Karen jest certyfikowanym nauczycielem montessoriańskim (dyplom AMS, edukacja przedszkolna 3-6 lat) z ponad 30-letnim stażem. Pracowała w wielu przedszkolach Montessori, pomagała również tworzyć placówki od podstaw, m.in. w Afryce. Jest bardzo ciepłą osobą, wspaniałym i cierpliwym nauczycielem. Obecnie prowadzi kursy on-line, z których korzystają nauczyciele oraz rodzice z całego świata. A teraz chętnie odpowie na Wasze pytania :-)Jeśli chcecie skorzystać z tej niecodziennej okazji, macie jakieś wątpliwości, potrzebujecie coś rozjaśnić, zadajcie pytanie Karen w komentarzu do tego postu.
Możecie pisać w języku polskim lub angielskim, choć napisanie bezpośrednio po angielsku na pewno ułatwi sprawę i ewentualną dyskusję z Karen! Wszystkie pytania po polsku przetłumaczę na angielski (tylko pamiętajcie, że mam trójkę małych dzieci na głowie;-) stąd tłumaczenia nie będą natychmiastowe).
Miałabym pytanie: What can I do when a child does not reach again the activity?
OdpowiedzUsuńodpowiedź od Karen:
UsuńGood Morning Kasia! Please forgive my tardiness in answering your question. I have had to spend a lot of time working with 2 members in my family that are in hospice. Grief seems to take longer to walk through than I have anticipated.
Children when first introduced to an new activity often repeat it immediately and then there are times when they just ignore it. There are several main reasons that this might happen:
1. Dr. Montessori talked about the "match." This is when we meet a child exactly where they are with the activity that is matched to their ability and passion. The child is ready for the new skill or information and they can't seem to get enough of it. They usually repeat the activity over and over again until they have gained all they can from the experience. It is difficult to make the "match" all the time. As a Montessori educator, I observe children while they are working and I try to make the "match"...sometimes, I don't. Then, I know when I have failed because the child will let me know that they are not ready for this activity. I will either watch them "not choose" the activity or they will acted bored or some even start to whine about it. At times like this, when the child is not watching, I take it and put it away and try again later (at least 2 or 3 weeks later). If the child asks where the activity is, I just say, "I have put it away for now. Soon, I will put it out again. Soon, you will be ready for this activity."
2. Another reason that a child might not work with an activity might be that they are ready for it but they are really into working with another material/activity. When a child is in a Sensitive Period they tend to choose only certain types of work and they often do it over and over again. I know that we often can't seem to understand why the child continues to do it over and over again...but, the child is getting something from it. We wait then, for the time when the interest starts to wane on the existing activities and then we present other activities at this time. It is not unusual for a child to stay with something for quiet some time. I have had 2 and 3 year olds only want Practical Life and Art activities. I only approach this differently when I have a 4 year old that is not interested in activities that teach skills that I know he is going to need to start to accomplish. Even then, I give the child choices and I set them up on what I call a Student Contract. My students in the KHT Montessori course know all about how this particular tool works...contracts give an older child a sense of control over what they do in the classroom and we as adults know that the child will be moving along.
I hope I have helped you out here thinking about why a child might hesitate to continue working with an activity. Thank you again, Kasia for waiting as long as you did for my answer. Blessings, Karen karen@khtmontessori.com
Thank you very much! I will analyze our activities and my son's interests.
Usuń1.What maths activities and how do we use black and white bead stairs? Does black and white colour coding link to other activities?
OdpowiedzUsuń2. How important is the consistency in using a certain type of font for the materials, having in mind how it influences the proces of learning to read and write?
I pytanie do Gagatkowej Mamy: Do kiedy Karen Tyler bedzie goscic u Gagatkow?
odpowiedź od Karen:
UsuńGood Morning Monika! I must apologize for not answering your questions in a timelier manner. I have been working with my mother and my sisters that are both in hospice care and will soon pass on. Grief has taken hold of me and I am now just starting to work through the various stages. Life just happens to us and we must take time out to “bend” and not “break.”
First, I believe that we should try to use the same “font” throughout early childhood education. My course and expertise is with children 2 to 6 years of age. Dr. Montessori believed, and I do too, that we need to isolate the difficulty for a child. So, learning the sounds of the letters and the shape of them is difficult enough without having to try and explain to a child that the same letter may look many different ways. Children start out as concrete thinkers. Learning to think in an abstract way is something that develops as a child starts to learn about the world around them. So, showing a child that a letter looks a certain way is a concrete thing. Trying to explain to the child that the same letter could look a different way is confusing and it abstract thinking. Eventually, the child will be able to do this…but we want the young child to be successful now. So, teaching a child how to read and write goes easier for them if we keep the font the same. The child becomes secure and it is a lot easier.
This brings up printing and cursive. This is an “old” discussion among Montessori teachers and parents. We ask should we teach printing first or cursive? There is not one right answer. I personally believe in printing first. My reason is simply because that I live in the United States and I work with children that are reading and writing English. The books that my children read are in English and the style of font in books are “printing” fonts. I want my children to have this isolated for them…I want them to read and write where the letters look the same. Our books are not in cursive. I have found in the past 30 years of working with young children, that they easily learn to print and to read and then when they are ready they just as easily learn to write cursive. Now, having said this, it is truly up to each person. 65% of my students live outside of the United States. One thing remains true though, be consistent with the use of the font for the first few years of a child’s life as they learn to read and write.
Now for your questions about the Black and White Bead Bars: These bars are not used often but they are used to help a child working with making the many different combinations of 10. The actual color is so different from the other colored beads and the golden ten bars that is a good thing. It helps the child isolate the activity and make sense of it in their brain.
I have a presentation in the KHT Mathematics Manual on “Linear Counting – Snake Game Search for Ten.” In this activity you are working with a set of colored bead bars, golden ten bars and a set of black and white bars.
The teacher lays out a random snake of colored beads (more than ten). She then picks up a notched piece of cardboard and uses it to count the colored beads out-loud from one to ten. As soon as she reaches ten, she then replaces the colored beads for a golden bead ten bar.
She then counts the remaining beads on the bar behind the notched piece of cardboard. She places a black and white bead bar (same number as the left over beads on the bar behind the notched piece of cardboard) above the notched piece of cardboard to hold her place. She puts the used colored bead bar back on the tablemat.
Now this makes the black and white bead bar the head of the next snake. You repeat this process until all the colored bead bars have been used and exchanged for golden bead ten bars. If the snake has some colored beads that are less than ten left over, use a black and white bead bar to finish the snake.
I hope I have been helpful, Monika. Thank you again for waiting so long for my answers.
Blessings,
Karen
Moniko, przepraszam za zwloke w odpowiedzi rowniez z mojej strony. Poczatowo Karen miala odpowiedziec na kila pierwszych pytan i pozniej za jakis czas wrocic odpowiedziec na ewentualne kolejne. Niestety z powodów osobistych ten czas się wydluzyl (o czym sama Karen wspomniala w odpowiedziach do Was). Ja rowniez, z powodu wyjazdu i problemow technicznych, nie bardzo mialam czas i mozliwosc odpowiedniego koorynowania sprawy. Jesli beda pojawialy sie jeszcze jakies pytania zbiore je i przesle za jakis czas do Karen, ale w chwili obecnej nie bede jej poki co klopotac.
UsuńKasia, Monika proszę jeszcze o trochę cierpliwości :-)
OdpowiedzUsuńcoś wiadomo?
UsuńBardzo dziękuję za cierpliwość. Karen ma obecnie bardzo trudną sytuację rodzinną, stąd tak duże opóźnienie. Na szczęście dziś podesłała mi odpowiedzi dla Was, za chwilkę je umieszczę w komentarzach.
UsuńPozdrawiam :-)
Rozumiem. Życzę Karen, żeby wszystko dobrze się ułożyło. I dziękuję za odpowiedź.
Usuń