What can we do to improve the odds of raising children who understand their role as caring, contributing members of our global society?
There are only so many ways to say this: Montessori works! Trust the process.
However, nothing works well if a child’s feeling of safety is compromised, intentionally or unintentionally, and this happens every day. As if the daily news isn’t bad enough, cell phones have made matters so much worse. We are all constantly surrounded by chatter ? good and bad.
It is easy to recognize when our children are on the receiving end of hurtful words (be they verbal, written, or floating around in cyberspace) from other children, but are we aware of the impact of what our children hear from us ? especially when we think they are not listening?
We all need to remember that children filter and interpret words differently than adults. For example, if another driver suddenly veered in front of us, forcing us to slam on the brakes, and we responded by uttering a ?bad’ word in front of our children, we’d immediately realize what we had done and regret it. We need to raise our collective awareness that ?bad’ words are not limited to the four-letter variety
How many seemingly benign conversations are overheard by children sitting in the back of SUVs or at birthday parties or when children are tucked into bed at night? Topics include: the state of their parent’s marriage; worry about money; concern about a medical issue; upset about a child’s behavior at school or at home ? the list goes on and on. We all need to vent, but remember that children hear everything (even if they pretend they don’t); what children don’t understand is the true meaning behind the words.
More often than not, here is how children interpret overheard conversations and sound bytes:
Mommy and Daddy are angry at each other. It’s my fault.
We don’t have enough money. I’m not safe
Daddy is frustrated because I left my backpack at school. It’s my fault.
Children were killed at a school. I’m not safe
Grandpa went to the doctor. He’s going to die.
A Montessori classroom is deliberately designed to be a sacred space for children. It is a place where respect and dignity are expected and honored. It is a bully-free zone. It is the place where angry words are not spoken, teachers do not use threats or humiliation to effect results, and the needs of the child are the priority. It is the place where children are safe from the negativity and fear that they hear on the news, in conversations, and often at home.
We live in frustrating and fearful times; however, when Montessori parents and educators work together, there is no fear in Montessori; in fact, Montessori represents the safety that all children deserve to grow into the sane, caring adults this world so desperately needs.