The other day at dinner we had pickles as a side option. As we were eating, my 5-year-old gets up, goes to the kitchen and comes back with a cutting board, knife, and fork. He serves himself a pickle, puts it on his cutting board, holds it with the fork, and slices it into tiny bits before ultimately eating it. I laughed to myself because it was so classically a first plane of development Montessori kid thing.
Days earlier, my 2.5-year-old was in the garden gathering vegetables into one bucket. She came inside and separated each type of vegetable into it's own pile, washed them each, dried them, put them all into a clean bowl (together) and into the fridge. Again, I laughed to myself.
Both of these might lead out adult brains to ask, "why?" They both seem like overly complicated ways to approach regular tasks. Just eat pickle. Just wash all the vegetables together. Get it done quickly and efficiently. I think many adults, look at these examples of Montessori and think "it's just too complicated." Montessori as a parenting style, a lifestyle, or educational method can feel - extra. Too many materials, too many steps, too much to learn or think about.
Montessori Has too Many Steps...Or Does It?
If we look at Montessori purely from our adult brains, I think it does have too many steps, especially for those of us living in 2024. Our adult brains are trained for efficiency. We care about the outcome, the product, the final step only. How can we get there as quickly as possible? We just eat the pickle. But, the thing is, the Montessori method isn't concerned about our adult brains need and think. It is concerned with the developmental needs of the child.
"One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child itself. For a growing organism growth itself is happiness. The growth of the child is by means of activity. Activity according to vital laws of development is happiness. Rest or inaction is foreign to the child’s nature...The joy of the child is the joy of achievement. The child loves to achieve a complete unit of activity. The achievement, however trivial to the adult, gives a sense of power and independence to the child. When he has completed the special unit or cycle of activity, the accomplishment makes him happy." Maria Montessori, What You Should Know about Your Child (page 47)
As Maria Montessori says, a child's development happens through their activity. Their daily activities help to push their development forward. And ultimately, their joy comes from the sense of accomplishment, the autonomy they achieve, and the process of doing all the things they are doing. In other words, for young children in particular their happiness comes from the doing.
All those little steps that seem like too much for us, they are the child's joy in action. We need to put our own feelings aside, take in the steps, model the extra, and allow them to do. The complicated is not complicated at all. It's giving children the chance to work, the chance to develop their confidence, to concentrate, and to feel the joy of their activity.
"It gladdens one's heart to see the bright expression in the face of the little child ad the attitude of concentration in his demeanor...a new life seems to dawn on the child, a new confidence in himself, a new dignity born out of a new victory and a new achievement." Maria Montessori, What You Should Know About Your Child (51)
Have you ever questioned if Montessori is just too complicated? Or have you seen the joy coming from a small child moving through their activity?
