Navigating Freedom within Limits

During the first days of school, a Montessori classroom might seem to its inhabitants as though everything is all about rules, rules, rules. There is so much to learn! Group lessons and class meetings can seem disproportionately long and laborious. Autonomy and free choice are limited as the children become oriented to their classroom community. We spend what can feel like an eternity (even to the adults) learning the structure of our systems, practicing grace and courtesy, and setting expectations. This careful preparation is intentional and purposeful on the part of the teacher. I like to think of this intentional time spent at the beginning of the year (and sometimes revisited after a long holiday break) as a long term investment. My years of teaching experience have taught me it's a long-game, but one that pays off "in spades" over time.

We often hear in Montessori circles the phrase, "Knowledge must proceed choice". The simplest application of this core Montessori concept is that children cannot choose something from the shelf that they have no knowledge of or experience with.

"To let the child do as he likes when he has not yet developed any powers of control is to betray the idea of freedom." ~ Maria Montessori

Once the stage has been set, the children experience joy and excitement as they begin to practice exercising their autonomy within the carefully constructed structure of the classroom. Children rising from Primary or coming from another Montessori school quickly discover there are many items on the shelves with which they already have experience. For children new to Montessori, the knowledge necessary for choice is gained through a combination of observation, formal and direct instruction from the teacher, or less formal lessons from experienced peers or another adult. "Free choice" activities (think art or simple puzzles and books) help to fill in the gaps while the children gather experience. Very quickly, often surprisingly so, the class seems to be humming along as if summer break did not exist. And then...

Just as everyone seems settled in... things start to feel... unraveled. Conflicts arise. Mistakes (gasp) happen. Children get comfortable. They might "forget" or perhaps outright defy, (another gasp), those guidelines we just so meticulously discussed and agreed upon. What is happening?! Is something amiss? Have we failed somehow in our application of the method? In our careful preparation of the environment? Parents might start to hear complaints. Last week's buddy becomes this week's thorn in the side. Feelings get hurt. Friends aren't listening. Teachers enforce boundaries (yet another gasp). Children start to ask questions like....

"What do you MEAN, I have to

• practice that lesson Ms. Heidi gave me last week?!

• write down these math problems?!

• do my spelling EVERY DAY?!

• let a teacher see my work or record it somehow before I put it away?!

• choose work from areas other than art?!

• finish work I started but lost interest in?!

• clean up after myself and keep track of my things?!

• try to solve my problem on my own or with friends before getting adult help?!

• do "x" before I can do "y"?!

• complete my work with care and understanding, not just to "tick the box", "do 7 works", or "copy more pages than anyone else"?!

• work with or sit next to a different partner?!

Seriously???" (insert dramatic sigh or eye roll here)

Ah, yes. Alas, the back-to-school "honeymoon" is over. Luckily, this, too, is completely normal. Those familiar works from primary or last year that your child is repeating? Fear not. They are perfecting. They are internalizing. More is being expected as understanding and abilities increase. This week was the first week that all children had required spelling work. Soon we will have our first round of spelling quizzes. That chain your child just did for the seven thousandth time? They just learned that it's teaching multiplication, and they need to write some facts down and check that they are correct with the appropriate control chart.

Whew. Change is hard. Growth is not a success-only journey. This week, we intentionally called out and celebrated mistakes. Mistakes are how we learn. Remember that caterpillar from last week? Inside... it's a gooey, unrecognizable mess. But that's part of the process. In fact, without the gooey mess, there will be no beautiful butterfly.

During Community Peace Meeting last week, several students bravely spoke up and revealed that they weren't feeling included. We had much discussion that day and throughout the week about going beyond "not excluding" to intentionally including. I challenged the children to look for ways to help others and include someone new. This week, I observed multiple occasions when a child went out of their way to help someone new or invite someone different into a group, both at play and at work. In this week's Friday meeting, the class solved a group problem with their outdoor game of tag using child-led discussion of the problem, naming and recording solutions, and then holding a vote. During Friday's dismissal compliments, several children complimented someone else for helping ANOTHER CHILD, rather than for having helped them, as is their usual custom. I'm not ashamed to admit, I got a little choked up.

Next week, they are off on their first overnight together at Camp Rockmont. Their bonds as a group will continue to solidify. Their confidence and independence will continue to grow. I'm so grateful to be part of and witness to this process, gooey mess and all.

Happy International Peace Day!

Here are some pictures of the work going on this week in our room. Enjoy!

A third grader using the dictionary and grammar symbols for her homophones spelling work

Working on the concept that vowel sounds vary. Here we are rehearsing the short to long vowel sound change.

Dynamic addition with the stamp game

Counting the 4 chain. This student was surprised to discover he was working on multiplication, which is simply repeated addition.

Division board

More math!

Dot game

Using the moveable alphabet for writing/spelling

Golden beads for word problems

Subtraction stamp game. Look closely and you will see he has the stamp game material box oriented incorrectly, so that the hierarchies are reversed. WOOOO HOOOOO!!! We love mistakes! This is how we learn!

Money work

Compound words. This child is using a checker in order to see if she did the work correctly. Many Montessori works include either a built in control of error, or the teacher provides an external source other than themselves for the child to independently correct their work. We want the children to understand the answers are theirs to seek, instead of expecting a teacher to tell them if they are right or wrong. I love the autonomy this helps to create.

Dot game addition

Working together to understand a spelling concept

Exchange game

Diligent Cursive Practice

Division board

Addition practice with the strip board

Helping students with their spelling words

Helping a student with flag research. We were locating the country of South Korea on the continent map of Asia.

Trinomial Cube

Peer teaching of the trinomial cube

This student had prior experience with this material in another school setting

Testing the keystone in the Roman Arch

On Friday, we introduced the Peace Flower. This is a tool to help us understand Peace Education. The four petals of the Peace Flower are Self Awareness, Community Awareness, Cultural Awareness, and Environmental Awareness. In this lesson, we simply introduced the flower and defined each of the concepts. As we move forward, we will have lessons that focus specifically on each of these components of Peace Education.

As a group, we also revisited the Montessori tradition of "practicing silence" this week. Here is a student who chose to spend a few moments in silent contemplation as a part of her day. What a wonderful example of practicing peace within.