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MacBeth
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| Posted: Aug 07 2008 at 3:39pm | IP Logged
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Love that photo, Stef! 
Milehimama,
Here's another thought...(just when you all thought I was going away  ).
If you are trying to engage a 30 month old in an activity, and she reacts impishly, maybe she is trying to engage you in an activity. In other words, instead of copying the "right" way to pour rice, she is instead copying the "right" way to engage her mother. The lesson she is learning is more personal, less objective, and more obvious to her.
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MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
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MacBeth
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| Posted: Aug 07 2008 at 3:41pm | IP Logged
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Eleanor, I'm totally going to bite here . I read the brief overview of Normalization from the article you linked, and I have a quick question:
Is the purpose of the Montessori method education, or behavior modification?
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God Bless!
MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
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Eleanor
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| Posted: Aug 07 2008 at 11:06pm | IP Logged
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I have a question first -- would it be possible for someone to move this side discussion to the "Philosophy of Education" forum? It's getting a little confusing around here...
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Willa
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| Posted: Aug 07 2008 at 11:40pm | IP Logged
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Eleanor wrote:
| I have a question first -- would it be possible for someone to move this side discussion to the "Philosophy of Education" forum? It's getting a little confusing around here... |
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Done!
What is Normalization?
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Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
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Angel
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| Posted: Aug 08 2008 at 4:06pm | IP Logged
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Mackfam wrote:
When my 3yo starts acting out he is almost always just needing my attention and something interesting to do - and generally I'm distracted or doing something else and not providing enough of myself for him.
I think I'm just agreeing with what Theresa and others have said, if she needs to dump and scoop - let her. It could be she's in the same sensitive period my son is in right now - that of dumping, knocking-over, scaling large upholstered objects and jumping to the nearest (and not so nearest) upholstered object. I don't really turn a blind eye, but I have to catch myself from constantly saying, "don't do that, you know we don't jump from couch to chair..." After a couple of times I see that this child really needs this sort of activity and is looking for it - so I try to offer it in a way that is safe and offers a couple of boundaries. I move him to my bed and pile a bunch of pillows on the floor and grab the camera.
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Jennifer, do you live in my house? Right now one of my 2 yo twins will not stop turning somersaults when I am reading picture books to him and his brother before their nap. He just tumbles all over the room -- over his baby brother and anything else in his way. Is it any wonder I'm exhausted?
Ok, so that's neither here nor there, but I did want to say -- Jennifer, I would love to see one of your actual days. I find the same things you do with my little guys, who *live* to test boundaries, but I have such a hard time finding the time and energy to match their needs.
I have more things to say about 30 month olds (my twins are now -- eek! 34 months old), but I'm afraid they're going to have to wait until after I deal with the needs of an 11 month old. 
--Angela
Three Plus Two
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Aug 12 2008 at 12:30pm | IP Logged
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Angel wrote:
| Jennifer, I would love to see one of your actual days. I find the same things you do with my little guys, who *live* to test boundaries, but I have such a hard time finding the time and energy to match their needs. |
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Angela - What do you want to see about my typical, average day? How I go about assessing? How I discern the needs of a particular child (and in this case the 3yo)?
I'm not sure there's anything at all scientific about it.
Tell me what are you looking for?
I will say that my greatest improvements in this area have come not from more organization, or greater structure. It was a surprising source for me. For some time I have been begging Our Lady to help me to be a gentler mother. I have been seeking her example in everything I do in the home. What I found was that when I had quieted myself interiorly, I spoke more gently and I could see with more tender eyes the needs my individual children had. I was really surprised how this played out in the practical goings on in our days (though I shouldn't have been. I don't have enough faith, pray for me.) I was able to do less impulsive reacting - notice I don't say that I stopped reacting - I still did that, but then I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to seek a deeper understanding of a given situation. I could be gentler with a child, so instead of going from 0-100 in a matter of seconds, I went from 0-40 and then realized I needed to throttle back to a level that would allow me to *see* a need and answer it gently either with discipline or a creative solution and sometimes both. Then, I just started looking for and praying for solutions that might have seemed out of the box - like the bed jumping solution. That might not be acceptable to some families, but it was here and it fulfilled that need my son had to jump.
I'm not sure this answers your question at all, and I'd be happy to tell you more about the days 'round here if you're interested. Just tell me specifically what you're looking for. I did want to be honest and let you know that my ability to begin to creatively answer the needs I see my children presenting has come not from a delicious little organizational program or an easy to research link, but from the Blessed Mother directly. It is only as I more and more seek to be like her - gentle and pondering more in my heart - that I find myself mothering in a way that better fits my children.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
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Angel
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| Posted: Aug 12 2008 at 2:11pm | IP Logged
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Ok, I felt guilty for hijacking the thread and not giving any practical suggestions, so I started a new thread on providing for the needs of little ones here.
--Angela
Three Plus Two
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Normalizing a 30 month old
