Maria Montessori was a pioneer woman, A brilliant-minded genius who went out on her own to design and build an educational curriculum more than one hundred years ago for the poorest children in Italy. It was deemed ‘alternative’ then, and it still is today. Very few people truly understand how and why the Montessori Method works, even those of us with children enrolled in Montessori schools and programs. I am right there with you.
Five years ago, I became a Montessori parent and still feel like I am learning what the terminology all means. It is different than what most of us grew up within traditional education. So how do we make sense of it? Why does it matter if we understand how it works on a fundamental level? Our children deserve that from us. The more we can appreciate our role and how our support, or lack thereof, can affect our child, the more successful they will be. So, we have some work to do here.
One of the biggest buzzwords in the Montessori world is normalization. This one took me quite a while to figure out. Isn’t my child already normal? We want our child’s classroom to be normalized because this translates to an environment where children are focused and concentrated on their individual work. The room is calm, beautiful, and orderly, and everyone is going about their work. Another popular Montessori word: work. Children come to school to work. They are given lessons, follow-up work, or practice assignments. But the incredible thing about the Montessori child is that they choose what to work on, and when. For example, if they come to school eager to pull out the long bead chain and practice their multiples, they can. If they want to symbolize their spelling sentences or use colored objects to denote various parts of speech, they can. The child’s work is up to them, as long as they are focused and concentrated.
There is more to being a Montessori parent than supporting what the teacher is presenting in the classroom. It is important that we bring Montessori into our homes. And we all don’t need to be trained or read every single Montessori book to know how. We can start small. Practical Life is an essential thread of the curriculum. It can best be equated to the home economics or woodshop courses many of us took in junior high and high school. Practical Life means any skill a child learns, which enables him or her to be more independent and self-sufficient. This can range from sewing on a button, tying a shoe, cutting up vegetables and fruit for snack, setting the table, or arranging a fresh bouquet of flowers in a vase. As the children grow, Practical Life means preparing a full meal, researching and leading a school-wide community service opportunity, maintaining a garden, or building a wooden picture frame. Children want to help us at home. They want to learn and feel as though they are contributing. I have had to learn to step out of my own children’s way. It may take longer for my four-year-old to get herself dressed, or for my seven-year-old to fold her own laundry, but they can and will if encouraged and allowed the space.
At the elementary level, the children often participate in Going-Outs. This enables the child to plan an individual or small-group outing to a local library for more resources or a pet store for more fish food. A whole class field trip offers everyone the same experience, whereas a Montessori Going-Out allows the child to focus on their individual learning needs and goals. As a parent, you might be able to help with transportation or allow your own child to plan a family outing for the upcoming weekend.
This flows right into Grace and Courtesy, which stems back to basic manners and civility. In a Montessori classroom, children learn to look people in the eye and shake their hand when greeting each other in the morning. They learn to help care for each other and their shared classroom environment through job rotations. Keeping the materials clean and beautiful is an issue in a Montessori classroom, and this high standard can flow into the home as well. Children are capable of cleaning up their toys and clearing their dirty dishes from the table. Grace and Courtesy are about basic phone etiquette and, in a world of texts and emails, is becoming a dying skill. Ask your child to make that reservation for you at your favorite restaurant or call to see what time the roller-skating rink opens. One home example I can share is when our ten-year-old son wanted to learn to play an instrument. Ok, we said, do some research and get back to us. He called three music shops to ask about rentals and lessons and, after doing the math, selected a store. Off we went to get him set up with a saxophone, and the pride he felt for the role he played was priceless.
Parents, our Montessori teachers need us, as do our children. The Method is extraordinary, and the teachers who feel ‘called’ to guide our children are passionate and skilled. If you don’t understand something, ask. Teachers want to help you, too. If you don’t feel connected to your child’s Montessori world, look for a way in. We are all in this together. Learning about the Montessori philosophy gives us tools to be better parents, and I feel better human beings.
Tomorrow’s Child/ Jan 2019 /Pg 28
