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A really simple way to encourage this at the beginning is to allow them to put away toys and clothes in the correct place.Įqually important is that children feel so much more comfortable when they have a feeling of order. Therefore, it’s natural for a young child to want to take care of their environment as it gives them a sense of independence. Self-care and care of the environment is incredibly important at this stage and is very much linked to the child’s need for independence. The role of a parent or caretaker in this context, is to allow the child to explore this at their own pace and in their own way. Have you ever noticed how younger children love to role play being an adult in their games with other children? Children have a natural curiosity of the world around them and want to explore this, and their place in it. Very young children already crave independence – you have probably already noticed this with your own child(ren). The first thing to understand is just how important this key ethos of Montessori really is: “Help me to help myself”. We’ll also talk about how we can approach any issues that you may encounter when encouraging your older children to help you around the home and take care of their environment.
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In this article, we will focus first on younger children and how we can encourage, direct and engage them. They enjoy copying their parents, they feel satisfied when they help around the house and they feel more secure if they understand their place in the world. Luckily, younger children don’t feel this way. In fact, many older children do not want to carry out their “chores” because they have already made this negative association. The word itself has a very negative connotation, and can conjure up images of boring jobs which “must” be done in order to do something more fun. The first thing to do is look at the word “chore”. All you need to do is apply the same principles that a Montessori practitioner applies in their classroom to your home. Despite what many parents may think, we don’t need to “push” a child to tidy up after themselves or do chores. You will also find that your child will enjoy helping you with tasks such as cooking, washing up and dusting. There is, of course, no reason at all that a child shouldn’t tidy up at home. When parents observe a Montessori classroom, a frequent comment is something like “Oh I wish my child would tidy up like this at home” or “I can never get my child to do their chores”. I have a feeling if we use music it will turn into some mental fling stuff disco, but I am pleased that a member of staff is willing to try something different lol The team who was first to finish on each day also got to tidy our little outdoor space which they thought was great as it meant they were first! We had smiley faces awarded to the fastest and best tidiers and the team with the most at the end of the week would get a special tidy up sticker. When I have the music on the deal was always that if they finished before hand they could have a dance! I also did/do lots of the 'who can be the best at.' making the reading corner look tidy type comments. Mind you, he thinks the music is funny too and spends his time dancing to that! So far to get any tidying I have to literally take him by the hand and talk him through every move. This year I have a little one who thinks the sound the timer makes is the most hysterically funny thing ever and waits for it to go off them leaps up and down cackling hysterically and flapping his arms around. The others were also starting to slow down a lot which is when I introduced the music. I always used to just use an online egg timer but last year I had a little boy who was absolutely obsessed with both timers and numbers and would spend the entire time just watching and counting.