And My Struggle To Step Back And Let Them Do The Correcting
This morning William pulled out the hanging bead stair, which has been a favorite work of his for months now. He usually prefers to have me close while he’s working and will try to ask questions to get me to tell him if he’s doing it right.
But the beauty of Montessori materials is that they are designed to be self-correcting. This means that if they aren’t done the correct way, a piece won’t fit, a part will be left out, or there will be some other clear indicator to the child that something is wrong. As the adult, I don’t have to tell him if I can hold my tongue long enough to let him realize it himself.
I will admit- this sitting on my hands and not jumping in with a suggestion when I see him struggle or make a wrong move, it is very hard. I want him to succeed. I want him to count the numbers correctly, to pay closer attention to the order of the beads, to look at the number line and double check his work. And while I am often (okay, maybe always) tempted to interrupt his work and give a gentle hint or nudge, most of the time I manage to hold my tongue.
Today it was a struggle. He had numbers in the wrong order, he miscounted and got confused, he skipped a hook. But I sat back. I gave him space. I let him concentrate. He did not ask me for any help, and I didn’t offer it.
He fixed the number line on his own. He realized he missed a hook when he got to the nine bar and didn’t have a hook for it. And then he sat back and looked at the hanging bead stair with a smile on his face. He was beaming with pride.
We were both successful today.