The Montessori school environment has a guideline never to interup a child if they are busy with an activity or if they are deep in concentation.
Maria Montessori observed that in order to build up a child’s concentration span they need to be allowed to exercise it without interruption.
If we are constantly interrupting the child while they are concentrating, we are standing in the way of allowing that concentration to develop and increase.
What is just as important is allowing the child to repeat an activity as many times as they want to as so long as they are not harming themselves, their peers or their environment.
In a Montessori setting the direction is to present an activity to the child by demonstarting how it is done in a slow and quiet manner. Then they are invited to have a turn.
If the child would like to repeat that activity 100 times we should allow them to as there is so much other development taking place that we cannot see.
Practical Life Skills
Every Montessori activity has many indirect and direct aims. In this particular activity shown above, the aim is for the child to move the cotton balls from the left bowl into the right bowl using tongs.
This activity helps with the following:
- Working from left to right in preperation for reading and writing.
- Practicing the three finger pincer grip which will prepare the child to hold the pencil correctly.
- Strengthening the hand and finger muscles to help hand writing and pencil grip.
- Building up their concentration span as they work without interruption.
- Developing coordination and movement between the hand and brain.
This activity could also help your child to become more independent as they could serve their own food with tongs at the dinner table.
We will never be able to know how many important skills a child will take out of one simple activity but it is our job to allow them the uninterrupted time to learn.
For an authentic Montessori approach to child development, the Ladybird Nursery in Abu Dhabi is THE place to send your children. They believe that children are born to learn and can be independent from an early age given the right opportunities and choices and work in partnership with parents to ensure a consistent approach to teaching.
Ladybird Nursery is one of the oldest nurseries in Abu Dhabi. It is located in the heart of the city and has provided a homely and welcoming learning environment for many children over the years.
