Today’s Montessori Minute comes to you from Miss Jaclyn, our Elementary 2 teacher (4th-6th grade). It is the second in our series of parent education informational emails. Happy reading!
Freedom:
The real key to the child’s development, and an essential characteristic of a Montessori environment.
There are a set of four freedoms that can be seen within the classroom that are given to to each child and although these look differently depending on the age of child, development cannot take place without them. It is freedom that enables the child to become independent.
These 4 freedoms include:
1. The child must be free to choose any activity that has already been presented.
This is true at each level. The students learn that they may only use materials that they have been shown. Since the materials build in complexity, it is important that the material is able to be used correctly. Even if a child observes a lesson, they may not be ready to use the material yet. If they try to take off a material they have not been shown they will be asked to put that material away and it may be suggested that they work on a material that they have been shown that leads to the higher material.
2. The child is free to choose when he needs to do the activity.
At the Toddler and and early Children’s House levels the child can choose when he or she wants to work on this work. If it is a skill that needs to be practiced, multiple presentations could be given to work on this with a teacher. The skills are repeated through various activities including monthly themed work that may interest the child at different points. Later in Children’s House there becomes a requirement that certain areas are practiced daily in order to build skills.
At the elementary level and above there may be a due date attached to the practice, but the child can decide which day in that time frame to complete the work in order to be ready for the next lesson. This choice allows the child to develop time management skills, but also helps the child learn about prioritizing and helping them realize that sometimes in life there are things we do not enjoy as thoroughly, but we still need to accomplish them.
3. The child is free to repeat the activity as many times as he feels the need to.
We talk to the children about mastering a work, which takes practice. The children are able to use a material until they are satisfied with their own practice. Most materials only have one or two copies which also means that if one child is using them the other children cannot use it until the work is replaced on the shelf. At the elementary level while the children may find the repetition not as beneficial, they are working with materials repeatedly to continue building on their own knowledge.
4. The child is free to ask for a presentation, either a new one or a representation.
Once a child has mastered a work, they are ready to move on to the next lesson. They may also choose to observe a lesson that they may not have been invited to, although they may or may not be able to do the work independently yet. Students will naturally ask for new lessons in areas they are really passionate about, but the guides will also invite them to new lessons in areas that aren’t as strong in hopes of inspiring more work in those challenging areas as well.