Freedom: The Opportunity to Act
If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a hundred times: Montessori just doesn’t have enough structure for my child.
I have to say: For many Montessori schools, I think this is true. The level of freedom the children experience is unchecked by the other needs children have. It is a misunderstood concept by many Montessori guides—and parents. But it is a necessary concept to understand, for the benefit of all children, not just the ones in a Montessori environment. This post begins a series about Freedom & Children’s Development. Freedom is such a complex idea, in the framework of parenting and guiding classrooms, that it requires more attention than one post can achieve.
Spoiler: It is within the context of Montessori classrooms that children gain the ability to balance the freedom they take with responsibility toward themselves, others, and their surroundings. There is structure in Montessori classrooms, at the individual, group, and community levels that supports the development of freedom and responsibility. This series shows how.
What is “freedom”?
Adults in our society tend to see freedom as a commodity. If I have power, I can restrict your opportunities to experience freedom. If we operate from this perspective, we will create a power dynamic with children, leaving them few alternatives for behavior:
· Fleeing—they hide from us, they avoid us; being alone is the state in which they experience the most freedom;
· Actively resisting us—by fighting against us, the child is able to either wear us down or get an emotional reaction. Either way, in the end, the child typically ends up achieving a bit of the freedom they were seeking (parent gives in or parent’s overreaction leads to guilt and compensation);
· Passively resisting us—they’ll complete the task, but it’s not done well or they’ll take a long time to do it. In both instances, they’ve gained a bit of control and freedom in how the task is done; and
· Collaboration—the child sacrifices their need for freedom (and control) in order to assuage the adult. The pleasers in our lives are demonstrating a need.
Let’s be honest: We are the adults in these children’s lives. We do have the power to grant and restrict their freedom, as we wish. What would happen if we stopped viewing freedom as a commodity? What if we started viewing it as a need?
When a newborn is swaddled most of the day and does not get the opportunity to experience their amazing innate reflexes, they are unable to ascertain their body’s relationship to the environment. It is through some of these accidental movements that infants learn that they can cause objects to move, they can create sounds, and so much more. But a consistently swaddled infant lacks the freedom to experience these effects. Their development can be delayed, and their reflexes may not be integrated, which can lead to many difficulties later in childhood.
With newborns, it is easy to see why freedom is necessary. They are an easy group to use as a metaphor. But freedom is just as necessary in older children. Their development, too, can be stifled, leading to problems that can be just as serious as those that infants develop.
Freedom is a need. We must provide our children with the opportunities to act upon their environments. There is so much to gain, in the context of freedom: Will, (self)discipline, responsibility. What opportunities can we create for children?
· For 0-3 year olds
o Do they have plenty of space for movement? If not, do they have plenty of time at playgrounds or open spaces, outside of the home?
o Do they have an environment that allows them to take themselves to bed when they are tired? A safe place to be, if they wake up and no one else is awake?
o Are they developing the language for expressing their needs? If they aren’t talking, are we giving them the language for their body parts? For emotions and feelings? If they are signing, signaling, or talking, are we listening and honoring their communication?
o Do they have furniture in their size? A table at which they can eat?
o What jobs are they able to help with at home? Taking plates to the sink? Matching socks? Placing clothes from the washer into the dryer?
o Is anything they should not have access to out of their reach and out of their line of sight?
· For 3-6 year olds
o Do they have a space in each room that is for them? In the kitchen, are there bowls at their level, so they can get their own cereal in the morning? Do they have a child-sized chair in the living room and books for them to read?
o Are there a variety of choices of activities, clearly arranged, at their height? Art, music, food preparation, cleaning, things to build with, child-sized real tools, books about animals and plants and humans?
o Are there unacceptable choices available to them? Move them up and out of their sight.
o Is there plenty of opportunity outside to run? To throw and catch? To pedal? To climb?
o What jobs can they help with? Setting the table? Putting away dishes? Sorting laundry? Folding laundry? Vacuuming?
· For 6-12 year olds
o Do they have time with friends?
o Are there opportunities for exploration and experimentation? Science experiments, kitchen experiments, art & craft experiments, musical experiments?
o Do they have choices about what to pack for lunch? What order they will accomplish tasks in? How they spend some of their time?
o Do they have opportunities to see plays? To visit libraries and museums? Trails and parks?
· For 12-18 year olds
o Do they have plenty of time to be alone? Do they have their own space?
o Are we supportive of their efforts to try out new things?
o Do they have plenty of opportunity to be with friends?
o Do they have the necessary tools to be able to create, in whatever way(s) they are focused on?
o Are we supporting them going on walks, bike rides, drives (safely)?
Upcoming in this series:
*Interrupting Freedom & Building Independence