Thank you! Luckily with Montessori becoming more popular, people are at least returning more to simpler, more natural toys. Even if they are not all true Montessori materials, I think we are moving in the right direction!
Love the way you explain this!! I always try to find toys that the kids have to use their brains to use instead of it just engaging them without them having to do anything!
Such a better answer than "it's natural." Very thorough. How do Montessori schools react if you want to include iPad, computer, or imaginary play at home? Is that going to be a problem?
Thank you! Very interesting question-I will address electronics and imaginary play separately. Overall, the school you choose should strive to work in tandem with you to create an enriching and practical environment for the child both at home and at school. That will be different for every family, so I would hope there is not a school outright banning their families from doing any of these things if it works well for the family and child. The caveat to this would be if there is a behavioral issue that may stem from TV shows or games that are violent and/or not age appropriate-but this would be a discussion any school, Montessori or not, would have with a family to work on a path for improvement. So as for iPad and computers in general from the Montessori perspective, it would ideally be best to limit this for a younger child, as it takes away the chance for natural exploration and interaction with the environment and family. Realistically, that may not always be possible for every family, and as the child gets older, they will naturally become curious in the technology used around him or her, and will want to develop skills like typing as well. Some schools do even allow for a computer in the class specifically to practice typing and online research skills in the Elementary years. So the best recommendation here would be to limit screen time, screen it to make sure it is not violent / is indeed age appropriate, choose something more interactive than passive (a coloring game on the iPad, for example), and if it has to be something passive like a video, aim for something more peaceful and natural like videos about wildlife. Is that going to work perfectly every time? Of course not. There will be days when they want nothing but Cocomelon or Baby Shark. But as long as there are boundaries in terms of type of content and length of exposure, it should not create a problem within the school. Imaginary play needs to be addressed separately and may even need a video to get into all the details. In short, we need to quickly remember to distinguish imaginary play (cooking a soup from blocks) from fantasy (having super powers). Children cannot fully seperate reality from fiction, so a fantasy of a flying cat is very real to them. When they develop this distinction will vary, but from what we know now, it is somewhere between 3-5 years of age. Montessori does strive to root kids in the reality before exposing them to fantasy, but that does not rule out imagination. While the materials in classes have a distinct purpose, after the morning work cycle, you can often find them being repurposed with imagination. I won't even try to summarize all the imaginary play that goes on during outside time! Kids still love to play house, doctor, pilot, etc and there's no reason to stop this imaginative play that is very much based on reality. Dr. Montessori believed the child benefits more from a chance to work in the real kitchen than to play with a pretend kitchen, but that does not mean a pretend play kitchen in the home environment is bad! On the contrary, it may be a wonderful way for the child to continue exploring some of the skills they're really interested in developing right now in the environment that is best available to them at home, as not every family may have the ability to set up a safe, functional kitchen for the younger kiddos. Where it gets tricky is the fantasy aspect. From my experience, we did not outright ban families from exposing their kids to Spiderman, for example, but as with everything, children do bring aspects of their home life into the school. So if 4 year old Bobby does understand that Spiderman flying from a building is fantasy and not something he can do at school (or at all, for that matter), that may not be an issue. But maybe 3 year old Susie hears Bobby talking about this and thinks that she really CAN jump off the slide at school and fly like Spiderman. If there are schools with rules in place on what can and cannot be viewed at home, I would imagine it is from scenarios like this.
Thank you! Very interesting question-I will address electronics and imaginary play separately. Overall, the school you choose should strive to work in tandem with you to create an enriching and practical environment for the child both at home and at school. That will be different for every family, so I would hope there is not a school outright banning their families from doing any of these things if it works well for the family and child. The caveat to this would be if there is a behavioral issue that may stem from TV shows or games that are violent and/or not age appropriate-but this would be a discussion any school, Montessori or not, would have with a family to work on a path for improvement. So as for iPad and computers in general from the Montessori perspective, it would ideally be best to limit this for a younger child, as it takes away the chance for natural exploration and interaction with the environment and family. Realistically, that may not always be possible for every family, and as the child gets older, they will naturally become curious in the technology used around him or her, and will want to develop skills like typing as well. Some schools do even allow for a computer in the class specifically to practice typing and online research skills in the Elementary years. So the best recommendation here would be to limit screen time, screen it to make sure it is not violent / is indeed age appropriate, choose something more interactive than passive (a coloring game on the iPad, for example), and if it has to be something passive like a video, aim for something more peaceful and natural like videos about wildlife. Is that going to work perfectly every time? Of course not. There will be days when they want nothing but Cocomelon or Baby Shark. But as long as there are boundaries in terms of type of content and length of exposure, it should not create a problem within the school. Imaginary play needs to be addressed separately and may even need a video to get into all the details. In short, we need to quickly remember to distinguish imaginary play (cooking a soup from blocks) from fantasy (having super powers). Children cannot fully seperate reality from fiction, so a fantasy of a flying cat is very real to them. When they develop this distinction will vary, but from what we know now, it is somewhere between 3-5 years of age. Montessori does strive to root kids in the reality before exposing them to fantasy, but that does not rule out imagination. While the materials in classes have a distinct purpose, after the morning work cycle, you can often find them being repurposed with imagination. I won't even try to summarize all the imaginary play that goes on during outside time! Kids still love to play house, doctor, pilot, etc and there's no reason to stop this imaginative play that is very much based on reality. Dr. Montessori believed the child benefits more from a chance to work in the real kitchen than to play with a pretend kitchen, but that does not mean a pretend play kitchen in the home environment is bad! On the contrary, it may be a wonderful way for the child to continue exploring some of the skills they're really interested in developing right now in the environment that is best available to them at home, as not every family may have the ability to set up a safe, functional kitchen for the younger kiddos. Where it gets tricky is the fantasy aspect. From my experience, we did not outright ban families from exposing their kids to Spiderman, for example, but as with everything, children do bring aspects of their home life into the school. So if 4 year old Bobby does understand that Spiderman flying from a building is fantasy and not something he can do at school (or at all, for that matter), that may not be an issue. But maybe 3 year old Susie hears Bobby talking about this and thinks that she really CAN jump off the slide at school and fly like Spiderman. If there are schools with rules in place on what can and cannot be viewed at home, I would imagine it is from scenarios like this.
@@MariaandMontessori Thank you!!! That was very thorough, and I really appreciate all the work you put into this response. Of course, please feel free to make videos about any of these topics--- I for one would watch them. :) I understand what you're saying about electronics and content. For our family right now, the main interest in iPad is for watching puzzle videos about dinosaurs 😂. I just bought the kid a dinosaur encyclopedia to try to reduce that desire for screen time, though. We also found that we were using it when we didn't really need to, so we've transitioned from that and started using timers to limit exposure. However, I don't see us cutting it completely out any time soon--- unless, of course, my child decides he has no interest in it. I really appreciate your distinction between fantasy and imagination play!! I was definitely confused about that!! It is encouraging to know that imaginations get their fair time. What do teachers do if kids want to do imaginary play during work cycles? Try to redirect/invite to a core area? I am not particularly attached to showing fantasy content to my child before 5-6 years old, but my child's father is. I'll talk to him about the risks you mentioned here, that's a good point. Still, I don't know if I am in complete control of that situation. 🤷🏻♀️ Thank you again, excellent content.
Seems you've got a pretty good balance of when to use that iPad, I can't imagine it causing a problem in the school! A recommendation that is often given when introducing fantasy to a younger child is to introduce it together and have a conversation about it. So rather than the child absorbing that content alone, you (or the dad here, it seems 😆) would be with him and just have that conversation when something unrealistic happens. "Pretty funny how Garfield is talking, isn't it? Cats don't really talk like people, but in this show we are pretending he does!" At whatever level would be understandable for your child at this point. The hope is that with these continued remarks from the parent, we can help form that differentiation between reality and fantasy a bit faster! As for what the teachers do when materials are used for imaginative play, it would really depend on a lot of factors. Mostly this scenario would play out in a younger, new student since they are not used to the classroom setup yet and it is all very new and exciting. There is great power in the multi age class, however, and it's amazing how quickly the kids catch on to what the expected and correct behaviors are. Materials can be used after the teacher has given a presentation on it, and its up to the teacher to pick a developmentally appropriate and interesting activity to present. Typically, that is exciting enough to keep them working as intended. But let's say a child finished working on the brown stairs and is now just building towers with it. Well, there's an extension to that work, which has patterns on cards that child can follow and even use the pink tower to make really cool designs and patterns. The teacher may present this as an option. That way we are leaning into what the child is doing and making it a bit more intentional. What if they just start waving the stair pieces around like they're Harry Potter's wands? Again, would depend on the teacher and the child's temperament. Likely they'll start with doing a refresher presentation on how the material should be used to help the child self-correct. But perhaps they see the child has way too much energy and needs to calm down in the reading nook-that's what they'll offer. Others may indeed redirect to something like the art area or practical life to give the child a chance to move around more. Hand washing is an activity that is sometimes offered to calm down as well as children love that sensory experience.
Love your nice, neat, and peaceful environment for Stella. We all need to return to nature, then our kids will have more peace in their mind and soul.
Thank you! Luckily with Montessori becoming more popular, people are at least returning more to simpler, more natural toys. Even if they are not all true Montessori materials, I think we are moving in the right direction!
I love Montessori inspired materials, happy to have found your channel
It makes my heart so happy to see more and more people utilizing Montessori in different ways! Glad to have you here!!
Love the way you explain this!! I always try to find toys that the kids have to use their brains to use instead of it just engaging them without them having to do anything!
Glad to hear that! Always a pleasure to see a fellow Montessori mom here as well 😁
@@MariaandMontessori yes!! Like you, I feel like Montessori is definitely growing which is awesome but there are definitely some misunderstandings!
New Sub here!
That's exactly what I'm hoping this series will clear up! 😀
Love this
Thank you!
Such a better answer than "it's natural." Very thorough. How do Montessori schools react if you want to include iPad, computer, or imaginary play at home? Is that going to be a problem?
Thank you! Very interesting question-I will address electronics and imaginary play separately. Overall, the school you choose should strive to work in tandem with you to create an enriching and practical environment for the child both at home and at school. That will be different for every family, so I would hope there is not a school outright banning their families from doing any of these things if it works well for the family and child. The caveat to this would be if there is a behavioral issue that may stem from TV shows or games that are violent and/or not age appropriate-but this would be a discussion any school, Montessori or not, would have with a family to work on a path for improvement.
So as for iPad and computers in general from the Montessori perspective, it would ideally be best to limit this for a younger child, as it takes away the chance for natural exploration and interaction with the environment and family. Realistically, that may not always be possible for every family, and as the child gets older, they will naturally become curious in the technology used around him or her, and will want to develop skills like typing as well. Some schools do even allow for a computer in the class specifically to practice typing and online research skills in the Elementary years. So the best recommendation here would be to limit screen time, screen it to make sure it is not violent / is indeed age appropriate, choose something more interactive than passive (a coloring game on the iPad, for example), and if it has to be something passive like a video, aim for something more peaceful and natural like videos about wildlife. Is that going to work perfectly every time? Of course not. There will be days when they want nothing but Cocomelon or Baby Shark. But as long as there are boundaries in terms of type of content and length of exposure, it should not create a problem within the school.
Imaginary play needs to be addressed separately and may even need a video to get into all the details. In short, we need to quickly remember to distinguish imaginary play (cooking a soup from blocks) from fantasy (having super powers). Children cannot fully seperate reality from fiction, so a fantasy of a flying cat is very real to them. When they develop this distinction will vary, but from what we know now, it is somewhere between 3-5 years of age. Montessori does strive to root kids in the reality before exposing them to fantasy, but that does not rule out imagination. While the materials in classes have a distinct purpose, after the morning work cycle, you can often find them being repurposed with imagination. I won't even try to summarize all the imaginary play that goes on during outside time! Kids still love to play house, doctor, pilot, etc and there's no reason to stop this imaginative play that is very much based on reality. Dr. Montessori believed the child benefits more from a chance to work in the real kitchen than to play with a pretend kitchen, but that does not mean a pretend play kitchen in the home environment is bad! On the contrary, it may be a wonderful way for the child to continue exploring some of the skills they're really interested in developing right now in the environment that is best available to them at home, as not every family may have the ability to set up a safe, functional kitchen for the younger kiddos.
Where it gets tricky is the fantasy aspect. From my experience, we did not outright ban families from exposing their kids to Spiderman, for example, but as with everything, children do bring aspects of their home life into the school. So if 4 year old Bobby does understand that Spiderman flying from a building is fantasy and not something he can do at school (or at all, for that matter), that may not be an issue. But maybe 3 year old Susie hears Bobby talking about this and thinks that she really CAN jump off the slide at school and fly like Spiderman. If there are schools with rules in place on what can and cannot be viewed at home, I would imagine it is from scenarios like this.
Thank you! Very interesting question-I will address electronics and imaginary play separately. Overall, the school you choose should strive to work in tandem with you to create an enriching and practical environment for the child both at home and at school. That will be different for every family, so I would hope there is not a school outright banning their families from doing any of these things if it works well for the family and child. The caveat to this would be if there is a behavioral issue that may stem from TV shows or games that are violent and/or not age appropriate-but this would be a discussion any school, Montessori or not, would have with a family to work on a path for improvement.
So as for iPad and computers in general from the Montessori perspective, it would ideally be best to limit this for a younger child, as it takes away the chance for natural exploration and interaction with the environment and family. Realistically, that may not always be possible for every family, and as the child gets older, they will naturally become curious in the technology used around him or her, and will want to develop skills like typing as well. Some schools do even allow for a computer in the class specifically to practice typing and online research skills in the Elementary years. So the best recommendation here would be to limit screen time, screen it to make sure it is not violent / is indeed age appropriate, choose something more interactive than passive (a coloring game on the iPad, for example), and if it has to be something passive like a video, aim for something more peaceful and natural like videos about wildlife. Is that going to work perfectly every time? Of course not. There will be days when they want nothing but Cocomelon or Baby Shark. But as long as there are boundaries in terms of type of content and length of exposure, it should not create a problem within the school.
Imaginary play needs to be addressed separately and may even need a video to get into all the details. In short, we need to quickly remember to distinguish imaginary play (cooking a soup from blocks) from fantasy (having super powers). Children cannot fully seperate reality from fiction, so a fantasy of a flying cat is very real to them. When they develop this distinction will vary, but from what we know now, it is somewhere between 3-5 years of age. Montessori does strive to root kids in the reality before exposing them to fantasy, but that does not rule out imagination. While the materials in classes have a distinct purpose, after the morning work cycle, you can often find them being repurposed with imagination. I won't even try to summarize all the imaginary play that goes on during outside time! Kids still love to play house, doctor, pilot, etc and there's no reason to stop this imaginative play that is very much based on reality. Dr. Montessori believed the child benefits more from a chance to work in the real kitchen than to play with a pretend kitchen, but that does not mean a pretend play kitchen in the home environment is bad! On the contrary, it may be a wonderful way for the child to continue exploring some of the skills they're really interested in developing right now in the environment that is best available to them at home, as not every family may have the ability to set up a safe, functional kitchen for the younger kiddos.
Where it gets tricky is the fantasy aspect. From my experience, we did not outright ban families from exposing their kids to Spiderman, for example, but as with everything, children do bring aspects of their home life into the school. So if 4 year old Bobby does understand that Spiderman flying from a building is fantasy and not something he can do at school (or at all, for that matter), that may not be an issue. But maybe 3 year old Susie hears Bobby talking about this and thinks that she really CAN jump off the slide at school and fly like Spiderman. If there are schools with rules in place on what can and cannot be viewed at home, I would imagine it is from scenarios like this.
@@MariaandMontessori Thank you!!! That was very thorough, and I really appreciate all the work you put into this response. Of course, please feel free to make videos about any of these topics--- I for one would watch them. :)
I understand what you're saying about electronics and content. For our family right now, the main interest in iPad is for watching puzzle videos about dinosaurs 😂. I just bought the kid a dinosaur encyclopedia to try to reduce that desire for screen time, though. We also found that we were using it when we didn't really need to, so we've transitioned from that and started using timers to limit exposure. However, I don't see us cutting it completely out any time soon--- unless, of course, my child decides he has no interest in it.
I really appreciate your distinction between fantasy and imagination play!! I was definitely confused about that!! It is encouraging to know that imaginations get their fair time. What do teachers do if kids want to do imaginary play during work cycles? Try to redirect/invite to a core area?
I am not particularly attached to showing fantasy content to my child before 5-6 years old, but my child's father is. I'll talk to him about the risks you mentioned here, that's a good point. Still, I don't know if I am in complete control of that situation. 🤷🏻♀️
Thank you again, excellent content.
Seems you've got a pretty good balance of when to use that iPad, I can't imagine it causing a problem in the school! A recommendation that is often given when introducing fantasy to a younger child is to introduce it together and have a conversation about it. So rather than the child absorbing that content alone, you (or the dad here, it seems 😆) would be with him and just have that conversation when something unrealistic happens. "Pretty funny how Garfield is talking, isn't it? Cats don't really talk like people, but in this show we are pretending he does!" At whatever level would be understandable for your child at this point. The hope is that with these continued remarks from the parent, we can help form that differentiation between reality and fantasy a bit faster!
As for what the teachers do when materials are used for imaginative play, it would really depend on a lot of factors. Mostly this scenario would play out in a younger, new student since they are not used to the classroom setup yet and it is all very new and exciting. There is great power in the multi age class, however, and it's amazing how quickly the kids catch on to what the expected and correct behaviors are. Materials can be used after the teacher has given a presentation on it, and its up to the teacher to pick a developmentally appropriate and interesting activity to present. Typically, that is exciting enough to keep them working as intended. But let's say a child finished working on the brown stairs and is now just building towers with it. Well, there's an extension to that work, which has patterns on cards that child can follow and even use the pink tower to make really cool designs and patterns. The teacher may present this as an option. That way we are leaning into what the child is doing and making it a bit more intentional. What if they just start waving the stair pieces around like they're Harry Potter's wands? Again, would depend on the teacher and the child's temperament. Likely they'll start with doing a refresher presentation on how the material should be used to help the child self-correct. But perhaps they see the child has way too much energy and needs to calm down in the reading nook-that's what they'll offer. Others may indeed redirect to something like the art area or practical life to give the child a chance to move around more. Hand washing is an activity that is sometimes offered to calm down as well as children love that sensory experience.