“Help me to help myself” was the phrase Maria Montessori used to explain what very young children expressed through their behavior.
That was over 100 years ago when Montessori, a young medical doctor, observed children’s behavior through the objective eyes of a scientist. This phrase probably resonates if you are the parent of a child between one and four years old.
How should parents respond to hearing, “No! MEEEEE!” and other cries for independence? Montessori’s logical answer was to invite the little child to join us in purposeful work, such as cleaning or preparing food. Such activities appeal to young children because they are looking for opportunities that feed their developing hands and minds. As summer approaches and we all hope to exhale and slow down, it is the perfect time to incorporate our little ones in our daily activities at home.
For a child who is just beginning to walk, choose simple ways to involve him in the kitchen, such as encouraging him to bring each used napkin from the table to a small trash can or hamper, or wiping a low, child-sized table with a dampened sponge that’s been cut in half. For a child who can sit well in a tiny child-sized chair, give him a low baking pan with water in it, a potato, and a clean nailbrush. Show him how to scrub the potato with the nailbrush and then leave him to do that while you go back to cooking. When the child “finishes” with that potato, you can change it out for a new one. You can also show him how to wash strawberries in a bowl of water, shell peas or tear lettuce leaves into bite-size pieces.
Our goal is to give the young child an opportunity to be active in a positive, purposeful way. Because he is so little, we must think of a very simple way to do an action and demonstrate it down at the child’s eye level. The important guidelines for success are: 1. Use furniture and equipment that are his size (available in Montessori catalogs and online): 2. Keep it simple: 3. Once you have slowly demonstrated, let
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