How We Can Help Our Children Be Successful At School

We all chose Montessori for a reason, right? Whatever that may be, we all must understand that Montessori is not quite the traditional way of learning as most of us have been used to attending schools. Montessori once said, 'Today, education (what is called education) is still largely the passing on information. It is static and stagnant. It fails its purpose if it remains on the same old level if it does not move with the needs of the time. The mere information imparted is nothing. It is the cultivation of the values hidden in the human personality that is important and urgently needed Today. The mere transmission of a greater amount of information is necessary... Education cannot do this as it is conceived and practiced Today... It is the study of man, the study of psychic man, the child, must be studied. ... This is our new task: to go and scientifically study this human energy from its beginning, from its conception, to scientifically study this energy as other energies in the world have been studied, from their origin, from their source and to aim at their application.'  

Montessori believed that the importance of education is not that the child learns and memorizes facts and information given to him so that he may be able to read, write, compute, and rehearse such information on his own but that the key is to understanding who that child is to be able to support him in reaching his full potential. So, with that being said, how do we go about this?

1) Independence: Giving the child the ability to be independent. Whether that is dressing up on his own, feeding himself on his own, making choices on his own, thinking and coming up with ideas on his own, or doing things on his own. This, of course, does not mean letting the child do anything and everything he wants to do no. However, this opportunity should be given to a child with thoughtful and careful guidance and consistent boundaries. Boundaries have consequences that everyone in your family will follow through with. An independent child feels confident enough to face his world, to own responsibility, and to pursue his interest given the opportunity. We need this critical trait to help our child create within himself.  

2) Self-Confidence: How do we give this to our child? Not just by giving him positive affirmations but by letting him be independent. When the child succeeds after failing or struggling to get there, there is nothing more than self-confidence that a child gains from going through that experience. Just imagine how much confidence a child has, knowing he can fully trust his abilities to tackle things independently. Again, this does not mean abandoning the child and letting him do anything alone. You can still give a little hand if or when he is frustrated and is about to give up. You can give him pointers and encouragement and share your calm demeanor and hugs if necessary. Your presence in being supportive, understanding, and cheering him on goes a long way. 

3) Encourage them to ask questions and feed on their curiosity: A curious child will want to learn. A child who has many questions wants to learn. How do we help foster this way of thinking? Not by bombarding them with information to learn but by sharing with them a little bit about their world or even a little bit about your world. Understand that whatever you are passionate about, if you are willing to share that with your child in the sense of helping them understand, your child will also be passionate about it. For example, you can not expect your child to be interested and want to read books or even do math problems if you do not have much care for it. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work that way. Do you want your child to be interested? Show him something you love or like even. When you share that energy, it only takes one domino to push the rest, and your child will keep going. His curiosity will only continue to blossom.  

4) Allowing your child space and time: This is crucial for both you and your child. Perhaps it is easier said than done, but it can be done. Most of the time, when we feel pressured with time, we rush ourselves and frustrate ourselves and give that same exact energy to our child as well. Then guess what happens? The child responds the same way as you do, and the pressure and frustration only become a cycle until it blows out as anger. The problematic issue in forming this into an everyday situation is that your child at this age cannot grasp the reasoning as to why you were feeling pressured and frustrated, no matter how much you try to explain it to him. He may be able to say it back to you and agree to what you say to him, but the brain of a young child cannot fully comprehend and reason yet. Make sure to allow yourself enough time to prepare and do what needs to be done to support your child when it is his turn to deal with his responsibilities.

5) Making sure your child gets good rest and is eating a healthy well, balanced meal: Reasonably, this should've been on the top of the list since no matter how much we work on the other ideas preceding this, if your child is not feeling well overall, we will not get far. Understand that the child is just like an adult. If we're not 100% feeling good, no matter how much we love what we do, it will still feel like a drag, and more than likely, we wouldn't want to deal with it. The only difference is as adults, we can still push ourselves with reasoning or feeling the responsibility; however, the child can not. The child is far more physically, emotionally, and mentally sensitive than us. Furthermore, he can't fully explain how he is feeling and what he is thinking. He may be able to tell you what he wants, i.e., I want to stay home, or I don't want to go to school, but other than that, he will respond according to what you offer as suggestions. Therefore, ensuring that our child is well-rested and healthy overall should be one of our top priorities daily. 

I hope you'll find these five guidelines helpful.

-Bumblebee Teacher