Spin-off of the 'real' thread...

[quaz]

"If the child is pretending that the material is a gnome or whatever, to me that shows that the child is bored, and I need to help him find something that will truly interest him."


Quoting from the other thread... would this really indicate 'boredom'??

I didn't want to usurp the other thread, but my oldest just turned 4, and I've been considering putting her in Montessori. The problem is, I see the above ALL the time with her. When she was 3, she'd break her bread into pieces at meals to make a family. She has turned sprinkle shakers into queen/kings. If she draws letters, she immediately turns them into people. Manipulatives, she does activities, but within the framework of an imaginative story she comes up with.


At home, I have many 'hands on' materials. Just taking out unifix blocks or cuisenairre rods and doing something with them....she immediately turns it into a story... the rods become people or students the unifix blocks become food. She does activities and enjoys them, but ALWAYS within the frame work of a story. (if I wanted her to find 8 blocks... well the little girl went to the store and had to get 8 bananas or if she was combining cuisenaire rods to make them '10', the little kids would be standing on their mommy's head, until everyone was the same height).

So... while she really enjoys manipulatives and hands on things, she honestly turns EVERYTHING into a story or imaginative narration. Would this be a problem in a Montessori classroom??

Tammy

[Cassiopeia]

Huh. I don't know. I guess it would depend on the teacher??? Have you looked at Waldorf? It would definitely work for them!

[Cassiopeia]

Just wanted to add that I didn't mean to be dismissive of Montessori in this, it's just that the interest in gnomes instantly made me think of Waldorf.

[RomanGoddess]

Well, I am not a Montessori teacher, just a parent who does a lot of Montessori and has read up on it. My view is that all of what you describe is fine as long as it comes from your daughter (i.e., it is not YOU who are telling her that the pieces of bread are family members, etc.) and I would not stop her. I think that what counts is that YOU are showing her a lot of the real world. Try to show her real bears rather than Winnie the Pooh, a real mouse rather than Mickey, a book that explains amazing things about the real world. Let her use her imagination in her own way. The imposition of adult fantasy actually limits creativity (from both a Waldorf AND Montessori perspective, I would add).

There are situations in which I tell my daughter not to use her things in a certain way but this would be in what I would call "abusive" type situations. Example: my daughter has wooden hollow cubes of various sizes that she can stack, one on top of the other, into a tower. When she was younger, she periodically would, instead of stacking, kick the cubes around on the floor as if they were balls. I told her that the cubes were not meant for that and took them away when she did that. Why? First of all because the cubes are breakable, secondly because I think it shows a lack of respect for the work that went into making something like that when they are used in that way and thirdly because I think in that situation kicking the cubes was preventing her from learning how to use them in their intended way.

Another example: we had a playmate over who, instead of using (large) beads to string onto a shoestring, would take a few beads at a time and throw them on the floor. In that situation, I tood the beads away and directed him to something else. Beads get lost when they are thrown around like that and I don't think teaching children that it is okay to throw things around like that is a good thing. (Anyway, he was clearly to young for the material).

But I would not stop your daughter from breaking up her bread and making a family out of it. I would, however, remove the bread if she just continued to play with the food without actually EATING it. In our house, food is meant to be eaten, not played with.

[LeAnnie]

My dd is very imaginative/creative and does a lot of similar things as you (the pp) described, coordinating pretend with reality.

She just started Montessori at 4 almost 5 yrs. I was worried that the emphasis on reality/use of the materials would be negative, but I see no evidence of that. I do notice that when she gets home she dives into creative solitude, inventing various imaginative stories with her dolls, kitchen, desk, etc, much more so than before (she was not in school until now). But I think she likes the Montessori environment-what's not to like, really? It's not as if a child doesn't have outlets for the imagination at home, or perhaps even in the classroom.

[karlin]

My DS started Montessori preschool this week, and I was able to observe him for a little while. He kept showing the teacher how some of his materials were "rocket ships". She showed interest in his imagination and did nothing to coerce him into using the materials in the way they were intended. About two minutes later, he finished his work in the intended way. I did ask her about this situation before DS started, and she said they don't take materials away unless the child is disrespecting them.