Imagination and Montessori

[hedgewitch]

I get the impression this is asked a lot (so please redirect me if needs be) but...what role does fantasy and imaginary play have in Montessori? I went to a school today, to be honest not expecting to like it. I have to admit I think I was converted, it was pretty amazing. However, I didn't see evidence of imaginary play, dressing up, painting etc all the stuff that is 'normal' kids stuff for me. My ds is so imaginative and currently in a play based daycare. I hate the idea of him losing the fantasy life or not being encouraged to express the 'fun' aspect of his personality.

Is it all just too much 'work'? I REALLY would love to hear about your experiences and thoughts. I don't know anyone IRL who 'does' Montessori but need feedback on this issue.

Thanks so much!

[Flor]

You are right, there are a lot of posts about this, but from my own experience my child does "work" all day, but he has a great time. At home he does play fanasty, but he also loves to join me in cooking, cleaning, sewing, painting, building, hammering, weeding, planting, reading, etc. (especially if a special child-sized real hammer, hoe, broom or spatula is part of it). Those things will be a part of his Montessori day. Our school also has a drama program, so there is a lot of acting, dancing and singing. I don't think any of us discourage our kids from playing in a fantasy way at home, but it isn't what they do at school, except for on the playground. I really love the work he does at school. I like all the child sized real tools and that he knows how to "operate" the classroom, meaning he doesn't have to wait for "painting time" or "music time" he can control his day and follow his interests. On another post about this topic someone pointed out that when she feels like being creative she picks up her knitting needles and makes something, she doesn't pick up her knitting needles and pretend they are an airplane, meaning there is more to creativity that only "pretending." I feel like ds gets a lot of skills that helping him to be creative (practice writing, knitting, sewing, building, painting, etc.). He also does pretend my knitting needles are airplanes, but there is plenty of time for that at home. I'm glad he gets to do both.

[WeasleyMum]

I can't answer as a parent, but I was a Montessori student from ages 4-6. I remember that there was a drawing table that my sister and I used all the time, with crayons, construction paper, etc-- we were constantly drawing and crafting stuff. There were a lot of materials for playing 'house', 'store', 'restaurant', and so on, (brooms, play food, wooden cash register, etc) that were only limited by imagination. We also got a lot of outdoors time when we could do whatever we wanted, or at least it seemed that way at the time. I don't remember any dress-up stuff, but that could be faulty memory at work, it's hard to say. I was never into dress-up, so maybe it was there and I just chose not to use it.

I don't recall many limits on imaginative play, and my sister and I grew up very "creative", what with being TV-deprived and all.

ETA: What I remember liking best about Montessori-- it could be just the one I attended, I don't know-- is that I was allowed to do what I felt like. If I wanted to read that day, I could go to the reading corner; if I wanted to draw, I could do that. It's like they really let the kids explore what they wanted to explore.

[teagansmama]

I notice A LOT of imagination outside during play - kids are always role playing, etc. They don't have dress up and such but honestly for me, I like it that way. Teagan can do that when she's at home.

During school time, she imagines she is a shoe maker when polishing shoes, a maid when she is sweeping up, a mother when she is helping someone else.

[BCFD]

I agree with everything above! If I were to pick two "toys" that get the most play in my home, it's dress up clothes and the Schleich animals. I honestly could probably take every other toy to the Goodwill and they'd never notice they were missing (well, ok, they do like puzzles, their dollhouse, and Littlest Pet Shop, too ). But I don't want my kids going to school to play with a dollhouse and play dress up and play with Mr. Potato Head or Polly Pockets. They can do all of that stuff at home. All of their animals have conversations and there is tons of fantasy play with them, the dress up clothes, and their dollhouse.

The schedule for my DD's Montessori class is this:

Arrive and free play (for the extended care children)
Breakfast (she can arrive to eat breakfast at 8:30 or 8:45)
Circle time (starts at 9)
Job time/Art
Outside play or inside free play if raining
Lunch (DD gets picked up at noon and lunch is served at 11:30)

The rest of the day is for full day students or extended day children with parents that work FT.

Circle time is a time for songs, games, puppets, talking and stories. Job time is, well, job time with the Montessori manipulatives. If you walk in during job time you will see every child busy doing his own job, in a quiet room, sometimes working together. In my DD's school it is a VERY VERY quiet environment and the children are all happily working.

Outside play is a mix of free play and teacher directed games and activities. It is also a time to learn about nature by looking at spider webs, strange bugs, dig in the garden, and collect flowers.

I really like the curriculum of Montessori and don't feel that my children will be deprived of fantasy/imaginative play at all.

[Lousli]

This is a response I posted on a similar thread. I'm currently in my training program to become an AMI teacher.

I see this presented frequently as a downside to Montessori. I agree that pretend play does not have a role in the Montessori primary classroom (3-6 year olds). But I don't believe that it means that creativity is not encouraged. I think a lot of adults have a set idea about what imagination or creativity means (pretending something that isn't there, making something that is one thing into another) and I don't think it always has to be that. I am struggling to explain, I guess. But if I want to be creative, I pick up my knitting or I spin some yarn. I don't pick up my power drill and pretend it is a flying saucer, KWIM?

I don't fell that there is anything wrong with saying that there are certain items that are tools, and we use them for specific reasons. The Montessori materials are designed to teach certain concepts, and they lose their effectiveness in teaching that idea if they are used in a different way. But if a child wants to build with building blocks rather than understand the differences in dimension taught by the pink tower, then I, as a parent, would provide blocks at home. The same with dress up clothes or a play kitchen (my children have all of these at home).

Although I am training as a Montessori teacher, I feel that it is easier (and much more fun!) for me as a parent to provide play and dress up and pretending. When my kids go to school they learn to explore with their senses, do multiplication, find out about the sounds that the letters of the alphabet make, etc. I don't mind doing some of that at home with them, but i'd rather just spend time with them enjoying life (Montessori schools also typically don't give homework, even at the elementary level).

As far as the academics being "pushed" on them, or children taking their work seriously, children don't have the same preconceived notion of work that adults do. We automatically think play = fun and work = boring and depressing. If i ask my kids what work they did at school, they are likely to say something like, "I did the checkerboard today and it was really awesome!" or my little one will say, "I did the color tablets. It was fun!"

I feel that if they are naturally interested in something, such as letter sounds, and the teacher presents it to them, that doesn't mean it is being pushed on them. After something is presented to them, they have the option to choose or not to choose that work in the future. If they are choosing to learn division, or choosing to learn letter sounds or cursive writing, it isn't because someone is forcing it down their throat. It is because of all the lessons they have been presented, that is what they find interesting at the moment.

And we do present lessons in handwork, art (painting, drawing, batik, papermaking, embroidery, sculpture, bookbinding, etc.) We also present music lessons and students are free to play the tone bars or sing in class. There are botany lessons and children are often free to go outside and garden, or to collect samples of types of plants to investigate. We present science concepts and children can create models of the sun and earth and rivers, mix different substances to see how they react, do experiments to learn about concepts of gravity, magnetism, and the states of matter. Children can make giant timelines of historical events or the lives of people, and can usually research and illustrate/make posters and books about/write plays about, nearly any concept they find fascinating.

Even with all of these things (and more) available as choices in the classroom, children still often make the choice to do math, geometry, and language skills as well. If you think about it, throughout human history, people have always been interested in communicating with one another through language, written and spoken. People have always been interested in mathematical and geometrical concepts. No one has to pressure children to find these things interesting if the sense of wonder is left to develop naturally and people don't tell children that these things are supposed to be boring or hard work.

I understand that children like to pretend, and dress up, and play. I don't really understand where we get the idea that this is all they want to do, that they don't want to participate in and learn about real life things. Just because I had a difficult time learning algebra in high school doesn't mean that when I teach it I plan to give the impression that it is hard and no fun. For some kids, it might be their favorite lesson! Especially if I introduce it with the idea of, "Look at this really neat thing that people learned you could do with numbers. Can you imagine who the first person was that ever though of this?"
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[Lillianna]

I like all the previous replies. I just have a couple thoughts to add.

IMO, Montessori promotes more imagination than ordinary programs that have a cookie-cutter approach to art and music. For example, all the children are making the same craft at the same time. This actually stifles creativity for some children who compare their work to the teacher's standard and also to the other children's work. A good Montessori class should have quality art materials and music lessons as part of the daily work cycle. Children are free to explore media and design in response to an inner urge. Music fundamentals are practiced so that the child can write his own songs and arrangements. Drama is part of the practical life areas where children act out the activities that they see the adults in their world doing. Grace and courtesy lessons and reading activities involve role-playing and performance. Montessori teaches fundamentals and then leaves the individual free to create according to personal impetus.

Montessori also believed that for the child under 6, it is better to provide information and experiences with reality in order to better help them to orient themselves to our world. Think of all the amazing and fantastic animals and plants, geography and geology on our beautiful planet! Children are fascinated by true stories. However, she believed that the elementary aged child has developed the capacity to separate reality from fiction. Imaginary stories/fables and myths are more appropriate at this age and are included in the curriculum.

She treats the theme of Imagination to about 100 pages in the book: The Advanced Montessori Method (previously Spontaneous Activity in Education).

[hedgewitch]

Thank you so much to everyone who posted. This has given me tons to think about. You are right, I was limiting my idea of what creativity is. Anything involving engagement of the mind is creative. The more I think about it the more I love the idea that our home environment is different from his 'school' environment. I do feel sometimes when he gets home from preschool he is done with toys. Maybe he would appreciate the 'freedom' he has at home to play with his train table or colour because his daytime experiences are more focused.

My ds also loves doing 'real' things with us. He will abandon anything he is playing with in favour of vacuuming or washing up or cooking. He also loves helping his dad build or deconstruct things and really loves working with tools. I can't wait until we start our new garden in the spring, he will love it! To be honest I am no good at sitting down and just playing trains or blocks, I really need a practical purpose or outcome for what I do. Maybe Montessori would be good for me too!

I was also pretty overwhelmed by the Maths resources they had. I so wish I had been able to use these kinds of materials. I have always struggled with Maths and just looking at the way the materials worked I could see the concepts much more easily. I would love it to be that simple for him. And don't even get me started on the sandpaper letters!

Thanks everyone for all of this feedback. You have really helped me move past some obstacles in my mind and look at this from a different perspective.

[MattBronsil]

If I may also add just a little more food for thought....

Maria Montessori did not start her program with the intention of "I am not going to have toys in here." In fact, she had toys in her program. She tried it and, to her surprise, the children were not interested in them. They were interested in the other activities.

I cannot recall the exact details of this story and I will look it up if anyone is dying to know them, but I remember one of her stories talking about how she had several toys in the class. When a student would read a word of what the toy is, they were allowed to play with it. The child would read the word, go get the toy, and bring it to her asking if she could give him more words to read.

The children were more interested in the work provided than they were the toys.

Matt

[Flor]

Originally Posted by hedgewitch

My ds also loves doing 'real' things with us. He will abandon anything he is playing with in favour of vacuuming or washing up or cooking. He also loves helping his dad build or deconstruct things and really loves working with tools. I can't wait until we start our new garden in the spring, he will love it! To be honest I am no good at sitting down and just playing trains or blocks, I really need a practical purpose or outcome for what I do. Maybe Montessori would be good for me too!

I wish I'd known about Montessori when ds was little because I also get BORED playing cars and dinosaurs, though I do it for ds. Now when he says "play with me" I say "Let's bake pretzles!" or "Let's make lemonade!" and we both have fun. I think my idea of "play" and "fun" was limited before I stumbled upon Montessori. I've made ds some "work" for home, too. I got some little silver(ish) trays at the dollars store. I made him "lemonade work" which is a bowl of sliced lemons, a lemon sqeezer, a little bowl of sugar and pitcher of water. I also made him "salt layering" work. He has a mortar and pistal, sidewalk chalk, salt, a funnel and a jar. He smashes the chalk into the salt, then pours it through the funnel into the jar to make "layers." He also has his own cleaning basket and gardening basket for our important work.