Published Monday, May 10, 2021
The Dos & Don’ts of Montessori Parenting & Education
Montessori is an approach to parenting and education that is child-centered and aimed at nurturing children’s natural learning potential. Knowing some of the Dos and Don’ts can help you understand how this philosophy fosters independence, problem-solving & mindfulness.
Important Dos & Don’ts
Do…Build time in your daily routine for fostering independence.
Don’t…Just do things for your kids in the interest of time.
Building time in your daily routine for fostering independence means that you are intentionally scheduling extra time for your child to put on socks and shoes before leaving the house, instead of rushing to put them on your child, because of time. This extra bit of time (5-10 minutes depending on the task) provides the child with an unhurried opportunity to practice new-found skills. This helps build independence and confidence as they experience the satisfaction of a meaningful accomplishment.
Do…Give the child time to figure things out when they are stuck.
Don’t Let them reach the point of frustration.
Children can positively solve problems on their own, if we give them the opportunity. I once watched my son use a broomstick to get a ball from under the couch when his little arm couldn’t reach it. However there is a fine line between problem solving and sheer frustrations. As parents & educators we want to give children time & space to figure things out, but also have to be intune with how children are managing a task. While we don’t want to interject and do it all for the child, we can offer help with the difficult part when it seems to be too much.
Do…Celebrate your child’s accomplishments.
Don’t Let your celebration be louder than theirs.
We are often overjoyed when children reach important milestones such as learning to crawl, walk or utter their first word. Similarly, we want to celebrate and encourage children when they overcome obstacles and accomplish difficult tasks. This is a natural part of adulthood and perfectly okay as long as it doesn’t distract from the child’s own celebration. Children celebrating their own successes help to develop intrinsic motivation. It also adds to the feeling of self-fulfillment after deep concentration on a task. We certainly don’t want to interrupt that.
If you are interested in joining Montessori-related rooms on the Clubhouse app, here is an invitation to join the app and follow Montessori topics. Click this link 👉🏾Invitation to Join Clubhouse (For a limited time – This link expires on Monday, May 31st)
