Mommy Life

April 14, 2008 6:42 AM

Montessori Mondays - children's puzzles

Here's how any mom can make the most of teaching moments by using Montessori techniques:

Take puzzles, for instance. Choose the kind with knobs, as they encourage the child's pincer grasp - which will strengthen and refine his thumb and finger control so that when the time comes to pick up a pencil he'll be ready.

Put the puzzle on a shelf where you keep your child's other manipulatives.

Begin the lesson by showing her how to carry it from its place on the shelf to a table and how to set it down quietly. How to pull out her chair and take her place gracefully. Now you begin by removing the pieces with your right hand - holding the knobs - and placing them to the left of the puzzle.

When all the pieces are removed, pick up one with your left hand, and slowly trace around it with your right index and middle fingers. Make a point of looking for the same shape, then trace it also with your two right fingers before replacing the pice where it belongs. Repeat, and then invite your child to continue.

When the puzzle is finished, encourage her to do it again - and again - as many times as she can before she expresses that she is finished.

If this seems exaggerated, let me explain how the Montessori method has been applied to this simple task and what is going on:

The knobs on the puzzles encourage pincer grasp.

Going through the presentation of the material in a slow and gracious fashion is role modeling - teaching the child to slow down, to pay attention, and to treat materials with respect.

Placing the pieces of the puzzle to the left sets up the child to pick them up from the left and set them down on the right. This encourages left-to-right eye/hand coordination which is a precursor to reading and writing.

Tracing the pieces and their respective homes with two fingers of the right hand is another exercise of the fine motor control necessary for writing.

Encouraging repetition is the cornerstone of helping your child devlop concentration, and concentration is the most important tool for your child to become a good learner.

What makes the Montessori method so appealing for me is that it is based on a true understanding of the child's God-given potentials. And while the Montessori materials are wonderful and effective, they are also expensive and no longer the only game in town. With a little understanding of the principles, any mother can select appropriate manipulative materials (see Barbara's Picks in the left sidebar) and present them in the Montessori way - thus maximizing the child's educational experience and character building too.

The even greater benefit is that by using the Montessori approach, you and your child slow down. As you apply the techniques you learn, tweaking what you already know as a mom just a little, your home will become more serene. I guarantee you.

Try this out and let me know what you think.
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Love,

Posted in Homeschooling, Montessori, Montessori Mondays, Mothering, Preschoolers, Toddlers | Permalink

Comments

I'm curious as to why you say use the right hand to trace while placing things on the left side. While I currently have no children, I ask simply because my husband is left handed. If he works with our future children he would be more comfortable with his left hand, and of course our children might be left handed as well. Both he and my sister-in-law are left handed, and have struggled in this "right handed world" we live in. I wouldn't have noticed it, but your instructions seem so precise, and with certain purposes in mind.

Thanks in advance,
Angella

Posted by: Angella214 | April 14, 2008 10:35 AM

We are very Montessori inspired at our home school! Love your Montessori Monday posts! Blessings!

Posted by: Meredith Henning | April 14, 2008 11:08 AM

Tks barbara for posting this!

i was just wondering how I was going to present the puzzle to my son.

i have bought one shapes puzzle with knobs, and some from Early Learning Centre.

However, when is the best time to start? The ELC one states 12 months, but DS doesn't seem to be be anywhere near doing the puzzles.. hmm..

Posted by: rayhana | April 14, 2008 12:08 PM

I'm a Montessori elementary teacher, and I'm pretty sure that it's perfectly acceptable to do these exercises the other way 'round for lefty kids. In fact, many presentations give only the "righty" directions, but then say something along the lines of "flip flop these directions for left-handed children".

For Montessori presentations, you are supposed to sit on the child's non-dominant side for presentations. In other words, there isn't a set side: you switch to the other side for a left-handed child.

Most practical life exercises can easily be done with the left hand, whether it's scrubbing, polishing, etc. Sensorial as well - a left-handed child should grasp the knobbed cylinders with their left hand, etc. No Montessori teacher (I hope!) would ever force a child to use their non-dominant hand.

I'm left-handed, and so are my kids. Between us, we have a wide range of lefty/righty split. My daughter and I cut with our right hands, my son with his left. I just observed them early on to see what their preferences were and followed them.

Posted by: Lori Bourne | April 17, 2008 10:09 PM

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