When I was staying with my parents, that was an evening that I brought the kids out for a walk and to visit a kindy (a montessori one) a few blocks away.
The principle greeted us warmly and because she has got two other parents to attend to, she told us to look around and she even told WH and JS that they were free to play with the materials. Knowing that in a Montessori school, children are taught to respect all the materials, I did not allow my kids to misused the materials. ( I didn’t tell the principle of my knowledge in Montessori)
The kids and me were looking on the material and at the practical life area, there were a few activities (not really completed because it’s school holiday) , I brought down a tray with a bowl of different colourful stones, a pair of tongs and three small plates. Obviously it an activity to sort the stones by colours into the small plate by using the tongs. I presented the activity to WH (eventhough I know he might not be able to use the tongs properly as his wrist muscles strenght is still not strong to operate the tongs) , WH wanted to try straight away, but I told him ” let mummy show you how, and you can have your turn later” and he really obeyed and sit down beside me to watch. I didn’t present the whole cycle of the activities and all the while I did it in silent so that he can observe and copy the same. What I did was to use the tongs to take up stones from the bowl and placed it on the small plate. I sorted 2 blues in one plate, 2 greens in another and 2 reds in the third one. ( I’m suppose to finish everything in the bowl before asking him to try) and passed the tongs to him and said ” you can have your turn now” after which I went to chat with the principle leaving him behind to finish off the activity by himself.
It was a good 10 minutes before he came to me and called ” mummy, mummy” with the pride and smile in his face but I didn’t go to his work place to check on his activity and continued chatting to the principle. We chatted a good 15 minutes. In fact the kids were quite good when they were there, they didn’t stick on to me like when they were at new places, they just went to explore the place by themselves andI feel safe to let them roam because it’s a child safe environment.
When I finally finish with the principle and went to check on WH, he has actually finished the transferring activities sorting out a full bowl of stones correctly into respective plates. But he didn’t use the tongs, instead he went to the shelf and took a spoon for another spooning activity to do the task. He did it perfectly and I couldn’t really believe it and asked if JS has helped, but the helper there who has been observing WH said that he has done it all by himself with the spoon. I’m really proud of him.
During the workshop, I can’t help to question in my mind ” will the kids be able to do xxx activity at 2 1/2?” but I got my question answered when I see WH’s worked on the activity (he’s 25 months and he can perform the task) . Kids are able to concentrate and work on the material spontaneously if they are interested in it and they are able to have the mental concentration of doing the task and after which they feel proud of being able to complete the task. I really saw the contentment and pride in WH face when he came to me and when I praised him for a good job done. And it’s also amazing how kids can find solution to finish the task ( instead of using tongs, WH used a spoon and not his hands or fingers) I also noticed that in a prepared environment, which is so interesting to the kids, they will also loves to be part of it.
With this experience, if I really get a chance, I want to expose WH as early as possible to a Montessori playschool. During the workshop, the lecturer said the vital year to start is 2 1/2, I really dont want WH to missed out the sensitive period and benefit from it.
Clumsy Wife, Careless Mum 