lightreads (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lightreads) wrote2020-07-08 09:34 pm
lightreads) wrote2020-07-08 09:34 pm
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The Montessori Toddler by simone Davies
The Montessori Toddler: A Parent's Guide to Raising a Curious and Responsible Human Being
3/5. I've been casually skimming this for a while, but picked up speed when I found Casterbrook, age 9 and ¾ months, repeatedly climbing up onto a table and dancing up there. Oki-doki, we're doing toddler now.
This is good as a guide to what the whole philosophy is about, for better or worse. For the better: there are some useful things in here, like a suggestion I found immediately effective to not narrate while showing your baby how to do something because they don't know whether to look at your hands or your face and get confused. And the general focus on independence as a healthy value is refreshing, as is the emphasis placed on physical respect, which is something I was memorably not given as a child.
To the worse, my goodness, the contortions they have to go through to justify this whole ban on fantasy play for children are really something, eh. The contention is that children can't distinguish real from imaginary, which (1) how are they supposed to develop the ability to if they aren't exposed to both? And (2) is in the process of being heavily undermined by a growing body of really interesting research – see Alison Gopnik on this topic for a good overview. Relatedly, apparently you should only give a toddler open-ended dressup clothes like a scarf and nothing too specific like a firefighter costume, because after all, a toddler can only pretend to be a firefighter in a firefighter costume. Which . . . uh? Have you met toddlers? They can be a firefighter ballerina no problem, what even.
I also have nebulously bad feelings about the emphasis this book places on creating "beautiful" spaces for toddlers. The author doesn't define the word, and it is doing a whole lot of culturally-specific values work that rubs me the wrong way for reasons I can't articulate.
So yeah. Montessori* is on the table for Casterbrook's eventual education, but I'm never going to be one of those people who goes all-in on it.
*Yes, I know there are different societies and flavors and whatever, don't @ me.
3/5. I've been casually skimming this for a while, but picked up speed when I found Casterbrook, age 9 and ¾ months, repeatedly climbing up onto a table and dancing up there. Oki-doki, we're doing toddler now.
This is good as a guide to what the whole philosophy is about, for better or worse. For the better: there are some useful things in here, like a suggestion I found immediately effective to not narrate while showing your baby how to do something because they don't know whether to look at your hands or your face and get confused. And the general focus on independence as a healthy value is refreshing, as is the emphasis placed on physical respect, which is something I was memorably not given as a child.
To the worse, my goodness, the contortions they have to go through to justify this whole ban on fantasy play for children are really something, eh. The contention is that children can't distinguish real from imaginary, which (1) how are they supposed to develop the ability to if they aren't exposed to both? And (2) is in the process of being heavily undermined by a growing body of really interesting research – see Alison Gopnik on this topic for a good overview. Relatedly, apparently you should only give a toddler open-ended dressup clothes like a scarf and nothing too specific like a firefighter costume, because after all, a toddler can only pretend to be a firefighter in a firefighter costume. Which . . . uh? Have you met toddlers? They can be a firefighter ballerina no problem, what even.
I also have nebulously bad feelings about the emphasis this book places on creating "beautiful" spaces for toddlers. The author doesn't define the word, and it is doing a whole lot of culturally-specific values work that rubs me the wrong way for reasons I can't articulate.
So yeah. Montessori* is on the table for Casterbrook's eventual education, but I'm never going to be one of those people who goes all-in on it.
*Yes, I know there are different societies and flavors and whatever, don't @ me.