Material Highlight: The Pink Tower

This week in the Children's House, I wanted to spotlight a favorite iconic Montessori material: the Pink Tower. More than just a block stacking activity this material and body is principles of mathematics and geometry to children as young as two and a half years old. It is usually one of the first presentations offered to a child, but in the last years of the Children's House, the 6-year-olds revisit it again to think about it in a more abstract way.

The Pink Tower, originally designed by Piaget, consists of 10 pink, wooden cubes ranging from 1 cm cubed to 1,000 cm cubed. This progression, together with the properties of length, width, height and weight give the mathematical properties to the Pink Tower. The difference from one cube to the next isolates the difference and allows children to work on visual discrimination of the varying sizes. In the beginning children stack the cubes randomly sometimes smaller cubes in between the larger cubes, which helps them to experience balance and gravity.

Once children stack the cubes sequentially, with the largest on the bottom all the way up to the smallest on the top, they may like to challenge themselves by stacking it blindfolded, or with a sand timer to see how quickly they can do it. There is also exploration with other materials in the classroom like the Brown Stair and the Red Rods. We have also played group games with the Pink Tower, scattering each of the cubes around the classroom and the children must retrieve them and build the tower in order. Another time 10 children each took one of the cubes and hid it behind their back and then each child had to place their cube on the tower in the correct sequence just by feeling it with their hands behind their back. So many fun ways to enjoy!

For older children who are beginning to think abstractly, an association can be made between the Pink Tower and the bead materials for squaring and cubing that is in both the Primary and the Elementary classrooms. It's association is considered indirect preparation for algebra.

All of this supports the development of the mathematical mind in children promoting visual discrimination, grading by size and indirectly preparing children for the decimal system and algebra! Wow!

Springtime in the Young Children's House

When it comes to the weather, many thoughts come to mind. It would be wonderful if the weather forecast could be accurate, even just for a couple of days. Before the winter season, there was much talk about the potential for significant snow accumulation this year. There was great hope after the snowfall in January, but now that it's March, perhaps not. The warmer weather has been delightful, and the idea of spring approaching is something we eagerly welcome. With spring comes rain, and rainy days can make outdoor activities a bit more challenging, especially with little children who are eager to move and run around. However, their enthusiasm remains undiminished.

 With the milder weather this winter season, young children have embraced the warmth and lived happily in the moment. Toddlers are brilliant at making the most of whatever blessings come their way, and they do so with boundless delight! =) The rain has been intermittent, and some days it floods our garden. Contrary to what adults might do, the young children seize the opportunity to explore the rain's accumulation. The toddlers geared up in their raincoats and boots, and of course, they have the time of their lives. They eagerly wade into the inviting scene of standing water, splashing gleefully as expected. After a prolonged period of splashing, they show no signs of tiring. They revel in the joy of puddle jumping, but their excitement reaches new heights when they discover a couple of mud puddles! While jumping in puddles is fun, jumping in muddy puddles is “most fun”!

 We understand that some parents are not fond of the mess and cleanup associated with puddles. However, take a moment and close your eyes.  Envision the laughter and glee, the big movements, and the sensory experiences. These moments are crucial for the young developing child. Though it may be challenging, it is necessary for young children to have these experiences. Observing young children in nature is incredibly fun, entertaining, heartwarming, and therapeutic. I often remind myself that if you want to witness pure love and joy, you need only look at the youngest children!

Reflections on Jesse McCarthy's Visit

For the last three weeks, the talk by Jesse McCarthy, who we hosted on January 18th, has been steeping in my brain like a pungent tea.  I thought that it might benefit all of us this week to return to what was said on that night.  I also wanted to share a few choice nuggets from the next morning, when during our snow-globe of a professional development day, our staff sat in the parent lounge and enjoyed a wide ranging discussion with our guest speaker.

I was glad to see so many elementary students in attendance at this talk!  Surely each of us hears and remembers things a bit differently.  What I present is a direct adaptation of my own notes from those two days, edited for clarity and adapted for this particular audience.  

• Jesse McCarthy's "Montessori conversion story" begins with the experience of bringing some adolescent students on a weeklong trip to Washington DC.  They saw history and art they had previously only heard about.  But what was it that these kids remembered best?  It was the time they were challenged to navigate the DC Metro on their own!  He realized he was guiding the children too much.  What they relished was the challenge.

• Montessori education is "education for life".  He does not mean this as in "you need to be ready" for middle school, high school, college, a career or whatever it is we think we need to prepare children for.  Rather, it is preparing them for a happy fulfilled life.

• Self discipline is important for all of us to cultivate--whether we are parents, teachers, or students.

• In a 1946 lecture in London, Maria Montessori said, "there is only one way up, and that is through our own efforts and our own conquests."  We must give the children what they need to struggle and journey towards success.  We should not spoon feed them.

• "Dependency breeds hostility".  Helping children cultivate independence will enhance our connection with our children.  Real connection comes from doing things that matter together.

• Our goals in Montessori education are long term.  This is not about being able to do such-n-such at age 5.  

• On a particular day, we may observe in a classroom and it seems chaotic, but it is the long term that matters.  There will be better and worse days, periods of lesser or greater progress.

• Acknowledging a child's emotions can go a long way when they are upset.  They do not need you to solve their problems, but it can be very helpful for you to say, "I know you are angry right now" or "yes, you sound like you were very disappointed."  Allow your children to be upset.  

• The way to teach a child to share is not to force them to share.  It is to model sharing behavior.

• It is very easy for us to enforce an adult moral framework on a child for whom it is inappropriate.  For example, a three your old not wanting to share their toy is not truly being selfish.  

• In general, we should all be less stressed, less guilty, and more patient with children.  If we have been parenting or teaching in a way that is counterproductive, let us not beat ourselves up about it.  Jesse McCarthy's maxim was, "no stress, no guilt, just chill."

• More screen time equals less concentration on the classroom and the natural world.  

• It is our interest in the screen that drives a child's interest in the screen.

• We will always need to be able to do real things with our hands, eyes, and ears.  What are some cool things each of us can do with our family in the real world where we are not on screens.

• If there is something we want a child to be able to do independently, ponder if it is too much for them at this point.  If it is, can they do it with you instead?  They may need some time of close collaboration with an adult before they can do something entirely independently.

• We should all cultivate adaptability--whether we are teachers, parents, or children.

I hope some part of these gnomic utterances has made you think today--there are some I have been pondering for a few weeks now!  If you couldn't make the talk, find a friend in the community who was there and get their take on it.