Hard at Work

Precision and Patience.

Yesterday, we went to see Kaylee hard at work at school.

"Work" is the term used in Montessori -From an evolutionary perspective, the long period of childhood exists so children can learn and experiment in a relatively pressure-free environment. Most social scientists refer to this pressure-free experimentation as “play,” although Montessori prefers to call this activity the “work” of childhood. Children are serious when engaged in the kind of play that meets developmental needs. Given freedom and time, they choose purposeful activities over frivolous ones.

She has been doing some of this work since she was 12 months old. But now she does it with such precision and patience. She used to build the tower and knock it down. Not skipping one beat, she unrolls the mat, moves the blocks smallest to largest to the mat, builds it from largest to smallest, breaks it down smallest to largest, puts it back where it belongs largest to smallest, rolls the mat, puts the mat where it belongs. Good job!

Currently, her favorite work is the Flower Puzzle. Each petal is slightly different, so it is a rather challenging puzzle. Very proud of our Big Girl!