Re: Montessori question

Thanks so much for all the responses...

Having read it all, I realise once again that it's down to common sense
and past experience, and knowing the child.

Of course, as long as we as parents have the insecurity to ask how we
should approach certain life situations there will be ever more
educational and parenting philosophies and books springing up to feed
that insecurity.

Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward wrote:
Jeanne wrote:
Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward wrote:
I was reading about the Montessori philosophy and while it all made a
lot of sense, I didn't understand why they avoid praising a child when
it successfully completes an exercise. Can anyone explain this? Thanks!


My understanding is that satisfaction comes from successfully completing
the exercise rather than an external source such as a teacher or parent.
This way, the child wants to do the task for her/himself rather than to
gain praise or compliments from an adult.

FWIW, it seems to work. The children "drill" themselves by repeatedly
doing a task, working with a specific material because they want to
rather than they have to. This reinforces the learning process, as well
as teaching younger children how to properly use material or do an exercise.

Okay, that makes sense. Now, here's a real-life situation: a little
9-month old boy learns to wave (eg. wave goodbye). The parents are
ecstatic and show the child that he's done really well by showering him
with praise and applause.

What would a Montessori-appropriate response be here?

.

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