Child Development

It’s that time again – time for family, friends, festivities, and traditions. What would Christmas be without Santa? And what would Santa be without another fun Montessori discussion? Well, it’s a topic that seems to need some re-visiting.

As many of you might remember, a few years ago I addressed the burning question about whether or not parents should tell their children the truth about Santa. Maria Montessori thought that telling kids about Santa and letting them believe he really exists was wrong, and would lead to doubt later on when they found out the truth. I personally feel somewhat similar, and have not told my kids that Santa is real or that gifts come from Santa.

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Recently I’ve seen or heard a few questions about what it means to “follow the child”. It’s one of those Montessori phrases we throw around, but what does it really mean?

Since Maria Montessori divides ages into 6-year cycles, it’s helpful to do so for this topic as well. In the 0-6 age group, following the child typically means observing the child in the classroom and using their interests and level of ability as a guide.

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I love the materials in the sensorial area of the Montessori classroom – they speak to the tactile learner in all of us. What impresses me most about how humans learn is how often we use more than one sense to explore.

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I recently read the book “Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, ‘A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes” by Alfie Kohn, a noted author and outspoken critic of traditional education, including grades, test scores, and homework. Much of what he says is in agreement with the Montessori approach to education.

As I read, I thought about this question: In Montessori, we often talk about the harm of external rewards, but are we using them without realizing it?

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Many parents and teachers today can remember hours spent in the great outdoors, called in only for dinner or when the last ray of summer light disappeared. Bookworm that I was, I can personally remember being told many days, “It’s a much too beautiful day to be inside. Go read that book in a tree!”

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In Montessori, we are blessed with wonderful materials like the sandpaper letters, movable alphabet, and the Pink, Blue, and Green Series. But, it’s sometimes nice to to include some games and activities to encourage a pre-reader or emergent reader.

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Recently, my children and I stopped to take a walk around a small lake. As we were walking, we found a circular abandoned garden with large hedges around it, shielding it from view. The garden had been divided into sections, but there was nothing growing.

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I recently read an interesting article by Julia Volkman in the Jola Montessori newsletter Public Montessorian. In it, she talks about the creative limitations of having kids color outlines like those found in coloring books or blackline masters.
In Montessori, blackline masters are black and white outlines of our nomenclature cards (see the Parts of the [...]

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It’s really, really easy to label kids. “She’s so artistic” or “He’s such a troublemaker” are phrases that fall from our lips without a second thought. The sad thing is, we come to expect from kids exactly what we’ve already decided they are, and they usually fall in line with our expectations.
Some people see only [...]

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Hi! Thanks for your great responses to the first part of this series! If you haven’t read it yet, please take a moment to do so – it will set the stage for this second post.
Here we go!
For generations, parents have attempted to follow the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for protein and other nutrients [...]

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