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Maria Montessori believed that children are calved with tremendous imaginable that tin beryllium developed and fulfilled exclusively done their ain minds and will.
It doesn’t mean parents person nary relation successful this-quite the opposite. The quality of children to make their imaginable depends chiefly connected their caregivers and the situation successful which they grow.
According to Maria Montessori, determination are 3 captious aspects forming a child:
- a child himself
- an adult (parents, teachers), and
- a prepared environment.
All of them are intimately connected and tin ne'er beryllium afloat separated.
In this guide, we’ll instrumentality a person look astatine the 3rd aspect—a prepared environment—and immoderate applicable tips connected however to make it astatine your home.
What is simply a prepared environment?
In Montessori education, a prepared situation is an situation tailored to a child’s needs. It meets his level of quality and abilities and satisfies his request for independency and meaningful self-directed work—play.
Dr. Montessori stressed the value of following the child. It means observing and knowing the kid and respecting the child’s interests and developmental level.
A prepared situation should be:
- safe and acceptable to beryllium explored
- ordered and beautiful
- peaceful, harmonious, and inspiring
In bid to afloat comprehend what precisely a prepared situation should look like, we person to recognize archetypal what the “absorbent mind” means.
Absorbent mind
The conception of the absorbent caput was introduced by doc Montessori. She believed that each kid is calved with a caput that absorbs everything caught by the child’s senses.
Like a sponge, unconsciously and effortlessly.
The play of absorbent caput is astir ascendant till the age of 3 but ends afloat lone astatine astir the property of 6. That is wherefore aboriginal puerility improvement is truthful important and wherefore we should wage adjacent attraction to the situation of a child.
As Montessori writes successful her London Lectures: “With the absorbent mind, a kid tin execute thing helium wants, if the situation is favorable.”
How to make a prepared situation astatine home
A prepared situation is not lone astir mounting up child-friendly furniture and displaying Montessori toys and materials.
By prepared environment, we besides mean information successful applicable beingness activities, state from distractions, aesthetics, and astir importantly—relationships surrounding the child.
Let’s instrumentality a look astatine immoderate basal principles you tin travel astatine home:
1. Encourage independency and information successful applicable life
From its precise beginning, the acquisition of a kid should pb to his independence—of course, portion respecting the child’s property and capabilities.
Children, fixed the accidental and the right-sized tools, are susceptible of caring for themselves and their environment.
That is wherefore applicable beingness activities are an indispensable portion of Montessori education. Not lone bash they boost independency and self-confidence, they thatch children however to flooded obstacles and enactment connected their self-development.
Practical tips
- Put the toys connected a debased support truthful that the kid tin scope them astatine immoderate time. Consider utilizing a level bed. It promotes state of movement.
- Try utilizing a learning tower successful the room truthful that the kid tin assistance you with cooking.
- Create a self-care area, wherever the kid tin lavation himself, brushwood his teeth, comb his hair, etc.
- Put the child’s apparel successful an easy-to-reach spot (e.g. a tiny wardrobe) wherever the kid tin take his clothes.
- Create a cleaning area with a tiny broom, portion of cloth, and h2o truthful that the kid tin tidy up aft himself
- Create a snack area truthful that the kid tin instrumentality a snack and capable his solid with h2o without asking you (see much tips successful our usher to Montessori kitchen)
2. Provide applicable toys and materials
The kid knows champion what helium needs to learn—and when.
The Montessori method puts accent connected following the child and encourages parents to observe their kid intimately and respect his needs and interests.
It tin beryllium adjuvant for parents to beryllium alert of the alleged delicate periods erstwhile children are focused connected definite types of activities.
This tin assistance america to hole the situation decently and connection the needed materials. It is important to enactment that children should take the materials by themselves.
Practical tips
- Learn astir the sensitive periods and effort to observe your child’s interests
- Based connected the delicate periods, effort to connection materials from assorted areas:
- Sensory area – materials that assistance to recognize assorted qualities of objects astir them (e.g. a pinkish tower, knobbed cylinders)
- Movement (e.g. a Pikler triangle, stepping stones)
- Mathematics – materials that promote hands-on learning of basal mathematical principles (e.g. numerical rods, golden beads material)
- Language – materials encouraging vocabulary, nomenclature, writing, and speechmaking skills (e.g. sandpaper letters, nomenclature cards, movable alphabet, assorted Montessori-friendly books)
- Music (e.g. musical instruments set)
3. Provide a distraction-free environment
Our situation has a immense interaction connected our intelligence and carnal health. Maria Montessori was a large proponent of creating a distraction-free situation arsenic it helps children to ore connected their activities.
As she said: “The kid who concentrates is immensely happy.”
We tin spot this successful Montessori classrooms. They are precise neat and perfectly organized. Everything is beauteous and has its ain place, arsenic each children person a earthy consciousness of bid helping them orient themselves successful the world.
Practical tips
- Assign a spot for each toy. Children emotion bid and predictability.
- De-clutter your child’s room by pursuing the “less is more” principle—whether it’s limiting the fig of decorations, toys, oregon pieces of furniture.
- If getting escaped of toys is excessively hard for you, effort toy rotation. Always show lone a constricted fig of toys astatine a clip and store the remainder away.
- Limit the clip spent successful beforehand of the screens.
- Spend more clip successful nature (we emotion the “1000 Hours Outside” project)
4. Pay attraction to quality and aesthetics
Beauty has a precise important spot successful Montessori education. Maria Montessori believed that “there is simply a mathematical narration betwixt the quality of his surroundings and the enactment of the child”.
Our purpose should beryllium to make an situation that is not lone distraction-free but besides aesthetically pleasing. This way, we tin animate a child’s consciousness of quality and style.
Practical tips
- Use natural materials (like wood, cotton, and linen) arsenic overmuch arsenic possible
Display pieces of art (e.g. simple prints and illustrations) - Get immoderate unrecorded house plants (and fto the kid enactment successful taking attraction of them)
- Incorporate different senses: perceive to classical euphony (you tin commencement with this YouTube playlist), find clip to cook a delicious barroom together, put a bouquet successful a vase, etc.
Conclusion
Maria Montessori noted that children that person the accidental to turn successful a prepared situation are contented and calm. Their caput is nourished and they ore much easily.
It doesn’t mean you person to ain each Montessori materials that tin beryllium recovered successful Montessori classrooms. Work with what you person and don’t hide that the astir important facet of a child’s situation are the relationships with those astir your child.
We anticipation these tips volition assistance you incorporated immoderate of the principles of a Montessori prepared situation successful your home.
English (US) ·