Why I Chose Montessori for my career- Reason #1 - it's not a toy, it's a JOB

So it's going to be a few weeks yet before I start my certificaiton training. I plan to do posts for every moment to share the experience of going through the process. But until then, you get to hear my opinions and musings on why I'm going into the training in the first place.

So, why am I taking the time to do this? Why am I dedicating the next year of my life to learning this method?

A big answer to that question lies in one of the first things I learned on the job. The articles you see carefully and meticulously placed on the shelves of a Montessori classroom, even in an Infant or Toddler room are NOT TOYS.

Now, dont' get me wrong. this does not mean that the child cannot choose the item, manipulate it, work with it, and ENJOY it. They often do, and it's designed to be enjoyed and used by the child. But no, it is NOT a TOY. it is a JOB. Likewise, when children are using the materials they are not PLAYING (even though they are enjoying it) , they are WORKING.

 This was a particularly powerful lesson for me to learn. This careful choice of words expresses something very fundamental about Montessori philosophy.

by choosing the words "job" and "work" we're admitting something about children that I think our society is very hesitant to admit. They are IMPORTANT. What they do is MEANINGFUL. In a Montessori school a child sitting down scooping a spoonful of beads from one bowl to another  is just as important as a grown up going to work and making money.

I think that in our society it is so common to see children as these unfinished, unproductive (adorable) people that just take up time , resources and aren't really good for anything until htey reach the magical age of 18 and are suddently expected to be productive members of society. And, UNTIL that time, they are locked away into these institutions (prisons) where they can bide their time, doing busy work that isn't seen as very important.

How sad! I am so happy that Maria Montessori saw that the work that children do is shaping them as a human being! it is important! every single instant of it!