This week something new and exciting has started happening with Teddy - wiggly little movements are starting to make progress. He isn't rolling yet, but all of a sudden he is on the move. You put him down on one spot and find that he is slowly but surely making his way to somewhere else. At this point, I think it's just exploring his ability to move and not intentionally moving toward one object in particular. He may not actually be trying to move either, but his more intentional movement are getting him places. It's been fun to watch (especially after Gus who struggled with movement.)
Importance of Baby Movement
In these pictures Teddy was put horizontal with the mirror under the mobile. And over the course of 30 minutes, he moved himself all the way around and eventually off of the rug completely. It was fantastic to watch. In honor of all this movement, I wanted to share a few quotes on why I see movement as such a big milestone and how to support it going forward.
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"The best way to help children in developing free movement in the first twelve months is to provide the large, low bed we have already described, to leave them on the ground for as long as possible and to avoid putting them into any container that might limit their movement." Silvana Montanaro, Understanding the Human Being
"I must stress the importance of movement." Maria Montessori, 1946 London Lectures
"This is the new education of movement, and in child's home life the same principles should apply...and the method of his learning is through movement." Maria Montessori, Maria Montessori Speaks to Parents
"Surely, in our modern world, loving parents do not obstruct an infant's positive moves to develop an independent and fully functioning body. Unfortunately, we do so everyday. Our present commercialization of childhood contributes to these obstacles in the infant's path as she works to develop her body for full use and independent movement. We have manufactured every manner of conveyance and confinement for young children...some of these items were developed for safety, others for the convenience of adults, and still others from the false idea of what promotes meaningful skill development in children." Montessori from the Start
"Our goal as we prepare the infant's environment for movement is not to rush her development so that we can have a baby that develops faster than others. Our purpose has to do with the psychological rather than physical reasons and reflects our attitude toward the child...Our purpose then is to foster the child's self-formation into an independent being." Montessori from the Start
"Children who have freedom of movement feel they can pursue their own ideas and interests. The repeated experience of seeing an object, reaching for it and exploring it with the hands and mouth, produces the reassuring sensation that when we want something we can move and go and get it." The Joyful Child
"Enjoy your child's actions and get to know her. Children at play are efficient and graceful. They do what they can do wand don't withhold skills. They learn to trust their bodies and minds when allowed to develop confidence in them through trial and error. It's important to see your child as a whole person and to help the whole person develop. Motor development and cognitive growth are only parts of the whole." Your Self-Confident Baby
I am certain this won't be the last time I talk about the importance of movement for Theodore as a baby! This is going to be a major theme over the next several months!
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