July 28, 2008 5:39 PM
Montessori Monday - prepared environment
No mother has to experience the Terrible Twos. All it takes is understanding and practicing a few Montessori principles to help your child sail gracefully through what can really be a thoroughly delightful and productive stage. Preparing an environment to meet the child's developmental needs is key.
The most important thing I learned as a Montessori teacher was to see the world through a child's eyes. I know that this revolutionized my motherhood. See, we're just too far removed from our own childhoods to remember how it was. We might remember specific events or even flashes of feeling - but we just don't remember the helplessness and disconectedness that children experience because they are living in an environment built for people several times their size.
There's a Big Chair at a produce stand just over the mountain (a little Loudoun lingo for driving over the Blue Ridge into the neighboring county) from me:
(Picture by Maddy at Nall's Produce Stand, Clarke County, Virginia.)
Now, imagine trying to climb up and sit here, your feet dangling, all insecure. Imagine trying to get down.
You may see where I'm going with this. When we see the world through children's eyes, we have a little more compassion for the daily challenges they face. Yes, we might have bought them a child-sized table and chair
- and I hope you have so they have a place that fits to color and do puzzles. It's one of the reasons kids love to go to preschool - because everything there fits them. But we can provide the same sense of belonging at home by rethinking our living spaces and making them more child-friendly.
Back when Samantha was little, children's furniture was hard to come by. These days it's everywhere, thanks to the influence of Montessori. My advice is to create little nooks here and there around the house for your child. Don't put your child's table and chair in her bedroom where it will collect dust -- put it out where she will be part of family life. Put a shelf next to it
with puzzles and manipulatives -sewing cards, pegboards, small blocks, etc. Show her how to take a puzzle off the shelf, set it on the table and do it (encourage repetition - then how to put it back before taking out something else.
You can find lots of ideas under Barbara's Picks in the top left sidebar. Click on Early Education and Kid-Friendly Environment for ideas. The idea isn't to get you to buy stuff - although if you do buy at Amazon when clicking through from this site, a small percentage comes back - but to give you some ideas of how to create a richer, more friendly environment for your child - to help your children reach their potential by providing for their developmental needs. I think you'll find the results will be more joy in your child, in you, in your home.
Once you understand what to look for, you can better evaluate things you come across at garage sales and second hand stores - to pass by the junk and to make the most of the good stuff.
Making these simple changes in your child's experience will lead to independence (the good kind), concentration, a sense of order, and a love of learning. A child-friendly environment.
The second most helpful thing you can do is to provide step-stools for your child in strategic places so he can develop a larger vision.
If you can imagine being three feet tall and wandering through the kitchen, you'll see how very limited the environment is for kids (although I do hope you let them play with the tupperware and pots and pans in the lower cabinets -- c'mon, life's too short to worry about having the neatest kitchen in the world -- before you know it your kids will be grown and gone and are they gonna think you're a better mom because the kitchen was spotless?)
Standing on a stool in the kitchen gives your child the opportunity to see what you're doing. Not only is it good for companionship, but it will surely spark an interest in helping - something you want to nurture. It is possible to teach a two year old to peel carrots, for example. I'll be showing you how in posts to come.
Put a coat rack at kids' level by the door so your child can get his own coat and hang it up when he comes in. Again, in addition to creating a child-friendly environment, this encourages order and independence.
Create a reading nook with a beanbag or cozy little chair next to a shelf of his own books (more later on encouraging reading).
Here is one sent in by a mom who read my first books Small Beginnings and Ready, Set, Read! (which have now been expanded and will come out with the new titles in June) ten years ago and has been putting everything into practice:
Finally, I frame cards or small prints of classical paintings and hang them at kids' eye level throughout the house (another Montessori-inspired idea). By the reading nook, pictures like Fragonard's Girl Reading:
By the coat rack, pictures of outdoor scenes like Renoir's Girl with a Watering Can:
Scattered throughout the house, pictures like Homer's Snap the Whip:
and Van Gogh's Starry Night:
. . . anything that you - now looking through the eyes of a child - find appealing. You can find these in greeting card racks, boxed note card sets, or a book of cards which is part of a total art program for kids - Mommy, It's a Renoir!
Oh, and place a few mirrors here and there at their height so they can see themselves:
More reasons why a mirror at their level is a good idea at Kid-friendly home decor.
Lastly, rethink everything in your child's daily life. Make sure he has access to the things he needs - that he can get out his own clothes, for instance - so that he doesn't have to be dependent on you. Teach him to pur his own cereal and his own milk.
Remember, parenting is one job you should be working yourself out of - always working towards producing young men and women who can stand on their own two feet.
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Note: I have included links to Amazon to give you some ideas - but try looking for stuff at garage sales or consignment stores to save money.
Please link to share your own pictures and ideas for Montessori Monday
Posted in Homeschooling, Montessori, Montessori Mondays, Preschoolers | Permalink
Comments
Barbara,
Just had to tell you that I was at the library doing research for my website and I saw one of your books. I picked it up and thought, "Hmmm... She looks familiar..." Then I saw the name and realized it was you - from Mommy Life. Very exciting to see a book written by a blogger I like on the library shelves!
Carletta
Posted by: Carletta | July 28, 2008 11:26 PM
Thanks for those tips! We're just moving into a new house as well, and have decided to take the opportunity to "babyproof" for our 11-month old... I've just realized it would also be a great time to get the space prepped for some montessori-style learning!
Posted by: Adele | July 29, 2008 8:41 AM
I have really appreciated these ideas that I first read in The Mommy Manual and have incorporated quite a few into our everyday play lives. We have a reading corner and pictures and a mirror at their eye level. I also try to keep all their toys organized so that they know where to find various collections of whatever they want so that all their time isn't spent in frustration looking for this or that piece to a toy. I have eleven different baskets or storage containers in our main living area with toys sorted by legos, baby/dress ups, fisher price people, puzzles, dishes/food, beans/scoopers and a big basket for random toys like balls and shape sorters and McDonalds happy meal junk (those are kept to a MINIMUM!). The kids also know where everything belongs and how to put it away when they are finished playing too because everything has a place.
Posted by: Laura | July 29, 2008 10:07 AM
I love these ideas, especially the mirror, I woiuld never have thought of that. My mission this month is to help my son become more independent and to allow him to see what he can do without me being on top of him constantly! Thanks!
Posted by: M.Green | July 29, 2008 3:43 PM
