In a world where things are so fast paced, there is a place of peace and refuge in a Montessori classroom. The classroom is not chaotic, not loud, not fast, not rushed....rather, our classroom is calm, peaceful, quiet (but, not silent) and respectful. One of the many skills and lessons children learn in a Montessori classroom is self-control and how to wait. There is one of each work in a Montessori classroom-there are many, many works, but only one of each work. So, from the beginning children learn if a work is not available-another child is choosing it-then, they wait. They don't go to the child and tell them they want it, they don't take it away from a child-they wait. When we see children waiting, we see that many times, it's challenging. They are typically not used to waiting. But, wow-what a wonderful life skill! Children also learn that they can do a work as long as they want-a teacher will not ask them to put a work away, a child can not dictate how long they work-they can work as long as they would like, as long as they are being purposeful and engaged. They also learn to wait when a teacher is working with another child and is not immediately available to answer a question or help. We ask children to place their hand on the teacher's shoulder so we know they are there and they wait. Those moments of them holding back from getting what they need right away are moments of growth and moments of understanding that they are not the only one with needs. They learn to respect others needs through this process. One beautiful thing that is born from this is that children are helping one another and not reliant on the teacher. This is another wonderful aspect of the Montessori classroom. Children are also learning to wait during lessons. During lessons teachers show works. When a teacher shows a lesson-it is her work. Our hope is that children are quiet and respectful while the work is shown. We use words like 'this is my work', 'please let me concentrate while I show you this lesson', and 'please do not touch my work'. The children learn this by watching and really love and appreciate when they have a work, it's their work. They can invite someone to do the work with them, but it's not ok for someone to interrupt or touch their work without being asked.
Sometimes in our busy, rushed world, it's hard to teach children to wait. But, know that is completely ok to have to wait. In fact, many wonderful things happen when we are waiting. Our message to children needs to be, we hear you, we care about your needs and what you are asking, but I'm asking you to be patient. Not serving their needs immediately sends a message that what you are currently doing is also important-not more, not less, but also important. It also can give a child an opportunity to problem solve. For example, on line this week a child was standing in front of me explaining that someone took his spot on line. I was greeting children on the line and was unavailable to help work out the conflict. The child said the same thing to me three times and I looked at the child pointing to the child I was greeting indicating that I wasn't available. Right then, a child on line near the conflict whispered to the child next to him to please move down and then asked the child who was talking to me to sit down and he did. I wait, he waited and it worked itself out.
http://www.cmontessori.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment