Montessori Toy – The Importance of Adult Participation in Child Play
Montessori Toy - The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights states that every child has a right to play, just as he or she has a right to life, education, and health. Theorists such as Lev Vygotsky claim play helps children increase their ability to interact with others, practice taking on different roles, and develop creativity. Above all, through play, children master new skills and learn new information about the world.
Parents and Guilt
Too often, parents misunderstand studies about the benefits of play. They end up feeling guilty that they are not doing enough to guide their children's development. They worry that if they do not supply their children with the right play experiences at the right ages, their children will fall behind other children, fail at school, and ultimately fail at life!
Soon learning becomes a competition. By controlling the way their children play, parents attempt to attain a specific result-quantifiable success. Afraid that skipping any one activity will put their child behind other children, parents sign their child up for everything and fill any free time left with rote flashcard drills.
Activities such as ballet lessons, music lessons, karate lessons, foreign language classes, and participation in sports teams are all wonderful taken one or two at a time. However, if you pile too many on at once, you neglect one of the most important developmental opportunities that you can offer your child-open-ended, child-driven play that is shared at certain times with you.
The Benefits of Play
Children learn essential life skills by copying adult role models. From the moment your child is born, you are their first and best toy and playmate. As they grow older, connecting with them through shared play experiences strengthens the bond between parent and child and keeps lines of communication open even when daily schedules become more hectic and time together harder to arrange.
However, children also need time and space to explore the world and their imaginations by themselves. Adults must never take over playtime and direct a child's every action. As Kenneth R. Ginsburg (associate professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine) and two committees for the American Academy of Pediatrics wrote in a recent clinical report, "When play is controlled by adults, children acquiesce to adult rules and concerns and lose some benefits of play, particularly in developing creativity, leadership and group skills."
Choosing and using appropriate toys can help you understand when to engage actively in play with your child and when to let your child take charge.
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Active Interaction
For many toys, both you and your child must take an active role because the toy requires at least two players. For younger children, you can both take an active role in rolling or throwing balls back and forth. For older children, sports equipment such as bats, mitts, soccer balls, basketballs, and footballs can lead to hours of fun, physical activity, and unobtrusive lessons in taking turns, following the rules, good sportsmanship, and (if you play together against another opponent) cooperation and communication. Multi-player games (such as chess, checkers, Monopoly, or Jenga) can also reinforce these lessons.
Active Modeling and Passive Following
Childhood should be a journey, not a race, with plenty of time allowed along the way for investigations and discoveries. Get for your child what the American Academy of Pediatrics calls "true toys," ones that lead to open-ended play instead of one or two closed-ended outcomes that a child is rushed to master. Such toys include blocks, building sets such as Legos, costumes and props for dress-up and role-playing, dolls and puppets, people and animal figurines, toy playsets, play food, and toy vehicles.
With these sorts of open-ended toys, sit back at first and let your child examine them before you jump in with directions, instructions, or suggestions. Never assume there is only one right way to play with a toy. It is fine if your child serves building blocks for tea in teacups or tucks trucks into doll beds for naps. Providing your child with the physical and mental space needed to play around with the idea that these objects can be anything is exactly what your child needs.
Unless your child's play turns destructive, allow your child to take the lead when playing together with these toys. You can play alongside your child, but do not upstage or correct him or her. For role-playing, let your child assign the roles. Often, children want to be in power and order adults around in ways not allowed in real-life.
Pay attention to your child's interests and abilities and select toys accordingly. If your child does ask you for help, then you can model how to act out a certain scenario or demonstrate a useful strategy for connecting parts of a puzzle or a building set (for example, solving a puzzle by assembling its border first). If you notice your child is growing frustrated with a toy, evaluate whether the task at hand is too difficult. Perhaps the toy will be more appropriate a few months or even a year later.
One of the best things you can do during imaginative play is to help your child develop language skills. Comment on what your child is doing to introduce new vocabulary, saying things such as, "I see you parked the red tractor by the green block." Or you can gently encourage your child to talk about what he or she is pretending, asking questions such as, "What are you dressed as? What do you think a fairy/doctor/astronaut does?"
Solo Play
Some toys are great for a child to play with alone-those with what Montessori theorists call "control of error," where a child can tell by himself or herself if he or she is completing it correctly or incorrectly. It is good for a child to play imaginatively with the pieces of such a toy in ways different from the stated purpose of the toy, but it is also beneficial for him or her to figure out how to stack, order, or assemble it the right way. Toys of this sort include stackers, sorters, and puzzles. Parents can offer help if requested, but otherwise allow your child to master the toy alone and in his or her own time.
Many arts and crafts activities such as drawing, painting, beading, and clay play are also best pursued almost entirely alone by a child. As Susan Striker, author of Young at Art and the Anti-Coloring Book series, says, when children see an adult draw or create something, often they focus on copying that over and over to please the adult instead of developing their own, individual creativity.
Striker champions letting children make their own discoveries about each medium, regardless of the mess. That said, tidier parents can safely allow themselves to at least explain to a child how to use the materials, and then they can step back and let the child create whatever he or she wishes. An adult should never step in and correct a child when a child is creating art. It does not matter if lines are not drawn straight or if a clay person is missing feet. The process of creating, not the final product, is the important part at this stage.
What You Can Do
As a parent, you can help children develop in so many ways. Play expert B. Caldwell notes that parents can support play by providing "time, space, materials, or social partners [such as siblings]." Just always keep in mind that, as Ginsburg says, the best way to ensure that your child develops into a wonderful adult is to "[share] pleasurable time together."
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Comments on Montessori Toy – The Importance of Adult Participation in Child Play
3:58 am
You can use everyday objects for montessori activities, 'Practical life' is an area of the curriculum I have seen this in practice, but there are a few curriculum areas you can choose from.
For Practical life make little sets of objects in bowls and baskets and set them on trays (on a low shelf the children can access if possible). Let each child pick a tray.
Sifting flour with a sieve, sorting objects, polishing objects, pouring liquids from one container into another, threading wooden beads are some ideas i can think of.
This is a site I came across with pictures so you can get the idea-
http://lapazfarm.homeschooljournal.net/some-montessori-activities/
Have a google and I'm sure you will find more activities and curriculum areas that can be done with every day items.
EDIT- I just came across this site, it has a huge list of activities for Practical Life and pics too!
http://homepage.mac.com/montessoriworld/mwei/praclife/pltoc.html
3:58 am
I'm a Montessori teacher. We don't refer to them as toys – the children call them material or work. They are made out of wood because they are more pleasing to the eye and touch – more natural. We want the children to want to use them. It's part of the prepared environment.
8:02 am
from immediate and close family, id say its more than okay to say, "we'd prefer that if you are going to buy Baby a gift, it be xyz"
and if anyone asks, its fine to say, you know, we'd like a set of blocks, or whatever gifts you want.
i wouldnt advertise it, bc as you said, it can be a little awkward/rude. but if they ask, tell!
1:55 pm
I have been a Montessori teacher for over 12 years. In a Montessori classroom a child can use something as long as they want to. When they put it away, another child can use it. In allowing a child to use a material as long as they wish, we are preparing children for learning and lifelong success by encouraging concentration, as well as independence, coordination, self-control, sense of order, initiative, grace, courtesy, compassion, patience, peace, negotiation and self esteem. We don't force sharing. Forcing a child to share will only cause anger and resentment on the child’s part and hinder the goals of the Montessori philosophy. We will empathize with a child who wants something and encourage sharing to come from the heart. This is true to real life. What if you were forced to share your new car with your neighbor? How would you feel? It is essentially the same thing when it comes to a child sharing their prized possessions.
If the toy gets taken away and given to the child who wants it, the child who wanted the toy will not learn to problem solve. It is best for children to work out a problem for themselves, first with a little guidance. Say for example two children are fighting over a toy, say "It looks like you both want to use that (state the problem). Only one toy but two people that want to use it." The children will often say things like "I had it first! I want it!" Then empathize. "I can't tell that you really want that. It's very (upsetting, frustrating, making you angry) that Emma won't give it to you." Talk to the children in ways so that they can see the other person’s point of view. Then let them vent a bit then say "What can we do about this?" Sometimes they will problem solve on their own, other times they need some help. You can then say things like "I have an idea! When Kate it finished with she can give it to you”, or, “how about Kate uses it for 3 minutes and then you can use it?" This approach works very well. Always state the problem, empathize (A little empathy can go a long way. You are just empathizing, not joining into the problem.), validate, and help the child identify their problem, restate their ideas to fix the problem, help them to carry out the solution. Spend less and less time each time. After the children figure out that you won't solve the problem for them, they will get much better at solving their own problems. It takes some practice and active listening, but it works!
Guiding Young Children by Eleanor Reynolds is a great book to help deal with these types of problems. It offers practical problem solving techniques that exclude the use of punishment, blame, or guilt. It also presents techniques for developing listening skills, negotiation, conflict resolution, and setting limits. Hope this helps!
EDIT:
Please ignore the person who connected the Montessori philosophy to future drug use. This was just a coincidence and has NOTHING to do with being a student of Montessori. Check out these famous non-drug addicted students of Montessori. http://www.cmsaa.org/famous.html
9:16 pm
I would really keep her where she is now, be able to spend the extra time with her while you can. At this age, they learn through play, she doens't quite need all those other things, I would give it one more year then switch her, this way you can save a little more money too
9:47 pm
Try looking at the Montessori website – they have all the answers there.
12:13 am
In Divisoria man!
Wear an armor though, you're gonna need it.
9:28 am
Two days ago someone asked a similar question and a lot of people on the board complained that it was too free, with no boundaries and “children have got to learn”.
The sad truth is that the name "Montessori" is not copyrighted and many people sadly capitalize on this by opening schools and call themselves Montessori, but have actually no Montessori concepts, ideals, or materials. To see what I mean, look at the video on the bottom of this page http://www.montessorianswers.com/selecting-a-school.html. To be honest the classroom that the poster described does not sound like a real Montessori Classroom, usually there is an awful lot of materials available for the children to work with.
Now to answer the question. What kind of special skills does a child receive by being in a REAL Montessori school? Well, they learn to think for themselves as opposed to regurgitating answers, they learn to take care of their environment and themselves. They learn to be part of a community and to be an active participant in their education. They learn HOW to learn, as opposed to simply what to learn. Ultimately they learn to be concerned, active, and aware citizens of the world. Another good video for you to watch is titled What Children Receive From a Montessori Education from The Montessori Foundation. it addresses the very question that you asked and can be found at: http://www.montessorianswers.com/videos.html
So what is the difference between Montessori education and other forms of education?
Montessori education is based on the belief that children are individuals with their own strengths, needs, likes and learning styles. To used the latest educational catch phrases, Montessori education is “multi-modality, differentiated instruction.”
To achieve this a Montessori classroom is not filled solely with text books, writing paper and pencils.(or in pre-school shelves of toys). Instead it is filled with many materials that teach a range of levels and concepts all set up so that at a moment's notice a teacher can reach for a material and teach a student or students the concept they need or want to know about. Or students can reach for the same material and use it in the way that they were taught so that they can practice a concept that they are working on.
Obviously, a Montessori classroom will not look like a normal classroom. Rarely, if ever, will you find the whole class sitting with their books out looking at the teacher show them how to do something. Instead you will see children, some in groups, some by themselves, working on different concepts, and the teacher sitting with a small group of children, usually on the floor around a mat.
Lastly, I will leave you with this information…
In the past few years there have been more and more studies published comparing Montessori Education and traditional education. Contrary to what some people state, Montessori children DO NOT have problems in social situations, in fact, ALL studies show just the opposite, Montessori children are ahead of their peers when it comes to social interactions.
The most comprehensive longitude research on Montessori Education in comparison to traditional education was published last year by a psychology professor at the University of Virginia, Dr. Angeline Lillard.. Her recent article was so well researched and documented, that it is the only educational article ever to be published in a scientific magazine.
Her findings and other studies’ report that Montessori students have:
*more interest in learning,
*more self disciplined
* have a greater understanding of truth and fairness
*more creativity, especially in their writing
*are more independence
*a better understanding of concepts from grammar and story structure to mathematical operations, algebra and geometry
*have a deep understanding of and how geography, history, social studies, and science are all related.
For more information check out Angeline Lillard Ph.D's book Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius
12:40 pm
I don't have a lot of infant ideas, since I teach 3-6 year olds.
I would recommend this book:
http://astore.amazon.com/monteblog-20/detail/0805211128
Really, what I would suggest, thinking about Montessori, is your actual environment. Not so much specific activities, but I would look and see whether the environment is set up for the child. When your daughter is old enough to crawl, is everywhere she crawls safe for her?
Right now, language is playing a huge role in development. Not that she'll start talking, but it is important to make sure you talk to her a lot, sing and play games, and she sees positive communication from you.