Montessori Method

I've long been interested in the Montessori Method (founded by Catholic Dr. Maria Montessori and approved of by several popes who met with her and studied her educational method), but haven't taken the time to research it much as there were always more immediate subjects to research (e.g., how do I get the baby to stay asleep?!). After fits and starts, I am finally close to finishing a basic book on the Montessori Method (MM) for ages birth to three years. I could write at great length about the ideas, but I'll make a quick summary: MM seems to focus on the child developing independence by the parent being aware of the natural stages through which a child grows and allowing the child to learn independence at those time. So when the child starts showing great interest in dressing himself around age 15 months, MM would advocate giving him simple clothing and letting him work on every step of dressing that he can manage. And when the child starts showing great interest in potty training around 18 months, MM would advocate encouraging full potty training at that age. MM is not "pushing" independence for the sake of the parent ridding herself of servile labor--as, in fact, MM requires intensive parenting work--but the purpose is to allow the God-given dignity of the child and not treat the child like a pet or incapable human being who simply can't do anything for himself.

Another area of personal care is eating and MM advocates the child using miniature but "real" versions of everything: miniature chair, table, glass, bowl, metal utensils, and so forth. If a child is given plastic everything (eating objects, toys, etc.), he does not learn about the natures of different materials: wood, glass, china, pottery, porcelain. Then when he does grab something breakable, we parents run after him shrieking to put it down. MM believes that toddlers are perfectly capable of learning to be delicate and careful, but they must be given opportunities to learn real consequences within safe boundaries. (For those of you who have read The Continuum Concept, there are many overlaps. although the authors come from vastly different perspectives.) MM suggests starting off a baby (6+ months) with her own glass cup of water, the best being a one-ounce votive candle holder, and claims that a child of 8-9 months can hold her own tiny glass and manage to drink out of it. MM advocates using breakable materials so that the child actually learns that certain materials break and then learns to be delicate with them. The "safety net" is that the child would always be closely supervised by a diligent parent who would be right there (not around the corner or in another room) to help clean up if the child broke glass.

This week I bought a few eating materials to try some MM method with John, already 2-1/2 years old, and with Mary soon enough. For John I bought several small ceramic bowls, five-ounce juice glasses, and a tiny glass pitcher with which to refill his water glass. I put only one to two ounces of water in his glass and the same in the water pitcher.

On his very first try, John poured the water from his pitcher without spilling a drop. And he's been drinking out of an open cup for about a week (plastic first, then glass since yesterday after I bought it) and has had big spills only twice. Interestingly, the big spills caused John to become hysterical with tears almost in a fearful way. Is that what happens when a child doesn't have the opportunity to spill until the ripe old age of two-and-a-half? Or is that just John's personality?

I also bought tiny, thick votive candle holders to offer Mary as a drinking glass sometime in the next couple of months. It will be an interesting experiment! I look forward to reading and learning more about the Montessori Method.