Hand and Finger Movement - Montessori Material

1- Pincer Grip
2- Hand Grip - holding an object with five fingers
3- Holding an object in the palm
4- Sliding fingers across a surface
5- Touching an edge with the index finger

Early Childhood - My Daughter

My daughter's early childhood memories now at the age of 22.

Q) Out of your oldest memory, do you feel that your mother followed you or you followed by the mother?
A) As far as I remember, my mother used to follow me around. She always gave me whatever I wanted.

Q) do you think that reward and punishment helped you in learning well?
A) I don't really remember being taught through the reward and punishment concept. When I prayed, as a kid, my mom used to tell me that if I did good God would reward me and if I did something bad I would be punished or God would not be happy with it.
When I was 9th grade, I do remember putting conditions upon myself of getting a new phone if I got good grades. But I never really took that seriously myself because in the end I always got what I wanted (after some time). So the answer is no, it did not help in learning well.

Q) How do you feel that you were supported as an active learner?
A) I was encouraged a lot by my mother in different ways through out my school years. She always appreciated and supported me throughout. I was so used to it that no matter if I drew a picture or got an A or even wore a new dress, I always turned to her to hear what she had to say. 

Q) Were you respected by the adults around you?

A) By respect if you mean treated nicely, not forced to do things that I didn't want to, etc, then I would say I was respected 70% when I was a kid. I don't actually remember being disrespected. I was forced to do a lot of things though that did help me when I grew up.
Unfortunately, at school especially being a part of the Asian community, I was barely respected at school. Teachers scolded a lot and discouraged a lot too. Thank goodness I pulled out from school after a few months.
As a human, I guess I was because of my mother. I always had her back and her support so no one would dare say anything to me.

Q) Were you provide freedom of movement and freedom of choice at home, in the school or anywhere?

A) At home and outside I had freedom of movement and freedom of choice but not at school.

Q) What are your best memories of freedom of movement and freedom of choice?
A) I always wore pink and red which were and still are my favourite colours so that would be freedom of choice. Whenever I went grocery shopping with my mom, I remember picking up snack items that I wanted and she never said no. While the other kids in the family did not get as much as I did.
I traveled on my own to different states in the US and I guess that was my freedom of movement. 

Children's Economy - Desk-Holder and Desk-Bin

Salad and ice-cream cups can make creative desk-holder, desk-bin and coin holder.  

Children's Economy - Care of Belongings

Children in pre-school and elementary level should be trained to take good care of their belongings.  Adults can assist them to organize their supplies their own unique ways.  

Children should be put into a habit of having their own supplies instead of borrowing it from others every time.  Having their own supplies develops in children the sense of ownership and responsibility.  It is not only about getting organized but also a good hobby to collect various style of pouches according to their supplies.  They can paint these pouches and wash them for new art work.

They can make a list of the supplies they would need and can buy them with their own savings.  The clear plastic pouches are affordable as they price only Rs. 20/25 each.  Rest of the supplies wouldn't cost more than Rs. 1000/-.  Instead of leaving the supplies in the school-bag pockets or here and there in drawers or  shelves, children can use these clear plastic bags to keep them safe and organized.  

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My Work Space

Children and Summer Vacations in Pakistan

In my childhood, summer vacations or 'gurmiyon ki chuttiyan' in Urdu, had very clear meanings, and that was 'relatives will come to live with us for more than a weekend time and we will have fun with our cousins'.  The weekend in those days consisted of only one day and that was Sunday.

The funniest thing about summer vacations is the trend or tradition that most schools (including public, private, religious, liberal, others) still follow and that is giving homework assignments; writing a letter and writing an essay.  This tradition is one great evidence of 'unified system of education in Pakistan', isn't it?

Before holidays, it was and is to 'write a letter to your friend or cousin, invite him/her to come to Karachi during summer holidays and tell him/her which places will you visit.........................  I don't remember writing such letters to my cousins, never ever.  

After holidays, it was and is to 'write an essay about how you spent your summer vacations...'... I remember writing that till my matriculation -- always visiting the same place, 'Clifton Beach' with same activities for years.

In reality, somehow the tradition of visiting relatives and staying over during summer vacations has lost it's charm for children.  Now they meet their relatives and cousins in wedding invitations on weekly or monthly basis.  For summer holidays, their parents start searching for 'summer schools and classes and camps' or 'madrassahs' where they can leave their children for most time at the least cost.

As for my daughter, she was mostly home-schooled, thus, we had the summer time who year long.  That was really fun.

Thank goodness that I am not the child of this era.  Even my daughter is a grown up person and I love the fact that she is more mature than me and obviously than her 'not-yet-born-child'.

Old Clifton Beach, Karachi

What is Montessori system all about?

Montessori system was introduced and designed by Dr. Maria Montessori.

What I have understood from her philosophy of educating a child is that,

1) it is a processs of developing personality in which, children
- are provided with favorable environment
- are granted freedom of movement and freedom of choice

2) it is a 3 to 4 years long learning period during which, children 
   - are introduced to the world in their surroundings
   - learn basic concepts through Montessori material
   - learn to take care of all the components that comprise a tidy and organized environment
   - are guided to maintain peace in the environment
   - learn skills that can help them towards independent reading and writing during elementary schooling

3) children's potential is revealed when they are...
1- given enough time
   - to observe their surroundings
   - to absorb positive things from the environment
   - to perceive the nature of objects and events
   - to comprehend the basic learning concepts
   - to complete their work

2- provided with opportunities
   - to express their feelings through different sources, such as one-on-one conversation, painting, drawing,
     group discussions, physical movement, nursery rhymes and poems, stories, etc.
   - explore and inquire
   - to choose and reject
   - to make decisions on their own (and instructions are not imposed upon them)
   - that can help them distinguish between right and wrong

4) children should not be...
- interrupted unnecessarily when they are busy
- forced to do something that they are not interested in
- convinced to do anything by 'reward or punishment'
- restrained from roaming around even if it seems for no reason
- ignored while questioning about something

It is suggested that once a child is admitted to a Montessori system, his/her process of learning and developing personality should not be interrupted until all the major objectives are achieved.  The adults (parents/teachers) should allow the child to pass through all the learning stages for his/her proper and strong cognitive and intellectual development.