4Real Forums: Montessori correction

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Nurturing the Years of Wonder
4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder

Topic: Montessori correction

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mooreboyz
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Joined: March 16 2008
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Posted: July 08 2008 at 11:33am \| IP Logged

I've been reading up on Montessori and working especially with my younger guys using it exclusively. One thing I'm having some trouble with is not correcting them. What are you supposed to do when they for example, write a letter incorrectly like making a b starting at the roundish part or when sorting colors. These are just two things that happened today with the 3 year old and 16 mo year old respectively.

Thanks!

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Jackie
7 boys - 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17 years

montessori_lori
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Posted: July 08 2008 at 5:05pm \| IP Logged

It's a tiny bit misleading to say "never correct". Instead, think of it this way: you don't want to hurt the child's feelings or crush their desire to learn.

So, you can do a few things when you see a child doing a work incorrectly:

Say, "Can I show you that again?" and show it by doing it correctly, but not saying anything (esp. like "You were doing it wrong", etc.)

Tell the child that it's time to put the work away, then the next time you get it out, show it to them correctly. Again, making no comment about the way they did it in the past.

A lot of how you deal with errors depends on the child's age, their temperament (how well do they handle correction?) and your relationship to them. Observe, observe, observe! Is there are reason the child gets it wrong? Can you change something external about the work to help them get it right?

Also, keep in mind that kids need a TON of repetition to master a lot of these skills, so it's okay if you have to show it to them many times before they start doing it correctly.

By the way, everything I've said applies only to 0-6 - elementary kids should be corrected quickly (but gently) when work is done wrong.

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CatholicMommy
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Joined: Feb 07 2007
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Posted: July 08 2008 at 6:37pm \| IP Logged

One way I've done corrections is just to say, "May I try?" or "I'd like a turn, please." Then I do it correctly.

With color-matching and such, it's all in the perception - so just when you think they're not going to get it ever, they suddenly do!

mooreboyz
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Posted: July 09 2008 at 6:54am \| IP Logged

Ok, good. That's basically what I felt instinctively to do. For example, when he put a red object in the blue box I took it out and held it next to the blue box and went "hmmmm?" like I was thinking and then put it in front of the red box and said "yes this is red" like I had figured it out. Almost like I was showing him how I would decide which color it was. And with my 3 year old and the letters I asked him to watch me and then slowly showed him and sometimes backed him up to using his finger first and then chalk (we were working outside with chalk on concrete).

I used a lot of montessori type activities starting last Sept with my 3 year old and I can see such a difference in him in so many different ways as a result in comparison to my older 3 who I didn't do this with. I've been doing what I can with my youngest.

Thanks!

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Jackie
7 boys - 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17 years

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