Children to the rescue!

One afternoon, three children and I were doing addition exercises when I first noticed it.  Rusty water was dripping from the ceiling in the corner of the room near where the children hang their coats.  Within four minutes, it was coming down in torrents.  A repairman had apparently left open a valve from a pipe he had been working on.  Due to the water damage my class was closed for two days, and significant repairs had to be done over Christmas break.  But as I reflect back on this experience, what stands out most is how well Montessori children react to the unexpected. 

I think part of the reason for this is that the prepared environment provides structure and order.  In Doctor Montessori’s research, she discovered that the child constructs her personality through interactions with her environment.  The prepared environment of the classroom gives the child autonomy and freedom in which to grow and develop.  It is a safe place for her to increase her independence and be the facilitator of her own development. Consequently, it is the ideal learning environment, for it allows each child to reach his fullest potential. Through the work offered in the environment, he acquires an inner freedom. He is able to take care of himself and his environment, and prefers this work to play.

It was wonderful to see how well my primary students have internalized the order present in their environment and helped to preserve it as the water started pouring onto that environment through the ceiling tiles.  The children had never been given a lesson in saving materials from a flood, but they knew exactly what to do.  They noticed materials and paintings that were getting wet and immediately pointed them out to me.  They watched from the dry side of the room for drips coming from the ceiling and let me know where problems were, so I could move the buckets and catch as much water as possible.  They also quickly dried off and saved many of the wet materials.  They knew exactly where to find the towels and took initiative, almost entirely without direction.   

The following week, when the dry wall had to be repaired, my afternoon students again helped unload all of the cupboards in the coat area and load them into boxes.  When the coat area was taped off for a week, all children were respectful of the boundary and immediately adapted to the new guideline.

 It was also wonderful to witness the spontaneous help and interactions of older students helping younger.  Over the course of the afternoon, several upper elementary students were sent to my classroom to help out.  Some of them mopped for over an hour, others gathered my students and taught them Christmas songs.  The older children really knew what to do and were more than happy to engage the younger children in meaningful activities to keep them occupied, while others dealt with the mess.    

Many wonder how Montessori children are able to transition to other schools after years in a Montessori school.  The purpose of Montessori education is to prepare children for life. It helps them learn how to learn. And this includes being prepared for the unexpected. Already at age 5, these Montessori children quickly adapted to their new environment. The room may have been in chaos, but the children possessed an internalized order which had been imparted through the external order.  This is the beauty of the prepared environment.  It gives the children a default to come back to when disorder and chaos arise.  But it also allows them to develop good habits which can help them in and out of the classroom, - not only in other schools, but in life.

Carly Donohue