Assignment 1

Hi Everyone! I originally posted my assignment as a comment on the first page, but I realized that was a boo-boo! Here it is!


Chapter One: The Child's Part in World Reconstruction
In order to create a new future, the natural and spontaneous psychic energy of every new life must be released with active care.

Chapter Two: Education for Life
Education must begin from birth and be a help to life.

Chapter Three: The Periods of Growth
The child's mind, which is completely different than our own, is able to unconsciously absorb knowledge from his life, effortlessly and joyfully.

Chapter Four: The New Path
Survival of the human species is based on a deep love for children who must be studied from the beginning of their creation.

Chapter Five: The Miracle of Creation
The cells of the developing embryo pass through distinct phases from seeming nothingness, to having organs of specialized functions formed around active points. The cells with the most complex tasks must have the most specialization to do the work “nature” has planned.

Chapter Six: Embryology and Behavior
Mental development passes through distinct phases from seeming nothingness to the formation of psychic organs around points of sensitivity.

Chapter Seven: The Spiritual Embryo
The newborn baby enters into a second embryonic phase during which her mental development is guided by awakenings that are similar to an animal's behavior instincts.

Chapter Eight: The Child's Conquest of Independence
The child, whose very nature is to achieve independence, can only achieve this state through constant, free activity.

Chapter Nine: The First Days of life
The child's mental life is created at birth, a time during which the mother-child bond must be protected and special attention paid to the environment.

Chapter Ten: Some Thoughts on Language
All children develop language spontaneously through stages as a result of unconscious work that manifests in bursts of growth followed by slower development.

Chapter Eleven: How Language Calls to The Child
A special mechanism exists for acquiring speech which helps the child to focus in on words and not other sounds in his environment. He should be offered many opportunities to hear clearly spoken words and not be kept in isolation.

Chapter 12: The Effect of Obstacles on Development
Children, being very sensitive to trauma, should be protected from violence of any kind, especially during the first two years of life which tend to influence the rest of his years.

Chapter 13: The Importance of Movement in General Development
Mental and spiritual growth is developed through purposeful physical actions guided by the child's mental activity. All living things move purposefully, unable to keep still.

Chapter 14: Intelligence and the Hand
The hand serves as a companion to the mind and the child must be given things over which he can exercise an intelligent activity on his way toward independence.

Quotes and Anecdotes

The role of the teacher
“To rule is the most difficult task of all, and requires a higher specialization than any. So there is no question of election, but of being trained and suited to the work. Whoever directs others must have transformed himself. No one can ever be a leader, or a guide, who has not been prepared for that work” (p. 45).

In my personal experience as a teacher and also as a mother of a child in a non-Montessori setting, I find the above quote to be absolutely true. In the last four years, the biggest change in my classroom and in my teaching has been an intense, internal preparation. I have questioned my old methods and assumptions about learning and the role of the teacher in a classroom and as a result I have been able to trust and to allow the children to lead their own learning. Teachers I have encountered in my son's school seem to be incredibly focused on “results” and “methods” and classroom management, completely ignoring their own importance as an influencer of children. My son and daughter have incredibly different views of learning already. My son abhors it and is only motivated by the constant stream of extrinsic rewards offered him at school. My daughter looks forward to trying new things and is excited to go to our school.


“We have to help the child to act, will, and think for himself. This is the art of serving the spirit, an art which can be practiced to perfection only when working among children” (p. 281).

On Thursday, I was visited by an inspector for the CACFP program which reimburses me for the food that I serve the children each day. The inspector periodically visits and watches snack or lunchtime, makes sure I am serving balanced and nutritious foods, and looks to see that my paperwork is up to date. On this visit, which was around 10 am, no children happened to be eating snack. The inspector said that since I stated snack time to be around 10 am, all children must be eating at that time and they have a 15 minute window to complete their snack! I spent a great deal of time explaining our snack routine (two kids at a time, by invitation, when they are hungry). I tried to explain that I am helping the children to recognize when they are feeling hungry, not to merely eat when I decide to feed them – that i am helping them to think for themselves. Needless to say, she was unconvinced and we are trying to work out a solution.

Normalization
“The deviated child has no love for his environment because he feels it to contain too many difficulties. For him it is too harsh and resistant.......The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experiences” (p. 92).

I am struggling to reach three children in my classroom right now. One chooses no work (this is her second year), one chooses work occasionally, such as blocks or other transitional works (this is her fourth year), and one is constantly busy with her own work (usually dough or collage work) and wants nothing else (this is her third year). All three often complain of being “tired” and must take several rests despite not ever finding a state of deep concentration or contentment. We have a beautiful classroom filled with interesting works that seem to call to the other children. I am having trouble understanding what role I should take with these children since the environment itself is not calling to them.