinet or shelf becomes a cave or a boat, a blanket or mat becomes a cape, a piece of paper even becomes amazing things…I see this point with my sons. They pretend play with things that we cannot even see. So, I find myself crawling on the ground to get a closer look at the “teeny, tiny brontosaurus eating from the pond” and when he asks me, “see him, mama?” I say, “yes”.

3) I'd be concerned about any school that “discourages fantasy play”. Doesn't seem like it is a good fit for you guys. So just remember that not all Montessori schools are alike…a friend of mine wrote in an email recently on this topic that ‘”fun” doesn't always equates to “fantasy play” and “Montessori” does not always exclude “imagination”‘. I couldn't agree with her more…

4) Remind the child that myths are myths. My older son is mildly obsessed with Greek Mythology. He makes up mythological creatures among many other self driven activities that leaves my mouth gaping every day. I am in awe, really. So, what do I do? I won't squash that passion but I will remind him that Poseidon cannot really hover above the sea and stick his trident in the water to create a storm: I remind him that these adventurous stories are myths.

5) Lastly, I try to incorporate “real” objects into the Pretend Play. So, for example, if my sons are “cooking dinner” or “grocery shopping”, I'll slip in some real carrots, pepper, pasta, etc. I have been known to also place real money in their Wooden Cash Register.

I have a lot more to write on this topic but I'll stop here and wait for another day.
Marnie

Montessori Theory: The Key Concept of Isolation

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Montessori, Montessori 101, Theory Tagged With: Theory This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Control of Error and Isolation of Difficulty are two critical aspects within Montessori. Each concept gives the child control over the pace of his development with an opportunity to self-correct. As a child leaves the unconscious learning period, where he effortlessly gathers impressions from his environment and moves into the conscious learning period, he needs a system to classify the impressions. Isolating the quality of a material gives an opportunity to organize. Montessori isolated qualities of objects to maximize education of the senses and to give the child the opportunity to discover and to understand the difficulty of the material without interference by the teacher.

CONTROL OF ERROR & ISOLATION OF DIFFICULTY

Control of Error is automatic feedback that tells the child he needs to make an adjustment in order to complete the work successfully. Subsequently, he learns to trust his own instincts: “the power to make progress comes in large measure from having freedom and an assured path along which to go; but to this must also be added some way of knowing if, and when, we have left the path.” (The Absorbent Mind, pg. 93) Isolation of Difficulty is embedded within materials to help a child create order within his environment: “The difficulty that the child must discover and understand must be isolated in a single piece of material. The isolation simplifies the child’s task for him and enables him to perceive the problem more readily.” (Montessori: A Modern Approach, pg. 61)

The Materials

Every series of objects… is graded so that there is a maximum and a minimum, which determines its limits, or which, more properly, are fixed by the use which a child makes of them.”

-The Discovery of Childhood {pg. 100-101}

Montessori created materials based on empirical observations of children. So we can actually claim that the materials were chosen by the children discarding any material not of interest, use or need – developmentally – by the child. She carefully considered each of the senses. Then she thought how best to help children to clarify and to expand their existing experiences. She focused on “systems of objects that share a definite quality, such as color, shape, dimension”. {The Absorbent Mind} She set forth with preparing an environment that provided the opportunity for a child to interact very specifically with a material, or a “quality”. Each group of objects represents the same quality but in different degrees. Each material emphasizes one particular quality by eliminating or minimizing other differences. So there is consequently a regular but gradual distinction between the various objects and, when this is possible, one that is mathematically fixed like the Pink Tower and the decimal system.

Every material contains a “control of error”, the ability for the child to self-correct and for the teacher to stand back to observe and then to guide when necessary. “This self correction leads the child to concentrate his attention upon the differences of dimension, and to compare the various pieces.” {Montessori: A Modern Approach} Within Practical Life, a spill on a tray exemplifies these concepts. Within Sensorial, the inset not fitting the template does the same. A map is also a good example. If you take a wrong turn, you’ll need to make adjustments if you are to get to your intended destination.

The Teacher

“The goal is that the child will develop a sense of satisfaction from the work itself, not be dependent on the approval of a teacher.” – The Montessori Controversy {pg.90}

If a teacher intervenes in the learning process, then Control of Error will not be an effective means of development for the child. With Control of Error, a child will learn to make his own decisions and to trust his instincts. He develops confidence and the ability to problem solve. Montessori called children who reach this point “Normalized”, a term defined by qualities such as self-control, concentration, independence, empathy and discipline. Normalization is a main goal of Montessori education. Without Control of Error and Isolation of Difficulty the goal will not be reached.

Furthermore, a teacher should never interfere with a child’s work with praise or punishment. If this happens, a child will feel inadequate, that he can’t guide himself, lowers his self-esteem and motivation and discourages him. Once the teacher trains on the method and prepares spiritually to direct a class, she must then focus on giving lessons introducing the child to the materials. From there the child leads his learning to experience with his own “hands” with “control of error” built into the works to enable auto-education.

The teacher ‘s role is to observe and to recognize when to intervene to direct the child back to an activity that suits his development. A child can only improve himself if given the opportunity to practice on his own by his own will for extended periods of time: “how much better it is to recognize my own mistakes, and then correct them? If anything is likely to make the character indecisive, it is the inability to control matters without having to seek advice. This begets a discouraging sense of inferiority and a lack of confidence in one’s self.” Errors correct themselves in time and with practice; their existence is unavoidable in life for always. Even in science, the goal is twofold: to measure a precise figure and to measure the extent to which that figure could be wrong or deviate from that “precise figure”. {The Absorbent Mind, pg. 248}

Conclusion

On a final note with regards to Control of Error & Isolation of Difficulty, materials aside, as a teacher it is important to accept that we ourselves make mistakes and it is ok to allow a child to see that side of us: “…it is well to cultivate a friendly feeling towards error, to treat it as a companion inseparable from our lives, as something having a purpose, which it truly has.” (The Absorbent Mind, pg. 246) In addition to spiritual growth and self-awareness, a teacher must have faith in the materials and the child’s work with the materials in order to successfully serve the child. The aspects of Control of Error and Isolation of Difficulty work to achieve this goal.

Thank you for reading!

Marnie

Montessori Theory: The Key Aspect of Movement

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Montessori, Montessori 101, Montessori at Home, Theory Tagged With: Theory This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Montessori believed that mental and motor activity should act in unity, that a children must be given the chance to act as a whole. Movement with thought is a “synthetic movement” or a “knowing activity”, directed by the intelligence to a reasonable end.

Practical life (and within practical life, grace & courtesy) lessons are examples of such movement. So, each lesson (each movement) has a well-defined and understood purpose which can be transferred easily to a real life situation.

Movement with thought meant breaking up of movements into their components and by focusing on the means of the movement rather than the end. Movement followed by thought or preceded by thoughts could not achieve the same intellectual result.

E.M. Standing writes, “the value of movement goes deeper than just helping in the acquisition of knowledge.” Montessori believed that traditional approaches to giving students an opportunity to take a break from “mental activity” with movements of gymnastics, for example was a disservice to children. She thought that substituting movement without thought, for thought without movement leads to fatigue, that when mental and motor activity act separately (when they should be united) every effort is resented whether mental or motor.

Thank you for reading!
Marnie

Montessori Theory: The Key Concept of Concrete to Abstract}

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Homeschool, Montessori, Montessori 101, Montessori at Home, Theory Tagged With: Theory This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Concrete to Abstract

“A logical, developmentally appropriate progression that allows the child to come to an abstract understanding of a concept by first encountering it in a concrete form, such as learning the mathematical concept of the decimal system by working with Golden Beads grouped into units, 10s, 100s, and 1,000s.” (Source: American Montessori Society)

I love this concept. Maria Montessori wrote extensively about the Absorbent Mind. This idea was the basis of her child development theory. A child is born into the world capable and she places a great deal of value and respect onto the child's ability to drive his learning and development. A child is born into the world already unconsciously gathering impressions from his environment. As a child approach three years of age he continues to gather from his environment but in a different way. His inner drive now is to give order to the impressions.

Us adults can help a child in the earlier stage by giving him many concrete opportunities to experience the world hands on. Using his senses he will concretely take in the world. As he moves into the latter stage, he now begins to process abstractly. So he takes these concrete experiences and turns them into more abstract ideas. His concrete work in the earlier stage literally “laid the foundation” for complex abstract ideas and thinking.

Is this stuff amazing, or what?

Thank you for visiting today. I hope that we inspired you.

Warmly,

Marnie