Parenting Tips From Montessori

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I I tl The Children's Cottage

The critical years for developing atttiudes of self-worth are best enhancedby u learning environment that offers such opportunities for children in the home as well as in the school. Each child needs to progress at his own pace and style of learning through various stages. Encourage,but do not pressure,learning. Respectchildhood and know that certain achievementsmust be met before a child will be ready to move ahead. Becauseall aspectsof growth are interrelated, consider his intellectuaf physical, emotional and social development.

Consider the VTholeChild. author unknown

Tonight we will be discussing: A variety of things to lcrow about the preschool age child Discipline and setting llmits tearning styles fuven intelligences that a1lof us have Cognitive development of the presdrooler

A few things to understand about young children. They: 1. operatein the present time 2. areconcretein their thinking 3. have selectivememory 4. arenot abstractreasoners 5. absorb information at a non-verbal level, attending to tone first, content second 6. learn through interacting with their environment 7. internahze behaviors which they experience from significant people in their lives 8. are intent upon self-mastery 9. areinnately curious--you cannot stop thdm from leaming and adapting for better or worse 10. are one-on-onewith their environment. Language has not yet fully developed to mediate their perceptions of the world. 11. are not able to delay gratification for long and are aware of immediate consequencesof their behavior 12.require clear, consistentlimits in order to bring order to their chaotic perceptions of their world. Thuy searchfor rules. 1"3.thrive when their discoveriesand accomplishmentsand goals are taken seriously by adults 14.becometrustful when responded to with loving consistenry 15. develop independenceand initiative by experiencingtheir own competence 16. acquire self-confidencewith their emerging awarenessthat they can trust themselvesto take care of themselves.

A FEW TIPS . . . . To EncourageAutonomy 1. Let children make choices. "Are you in the mood for your grey pants today or your red pants?" 2. Show repect for a child's struggle. "A jat can be hard to open. Sometimesit helps if you tap the side of the lid with a spoon." 3. Do not ask too many questions. "Glad to seeyou. Welcome home." 4. Do not rush to answer questions. "That is an interesting question. What do you think?' 5. Encouragechildren to use sourcesoutside the home. "Maybe the pet shop owner would have a suggestion." 6. Do not take away hope. "So you're thinking of trying out for the play! That should be an experience." . . . . Instead of Punishment 1. Expressyour feelings strongly--without attacking hislher character "I'm furious that my new saw was left outside to rust in the railtl." 2. Stateyour expectations. "I expect my tools to be returned after they've been borrowed." 3. Show the child how to make amends. "What this saw needs is a little steel wool and a lot of elbow grease." 4. Give the child a choice. "You can borrow my tools and return them, or you can give up the privilege of using them. You decide." 5. Take action. Child; "\Atrhyis the tool box locked?" Father: "You tell me whv."

"Play" or Meaningful Activity or Montessorf s "wotV' It is through play (meaningful activity) that the child learns. learning is not imposed from without, but comes from within the child. This is abasic tenet of Montessori's philosophy. According to Silberman (cited by Erby), Piaget also believes that a child teacheshimself. "Piaget's most important contribution has been his demonstration that the child is the principal agent in his own education and mental development. . . . through an enormously complex and continuous process of interactionbetweeen the child and his environment that begins at birth. But the critical factor is the child's own activity in assimilatinghis experiences and accommodating to them." Erby continues, "Given the proper conditions, children prefer educating themselves to any other occupation. However, there is a distinctionbetween the work of an adutt and that of a child. An adult works to obtain some goal following the law of minum effort and to save detail. As he works he does not look for gain or for assisstance.He does not become weary with toil. The drilds work is that of producing the adult he will become." "Education is not something the teacher does . . . Individual activity is the one factor that stimulates and produces development. This is not more true for the little ones than it is for the junior, middle and upper-school children." -Maria Montessori

"Dolly's school would be better if they didn't have that ladyup front taling all the time."

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SAJq 'N gTH tH 6

Authors:Medication, TV arebadfor kids O INTO ALMOST any elementaryschool in Americajust before noon and you'll seea slowly moving line of children outside the main office. Ask and you'll be told thesechildren are waiting for their prelunch dosesof medicine- medicine that helpsthem sit still, pay attention and do their work. If this soundslike a children'svercion of "BraveNew World," in fact, Richmond,Va.,psychologist DavidSteinsaysit is. Stein is one of a small but growing number of mental health and medical professionals who are joining arms in the battle againstwhat is becoming known as the "diseasingof America's children." The term refers to the alarming rate at which American kids are being medicated for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder(ADD/ADHD),op- . ; positional defiant disorder (ODD) and the relative newcomer to the bunch, childhood bipolardisorder(CBD). Dr. Dave,as he is known bv the thousandsof parentswhobecamedisciplesafter reading his first book, "Ritalin Is Not the Answer,"has releasedvet anothersalvo in the medication wars, this one titled "Unraveling the ADD/ADHD Fiasco: SuccessfulParentingWithout Drugs" (AndrewsMcMeel, $14.eD. Dr. Daveis nothing if not an iconoclast,and his latestopus

Justone moreprogram. It took weeksfor the kids to completelydetox,following which they beganacting like children - curious,eagerto learn, imaginative,creative, . JOHN ROSEMOND cheerful and funny.It was a joy Affirmative Parenting and a revelationto watch them rediscoverthat which had been is nothing if not provocative. nothing more than all but lost. Most psychologistsand pediaIt hasbeen25 vearssince tricians truly believe get to through the Winnwarned of tfre effectsof ADD/ADHD is a biologically allowing childrento watchtelebaseddisease.Steinsays vision- any telwision, mind they've been taken in by bad you - and it is painfully wiresearchfundedby the compadent that if hervoice washeard nies that make the drugs kids in the wilderness,it was heard are taking. by few.The 'boob tube" hasnot Do the drugs work? In the only changedwhat it rpans to short term, yes;in the long be a child, it hasevenchanged haul, no. For the parent who the way a child's brain develwants nothing more than to get ops,how a child thinks and through the day without a maleams- and all for the wome. jor hassle,a drug is the ticket, TWenty-fiveyearshasbeen but five years of getting through the day is five yearsof classiccritique of the damage more than enoughtime to caltelevisionis doing to America's culate and catalogthe damage going nowherefast. televisionis doing to America's , foithe parenfwhdqredC*-' children. kids, families and culture, and get to somewherewithout The first edition, which my Winn has done exactlythaL In drugs, Stein has a parenting wife and I read in 1978. addition, she'saddeda broadplan for the ADD/ADHD child. brought about great and lasting side on the negativeeffectsof Called the CaregiverSkills Pro- changesin our family. Shortly early accessto computers. 'gram, it has garneredrave re- ' thereafteq,we unpluggedour views from hundredsof parWarning:Reading'The televisionand gaveit away. Plug-In Drug" could behazents who regularly visit and Our children, 10 and 6 at the participate on my Website: ardousto your family's present time, went throughclassic lifestvle. www.rosemond.com. withdrawal - obsessingabout Somebooks are merelyhelp- television,hatchingdevious fohn Rosemondis a fami$ psyfuI. Dr. Dave'sis full of help. plots to watch televisionat chologistin North CarolinsAnotherbook that hasreotherpeople'shouses,having Queshonsof generalintprest cently caught my attention is meltdownswhen their plots can be sentto him at PO.Box the long-awaitednew edition of were discoveredand thwarted, 4124,Gastnnia,NC 28054and "The Plug-In Drug" (Penguin and when all elsefailed, begthroughhb&b siteat Original,$14.00),Marie Winn's $ng to be allowedto watch www.rosemondcom.

Do the drugswork? In theshortterm, yes;in the long haul,nq.Forthe parentwho wants

daywithouta major hassle,a drugis the ticket,but five years of gettingthrough the dayis five years of goingnowhere fast.

America:,the land of fatandsugar ByMaryAliceDavis recenttyra_ TTqOD -SAFEry cheted up in the Top t0-Wor_

f-{ I ries,what with E. cbli threat_ eningthe nation'sbelovedburger supply of the array of {*ing in_ve1tqry modernanxietiei,we're stirrei to wonder:Will our food productskill us quickly(ethal formdof foodpoi_ sonin$ orslow$ (carcinogens, dho lesterol,etc)?Thenalongcomesan evenmoredisturbingquestion:Can what Americanchildrenare eating evenbe consideredfood?

@ cmrorenare coqsgming.the studv

'A highlyrefined

- Dr. to seewho canaddthe mostzugar and caffeine,giving the produ"cts ntrmesthat frankly stresstheir pri_ mary mission:Surge,Jolt, I(rank,,. erc.rne oldreconlmended pick-met1pdosgof Dr pepper"at tb, 2 and trere's 4" certamlyseemsquaintwhensucktheeguivalent of a six_pabi, ing to Dr. ..9 dooF physician rn ae gfiernoonis common. A recentNewyork Timesstoryl' health.% aboutthespeeddrinksphenomenon fattv diefi clreq.a.scnoot pnnopalwlo whobanncd, banned. fl:"9,1_'1T:l !1l1!ra, mengn-octane beverages fromcam:'' pus after studentsweit into a two_ fised gulpingbingethatIeftttreri.s6.':

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theynearly deshoyed fh9',

M?alq/hilq

suggesm,ls mainly_taL_4gd sugar. legesareenterin!into Pediatrics, the study says tde aver_ ageyo-uthqueriedin a telephonesur_ vey of eating h{itr ** letting 4t) percent of theday's energr sufply rrom sugar added to food and drink and from fal That's four times tbe recommendedlimit of I0 percent. The.averageAmerican eachyear con.sumesnearly 149 poundi of sugar and otler caloric sweeteners. (this excludes caloriefree srpeeter:r ers.qgh as gsp"g$m$, acotafiag 6l

_ "Nobody in the world could eat th€t much food," roared the father of two hardy sons whose ages put them somewherein "the voraci6us years."

,_,,o1oyT snuhavrngboubleimag_ ln{g-wnat a servingof vegetablJs lp$ ti}",g-thi",Hitf a cuf is one_ third of a Cokecan.a cup is trvothirG of a smallJolt-

why

Pets Are

Good

for

Kids byMarlme Stegel, D.VM.and KathrymKuok,author of Redirecting Children's Behal'ior ome of our fonclesr memories ()f being a chilcl are about pets. I remember dressing up ()ur patient cat for hours r)fl end, putting him in long baby cloll gowns ancl bonners. pers can be extremelv valuable to vour chilclren. They don't talk back like siblings cio ancl they clon't boss you arouncl like aciults do. Here are 10 gooci reasons why pets are goocl for kids. 1

2

3

Thev are there for your child unconclitionallv. lffhether vour child is in a good mood or a bad mood, that pet doesn't care. The per still makes itself available to be pettecl. carried, pia,veciwith and sometimes sat onl Thev are almost aiwavs available. With parents being so busy, somerimes chi.ldren come home to a parendess environment. A pet can make it feel iike the child is nor coming home to an empry house. Thev can provide hours ofhealrhy enrenainrnent and companionship forvour child. A per reaches responsibiliry. Responsibiliw may include feeding, bathing, medicating, prevenrative I'realth care, exercising, grooming ancl of course, cleaning up rheir MCSSCS.

4

Pers have a way abour them that unites the familv in a c<>mmonlove The lifb long iessons vour chilcl will lclrn inclutlc uiving anctrcceiving uncondirional ltlve. nunudng. and honorine all other lives.

6

Pets teach chilclren the cvcles ctf life ancl cleath. Often the flrst clearh a chilcl experiences is the death of a per.

7

Pets can be eclucational. The selec_ tion of a pet shoulcl include re.searchinro the personaliw. management, and the requirements necessarv for sustaining the pet. Ler your child assisrin rhe invcsrigerion of rhe pets naturel environ_ menr and diet. The librarv. inremer, locai veterinarians, ancl pet stores are good resources for gathering information.

8

9

Pets are similar in size or sometimes smaller than children. Thev are. therefore. a less rhreatening rhan looking up ar adults or older siblings all day. PeLsare excellent for shanng ar "show and tell." Volunteering with their pet at hospirds rrnd nr-rrsing homes is an exceilenr lvav to give back to vourcommuniv.

lO pets can provide a healthy arena for vour child to leam about spons_ manship ancl teamwork through group organpation like horse anci tlog sht-.,ws. For chil<Jrenin cides, aparrmen$ erc., popular pets now include luards, snakes, various repdles, birG, fish, ferrets, heclgehogs, and even frogs. Althr>ugh some of these may not give the tail wagging, warmfuzzylove, rhey do provide hours of fun and enioyment. Knowing comm()n problems specific for that species may help clecicie if that pet will be suited forvour householcl. T<-romany times people purchase per based on emotional whims without ful_ lv understancling the responsibilirv a.ss<;ciateclwith that panicular pet, Taking the time to properly research vour pet to be sure it fits into both vour familv's phvsicallife srvleand economic sirua_ . jr)n is iml)()rtant. An imprctper selectir>n could be ciis_ estrous. Cenain species are high meclical maintenance. For example, Sharpei clogs hal.e a high inciclence of eye. ear. ancl skin clisease.Iguanas often suffer lrom merabolic bone ciisease,asa result of inaclequate sunlight and calcium. A little research can save vour Fami_ly monev ancl heanaches. Pets teach our chilclren valuable life Iong lessons. TI-revprovicle aclciitional love, protection, and enjovment for our chilclren. Some of their hilarious antics zrrewell wonh taping ancl sending into the world most fiinniesr video program. Marlene Siegelis a Doctor o|Veterinary .lledicine. Sbebas a pritate practice in ltttz, Florida limited to vull animak/exotics. Attcl in addition. sbeis a cenified instructor of the "Redirecting Cbildrm's Behauior,'parenting couTse. Knthryn Kuok is tbepresidmt of the Inteftailonal Network for Cbildren awt Families. Sbeis also an inteftMtional speaker ard the autbor oftbe book an^dcourse :,

I

I{AVE Ycu V'S'TEP

evR ' 'RE€ENIEIL-!F,' wwwm-On1s5soriiory Our newe.mail addr€ss is unr:[email protected].

Bedfime Wifhouta BattJe by JaneBluestein,Ph.D. What's bedtime like at your house? Do vou dread your child's reaction when you annotmce it's time to put on pajarrras?Are your evenings disrupted by his resistance to spending an entj.le night in his own bed? While bedtime precipitates conflicts*if not actual crises inmanyhouse" holds, I have found several parents r,r'ith young children (age 7 or younger) who report hat'ing few bedtime problems. The secretforthem was sefting and maintaining consistmt routines and clear boundaries. One of the parents I spoke with, Anna, is the mother of a six-year-old daughter.

She told me how she was able to change some of the bad bedtime habits she had created early on in her parenting careet 'nWren I was little, bedtime was a hit-ormiss thing. Sometimes someone was there, but most of the time we just dropped in our tracks when we got tired enough. Therefore, I had no idea how to "do" bedtime when Amy was born. She leamed quickly that if she fussed enough, l'd pretty much let her do whatever she wanted. Sometimesit was no big deal- But there were times when I really needed my evenings to make a call, get some work done, read, watch TV, orjustbe alone, and

Gattins tue tu Mt KeEptttc rautinefatly corsbtent, htt ffi clnirzs aboutlittle parts af tlu routines.For exantpk,lsu wigl* let yaur child choo* hisoatn washcloth,which story shewantsyat ta readto hn or which pajamashezoantsto rseor. Establisha routine and stickto it- Bedtimeitilali tttight includc bathiflg,blnshing teeth,putting an pnjanas,reading,saying ?royers, snugglingnnd caddling, talking about the iby, ar naking plans for tomofisuJ. Discussroutines,tties andlimits, md.any changesbfu, ttwy rccurWhenyour childrenbroatahmdof thnewhah erpeet,thq ate muehbetts prqared to eoop*ate. Keepit simple.lf your childten nrenot uxd to a Mtime routine, start of with oneol tuo rifuals rnd granuaily inctew fin eomplexity. Bepreparedto dtangeroutinesasyour chMren WcomeoWi ana moreindqedilent. Besureto start ear$ enoughta allotpthnefot thc wholewutineKeq bedtine (and tlu time childrett startgettkg ready bed|the for sflm&exctptfor rareanil spcial ocssins. Iilany parntts report tlwt varticipating in firc routine with tlstr childrat not anty helpslcep thechildrenon tosk,but atgpaltmpsfor oaluabletfuu for shaing and interdcting. Idf,keit clearfomtle start thatyour chlldrenhmetheiroumfuds and ydo yoa- AII of theparentsinte,vimtd strongly tecommiled rc! alloaingyoar chil*en to slep withyon. Abooeall, cmsistmq is thcrule. gfifuen Imrn newfuhnoisrswt ffi tlwir parentsrequcstthemelearlyanitfotlwt through consistaztty. REPoRTER 9?

Winter 199?, !bl. )Oil. l{o. a

she wouldn't budge-" Anna and Amy got into some rather intense power struggles until Anna reallzed how her inconsistency and lack of boundaries were creating ano-r,r'in situation for them both. Armed with a commibnent- and a fer,r'new skilb-from a rccent parenting class, Anna initiated a simple, new bedtime routine. Amy was to put on her pajamas, brush her teeth, and get into bed on her own. Knowing thatAmy loved being read to, Arrna promised her a sbory as long as she was in bed by 7:45. After that time, she was willing to tuck Amy in and kiss her goodnight, but the storywould have to wait r:ntilnext time. Anna also said that she was planning to watch a specialshorvat 8:00and would be unavailable for the rest of the everting A:nv could stay up if she wanted, as long as she stayed in her room. Anna announced bedtime at 7:30 and gave Amy a five.minute waming ten minutes later. "Of course," Anna reports, "Asrywas still up and inherclothes,playing in her room at five hll eight. I wmt in, kissed her goodnight, and went down to watch my show." Ten minutes lateq,Amy had changed clothes, brushed her teeth, and was inbed ready for her storv. "It was agonizing listening to her call me. I felt iike a real monster refusing to go up and read to her. I sat in my chair with my fingemails dug into the upholstery to keep myself from going up. I was so upset that I barely re. member r,r'hatwas or, tt e TV, but I foiced myself to stay there." The follon'ing evering, Anna repeated the procedure with similar results. Bv the third night, Amy managed to ger in bed in time forherstory. Only throughAnna,s consistencv,and her willingness to follow through on the boundaries she set, has Amy become more independent and selfmanaging at bed time. " I har.e to stav arvare of the time and be willing to go in and rcad even tvhen I'm exhausted or in a bad mood. There are a lot of nights it would be easier to just not bother. But I knovr' her improvement at bedtime is on-lv

as good as my consistency. Besides, this hetped the child feel even morc safe. A time togetherhasbecome one of the most mother in Chicago followed a ritual for special and important parts of our day-,, several weeks which included sweeping Another couple confessed that their the monsters out of the closet and into the three'year-old son refused to er,'enstay in Barage for the night. his room, often ending up sleeping on-the John and Elena, parents of four chilcouch, in the hall, or in their bed. I asked dren under ten, decided their children Tami Gerrard, president of fthool Str-rff could choose their own bedtimes. Thev in Denver and.rnother
PressuredLearnitg DoesNot Work by faneRust Signpostedin the rear windoutof a mini-oan with an infantseatclearlyaisible-"Fttture Physiciston Board." abottt Fiaeymr old Susanis highly concerned doingher work to perfection.An error toill bing on lrystericsthot mny last thirty miruie; Susan showslittle naturalability with numbersandfew problemsolaingskills. Her parentsreferto heras their "little math genius" anil haaedecidedthnt shewiII bea medicaldoctorsomeday. Eight yearold Peteris requiredto practieehis soccerskillsforahalf houreoerymorningwithhis father, He wiII alsospendat leasttroohourspracticing eueryeaening. Whenaskedwhy he practicesso much,he responds,"My father says I else." haae to be better thaneoeryone

predictabletwes of personality traits. The most corrunontrart ot tneseparents$ tnalQ! extreme

ittle ambition in his own life. The the child. In thi to be moie interested in hievement than in artistic or parents

complish his achievement. This parent wants

jobs or homemaking and child-rearing through their children'sparticipation in sports or in other competition" (Miseducation,p 37). this viewpoint, the parent is easily drawn into This attitude leads to the general demise of the theoriesof early learning and IQ enhance- childhood play. tn his book The DisaPPearance of Childhood, Neil Postman says/ ment,but@ seewhat is best for his child. hegls maga- "Children's games,in a phrase,are an endanZine made the observationthat this parent is geredspecies"(p.S).In this way eventhe es"often misled by the promise of early reading. cape into play is denied to a pressuredchild. Play is seriousbusiness.Gamesarenot for fun, are not deve The materi- but to be won. The oneswho do not win are menta failures. The parent who is living vicariously through his child seeshimself as a failure if the child is seenas a failure. Pressurewill be great to avoid this imagined failure. a "super kid," usually in academics.He views

"TheAmericanchildhasbecome thc tmwilling, stressbornof unintendedoictim of ozteruthelming rapid, bewilderingsocialchangeand constantly frit-o-FeTabest no mitter what the cost, but Why PressuredLeaming Does Not Work or esteem, rising expectations.Children,thesedays,areun- notfor thechild'sdevelopment Pressuringa child to perform at an accelerder extraordinarypressltreto achieae,to succeed, for his own. ated level rarely createsthe successfulindito please."(Youngs,p. 27). vidual that the parents envision. -Pressuring does not work. It does not allow the GT oossessionand a status The Orieins of Pressure Childhood is disappearing from theAmeri- ThE image the child projects must be one of can culture. It is no longer a time for play and first-class,top of the line. Elkind notes,"Much a fun, but is insteadtreated as seriousbusiness. pressurecontemporary parents feel with re- fian". ffre *iaetv accept"a all have staeesor levels that each spectto dressingchildren in designerclothes, teaching young children academics,and giving them instruction in sports derives directly fromtheir needto usetheir children to impress Elkind calls thesechildren "hurried." Others others with their economic surplus" call them "super kids." Whatever label is ap- (Miseducation,p.77). Elkind alsowrites, "Inthinktroducing preschool children to sports like plied, they are pressured. Preswill Anv areais open to pressuredachievement, skiing is in part symbolic. The small child waddling about in ski boots that take up a third of his or her total weight is making a tellect. JaneHealy writes, "Well-intentioned statementfor his parent. The statementis one parents may unwittingly short-circuit the sivelv done bv the parents. It starts at an earlv not only of conspicuousconsumption, but also pathways to skill development by forcing aFe, sometrmesat birth or even before. and of conspicuousconcern:'How concemedwe learning" (p. 26). It hasbeen found that these continues until the child can take no more and are that our child get a head start, that he be forced skills are limited in their value. Requits. Parentswho oressuretheir children do so in order to fulfill needsin their own lives. Thev maintain that they only want what is best for The early learner also tends to exhibit the child. They want them to be successful if any,of his ac- marked decreasesin later learning ability and for that they need a head start, a jump on the others. c6mplishments will be good enough for long. while his slower peers will eventually catch In up and pass him. One long term study on reading skills found that the child who started navenoamearlier has an initial advantageon the reading testsusedto assesspupil progress,this advantage disappearedby the time the children were

[f

Rreonrrnsz

Fall 1997, VoI. )Oil, No. 3

in gradefour (Elkind, Hurried ,p.34).Another study showed, that pressured children who increasedin IQ dramatically during the first all normal

lna

before it is child can damage the still forming brain. Healy puts it this way, "It is possibleto force skills by intensive instruction, but this may cause the child to use immature, inappropriate neural networks and distort the natural growth process. Trying to speed leaming over unfinished neuron systems might be somewhat akin to racing a limousine over a narrow path in the woods. You can do it, but neither the car nor the path end up in very good shape! Moreover, the pressure which surroundssuchlearningsifuationsmay leavepermanent emotional debris. (Healy) "There is an order in which leaming is programmed to take place;while it canbe encouraged,it need not be forced" (Gardner,p. 24). If the area of achievementis physical, such as dance or sports, the child will likely suffer injury that will prevent any serious future participation. If the injury is not physical, it will be mental. @apressured child *iusintplyffi _:F=t+While pressuredIeaming ultimately does not work, the pressuredchild will attempt to

Children must not be rushed. Pressureto

pressured

doesnot work. Ronald Gotz stated, "The child will learn only when he is developmentally ready. He will learn only what is appropriate to his state of development" (Healy,p. 69).

ment oriented ways tend to be unable to think for themselves and have little regard for their own ability to choose. Thesechildren alsotend to suffer "bum out" when emotionallv thev cannot continue on the path they have b"en The Effects of Pressure traveling. They might reach a point where Attempting to acceleratea child's develop- they refuse to play the game or practice and no one is going to make them do it. This will occur as the child ages and begins to rebel agairst the pressureand the people who do slow to be the pressuring. ured Children who have beenhurried carry scars The from the trauma of losing the natural time of development. Childhood is a vitally imporsleep disturbances,fear of failure, addiction tant time. It must never be considerei *uit"d to television, depression,a senseof useless- time. The child is growing and learning acness,alienation from parents, general arxiety cording to inner leadings. No one can change and stress,and stubbornness.The child may these leadings. To deny them is to deny the also refuse to be pushed anyrnore and may child a part of his life. "make leaming or not leaming his particular barricade" (Roiphe,p. 191).The later problems The MontessoriMethod: A Non-PressureApinclude all of these(depression,stressand the proach to Education behavior they produce are especially long lastYoung children can be successfully taught ing) plus "pseudo independence" results without pressure and the damage it causes. when the "child must deny his legitimate deMethod was set up to teach pendency needs becauseself-sufficiencyhas without t works wfifeach child as been expected too early" (Maynard, p. tZZ- an individ 124)).Other are a lack of loyaltv or sensitive commitment to ner directives." The Mq4tessori classroom nal activitv and suicide. child

sex and the use of drugs. . Marie Winn writes, "The diminished emphasis on fantasy and

i Method does not advocate

learning. MaritTl6friffit

play and imaginative activities in early childhood education and the increased focus on early academic-skillacquisition have helped na to changechildhood from a play-centeredtime of life to one more closely resembling the style of adulthood' purposeiul, successlcentered, teract in a abilities. competitive. The likelihood is that these preschool'workers' will not metamorphoseback The children also develop true independenEe, into players when they on to grade as opposed to "pseudo independence," be-ou"is surely one of cause their dependence is not denied, school. This decline in play but the reasonswhy so many teacherstoday comment that their third or fourth graders act like tired businessmeninsteadof like children" (p. 8 1 ). assistance of lessons and ma "ftggqgred children suffer from diminished social skills. Becaus@. ffi.r-.ty expected tb be 'ahead, of tireir peers in intellectual or social skills, they are often competitive and egocenfricin theiipeer relationships"(Elkind, Hurried. p. 140).,,They are often seenas rude and ill-mannered, but uct that is im in reality they do not know how to treat people or get along with them. Thesechildren are is on the ch-ildand his work, not the teacheror regardedas "badly brought up" (p. 141). the schedule. Montessori recognizedthe imChildren who were pushed in physical ar- portance of a pressurefree environment, She eas may also have health problems such as ith children, adults joint or bone trauma. It is likely that these children will be "overly dependent upon adults for guidance and direction" and that their senseof autonomy will be lessened" (Elkind, Miseducation,p.114). Children who Becauseof this are coachedor instructed in formal, achieve- view, adults Rrponrrn 97

Fall 1997, Vol. )O(I, No. 3

empqv that is to be filled through their own efforts, as something inert and helpless for which they must do everything as something Iacking an inner guide and in constant need of direction. In conclusion we may say that the adult looks upon himself asthe child's cre. ator and judges the child's action as good or bad from the viewpoint of his own relations with the child. The adult makes himself the touchstone of what is good and evil in the child. He is in-fallible, the model upon which the child must be molded. Any deviation on the child's part from adult ways is regarded as an evil which the adult hastens to correct. ,{n adult who acts in this wav, even thoueh he maybe convincedthat he is filled with zeal, love, and a spirit of sacrifice on behalf of his child, ressesthe ment of the child's own personality,, (Montessori,p. 15).This is a good description of the modem parent who is prone to pushing and rushing his child. Montessori felt this type

of parentingcouldbring about',seriouspjy. i chic disturbancesthat have their origin inj

tem is the fact that it does not pressure and the normalization process can free the child from many of these psychic disturbances. In conclusiory it is clear that undue pressure to excel or perform does not benefit the child. It servesonly to fulfill some need of the parent. His attempts to satisfy this need leads to misguided parenting. A study by Burton White shows that, "Inbringingup healthy,cre. ative and self-assuredyoungsters, the amount of time and money spentby parents is not the important thing. What matters is how the

St. Martin's Press,New

is number one in significance (Brown, p. 173).

pany, Inc., Reading Massachusetts,19E8. Elkind, David. Miseducation: prcschoolersat Risk.Alfred A, Knopf, Inc.,New Yorlg 1989. Gardner, Howard Toronto: Little, Brown ana Company, f'e8i. Glove, fohn A. A Paren{s Guide to Intelligmce Tsting. HoJv !g llelp Your Children,s Intelletual Dwelopmmt. ilelson HalL Chicagq 1979. Gotz, Ronald E. M.D., ph.D. and BarbaraA. Gotz, M.D. caring for Your Unbom Child. Briarcliff Manot New york: Stein and DaylPublishero/Scarborough Hotse, tW. Healy, fane M., Ph.D. Your Child's crowing Mind. Gaden City, New York Dciubtedayand Corrpany,tttc.,:'91Z. Marzollo, Jeanand ElizabethSulzby ph.1i.,r,jtents l,fagazine. July 1988,Column 63,Number 7. Maynard, Fredelle.Pmnts Maguine. April 1989,Volume64, Nmber4McCall, Robe* B., PILD. palents Magazine. Decenber 19gg, Volume 63,Number 12. Montessori,Maria. TheSecrctof Childhood. BallantineBook, New York,1956. Postman,Nei!. The Disppearance of Childhood. Delacorte Press/New York 1982.

lane Rustis Montessoricertiftedin Eartv Chi6hood.

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Same asfigureI except the pencilis heldperpendicular totable.

Incorrect Thum.b andindexfingerhotding penci.l, withtheindeifinser overlapping thethumb.-

7. Index, middle andringfinger tipsholdonesideofpincil,the thumbholdsrheothei.

l0.lndexfingerholdspencilro middle finger, wirlrihe0rumb overlapping theindexfinger,

Pencilheldb.vtipsoffingers. Thumb ononeside,mid-dle andindexfingerontheother,

6. Thumb rapsaroundpencil, withrheindexandrniddle finsers pressing pencilroringfinger.-

Thumbononeside, indexandmiddlefinsers ontheoilrer,all presiing thepencilto ringfinger.

8, Pencilis heldbenpeen theindexandmiddlefinsers. pressing pencilrothethrimb.

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Sun at the rnjddle line; go left around, down to the bottom line, around and ,A rrp to the beginning;close;retracr LtL dovm,and suringup. [Around, down, up, down, urd a monkcy tail.l

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Stait at the mjddleline;slantdownto the bottomline,andswingup. tvtake a dot abovethe letter. [Down,anda monkeytail. Add a dot.J

Srarrat the middleline; stantdownbalf ,,' a linebelowthebottomline;hookto Start at the top line;slant down to the f theleft. Makea dot abovetheletter. bottomline;gorightaround,up to the \J IDown,anda fishhookunderwater. middleline;curveleft andclose. Add a dot.l down, around, up into a $ltgnstart, tumrny.J start at the rop rine;srantdown to the

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to the bottom line, andsvringup. [High stan, down, up, srnalltummy, ud a monkeytail.J

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start at the top line; slantdown to the line,and swingup' l-o-l':t IHighstart,down,utd a monkeytail.]

Starta little belowthe middleline; go , up to the fiiddle line;go lefr around, '' down halfway;tbengo right around, downto the bottomline;curveleft and stop. start' ardundleft, anda snake [r:1"

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Startat tbe middleline;go left around, vI dowato the bottom line, aroundup to *, top line; retracedowa,andswing ,t/ start at the middteline; srantdown to ) the bottom line; retiaceup to the mid{*,r9" dle line;makea hump to the right; fAround,down,up high,down,and a noakey tai!.] .-^ _ slantdown to tbe bottornline; retrace tfTLup;make anotherhump to the right; Startbetweenthe middleurd bottom slantdown to the bottom line, and Enes;curveright up to the middleline; swingup. l/ left around, down to the bottom {F lDoim, up,bump, hunp, anda mon. - ine;e.rrvr rigirt rnd rtop. U ls.y ra!.] lCurre up, around,down,up, and scp.l i:irebottom line; retracre up to the mid- ltJ,/ Ser: a [rJe belowthe top liae;go up lhe;make a hump to the right; I" n r - to tbe top line;go left arpund,slant y,_1_"1 to the bottom line, urd " to the bottom line. Makea $nng uP. -adosnr ciossbar on the middle line. + [Dorn, up, hump,anda monkeytait.] t :Ctri.ed irigh stan, arou:rd,down. eoss-j start atthemiddle rine;so reftaround, .

Startar the middleline;shnt down to the bottom line; retraceup; aake a hump to the right, andstop. [Do"m, up, anda roof.]

start at the middteline; slantdown ro the bottomline;curveright;slantup line;retraeedown,and ,:rff#:dle [Oown,over,up, down,anda monkey tail.l Stan at the middleline;slantright down to the bottom line; slantright up to tfremiaae Une. [slant right down,slantright up.]

sran at.Jre middre rine: stant down to ,, , ,*il|,H illlx*t:Ht-:,ru"

n Sart at the middleline;goleft around, U dcwa to the bottom line, aroundup ts i.h€middieline; close;retracedown, fi d. gohalf a iine belowthe bottom j iice;book to the left. r :*=:nc, dowu, up, down,anda !ishif) asck.=rier water.l f '

Startat tha top liae; slantdown to tire -Dottomline; retraceup haifway; .l_ *.*e a !:umpto the righr,andswing

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the bcttom line, aroundand f*t:: up to the beginning;close. [Around,down,up, aadclose.J Start at the middle line; slant donm half a line below the bottom line; re. trae up; go right around,down to the bottom line, and close. [Down under water, up, around, and a tummy.] Start at the middle line;go left around, down to the bottom line, around and up to the beginning;close;retrace down, and 9o half a line below the bottom line;hook to the right. [Around, down, up, down, and a backward fishhook under water.]

tothe middlelin ,r"o".. down;curve rigbt; slantup to the middleline. [Down, o"rr, up, down,over,up.]

Startat the middteline; slantright

)d' fi:r:$nt:|rTff'.1m,!. [Slant down and a monkeytail. Cross with a siant']

Start at the rniddle line; slant down to the bottom line;curve right; slant up to the middle line; retracedown, and ,, , 'Ll no half a line below the bottom line; v Hook to the left. [Dovm, over, up, down under water, and a fishhook.J

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tJ ttt\ :rsoberi'g fact:DespitecheetTortsof educarorsover Berhesda, MD,:rnd conductedbv cheNarionalReaclingpa'el, I I the last25 years'o'e-third of our country's for-rrth-graders conclude<J that a combinarion of rhe rrvo c;tu'rrc'ad'This was revealedin the 20()0 National is che icreal Asseisrne,rr fo, ,u...rrtli-;;;;;;"rr.uction 'rethods "nd*perhaps rmpor_ canc_rhar chldren,iho,," taught phonics 'rore :"*;t|lff:T*"ffi:(*l;

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rnechanical clrills, which thcy said resuited in dull, word-bv.,vord relcling that tatrght childrcn how co sound our words br.rt nurde their reading lessf-luenrand, sonte argr.red, lcsstun. Over the rrext 50 years, cducators tlip-flopped berween advocaring phonics :rnd chauipioninq I variety of orher approaches that relcting for ureauing-Srartiltg in rhe '-10s,for c'xarnertrph:rsized ple, one of thc nrost popr-rlarr.nethodsof reading insrr uction rvrs the "look-say" approach,in r,vhichkids were raught ro menlorize u'ords bv sight, r.rsingrcpetition-based rnaterialssr.rchas tlash carclsancl D i ck u il Jat rc-stvlc'prinrers. Afcer R.rrdolf Flcsch clescribedthe faiiure oilook-sav in i.ris I955 book, ll'hyJolrtttr1, Catr't Ranl,phonics stlged:r conrebeck. Bur in che carlv '70s.a new theory enrerged:whole language.in rvhich enjovnrcnr of lirerature is rhe rnain soal. The nlerhod, n'hich encorrmgesstuclertrsco gletn nrcaning fronr contett ;rncl iliustrationsand ro skip over irnfamiliar words, bccame so popul;rr that in t 987 the statc of Californir rewrore icslanguage-.rrrs curriculum to nrandatervhole-languageinsrruction. For che last 15 or so years,reachershave rended toward rvirole langr-rage. teaching phonetic elcmerrrsonlv as thcv conrc up irr text. lJut proponcnrs of r.vholclangulge ran inro troublc wlren str.rdicsshowed rhat Califbrnia's reading resr scores had plurnrttcteclunder that approach. In i 996, che pendulunr srvung rgain, lnd Calitbrnia overhauled irs curriculurn, this tirle ',vith explicit phonics requirer.nenrs.Stateslike North Carolina and Ohiorv irich had also rdoptcd whol e-lenguagc programs-follo',ved

sr.rit,lnd now wirh rhe Nrtional lleading panel studv,schools nationrvide lre prin'red to shift toward phonics-first instruction, :-'-:.- "

7=,,..,.3.,i.::li-: :_.i-,ll- l-_: Thor-rgh nrnv see phonics asold-flrshioncd, todav's instruction rs nothing Iike rhar of our parencs'gencrarion."'We'rc not ralk_ ing :rbout having kids hunched over workbooks," savsLouisa Moacs, Ph.D., a reading expcrr who helped Cllifornia rervork its curriculurn. "The shift conres borh in horv rve'rc telching phonics-n-rore Jcrivelv, using glmes anclsongs-:rnd ivhen." While she and other experrs stressthar rherc'.sno "one sizc fits all" rnethod, rhey do rc-cornmenclrhlr teachcrsgive kids :r bigger dose of phonics up fionc. This becorles rl-rc;rnchor tbr l balanced rcading progranr. "Contrarv to rhe clainrsof ,"vholclar-rguage propollenrs.phonics docsn'cinhibit relc.lingflucncv or rednce r child\ love of books," Dr. Moars savs."ln ilct, wc tincl rhe opposite. rhat a skilled reader is nrore able ro enjov reacling." "Phonics today is nruch nrore intornred than rhe phonics bi vesrcrdav"egreesLucy Calkins, Ph.l)., direcror of rhc l{elc,ling and'Writing Project at Columbia Universitv'.s TeachersCollcge. ''Wc no longer ccach lccters ;rnd sounds in isoi:trion." Ncrr, .rpproachesshow kids how ro recognizc blends. plrrerns, rnd word farnilics rnd #DJ l:r:l"li.-:-

terch thc'r ro be ;rcrive.rc'sourccrirl fd

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00 aiphabet lnd also have lessonsdesigned to raise awarenessof rhe sounds in*words: rhyming, clapping our rhe syilables in a word.while speaking it out loud, and Dreaktng words apart into chunks of

sound and then putting chem back together (/t/ + /ain/ = fain). For first- and second_graders, phonics now invoivesmore rhan merelyieft_to_ righr_decoding,Dr. Calkins says.,.We want kids ro come ar a new word from all a:Cl:s, so we help thern iearn to recog_

nize base words, sound patterns, and prefixes.,,A lesson on the op sound, for example, starts offi.rrrodu"lr,g ro simple .wnvl,.li{r,/urarndpup "nlaren alcf nlen moves o.r ro-prograrsively hard_

found on cheir spelling hsts,use thenr in a sentence,and then list othe, *ords thev know with che same sound. ', i:i3.lai-ra :ri-1, :-:l_l i_j3ti( -;i-i Afer decades of debadng the pros .rnci cons,ofwhole language and phonics.,,vc now know that children need a balanceo[ both ro learn co read. They need ro make sound-letter correspondences to decode word structure and nrust have access to

level_appropriate books ofall genres. And there'sone more thing that rnrt.rl'IiLrence in kids, readin_g success: cimesp,

er wordssuchasoperator ..rsi;-;;'*"*i'P-e-4j-r-e-as!krg'tsF-grwrfh=f rulifl'*tb^ and,opp"ririor.ilrrIrri; ,n",, incorpo_ raterhesoundin classreading,rd;;r;;;;;

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*.iri.rg ir-orr. ofthe mosr _opportunitjes,since rlgorous forms ofpuning phonicsi.rro pr".ii... Good phonics homework assignmentsask students,i-*ri*..", the words

STE'HANIE HUNT isa freelancewriterin Ch".l";;;;; livesr.vithher husbancl and threedaughters.

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But when such rnistakes persisf or new onesarise, parbnts maywonderwhether their chill's language. development is "on track," Throughout my career as a Speechl,anguage Pathologist (SLP), parents have repeatedly expressed certain concerns: Is my child's speecManguage behavior normal?'What should I e.1p99t from my child'at this stage a.;3oi"e ment? Should I taLe await-and-see ipproach or seek professional assistSoc:5? This article will help you answer some of these guestions about your."iJvin child; by diicussing the five basii jf& cesses of speech and language_skills: articulation, Ianguage, fluency, voice, and listenirg larrrditory processing, .

Anticirlitidn,is the., abiliqr to'spea^k dearly and inte[igibly. It is normal for a child to go through a process of trial and error before their articulatiorr slcills emerge and mature (e.g., saying "wed" for'red,? "diddy" for"kitty," and "cah" for."car'). Sowhat shouldyou do ifyou obse#C such behaviors? Ilere are some thinpto keepir min& :

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problems, such as hearing loss and cleft palate.. . Tbe numtrer of aunZa in crror. The rnore speech soun& your child has 'difficdlty with, the more likely it is tn", .5. will be a candidate for speqch therapy. One way to judge this is to observe hovl intelligible or easily understoodyour child is to aperson who doesnt know her. The more speech sornds that are in.error, the more likely it is thatyour child will be misunderstood. Resist the temptation to forceyour child to say a word correctly. Rather than sa$ng, "No, doo't say that, say simply model the correcr pro-" duction for him after he makeS'an error; by repeating his senienci but saying it correctly. Cbildren need repeated exposure and awareness of speech sounds through watching, listening and feeling how,iertain sounds feel in the mouth. Your eoal at rhis stage is basic awareo."", oJ, o"r:. .-t : ^1 ", fecprodnctioni ':. ::

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Behaviors you might see in a child with language difficulqr include incorrect gramrnar ("Me qated apple);'iising an improper na.ure for a concept (e.g. a,llilg a horse a cow), or''ramb-ling- (a Iistener can tell the child'ii'talking'itr sentences but finds it difficult to make sense bf what the,i:hild.means). It is normal for a child t6 make such Bnam-

varieqz of enriching experiences from infancy onward.- opportunities to play with toys and other objects, to listen stories and songs, topla;rgames (ma"keupyour'own), and to interact with people iather than television or d1s 6qmiuter. Everyday tasks are opportunities to learn, so talk, talL., talk rroo r"a .aoorrd rrou: ho* "booe*h"t things feel"rhat they do, how-they ale used, :nd their physical attributes-size, color, shape, etc. . Remember that comprehension of a concept (receptive language) will always &velop, before expressive language.,So;, ifyoir. :want your child to #ord %allrii he will,firsi,have "ay'the todevdop a.nsunderstanding ofwhata and 'bd[.is"drrough.sb-eing;touching balls; pldyi"gjdth '. ..i .. i - . r , =, : , , , . ., ;j '. . : , , , , . . : . ,

':

lems in chil&enisvocal nodules. (Some toddler ftirth to 2years, 9 months) is .,'| people referto them as ',screamer'snod, , in need of early intervention fol a ules.) Theie are small bumpd that de; signifi cant developmental speecf,de- . velop on the vocal cords wfien.their.,re :, lay, phone this prograrn, *hi"h p*I stressedwithexcessivescreaming, shlut_,,, vides intervention forall kiir& ing oi loud tqlking. Vocal nodJs make cial needs. Santa Clara County "f"""_ (SOO) the voice sound hoarse and/or breathv. 'l ,404-590A "r No. Sania Cruz (8gl) While it! narural f"" '462-1274. to iioit In Crcntra C.."t" "hild , or use her voice in a loud" manner, espe_ .,jy-glenizcFe+" "o,roti., c_48F4(800)_ _ceU..e! cially during play, the kev is th. 28L-3U23, canprovidereferalstoap"rrroiot l fu: the vocal cords are stressed by -l :f propriate services.In Al"-edac""t ty, I these behaviors. the Family Resource Netwbrk, (510) . Ifyourchild's behavior and voice fits . ': M 7 - T S 2 2 , c a m p r o vi d e r e fe r a l s.' this desci.iptior:. l:e first step is to ta-ke . Euiiic acboola. {.Jnderthe Indiviouals hin to'an e+r,'oo". aid throJlipecialist Wiih Disabilities Act, eligible chil(ENT) for''lrn evaluation of the vocal dren ages 5 to 21 can get.speectt/ cords. If vocal nodules *. d;;J l4ngqege therapy. in public schools. the ENT may recoruneod ,,rrJcal ru_ j A prieatc Spezb-Innguagc Patlolomoval. Regardless ofwhether srirgery i" -jE-a*Youcan-pieTe;Js-fr;AlE; performed, the next step should:bJ to American Speech-Language Hearing contact a Speech-L,anguagepathologist ' Association, (800) 558-8255. a tor a vocal hy$ene program" designed Katberine L. tlIartin, &[.5., it a certi/iz) to elrmrnateorchange the behaviorsthat Patbotogi^ttanl author o/ caused the vocal nodules. Ifthe behav_ Speecb-Language fbebookDoes .&V Child Have a Speech ior is't cha"nged, the nodules will !9ep Problem? (CbicagoRzoiewPrud, 800-8E8comingback. 4741, I99Z 816.95). Comments? Dmail Follow these steps for better vocal , [email protected], hygrene: . Ifyour child is suffering &om an up_ per respiiatory infectionor cold, teiporarily reduce or avoid intake of chocolate add milk products, espe_ cially if.the cLild is recov.ring Flm vocal lodules. (Adults shoul-cl "Iso use of tobacco and caffeine.) 1:jugeChocolate and increase the like-ilE lihood of throat-clearing, whicb "slams- the v^ocalcords togetier. Dr{rrk plengr of water,rtoo:. . Train y.our chilil.to avoid using the . '+eice it improp.r loudness Iivels (shout'.g s1 'alLi.g loudly),.ar im_ proper pitch (e.g., t"lking like Minnie Mouse) or at improper quality (e.g., excessive Marilyn Monroe-like breilhi negs).\,r6;"es areu t desipned to ,i

you go_utu*1lf-sto brush your teerh, comeback ic;'thekilchen a.rrdfeedthe

U.p""[i'J bey
f lc.l:t+r*'*,*r":*l**a_ulil,.J",::::-..:.-:.*,'::-;.;

T::gffi passedawaya mo-ntbagq and I found this cokrmnof yours in her boxof "specialthingsi I'hope you will print it again.A lOt of parents shouldseeit. ; Charlottein Mountain, Wis. Dear Charlotte This essaywas orignally preparedby the policed* partmentof Houston,Texas,and appearedin my columnbackin 1959: Tlvelve Rules for,Raising :. Delinquent Children 1. Begi4 in infancy to give the child everythinghe wants. In this way, he will grow to believethe world oweshim a living. 2. Whenhe picksup bad words, laugh at him. This will make him think he's cute. It will also encouragehim to pick up "cuter" phrases that will blow off the top of your headlater. 3. Never give him any spirituai training.Waittill he is 21, and then let him "decidefor.himself." 4. Avoiduseof the word '1rrong." It may developa guilt complex.This will conditionhim tobelieve,late4, when he is arrestedfor stealinga caq,that societyis againsthim and

10.Takehis part again* ne1g!;,, bon, teachersand policemen.Thejt' are all prejudicedagainstyourlClild ll. Whenhegetsinto realtror$lg apologizefor'yourselfby saying,-"I',. nevercoulddo any.thingwith himf '. ' L2.Preparefor a life of grief;*.'. . Youwr!.!e apt to have it.

he is being persecuted. ' 5. Pickup everythingheleaves $ingaround-books, shoesand r clothing. Do everythingfcirhim so he will be experiencedin throwing all responsibility onto others. 6. Let him read any printed matter he can get his handson. Be careful that the silverwareand drinking glassesare sterilized,but let his mind feaston garbage. 7. Quarrel frequently in the presenceof your child. In this way, he will not be too shockedwhen the homeis brokenup later. 8. Give a child all the spending moneyhe wants.Neverlet him earn his own.Why shouldhe have things as tough as you had them? 9. Satisfyhis everycravingfor food. drink and comfort.Seethat everysensualdesireis gratified.Denial may leadto harmful fmstration.

Childrenneedyouto be theparent,notaftiend

must sometimessay,"Nq I won't help you, You can do that on your own" and stand firm in the face of the child's demandthat his delusions of helplessnessbe acknowledgedand indulged.The Fuly lovins parent is wilins.fi-6ffiEi words. to causehis child ftustra.

donJasenimAfrevmEate-re Knows ruscruloooesnotKnow + whats rnhF owribesfEtenilst.He @ood qecuilonano relolcesm a Da(lone. r-

ffi

JOHSTROSEMOND AffrmrativeParenting

bound in the heart ofthe chilf (Proverbs22:15) and that only a strolg love can exorcisethis impruoence. The parent who understands

ttratJEfr i:eari-iEl3te@EEiatso -unoeNlanostnal a leacer cannot thinks he needs

@ discioiineareoneandthesame. F{ewill questionbecausehe can, but he is not likely to rebel in selfdestructiveways, eventhough he

especiallythose that are "undevel-

" hlbelsA-be$ss,ixe in old-fashioned

True love strengthens.True love

Whenthe chiidlS qq adult, the t.+ cruo neeosa Darentwno N a .-....friend. & everything in parenting EeElfi season.Tdccintusethe" seasonis to confusethe chiid. IGep alwaysin mind: You are not raising a chiid. You are raising an adult. What sort of adult do vou want?

,2 .

sfihb $E? fuEe #i 5ruEqi

EF 3*. Eg!

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May 1995

The Freeclomof Responstblltty by Chn'stopherA ckerman

n essenttalasnectof our work as Montessorians is to oromote the develoomentof resoonsibility in children.How we do

respectfulbehavinrrtcecnor f,reoarethe chilC Ior successfulrelationshiosanvwhere.Freedom of self-expressionis imoortant;equally so arelimitsbasedu bythts i s an ongoi ng chal l enge, productof our lifestylesis a cloudof guilt too one that has not gotten easierovertime in an often hovering over relationshipswith our Americanculturethat often failsto encourage children.Working.separated,or divorcedparsuch growthin individuals. ents are particularlyprone to this type of stress.Also, many parentsare truly ambivaFamilylife todav is more harried,fast-paced, lent about how to go about imposinglimits separate,and dislointedthan lifestylesof the when theirgoalisto experience ',qualitytime,' past. As a result of this instabilitv.we see with their children. morechildrenlackino parental consistent guid_ ance and attention.We see more children Childrenwho areqiventhe maioriwof powe. raisedby the electronicmedia child,care sys_ i! the family are not haoov campers.Their tem. We seechildren withoutthe orerequisite b necessarvto healthy,confident,well_rounoed da\/al^nmani ::-lL:g

rn charoe.As Montessorians. this is often the greatestservicewe canrenderthe childin our classrooms.

In short,in greaterand greaternumbersof children,we see a linoerino stateof immatu_ It is how we go aboutthis work of heipingthe rityandlackof abilityto assumeresoonsibiliw. childIearnto assumeresponsibility, thatis our Often this is accompaniedbv a crioolinqpermost tmportanttask. we often have to alter fectionism,an overblownfear of failure.and behaviorpatternsadoptedat home. Also.a an assumed that keeps Vounq childmay 'n2rleqracv be tremendorrsly ambivalent about c!.19lg@lojrg!.c-lhese are some effects totto*t.g ow dlr. that our societyhas had upon children.as I have observedin nearlytwenty{ive yearsas tiveiy resistwhat is good for thenr an educator.

A

Practical Newsletter for NAMTA Memberc fob Bulletln

page 6

Thereare few conceptsmore misunderstood and abusedby the "Me Generation',of parentsthanthe issueof freedom.In the nameof fre"do.n, par"nts haueci-ilffi '-nany their own dren fundamentalvalueslike disciplineand responsibilitv. lt's hardwork beingthere con_ sistgntlv.withr-hildren,quidino,correcting, settino timits.ana sronalattemot.

As the adult,ourjob is to havefaith in what we do, as well as in the innerresourcesof the .hild. We!qg-!9-!9|jgyg__Uet every chitd

n""0.@

self-discipline,simolv hecausethere can be no true and lastinghanninpssin lifewithout it. We must believethat we are not over-burdening smallchildrenwhen we leadthem in this direction.We must know that in our work as Montessorianswe offer a great service to anotherhumanbeing.We try to guideher or him to what is the truth.

It amazesme how oftenI hearyoungchildren This is often an internalstrugglefor the adult speakto their parentswith utterlyinappropri_ in the classroom.Like parenrs,we too can ate rudeness, andthe parenteitherignoresor sheepishly tolerates the incident. lqnoringdis_ continuecl on the bllowing p4ge

page 2

. . . Freedomof Responsibility continued more easily let things slide, ignore inappropriate behavior,and hand over an inordinate degreeof power to the child.But it is the adult who must takechargein the Montessoriciass_

butcouldn

t-"9:Ithth".ei"ins t.

tne ru,S-slid safely__home._

Observing in a Children,s House classroom recentiy^,llgi!4 ess_eda scer.re that wo nderf ullv

wttheend oi rnetrtessontogether,the directre!*ffi

nrm once aqainfor a lob well done, A.whilelater,@ ptcture.Finished,he qot uo !o rettrrn2 hack.r

--.-youngoov,.tact-orot@a -ialk r nrs

&S_features.Thp.ri.""rresssincerEli-oZG

oj cqloredmarkersandsoiltedthemoutail the floor."Thisl,,I thought,,,should be inter-

rlfused.whin

olrectress,knowingotherwise in an e._

.r"T!$"9t""".r".tt

rr perore. He became tearfullyoostratJiii exptainedwhy it was necessaryanOoffeGE to

his 9irectress rendered a oreat . e *, . . t o t h i . . h l | d . l t w o u |d h a ve oeen tar easier,and easilviustifi_ qOie, had she simplv ,,helped,,

!r-.

-nerpJacrge@ consume a iot oi time and en€rgy and there were numerousother childrenthe directress noped to get to in the not_toodistant future. Still.she never lost patiencethroughout.)

J-ackroll up and ,et

rrS.

a

As the aclult,our job is to have faith in what we clo, as \ruellas in the inner resourcesof the chilcl.We have to believe that everyr child neeclsand wants to attain responsibility and self-cliscipline, simply becausethere can be no true and Iastinghappinessin, life without it.

%nson-6iiffi, rrapsec ogwr Into a twisted blob. Jack esiatatea ni.

ambivalent

g]lrreproce1ggtthe ctai,tfii thet"rche-

cirrectress rema@ a catatustin tfrelEnGi !r -t[e chilq,became the:?l, Jackwatk".r; healthier

to the rug rack.More

This is

This type of encounteris what we shouldsee in a Montessori classroom.Lhances goJ that it would not havehappened "rn in most other

:::lY',@ s:iourd ii'?q,iaci< iln?ry't'acl'<slour ,

_

@,.o"-

o.ss'sttnecniulru .n'e|_o*n inne,,.esouiiGjEiin

ili,

po*ei to, oeueL canfrnud on thebllodnggge

page 3

. . . Freeclomof Responsibility continuecl opmgnt of a responsible self. Here was an exampleof a trainedMontessorianpracticino the philosophy in the spiritof selflesslv oivino to the childwhat was trulvin hishpstinterests She investedgreat energy in helping.Jack expenencethe effects of assuming,rather thanavoiding, responsibility. Heractionswere an expressionof love.

At what age clo we begin? Accorcling to Dr. Montessori, by Z1/zto 3 years of age, just about everyl chilcl is not only capable,but clesirous of being responsible.

school-teacherobserver,mignt have wit_ nessedthis scene and iudgedthe directress as too strictor overbqarino aboutsucha minor rolgg up_!-!g. The observer might qgas teel that such a young child neededmore directhelp,that littleJackwas almostbeing persecutedby this powerfuladult;he should have been free to leave the rug as it was insteadof the big dealmadeover it.

pline.In combination with an increasino ahility tE algllegical process that results in reaL freedomand happiness.We assisteveryone.

9jjgl owlgSnpqae. ^l^itgl!!spath-How

we do this effectivelyis part of the ongoing l e a r n i n g p r o c e s s o f t h e d e d i ca te d Montessorian.

At what age do we begin?Accordingto Dr. Montessori,bv2lz to 3 vearsnf aoe iustabout -everychildis not onlv caoable.but cJesirolsof bernqresponsible. Obviously,this is within certainparameters, which expandas the child develops.We don't expect four-yearoldsto crossa busystreeton their own, for example. Butby ageseven,the averagechildis capable.

In many ways it's a lot easierto practice these idealsconsistentlyin the Montessori m" Al*atr"a. crassroomthan in the home. parents are ""rlW, takenthe popular view that iittlechildrendon;t often faced with more truly compromising reallvneed to be so resoonsible. They have situationsthan are teachersin the preoared plentyof time for that laterin life;for now we worid of the classroom.Teacherscan assist should let them enjoy the freedomsof child_ parents by learninghow to communicate hoodas longas possible. Simplyletthemhave these principles,suspending some of our fun doing as they nleaset![iayiew soundg own judgments. and realizingthe tremen_ tempting.In praccice, though,it oenerallvGEG dous differencesthat come into play when to unhappychildren-rhekindwho usedto be our relationship to a child is one of parent. refenedto.as "spoiledbrats."When we treat rather than teacher. childrenthis way, we allowthem toEGi? slrenqthenbehavioraloatternsand attitudes ffectivesupportof these ideascan that can onlv maketheirlivesmoredifficultfF; be difficultto come bytoday.Monolderthey become.The adageaboutold dogs tessori qg|ggj5jan and new tricks is applicablehere. Look how atso_hejg hardit is for manyof us so
inciuffi -

tne partrcutar needsof eachchild.We don,t

Cltristopher Ad<erman is cunently Academjc Head at Old Colony Montessori Schoot in thingsat the sametime. Massachusetts.He hotds a B.A. in early cht'ldhood educadon and AfuII diplomas from the Washington Montessorl Institute But all childrenare capableof orowino in (pdmary) and the Centrc Intemazjonale Studi InOependence. resoonsittilitvand cplf-.iic^;- Montessodani (etementaD4 in Bergatno, Itaty,

-expectail childrento be capableof the same

I'I{O --

PATgS

A CHILDTS-EYIIVIFrf

,ar"Qv, I want to beloag and have I w a n t c i i g n i c y and wor:h! i wanr significance I want

io Consiructive. -\

i4-

to

o v e rcome l reaknesces

Livlng by ir-ay of soc:ar. inieres:

and capabiliryt

and eu:,ounc dlfflculties

To Obstruccive

Ito-IYlcoin3t

I f eel capable; I have a plac e; itn respected; f c,an tal<e pa;t; I feel e n cour aged; I Cai AeASU; e uD.

Llvlng

!

by l*ray of

t-

i feel aorleh;r. i:r.ferio:: I feel excluCed-- vicii:r1:ed-- pushad dor*n-- cilsrespecteC and CiscourageCt

g5 QA9

I In abl.e t,o contribut,e ! I like to cooperate i L can eone to grips rrlth problers anC sol.ve then! I cen inprove ! I can hel

,r r-i.6,:

I have to schene and fl ghtl I have. io be .|

areful noi to let l.ten bcss me! I auc: conquer, Bet even, and prolect uyselil I eanrt;rake a:siakes

A3OLT IT

itoi{ I REG.LCJ:

Soeeti:res i rake nj.s:akes , bu: 1ea:a froe -,hen.

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The inporiani people in :ny 1i.f e ai-,va1.,s seem to \rant ihir€s r.helr vay. Cfirn they seen Eo Ee to be $ndependable and lnconsistent. They push ;le E:ound or else they b=ibe ne. They reall;l con'c cale about n;r rights. Thel' want. all lr

n \ I J ri ne)l

:.1e" saj ; If I do w hec -Jr e; r ask, ilr s j us. to get someLn!:l g :-:o: t he: r . I reel l y i ont t l i sten i o t her r but jus- . aani pui ate tl ren. Ii rs not Ey i€e \ sponsi to :.;-E :ove Eh: €s: . t ci i i :y \

Iraen i don, e I lrnow what I have :o do and ltts rry responsibili:7 to do it. I know thls beceuee I was in on the plannin3 bef orehand t \ . inoc e ,nd h elp ed t-o dec ids --;--l,

\ I neve: : ake nisiakes. i just. have bad luck! are a:ains: ael f .lA.l59

lgnc;e then !

I

..rs i!-rna?-.r pu! - e. lt pe o p i e i n n y l l f e a re a cco u n: able anc i c o n s i s te n t. Ih e v co n si i er t he r igh rs o f o th e rs a s ve 1 i as E heir ow n , T h e y s h a re t.h e and k eep i o c h l a ;= e e re r:s , / pI* tn rn g , u ra ke , s o i : es p e c t th e n a n c i j c e e p / / t o th e agr eei: ent s , to o , (n ro s t o f th e l-ha

Ar t

U \l l t,) .6i

,*COIJP'AGEIENT People :eeogrize n:/ stlen3ihs. The1, believe in ne and appreclate ne for nyself I

DiSCOLTRAGEiENI

v'''l ;g | ?tt?l ^'"'^ ?e.

Pe6p Lpre praise rne lf I neet !.hei: ianCarCs s siandarCs. . Other,rise the.r :he.r D;oC ne. Ei:he: vev. ihe.r donra :hink nucn of :nr

j:If J1 tr! cons i istent, t,ent, -toc consi

:3ea: : : ent anG l o1i o;i cal cal enCOUr ei c ai a = o:e r eq?ec; ' TcGS v ' I encoura:,e= S CeE/.r'{ si'de io I ai ni ;ht :nt nove fron:::i :rove froi a th s

sid e r

I

? |I ?

taaar l

? 1T ? ?

t

here are seven g.pes of situations in which tempertantrums mav

occur. Most tantrums take olace whenFtrrchilct is

situations

out ofhiS own control In rhe lasr rhree.

--more

last three orscnmlnatlon ln

municate somethine to vou. One of the pitfa.lls of dealing with temper tantrums is that they confront our need to have things uncler control. As a resuit, we want to get the situation handled as soon as possible rarher than taking the time to determine why our child is acting the wav he is and meeting his needs. Most of us were brought up with rhe arlitude that a misbehaving child was a bad child. Sfe tend ro reacr as though our chi.ld is bad insread of realizing the his misbehavior is simplv tn.ing to communicate somerhing to us. It is our iob ro derermine whar rhat is ancl responcl accordingly. flere are some general don'ts in cteaiing - with tantmms. Don't overpoR er your child (i.e., hold him down, punisE

or rhrearenhir"). 8't

o!

him or argue orget into -ake-fun a debate. Don't dea.lwirh the rancmm in public. Vantinq ro avoid embarrassment adds to the tens a Pnvare prace tr*a u oumffi helDful Ofte.tmanagffiffin assist this process. Inform the manager of the situation and request that she nicelyaskyourchild to quiet down to avoid disturbing the customers. Make these arangements without your child,s awareness. Inordertoknowhowtoredirect a temper tantrum, it is important co determine what is the cause of the mntrum. One of the suggestions on rhe following list is to leave the room when your child has a tantrlrm. If she gets out
take the situation gerrinq worse before it gets berter. It mav also take rimeairl several applications before she uncler_

rtn"aiin"r *ZGi?6ffi "o"Ir is i*po*"nit7GGF 'erv

Hunger

.-

the time to knowvour child's signals in order ro be effective during remper tantrLlm situations. For example, if vou trv negodating wirh a child who is hungrv, tired, ill, or hvpersensitive, ,vou will be fighting a losing battle. If you trv negoriarion with a child who is testing you, mav lose rhe respect of your -vou child because he mav be asking for you to hold to a boundarv_vou,ve set. However, negotiation works well with chilclren who feel overpowered or ar.e fi:usrated. Refer to the foilowing iist to determine what to do wirh each form of the temper tantrllm. _ ._ 't'augue What to do A Meet child's need A Minimize all taiking rhat may lead to conflict A Holdorrockyourchild. Example Take your child to bed or a quier a.rea to resr as soon as possibie.

Vhat to do A Meet child's need A Minimize all ralking rhar mav Iead rcr conflict.

Example Give vour child something ro ear as soon as possible, even if it is nor a scheduled snack or meai time. Illness What ro do A Meet chi.ld'sneed A Minimize ali talking thar my lead rc conflict A Hold or rock you child.

Example Give your child medical assisrancewhen necessary. Htmersensitivity (i.e.,clotbes, fcnQ abrupt cbanga) Strhatro do A Removeobiecrcausingsensidviw as quicklvaspossible A Minimizeall talkingrhatmayleadto conflict.

Examples if you child's shoe is too tight, loosen it quickly. If it is agarment, take it ()ff Sometimes these chilclren are sensitive to an)'thing scratchy, like textures of clothing or labels on clothes If your child is sensitive to abrupt changes, sive advanced warning, or e choice. "Tommy, we'll be leaving in 10 minutes," or "Would you like to leave in 7 minutes or 10 minutes?" Testing What to do A Do not give in A Bring child ro self-quieilngspace A Leaverheroom A Dotheunexpected.

Example

"Yes, I w
Frustration oueruthelmecl Gbildrcfeeling tuitbthetask at hand) What ro do, A Check vour expectations- are thev too high? A Break down the ta.skinto accomplishable steps A Make sure child knows how to foilow the direction.s.

Exarnple

These are non-negotiable boundaries that you have set and vour chilcl is resring vour limils. You can discern this wpe of temper tantrum because vou will feel manipulatecl. Feels

Ask yourself, "How can I give my child more power in an appropriate way right now?"

Pouredess

What to do A Refu.seto negodare untii the child has calmecldown and is r'espectful A Acknowleclgeanger A lfin-win negoriaie A Brainstorm solutions A Cive chilcl a sense of power A If negotiarion isn't possible,fantasize with chilcl about his unfulfillecl desire.

Examples ''Vhen

.vou calm clown, I will be willing to discuss this with vou" or "Please use your negodating voice." "I understand that r,,ouare angry." "I want,vou to win anci I would like to win, too. How coulcl we work this out so we could both win?" Together write on a sheet of paper all possible solutions.

If vour chilcl is having a clifficult time with attencling to homework, break it down into lO-minute segments of homework end thcn 5-minutc segments of plav, 10 minutes ctf homework ancl 5 minutes oFplav, etc. Do this until rhe rask is complete. Setting a time for each segment of time makes it easier ro foliow. Ternper

Tantrurn

Prevention

You can minimize the frequencv of temper anrLrms bv raking a few necesstuy precauuons. 1. Knowyour child. Leam to cliscem how vou chilcl acts cluring certain situations. For example when you chilcl ge$ hungrv or tired, cioes'she become irritable ancl less cooperative. Knowing vour child will help you determine which intervention to use when vour child is having a temper ranrrum. 2. Schedule appropriarely. Because of our busy lives, we often over schedule events. This creates tension in our family. Tension

ID-AMERICA MONTESSORITEACHERSTRAINING Early Childhood Montessori Teacher Education

Omaha, Nebraska

makes fenile grounci for temper tanrLrms to occur. Allow yourself enough time so that vou don't have to hurry. lX/henever possible, have vour chilcl get school clothes, books, etc., ready the night before. 3. Look for patterns. Look for parrems that precipinte vour child throwing tantrums and fincl ways to intervene cluring that pattem, For example. if vour preschooler throws a tantrum while vou run errancls, affange to do.vour errancls without her or take her with you ro the park before you run the crrands. 4. Make agreemenrs ahead of time. Children will do best n'hen they know what their limi6 are ancl knowing rhem in advance is even better. For erample, if vou are going ro the store and,vour son usua.llvwants to buv things, tell him before enrerinq the store how much money, he can spencl ancl <;n what items (you mav noi wxnl him ro spend it on canclr,. but vou woulci be willing to spenci it on a book). 5. Notifi ,vour chilcl of changes ahead of time. To avoiclconflict, we sometimes clon't tell our chilchcn about changes in plans unril rhe lasr minute. This makes our chilcl feel or"rtt rel="nofollow">fcontrol ancl can leaci to tantrLlms. 6. Nurn:re yourself. Take dme to nurture r.ourself. \X/hen vou feel like r.ou have l-ncl time for vourseif, vou are less irritable, more sensitive to the neecls of situations ancl less likelv to over-react. Katbnn k'ols is tbe Presidatt of the International netuorkfor Cbildren and Families and theautbor o/Redirectingrhilclrens Behavior Sbeis also a national speaker and u,orksbop leader. For more information call 800-257-9002. For afree pampblet on "10Kevsto SuccessfulParmting" send a self-addressedstamped mtelope to Intefttatioral Network for Cbildrm 0 Families, P.O. Box 7236,Gainesville.FI 32605.

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PlainTafkAboutDearinp#jtltrheAngrychird Handlingc hildr e n ,s .a n g ecra n b e p u z z l i n g , d rai ni ng,and d i st r es s ing f or adul ts .In fa c t, o n e o f th e _ u j o , p r oU t" rns in d e alingwit h angeri n c h i l d re ni s th e a n c ry i " " ti n g , that are often stirred up in us. lt has been said-thai'we as parents, teachers,counselors,and administrators need to remind ourselvesthat we were not always taught how to deal with angeras a fact of life during our own chiiOhooO. We were led to believethat to be angry was to be bad, and we were often mlde feel guilty for expressinganger. !o It will be easierto deal with chihren",s angerif we get rid of this notion. Our goal is not to repress or dJstroy angry feel_ ings in children-or in ourselves_but rather to accept the feelingsand to help channeland direct tn". to constructive ends.

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Respondingto the Angry Child Some of the following suggestions for dealing with the angry child were taken from fhe AggressrveChild by Fritz Redl and David Wineman.They stouiO be consideredhelp ful ideas and not be seenas ,,bag a of tricks.,, Catch the chird beinggood. Tertih,u rniu what behaviors please

you.Resoond. p-osltjye!o ana,"infor."looj o*rylor jl&*arnu1tni"" "f1o.11*,ll orr""i find countt-e5s ople4glLtlgs*d-u.u l g the,C9v tq makq sggfu qm"r.n entr.as,,lJ

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s,eriog1O.1o_btgry&"f:t,qrta 3.tway:!9YfI9fus thprrchn,,r.{ ;:"-v" "= ",=-yesgsa signof serious'orobG-s: o w I t h respect. 991119-{a"!3*!tg?!.d -eJ-q9 Io respond _.,__..,.".y ." o;;|ill,i'.acci.,o , _ ,_ effecilvelv-to L^a^..:__: bgttEv_iotin "yelty gfagl_ess.lv€

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teem,andfeelirreiofi" '' : ' oj_it :__-,_*-_-. .*s-oli!.!g$ may be relatedto anxi

you were in a hurryto get.out to play,,;,,youwerereallypa_ tient while I wason ;,1,, 1!e,,1 9.f.onel,; gl"Jyou sharedyour snackwith yoursister,,; like theway ableto thinkof others";and,,Thankyoufor telline iorlr" th! l.ti whatreally happened.,, "Oout Similarly,teacherscan positivelyenforce good behavior with statements like,,,1knowit *ai aifficJt for you to wait y.ourturn,and l,m pleasedthat you coulddo it,,;,,Thanks for sittingin yourseatquietly,,;...yeu *"ruif,oughtfulin offering to helplohnnywith hisspelfing,,;,,Vo, *ori,"a hardon that project,and I admireyour effort.,,

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etvq_b9!1!:!!qg!Lonso*v*e1-ryhrqh"t"l,eii;i[h;i"1-rJep1lo_1. just thebehaviorThe,,!clorinr; h;:;;;;anned Angrydefiancemay alsobe associated with feelingsof dependency, andangermay be associated with s"dn"rs depression. In chitdhood,anser "nd ;;;;;;;'are veryclose to oneanotherandit is important ""; to,ur".L", thatmuchof whatan adultexperiences assadness isexpressed by a child asanger. Beforewe lookat spe.cif ic ways. to manageaggressive and angryoutbursts, severalpointsshoulAbe [ighllghted;

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unery j1,a;3{i.3c_Vttlr chitdren, our. u.iionr'rhoutd bemoti_ ,," v?tg1!y.t-hg needtoprotect andto teach,;;iU1;ffi" parents punish. andteachers rarno*';-ii,ii,i;i',r,;J aCceplhli orherfeetings,y [i thou re_rVesuri;; ;#;il: ilAI gr; An aoutt ,,Letme mighi;;;;:;;,pre, 3q9si 1idilngs. tetlyouwhatlome chitdrg" i"JrrJJ"i"'ul,*"r,r" likethis to tetlc.hitdren wi"iO"iuu,ors .._:-tj1:?lenough wefind une_cgeotable Wemu-s! leagftthemu..uoiu-Cr" *ays of c-o_g rngstbe found

t" .o,nn.'.,-ini."te I_9.^,r,ol,*uys what we expectof them.Contrarvto .^^,,t,, ^^;:^:-

notthemos t"rr".,i,"J.lr',::: * il#,::[?.H1,: Hil j;

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recognizethat ii is tnapp;;l";;. rrovtde physicaloutletsandothei aliernatiyes. lt is important foi Chitdren to f,, r phvs icar

andmove,n e"i:i;,#;j"T:::'f

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exerci se

Manipulatethesurroundings. Aggressive behaviorcan be encouragedby placing in tough, temptingsitua_ .children tions.We shouldtry to plan the,urrounaing,,o tf,utcertain thingsare lessapt to happen.S_t_qgg:pfgh|Snactivityand

temoorarily, u rnor""ffiffili lggresslon' substitute, Ti"I*^o^"^lv-re+gl-est*ei'-d trqj.n"]A

!Iogqlty_ o Angerandaggression do not haveto otherwords,in rookingat aggressive be dirtywords.In behaviorin chirdren, we mustbe carefurtod.istinguist u"t*""nJehavior that in_ dicatese.motionat probtems-and jrat *;;j;; is normat.

we expectof them.

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conf ining.

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Usec/osenes s andtouching.Move physicallyclos.er to Sr_e

*'g-:e#:I: Fl ";'i,ytudi'nOr_ergl9l*. t"r+:t .rtted/d5q. rj,,,.rH_ Chitdren natura||y .- .!tpl,g: f g^,: l1y::j9:lu.'" *nui in-"vffiins, andtheadultis oftenannoyed at beingb"th;;l. v;"].r*in,LHH;

childenwho areemotionallydeprived),"", ,, needmuch moreadult involvementin their interests. ,Cchild aboutto .usea toy or tool in a destructive way is sometimes_easily stoppedby an adult who expressu,'ini"r"rt in havingit shownto him. An outburst,fr;rn ;;-"i;L, .r,ira strussling with a difficultreadingselection .u" U" pr"""nted by a car_ ing adult who movesnearthe cfrifato sai, .Show me which wordsaregivingyou trouble.,,

al problems,however,may have troubleacceptingaffectron. throughhumor.Kiddingthe child out of a E4!ete-nsion tempertantrumor outburstoffersthe child an opportunity beto "saveface."However,it is importantto distinguish tweenfacesavinghumorand sarcasmor teasingridicule. Appealdirectly to the child. Tell him or hslbolyjteulesl Forexample,a parentor a teacher andaskfor consideration. .rrivl"in'a cttitdscoopeiationby saying,"l knowthat noise you'remakingdoesn'tusuallybotherme,but todayl'vegot so could you find somethingelseyou'd enjoy a headache, doing?"

t"eyg"r-d U59,,Bro@tse:*aAd _?_t-.jng"::f-lg!g re--plg3gu canbeusedbothto star,t andt-o_$g-.p b_gh-iyior.. Thisapproacfr

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the chi l d l i kes-w hat bri ngshi m pl easure- and we m ustde l i ver on our promi ses.

Say "Nol" Limits sho_ullbg-slggly*:Igbffg_?ld *e_1, .lgl!_e4.Children:!'rou14!e free tg_funqtiol-wilhin tho_se liqlts. Ellthe child thatyou accepthisor herangry{eelings,but

gffi o_tlte

to put theirangryfeelingsintowords,ratherthanfists. Build a positive self-irnage. Encouragechildren to see thems,il/e;as\ral,Gdand valuablepeople. treH,-ltg:ligttll-elp-tlg*sn-{-d-gds:Bd$s.ss*-qr Use punishmentcautiouslyThereis a fine line between a stressfulsituation.We often fail to realizehow easily punishmentthat is hostiletowarda child and punishment youngchildrencanbeginto reactproperlyoncetheyunderthat is educational. standthe causeof their frustration. .ModelappropriatebehavigrParentsand teachersshould in1 o"_9999jo_ OeyJs: esan1 all y-.g*ql!-[d !,)ry p hysi caI ru 119 be awareof the powerfulinfluenceof their actionson a ggl*l-o*_qogp!-9!e,ly 19t1tlirc"d..sr* child'sor group'sbehavior. lhathehas19!e nfvsica-lly removedf rom the sceneto preventhim f rom hurtinghimself Teachchildren to expressthemselvesverbally.Talking fo,rt|" Sti{ihtsi;i iij6l[e1;,Thlsm.ay slsglleave fq,csll heipi-a ctritaTav{offii-anAffi;; rea;cesTiiin g out b; '; straintor removalfrom the sceneshouldnot be viewedby havior. child Encourage the to for example, say, "l don'tlike "Youcan't but asa meansof saying, thechildaspunishment your takingmy pencil.I don't feel like sharingjustnow." an adultcannotaffordto losehis do that."In suchsituations, or her tempet and unfriendlyremarksby other children Cood disciplineincludescreatinganatmosphere of quiet shouldnot be tolerated. tlrnl"s9:-slff_iff i!J_e-Eng'Gu6"e"{--..9tr"_.'iiHilsndsr,tfi Encouragechildren to see their strengrhsas well as their ing. Bad disciplineinvolvespunishment which is unduly -treip-mem ,S@ dG;Tmt tfid An reaC6, -' ttnii pr"pp_iiiis."r n-it-li,;-itd#_""{iffi"nEye': hg.'[e"-d inep goals.

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As I settled in for a picnic lunch wi-rlr my children in the middle of what promised to be a long, hor summer day, I noticed another family claiming the shade of the tree nert to ours. Three boys, about ten, six, and three, clamored for bagels.My interest was piqued when the bo.vsbegged for a yogurt. In a voice that commanded attention, the mother stated, "There is on_lyone yogurt and two spoons. There are three ofyou. This is to be shared iairlv Anvpigs wiii lose their turn." She then laid down and closed her eves,while I waited forWorldWhr III to commence. To my disbelief, the ftvo oldest took the spoons and passed the yogurt one bite for each of thern and nvo bites for the youngest. No one screamed that the baby was getting a double

I had been operating unde

if I wasunder-

smilg 3n4 coopetate. In truth,

helping. They enjoyed that yogurt to the hitt, scraping out ri.recup with gusro. rlieanwhiie, my chiiriren were siiii bickering abour the choices I had offered.\Mhat secret did the mother possessto instilt that kind ofcooperation? Could I go over and beg for an hour-long parenting class? On the drive home, I revier,vedhorv I might ha."e haldled the same situadon. The biggesi ciifference i couici finci i,vasin the mother's approach. She laid out a plan and the consequences and then stepped out ofthe picture. Her pian had not been detailed but ratherdescripriveof the factsand her expectations. lv'hat would I ira'.redone? First, I '.nrouldhar.rgap6llrglzed lbr oniy har.ing one vosurt; then I would have begged.for approva-I. ,,Is that OK?" I lvould have asked.This mother had not evcn e::plained rvhy there 'vr,asonly one yogurt. I lvould have repeatedly looked for assurancethat I was still a wonderfui mother, even if inept at pro_ viding for them. Then I would have apologized for onl-v having tlvo spoons, again repeating, "Is that OK?" Was this hci.,,rny ccmmunication was breaking dollrrr?

28

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farewith his 12-year-olddaughterlaid lilt thg maxim rhat "children are not reasonable."I was snie ttrin-.{a$1oper parenting, understanding,and patiencewould crgqte"reasonable" chiidren. Now after 17 years in the tienches-'r{rith3itchildrenI believethat he was right. Thereare momgntl when no amouitr of explanationor patiencewill swaya rewed-up threeyearcid. My life took on a new dimension'wllenI rem.ored*OK?"irr;.rn myvocabuiary.I can now saii through'Sn-iF:E{i{r+'iihir,'" ic:;: year old. I ha.ieleft behind the da!-so.f;lixJ5***up p!*erio.. OK?"and the whine that follorvs.Sucha lfttlelVg$*yet rhe porverii r,vields in a parent/childrelationshipcan be tremendous. 1Sandra Eble is a teacher by trade and mom bi ctio.E*"t$t3 and- her husband. Will, have three girls-M'Liss (u), Bethany (15), Katis.{l3Faftl three bovs Wlliam (11),Jesse(8),and Sandy(4)-all homeschootetiTr.q Fut m EastStsoudsb;rg, ,. Pennsylvania. ,r::::.r:jii;li#irs,s*r,",, . ;.:;::rfia,r-:i l:':..r,.,:r..I"i

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Is Obedience Enough? by ]ane Bluestein,Ph.D. (originally co-authoredwith Lynn Collins, M.A.) Johnny, stop that!" andhe does! "Sally, getbusy!" And shedoes! "Cubby, Karery feed the dog and clean up your room!" and theydo! No arguments. No hesitation. Complete obedience. Every parent's fantasy, right? Sure, it sounds good, but look again. lncpe{ence and what you get may be

kids in negative ways. For examplg what will happen when a conservative teachertells your daughter that "nice" girls aren't pushy? (There aren't too many of those nice, nonpushy girls making it in CorporateAmerica. And there are a lot of nice, non-ass,.rtive women being injured in relationships because they never leamed they might have to stand up for themselves.) If your child is dedicated to pleasing and obeying how well will she be able to evaluate the personal relevance of this information? What happens when Aunt Dorothy, for whateverwell-meaning reason,tells your son to quit taking his vitamins because they aren't good for him? Whathappens when the babysitter tries to make your children do something they are uncomfortable with and then threatens them to keep quiet? When an older friend offers your chitd a cigarette? When a girlfriend puts sexual pressure on your son? When one of your son's buddies suggests that to be a man he has to get high with the boys? What happens when it,s time to make a lot of decisioru that will affect your child's future and well-being and you ian,t be there to direct his or her choices? Being a loving and concemed parent with the best of intentions, you probably answered those questions by jaying, "I hbpe they,d make a good decision!" But the question is: How will they make a

children grow up to be order takers or decision makers, most parents would select the latter. With all those inJluences a child might encounter in today's world, who in his right mind would want a child to be good at simply taking orders? Yet many of us create parenting environments that encouragejust that. Despite the goal to raise independent, responsible children, we'll usually admit that the kind of obedience described above sounds rather attractive at times. Seemslike it would make life so much easier, doesn't it? WelL perhaps for the moment, but not in the long run. While it may not be evident to the parent who is fuazzled.from repeating the same request 100 times, there's a big catch to having an obedient child. Most of us were raised to believe that good parents have obedient kids. So why wouldn't we encourage obedience in a child?After all, obedienceis unquestioning compliance with the requests of people in authority, which is good, isn't it? That's a great lesson for kids to leam if the people in authority are bright, moral, caring, and able to always consider the child's best interests along with their demands or requests. But ren with the skill kids can give the same kind of power, value, evaluate yyhocaninlluence and importance to strangersup€€rs, dates, or Themain others who might not be quite as invested as you in your child's well being. Kids are often exposed to a variety of people in uncontrolled or unsupervised environments very early in their lives. It's hard to to predict which ones they are going to pershe ceive as an authority. It's likely to be a dedithe ve reaction, cated teacher, caring Aunt Harriet, or a concerned police officer, but it's just as likely to be anyone who is big, strong, attractive, or popular. perienced as chiidren. And considering how Even well-meaning people can inJluence effective these techniques were, it,s no won-

der that so many of us simply pick them up anduse them with our ownkids. But atwhat cost? If you're h.ti^g a hard time letting go of the idea of raising obedient kids, you may be stuck in something called all-or-nothing thinking (sometimes called black and-white thinking). If so, you may suppose that the only alternative to having your kids obey is having them disobey. Not so!

you want your kids to obey. Children who behave cooperatively-instead of obedientl l€ason

look the sarneas obedient behaviors. For example, the child who makes her bed so that "Mommy wont hit me," and the child who makes her bed "because now I can invite my friends over", a1eboth making their bedi. Only the motivation varies. ative child can remain "safe" in

ing abl.eto use the p TV, have dessert, or spend time with you, for example- will available until a cer-

Obedient children quickly learn-Fat they are safe, accepted, valued, and worthwhile

displeasure).!q qlher

outcomes of their because these

are therefore far less vulnerable to

ient children them. few parents would say they wanted helplessor irresponsible children, yet it may be hard for an obedient child to tum out otherwise. Jhe third-gradet who explained to her teacher that she was squintinq because

each year because they have no mechanism in the family to negotiate a better way of living with each other. Ona .--'*^-rf^^L^r: On9 nf of +ho the arguments for raising obedi-^:^:-ent children is the assumption that your children will obey even when you,re not there to tell them what to do. For example, many q"*-"tr will discorrrage their children from drinking, although they kgow thatwith any reasonable contact with the outside world, theirchildrenwillencounteralcoholatsome point in their lives. In all likelihood, you

of control in their lives does I

That ;;;

making is best

that work for @its everyone). Tf," p.,qpor" of this skucture is to. create a homl in which everyone_kids andadultsalik*-believethattheycountand have a chanceto meet their needs.Empowering children wllhiLlllqit uuo*rffio

won't bearoundwhenyow childis offered Gaa;imarroffiir

else's matized by having to choose which of two dittos to do first, I had to wonder how they would handle other decisions that could have a far more profound effect ontheir lives, like whether or not to get high with friends, becomesexually active, or stay in school. A lot of these kids had a hard time connecting their choices with the outcomes. I frequently heard things like, ,,Shemade me

an opportunity to get drunkwithher friends. Will she not be tempted especially if partici-

patingpromisespeer approvaland accepwhom will your child be obedient Jlnce?.To if you're not there? ffiCJoGarnE?iffifter l chillren hpndleindependent iing dep.g4dson ttreT;;EE: ufr

next time. a Ute

difference, Deer to see

readlless. Think of it like learningTo swrm, which many ddldren leam beforethey walk or talk. They gain a real senseof con-

; one of the

up to Another children is that focused on other their own senior cheated on his SAT tests becausehis father threatened to disown him if he didn,t score high enough to get into Stanford. The fear of his father's disappointment outweighed any intemal inciination toward honesty this student may have harbored. In another instance, a little girl nearly bled to death, because she was afraid to tell her mother she cut her hand using knives she was not supposed to use. And how many kids have cut class, gotten high, or had sex simply to avoid being ridiculed or reiected by their peers? some senseof control in one,s life, kids ir'ill oftenrespond@ cortls

poor choices,continue in destructive behavioq,or do things they honestly don,t want to do, if their seU-imageisn't dependent entirely conridence.we certainly don,t just iFi6Tv upon what other people think and e*p".i. babiesinto the water to sink or swim, but And when these children do make a poor neither do we bar them from the pool until choice, they will probably see the,,egari,oe they are 18. Opporfunities are provided as outcomes as the result of their choosing,and soon as they are ready to handle them, with be far more likely to make more poiitive encouragement and a watchful eye from par_ choices in the future. ents or other adults. As they gain skill and Your kids can still cooperatewith you and confidence, we let them go a little bit farther develop skill at making good, independent on their own. Becoming a responsibledeci. decisions at the same time. Regardless of sion-maker happens in much the same way. your children's ages, you are in the perfect Start with small choices,but don,t oveiposition to build decision-makingskills. ]ust whelm. One mother got so excited that she started offering her 4 year-old a number of .lgj.g.r regarding his lunch. Now starring with "peanut butter and jelly or bologna; isn't bad. But once the child opted for the former, she hithim with "chunky orsmooth,,, aswell a commitment to as choicesabout which type of bread, what commitment kind of jelly, how to cut the sandwich, smsts on or off, and what color plate. By the time lunch was ready, the kid wasn-t hungry any-

way, of patienG, affilIG acceptance,because with au- sometimes your children will make decisions wants her

thority figures like parents and teachers than ev-erhappens with peers). An example is the college freshman who decided to hitch-hike across the country because her parents wouldn't be able to find out what ihe was up to. Or the eighth-grade boy who told his counselor that he had decided to flunk middle school to show his parents that they couldn't "push me arouna and make me do things." Thousands of children leave home BEPOBXE.gT

Fall 109? Vot trYr

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children to

etablehater found that her kid would eatjust about anything as long as she had some in-

mitrnentbv askine her into thepot, and

There are many age appropriate choices available to parents that are easy to overlook in the course of a busy day. But it'll be rare that you won't have opportunities to offer choices-from, "Which t-shirt do you want to wear today?" to "How do you plan to spend your allowance?" The objection for many parents is about time. Sure,ifll always seemeasierto just plop your kid into a sweater than ask him to pick which of these two he wants to wear. And for sure there are kids who would just assoon outgrow a sweater as make a commitment.

this bathroom, but it has to be cleaned.Which On the surface, this may sound like a of my chores are your willing to do in ex- "soft" approach to raising your child, but changeif I do this chorefor you?" The mother reported that the girls had taken over the vacuuming, the laundry, and washingher car every week. Not a bad deall In addition, look at the model the parent provided. By her offe{, she showed that it is possible to meet your est part of all. If you've decided to quit nagneeds without powering or hurting one an- ging your kids to come to the dinner table, other- that trading. compromising. and ne- and have explained that you'll call them once ggtlalbgare clearaltematives that can leave five minutes ahead of time, you need to be everyone feeling like a winner. willingtoeatalone.@!rygllgfollovl Make sure you offer specific, limited throuqh on whatever other limits vou've set, choices.If you decide to simply ask your whether that means allowing them to come child what he wants for dessert,be prepared in and reheat their dinner up to a certain to whip up some Baked Alaska, as one child requesteciwhen the parent wasn't mo€ Specific about what was actually available. Let in, or join you for breaKast in the rnoming. them know, clearly, what their choicesare. And you need to do all this without warnAlso, make sure that one choice is iust as ings, asking for exclrses,or saying, "I told you -and available-as so." None of this willbe easy,and most parr klcts it thev want ents report that it sometimes gets worse beof course,it's iust as OK fore it gets better. "no" as "ves""). And don't offer cookiesor Parents who offer choices and see good ,< ice cream for dessertif you want the kids to decision-making as one more skill they can eat fruit. (How about "peachesor bananas" teach and encourage in their children, will instead?) Offering more and less desirable eventually be rewarded withbetter decisionchoices is a set-up that depends on your children's ability to read your mind, and their connect need to people-pleaseby making a choice of the most im you'll approve of. make and how thosechoices

your children choicesabout when they'll do the work (before dinner, after one hour, before your show comes on), or where (at Mom's desk, in their room, at the kitchen table), for example. Given certain other conve never tingencies ("As long as you get your work chanceto do so done..."), you might offer options, such as Simple, concrete choices at first, and don't studying with a friend or listening to music. overwhelm.Backup, if necessary. As they Even with chores, which can beein earlv get more proficient- regardlessof their on and should be shared among everyone in ages-offer greaterresponsibilityand freethe household, Eremore input vour children dom.But in all cases, be preparedto follow have as to who does what, the more likelv Itt thev are to cooperate.You might offer choices doing so,you will be building decision-making skill and rcsponsibility by allowing your r rooms children to experience the consequencesof wantto do toni their choosing. Or you can present to your family a list of rocess things that need to be done in the house, and pass the list around several times so that ev- threatening) choicesto occur.Imaeine. for exeryone has a chance to choose the chores they ample, that you have promised to read your want to do. You can ask each individual to child a story if he gets into pajamas and pick a room to dust, or promise your kids brusheshis teeth by 7:30.If dawdling at bedthat if they get nine of these ten chores done time is more need-fulfilling thanhearing the by Wednesday, you'll do the one they leave story,he probably won'tbeready, even if you off. give him a S-minute warning at 7:25. While One parent found a great solution to a se- he doesn't get a story on this night, you can rious problem by offering a trade. She was still tuck him in and kiss him goodnight. Alquite disturbed by the constant conflict over low the consequence to occur without naqa dirty bathroom, a chore she had assigned to her daughters who did anything they the could think of to avoid this chore. She decided that a positive relatioruhip was more otrer to trv again tomorrow ff necessarv,look important than who did the chore, although for a more need fulfilling motivator, like a the fact that it had to get done was not nego- sticker for his tooth chart (a calendar) or betiable. ing able to stay up ten extra minutes if he,s She proposed: "I know you hate cleaning ready on time. _J

atlons, and trom

About the author: Dr. Bluesteinhasappeared internationallyas a speakerand talk-shoza guest,includingseaeral appealances asa guestexperton NationalPublic radio,TheDauid BrennerShow,TaIkNewsTeIeaision, The Vicki Showand TIw Oprah Winfrey Show,ShewastheKeynotespeakerat therecent l'iCME Conference in SanDiego,Califurnia. Sheis theauthor of 21,stCentury Discipline. Being a SuccessfulTeacher, Parentsin a PreFsureCoolcer. Parents. Teensand Boundaies.and her latest, Mentors. Masters. and Mrs. McGregor:Teacherc Making a Differctrce. asweII as numerousmagazinearticles. Dr. Bluestein cunently headsInstructionalSupportSercices, Inc.,a consultingandresource frm in Albuquerque,NewMexico. Youcan contactDr. Bluesteinat 1"925luan TaboNE, Suite8-249,Albuquerque,NM,871L2, USA. L- 8A0-68 8-1.9 60,fax 5A5-323-9045. e-mail to: 74643.103A@comytsera e.com

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Thereseorchfeom in lrvine,Colifornio, exploredthe link betweenmusicond intelligenceqnd reporledthcf musiciraining_ specificqllypiono instruction - is far superioato computerinstructionin dromoticolly enhoncingchildren'sqbstroctreosoningskilts necessoryfor leqrningmoth cnd science. T hc . ev ' iinc { i. g s , p r-rb l i s h e ci 'l i h e F e b ru a r rrI(l r)7 i _ssLre o i N c r r r c r / o. gic t l R e s e s ,c rt, ttre th e rts trl t .i trr-tr-l .c.rr "r € xL rs 1' r , . t - , *n, r r it h p re s c i rc l ttl c rs ,Ic c l L rr D i -.rs r. chrl l tr,]tsir. FrarrcesRauscher ancl phvsicist Dr. Cttrclon Shaw. -\s ir fo l l o r r ' - lr p t t t t lr eir e a ri i e r g ro u rl rl b re .tk i n g s tudi es i vl ri ch c.rre i.rtet--i h.r,r' nr nsi c can en ha^ce sp.rtia l- rcas. n i n g abil i tv; The next E i nstei n? lhe'reseirrche'rs set ollt to co*p.rre tlie eifects.i mirsic.rl "rnt1 n o u -m us ic aI t r ainin g o n i n te Il e c ttr.rI c i e v e l o p rn clt.r sturlies shitn, thertearlv exf-ter:iences rietermine .,r,hichL-rrain The ex per im en t i n c i i rd c c li o u r g ro 1 rp .r5 ti f p r esci r,r..,l er.s: cells(.enrorrs) wiil r.'r"lect w.itlr clther brain cells,;rnd*.iricrr one groLrp receiv.erjpri,,,irtepiano / kevlroarcl lessons; ..t .ues rvi l l c1i e al r-.r," ' .B ecatrse ne* r.rl canneLt ions. r r e Se c( ) nc gr l oup r ec c .i v e tj s i n U i n g l e s s o rrs ;tr thi r:t1groU p i esponsi bl e for al l i vpes oi i nte[[i sence, a chilcl, s br aiu re ceiv ec -pr l ir ' . r t e c o mp L rte r Ie s s o n s ;i .ru c 'a{ i o r-rrtrr devei ops to i ts fr" rl lpotenti .rl onl v i vi tl r exD( ) sLr r e !r,.t,p t o ilr e re ce ir ec lno t r . r ining . necessilfv en ri chi n g c\frerienccs ilr e;rrlv ch i i.l hottci.

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Multiple Intelligences Put Into Practice by Dr. Cinger Kellev McKenzie Hon'ard Gardnet professor of cd u c at ion at Ha rv a rd C ra d u a te School of Education, has authored several books about multiple intelligence. This article arrsivers important questions about thc fact that human beings clo not have a single, fixed iryte l l igenc e. T t , c c ,r' e rs (l a rrl n e r' q (Checklev, 1997) current thinking on intelligence, horr' children learn and horv thev should be taught. This article also gir.es an example of how to integrate different methods of instruction into a spccific area of studv in order to meet the needs of our stud en ts' different intelligences. as thc human abiliw to solve problems

o ; to@ rn one or lnore cultu.res. fi a culture 'ffiaproblem

or createa productin a particularr.vay, Gardnerrrould stronglv considerthat abilitv to be an intelligence.The inielligences identified bv Gardner (Checklev,1997)are (1)linguisticintelligenceis the capacitv to use language, vour native languageas rvell as other languages,to expressn'hat is on \rour mind and to understandother p)eoplg, (2) Iogical-mathernalls4linlelligenee is understanding the underiving principles of some kind of a causal svstem such as a scientistrvouid do and the abilitv to manipulate numbers as a mathematicianrr.oulddo, (3) spatialintclligcnceis the abilitv to form a mental model of a spatial r.r'orld and to maneuver and operate using that model (sailors,engineers, surgcons,sculptors,and painters) (4) bodil), kinesthedc intelligence is the abilitv to soh'e problems or to fashion products using one's rvhole

bodv or parts of the body (dancers, athletes,craftspeople), (5) musicai intelligenceis the capacit-vto think in music,to be ableto hear patterns, recognize them, remember and manipulatethem, (6) interpersonalintelligenceis understanding other people (teacheq,clinician, salespersorypolitician), (7) intrapersonal intelligence refersto having an understanding of ,vourself, of knorving'tr.ho you are, rvhat vou can do, what vou r,r'antto do, how vou reactto thingl and u'hat to avoid, and (8) naturalist intelligencedesignates the human abilitv to discriminate among living things as rvell as sensitivitv to other feattrresof the natural r,r'orld. Each Student IIas Capacitiesin All Eight Intelligences Multiple intelligencc thcory cha1, lenges the view that inteliigence is something vou arebom rvith and vou can't do much about it. (1) Eachpersonpossesses all eight intelligences.Multiple intelligence theorv is not a "tvpe theorv"' lor determining the one intelligence that fitsIt is a thcon'of cognifir'efunctioning, and it proposes that each person has capacitiesin all eight intelligences. Some people appear to possessextremelv high levels of functioning in all or rnost of the eight inteiligences. However, most of us arehighly developed in some intelligences,modestly developed in othert and underdeveloped in the rest. (2) Most peoplecan develop each intelligence to an adequate level of competencv. (3) Intelligencesusually work together in complex rvavs. (4) There are manY r,t'avsto be in-

telligent rvithin each categom AssessingStudents'\{uitiple Intelligences Bv observing children rve can leam how childrenlearnbest.Thefo1lowing are examplesof hon'different children leam through different experiences.As Montessori teachers,rt'ho are frained to be good observers,rve needto be alert to assessing studcnts' multiple intelligences.As vou readthe following descriptions record r+'hich ones identifv each student in vour classroom. (1) Linguistic Intelligence-The strongly linguistic (Armstrong, 1994) student communicatesto others in highlv verbal r4/ays;spellsrrords accuratel_y(or if preschool,does developmental spelling advanced for his age); appreciatesnonsenserhvmes, puns, tongue tlvisters;readsa lot of books; enjoysword games;enjoyslistening to the spoken lvord; and has a good memory for names,placeg dates and trivia. (2) Logical-Mathematical Intelligence-Thesestudents ask a lot of questions about how- things rvork, compute math prohlems in their heads quickly, find math computer gamesinteresting,enjov working on logic puzzles, playing chessor strategy games,and like to experiment in a way that showshigher order cognitive thinking proc€sses. (3) Spatial Intelligence-Thesestudents report clear visual images,read maps and charts easil,v,daydream more than peers,enjo,v,art activities, enjoy visual presentations, enjov puzzles,build three-dimensionalconstructionsfor their age,getsmore out of pictures than rvords rvhile reading, and doodles a lot.

REPoRTER99

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(a) Bodily-Kinesthefic Intelligence-These students excel in one or more sports (or if preschool, shon's phvsical prorvess advanced for their age), fidget t'hile seated for a long time, cler.erlv mimics other people's gestures, loves to take things apart and put them back iogether, often shorr"s skill in crafts, har.e good finemotor coordination, cnjov working lvith cla.v or other tactile experiences, have a dramatic rvav of expressing themselrres, and enjoy mnning, jumpi n g and s im ilar a c ti v i ti e s . A fe u ' months ago I rvas obsen'ing tn a 6-9 classroom and one boy' (Trent) was

busy working throughout the room using concrete materials rvhenever possible.He was talking a lot and his favorite comment r,vith a cute reflcction in his voice was, "Don't push vour luck", (5) Musical Intelligence-These students tell you lt'hen music sounds oft-ke'g,remembcr melodies of songs, often have good singing voices, play musical instruments (enjovs and progresseseasily and quicklv on thc Montessori bells), have rhythmic ways oi speakingand moving, sensitive to environmental noises, tap rhvthmically on a table, and uncon-

Read book on irrvmtions

Write about your own invention

Write about the social conditions that gave rise to inventions.

Learn math for- Createhypothesis Read book about mula basis for an for developing logic behind inventiorg new irwentions invention

I,Yrite word prob' lem based on invention.

Creata timelineof invenfamous tions.

9ketch geometry Draw invention Read book with involved ininven- *rowingallwork- diagramsof inventions i.g p"tts tion

Labelcomponents of drawn invention

Plan mural showing inventions in historical context,

Read instructions on putting together an invention

Write inskuctions lo build your own invention using scrap materials.

Put on a play about how an invention came to be.

Read math problemsinvolving irr ventions

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Talk about basic prinscientific ciples involved in specific inr.ention

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sciouslyhums or singssongs. (6) Interpersonal IntelligenceThesestudcnts eniol' sogitlizing rvith peers,seemto be natural ]eaders,give advice to friends, seem to be streetsmart, enjoy clubs, have a senseof empathv for others, like to plav games, enjov teaching others, and have trvo or more close friends. In a Montessori classroomrecentlu I obserr,'edone bov (Corey) rt'ho decided he would be the student rvho lvould greet all the visiting students that came to his classroom from another locai lMontessorischool. (7) Intrapersonal Intelligence-

Create invention to measure physical activity

Build own inven' tion based on scientific principles.

Study math involved in invention of musical instRrment

Study xience be. Read about back- Write lyrics for Listen to music hind invention ground to inven- song promoting about inventions tion songp- Tot* thertewirwentiorl. at different historielectronicmusic Henry' cal periods.

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Study grouplooks into math involved in specific invention

Form discussion gmup science be. hind invention

Read about coop erationneeded for developing an invention.

Write aplay about Hold discussion the invention. Put group about how on the play by the inventions cameto class. be,

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C.leate own word probhnubasedon inventions

Develop selfstudy to examine basis foraninvention

Readbiographyof famous inventor-

If you Write personal au- Think: tobiography as a could inventatime "famous inverrtor" machine, where would you go?

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Go to zoo and Go to nature c€fl- Go to natrrre c€nstudymathinven- ter and draw an ter and readliterature tion usedthere. available ocistinginvention.

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RFPoRTER 99

Fall 1999- Vol. )OilII. No. 3

about inventions-

Write about wind charger used in agdclrltural€nter.

As a National Forest employee creat€ an invention that will make your iob

t3 Inmgsto Remember posiliveBehqvior AboufReinforcing + WaLchtlrc tendency to focus oll errors, nristakes, llaivsalid onrissiolrs. Dclibcratclyltxrk for whal your child is doing right! (lt's easierto recr:gnize anclrein_ fbrce positivebehaviorwhen you startnoticiug it.) , t' Resistjuclging or colrnectingyour child,s wor.thto an acccnrlrlishrneut.Insteaclof saying .,you,re so good becauseyou maclethe honor roll,,, try .All right! you nradethe holror rolM know how hard you workecl this selnester.,' (lslt't she good and worfhwhile even when she cloesn'tmtike tlrc honor roli?) * Use a two-steptechniqueto recognizea behavioror accornprlishrnentwithout reinforcing clependence, people-preasingor trre need for approvar. First, descril:ethe behutior (withctutjnaging tlrc belnvior or ttrc worth of 1tc)urchild): ,,I see you got the car in orr tirne," "Way to go! yrru got alt your chorcsdone,,, "You flnished y
y()r.r canyg-!1-l TV 1or.g:_rln-l*.gruserhephone).,,

* Recogrrizepositive lrehayior rtljer it;r;;;;Resistthe tcmptatioltto ffatter.your chilclinto ceop_ eratingby tellingher how tleal, snlarlor braveshe is. (Once she acts neat. sntart or btaye, then nckuorvledge: "You arganizedyour toys beautifully!,, ,.yoll ligured that out all by yourscll,l,,) + l)on't recoglriz.csolltc(ntc clse,s bclravi<;rto trv to motival.eyour child to clo ttre sanre.,.lbu, ,,rt-,r,u Mabel writes her thank,you notes right away,, or "other kids your age arcn't afrairrof ghJsts,,wilr onry reinforceresentrnent, inadequacyandiornpetitivcnes.c. r Avoid using contlitionar allpr'var as reilrfbrcerrrent. Cornmentslike ..I'r

chores,, or,.rrove ;:,:',"i:::?J::iJjL::"ilJ,:

suggestthat you wouldrr'tfeel this wtiy otherruise, thatyour happiness andlovedepen
+ some -oI tne Dest tetnlorcenlent colles wncli yuul'

child experiencesthe positive outcomesof rnaking good choices.Haviltg accessto tlte phorteor'l'V at 7:30 becauseshe finislred lter homewcxk ott tiltte, going out to play becauscshe cleanedup lter roonl beforeher friends carneovel',or getting to eat dilurer wittr the rest of the faruily lrccauseshc got ltottteon time are all positivecorlsequcuc:cs tltat reittlorccyour child's cooperativebehiwior. * Reinforcersmust be nreaninglulto a chiltl, Saying "You picked up all your toys! Norv you get to iron!" will probablydiscourageyour child llortt everpicking up lrer loys again(unless,ol'coursc,shelovesto ilon), 'Now you car play with tlrenr again tornom'ow"ol "Now I can tuck you in and readyou your story" will probably be more effective (but only il'playing rvith the toys tomorrow or healing tlre stoly is nurrc rneaningful than not picking up the toys in the lirst placel). {' As behaviols becorne lnore intenralizedand automatic, they also self-reinforce.'Ilre ucecl frrr )'arrr reinforcementdiminislres.Acknowledgethe lnsitive anyhow-it's alwaysnice tcrbc irp;rreciated! + Watch out for overkill! Chilclrenare naturally suspi_ ,,1O_cent ciousol'"5-dollal.reactions" to events."Go aheadand celebratea major brcakthrouglror achieve_ tnenl but simple recognition ancl acknowledgrnerrt are probably enough for most day_to_claybehaviors and accon4rlishments. * ll'you give a conrplinrent, do so withoutan agencla. [f you tell your child tlrat her hair looks pretty, don,t Ioad the statementwith an expectationthat she spencl nrore tirne on her appearance,implying ,.See?Why can't you look this niceul.l the time?" * lf _vonwaul to tell -vourchild she'swonderful,tell her. Just watclr the tendencyto connecther ..wonderful_ ness"to sornethingshe has done...you're such a neat kid." Period! Let your chikj know how anclwhat you appreciaLeabout her. Give your complimelrts freely-and frequently! * Don't give a complirnent as a way to introduce a complaint: "lbu played that piece beautifully. Too badyou're not cloingso well in math.,'you may think you're sayingsomethingpositive,but it's a surc bet your child will hearit as an attack. + Stny in the prcsent.praisirrgprevious behavior(..But ytltt lt.t'ct/lo be so lteat!") is crilical nnrl rnrninrrlnrirre

Thesestudents display a senseof independence,have a realistic senseof their strengthsand vr.eaknesses, does vvellwhen left aloneto studl; marchcs to the beat of a different drummer, have a good sense of self-direction, prefer r,r'orking alone, accuratelv expresstheir feelings, and have a high senseof self-esteem. (8) Naturalist Intelligence-These students ate verv comfortable outdoors; choosebooks about animals and ecosvstems;nurture lir.ing things (plants and animals); recognizespatterns, colors, and classifications;automaticallv usessensesto explore the enl.ironmcnU observe patiently; touchesand explores" yucky things"; enjovs collections of rocks, minerals, shells,etc.;seeksmusic related to nature; usesbinoculars,telescopes,microscopeswhen observing; grows plants; photographs or sketchesanimals, plants, habitats; makes crafts and projectsusing natural materials; and enjoys hiking fishing, mountain climbing, r'isiting the zoo, camping, sailing, etc. Multiple IntelligencesPut Intcr Practice When children display inclinations tor.r'ardspecificintelligences,the cnvironment should be enriched so each student can learn in many different n'avs. lVhat ciassroom Directors need to do is to observe and understand each child so more of their learning in school can take place through their preferred intelligences. To continue,teacherslink the multiple intelligcnceswith a curriculum iocusedon taking knowledgeleamed in school and applying it to real life experiences. The chart on page 4 (Armstrong, 7994)isan exampleof horv one theme iike "The Sfudy of Inventions,'canbe planned for each area of multiple intelligcnceand can cover all zubiect areasin the curriculum. It is important that all students have the most challenging and succcssful methods possible to learn

through their strongestintelligences. Once we know the strongestmultiple inteliigencesour students display, we should encourage learning through the students' best methods of leaming. Conclusion Multiple intelligence theory is a theory of cognitive functioning. Each person can develop each of the eight intelliE;cnccsidentified by Howard Gardner (1993).If a child has a strong musical intelligence, the teacher can drarv upon that strength, if need be, when we want to teach the child something nery. CiassroomDirectors need to observeeachchild so more of their leaming in school can take place th rough their preferredintelligences. Bibliographf Armstrong, T. (L994).Multiplg Intelligences in the Classroorn. Alexandra,Virginia:Assoc.for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Checkle-v,K. (September, 7997). The First Sgven and The Eighth: A Conversation vr'ith Horvard Gardner.EducationalLeadership. 55(1),8-13. Cardner; H. (1999).Multiple Intelli_ gences: The Theory in practice. Nerv York: BasicBooks. Glock, J.,Wertz,S. & Me1'er,M. (lggg). Discovering the Naturalist Intelligence:Sciencein the Schoolyard. TucsoryArizona: Zephyr press. Goleman, Daniel. (199i1.hmotional Intelligenc-e: lthlu it can matter more that IQ. New York: Bantam Books. GingerKelleyMcKenzie,Ed.D. is As;so ciateProfessor, Departmentof Edttcation, and PracticuntCoordinatorfor Elementary Montessorilnterns,Xaaier lJ.nitersity, Cinciwtati, QH. Sheis a N.C.M.E. certiftedhlontessori teacherin Esrlv ClildhoodsndElentmtaryEcluctztion nnd tt Consultsntfor publfu and Tsrioate Montessorisclnols.

These students display a sense of independence, have a realistic sense of their strengths and weaknesses, does well when left alone to study, marches to the beat of a different drummer, have a good sense of self-direction, prefer working alone, accurately express their feelings, and have a high sense of self-esteem. (8) Naturalist Intelligence-These students are very comfortable outdoors; choose books about animals and ecosystems; nurture living things (plants and animals); recognizes patterns, colors, and classifications; automatically uses sensesto explore the environment; observe patiently; touches and explores "yucky things"; enjoys collections of rocks, minerals, shells, etc.; seeks music related to nafure; uses binoculars, telescopes, microscopes when observing; grows plants; photographs or sketches animals, plants, habitats; makes crafts and projects using natural materials; and enjoys hiking, fishing, mountain climbing, visiting the zoo, camping, sailing, etc. Multiple Intelligences Put Into Practice When children dispiay inclinations toward specific intelligences, the environment should be enriched so each student can learn in many different ways. What classroom Directors need to do is to observe and understand each child so more of their iearning in school can take place through their preferred intelligences. To continue, teachers link the multiple intelligences with a curriculum focused on taking knowledge learned in school and applying it to real life experiences. The chart on page 4 (Armstrong, I994)is an example of how one theme like "The Study of Inventions" can be planned for each area of multiple intelligence and can cover all subfect

through their strongestintelligences. Oncewe know the strongestmultiple intelligencesor-irstudenti aisplay, r"e should encouragelearning through the students'best methods of learning. Conclusion Multiple intelligencetheory is a theory of cognitivefunctioning.Each person can develop eachof the eight intelligences identified by Howard Gardner(1993).If a chlld has a strong musical intelligence, the teacher can draw upon that strength,if need be, when we want to teach the child somethingnew. ClassroomDirectors needto observeeachchild so more of their learningin schoolcantakeplace through their preferredintelligences. Biblioeraohv: Armstrong, T. (1994).Multiple,ln!91: ligen c e s in t h e Cla s s ro o m. Alexandra,Virginia:Assoc.for Supervision and Curriculum DeveloDment. ;, Checkley, K. (September,1997).

Con v e rs a t io n wit h Ho wa rd Cardner.EducationalLeadership. 55(1),B-13. Cardner H. (1993).Multiple Inrelligences:The Theory in practice. New York: BasicBooks. Clock,J.,Wertz,S.& MeyeaM. (1999). Discovering the Naturalist Inteiligence:Sciencein the Schoolyard. Tucson, Arizona: Zephvr Press. -Emotional Goleman,Daniel. (1995). Intelligence: Whlr it can matter more that IQ. New York: Bantam Books.

GingerKelleyMcKenzie,Ed.D.is AssociateProfessor, Department of Education, and PracticumCoordinator for Elementary MontessoriInterns,XaaierLlnirsersity, Cincinnati,OH. Sheis a N,C.M.E. certifiedMontessoriteacherin Enrly areasin the curriculum. Childhood andElementary Edtrcntion and It is important that all sfudents a Cons u lt a nfto r p u b lic a n d p ria a t e have the most challenging and suc- Montessorischools. cessful methods possible to learn

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ffi National Centerfor MontessoriEducation Certifiesthat the following peoplehave satisfactorily completed the teacher training program of instructionaccording to the principlesof Montessorieducation and are hereby granted certificatesof competency. Montessori Earlv Childhood

Education(Ages21l2 - 5) NCME/Atlanta StephanieFarrow NCME/Lake Forest.CA Wayne Barnes NCME/New Mexico ValerieArmenta Michelle Fleury ElizabethHulse Lori L. Long NCME/Utah Kathy Cieslewicz JenniferCottam-Petrick JessicaCox CarolineEverett Kerry Eyerly Britney Peterson SuzanneRosenthal Montessori Elementary Education(Ages6,9) NCME/South Carolina Carol Macdonald Lynette Watson

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of {vaitn g to be rviredinto a mind. The experiences iesearCtishows,help foirn the brtids cfiildhood,=pioneering - ---Aiiauits:foi musicand maCh,Ianguageand emotion.

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night; you feed him, holding his gazebecausenature has seento it that the distancefrom a parent'scrooked OU HOLD YOURNEWBORN SO HIS SI(Yelbow to his eyesexactlymatchesthe distanceat blue eyesare just inches lrom the brightly which a baby focuses.Zap: neuronsin the brain's patterned r,r.'allpaper.ZZZI: a neuron amygdalasendpulsesof electricity through the cirfrom his retina makes an electrical concuits that control emotion.Youhold him on your lap nection with one in his brain's visual cor- and talk . . . and neurons from his ears start hardtex. You gently touch his palm with a wiring connectionsto the auditory cortex. clothespin; he grasps it, drops it, and you And you tirought you were just playing with return it to him with soft words and a smile.Crackle: your kid. neuronsfrom his hand strengthentheir connectionto When a babv comesinto the world her brain is a . jumble thosein his sensory-motorcortex.He criesin the ol neurons,all waiting to be woven iirto the '+.-____'

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as surely as a prograrnmer at a keyboard recon-figuresthe circuits in a computer.Which l<e.Jrs are twed-which experiences a chi.ld has - determines whether

Wayne State University, that "they cancompletelychangethe

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By adulthood the brain is

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The LogicalBrain

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the known universe-that qive the brain i[s unriva]ed-powers, The traditional view was that the wiring diagram is predetermined,Iike onefor a new house, by the genes in the Grtilized egg.Unfortunateiy, eventhough half the genes-50,000-are involved in.the central nervous system in some way, there are not enough of them to specify the brain's incomparably com-

sKrLT:Math and logic LEARNTNG WTNDOW:Birth to 4yexs WHATWE KNOW:circuits for math reside in the brain's cortex, near those for music. Toddlers taught simple concepts,Iike one and !lmY: do better 1n:riath.Mus'iclessonsmay help develop spatial skills. \ATHAT Wli CANDO ABOUTrr: Play counting gameswith a toddler. Have him set the ta6le to learn one-to-onerelationships-one plate, one fork per person. And, to hedge your 6ets, turn on a Mozart CD.

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that gave birth to this paradigm in the 1970s,Torsten Wiesel and David Hubel fould that sewing shut one eye of a newborn kitten rewired its brain: so few neurons connectedfrom the shut eye to the visual cortexthat the animalwas blirrd e'oen after its eye was reopened, Suchrewiring 4dng," says did not occurin adult catswhoseeveswere Carla Shatz shut. Conclusion:there is a short,iarly peBerkeley: riod when circuits connectthe retiaa to the visual cortex, When brain regions mature 56 rvBwswesx

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Head Startare so often evanescent: this intensive instruction beginstoo late to fundamentally rewire thebrain.Andtheymake clear the rnistakeofpostponing instructionin a secondlanguage (page 58). As Chugani asks, "What idiot decreed that foreign-language instruction not begin until high school?" Neurobiologists are still at the dawn of understanding exactly which kinds of experiences, or sensory input, wire the brain in which ways. They know a great deal about the 'circuit for vision. It has a neuron-growth spurt at the age of 2 to 4 months, which correspondsto when babiesstart to really notice the world, and peaks at 8 months, when each neuron is connectedto an astonishingL5,000other neurons. A baby whose eyesare clouded by cataractsfrom birth will, despite cataract-removal surgery at the ageof 2,be foreverblind. For other systems,researchers know what happens,but notat the level of neuronsaad molecules-how Thev nevertheless remain conhdent that cognitive abilities work much like parsimonious in how it conducts its affairs: e mechanism that works fine for wiring vision is not likely to be abandoned when it comes to circuits for music. "Connections are not .r----:iormrng wrli)/-nrlly." saYs uale

Purves of Duke Universitv. "but are nror1oted-byjcliyjly. Lan$ua$e: Before there are words, in the world of a newborn, there are sounds.In English they are phonenressuch as sharp ba's and das, drawn-out ee's and ll's and sibilant sss's.In Japanesethey are different-barked hit, merged rrlll's. When a child hears a phonemeover arrd over, neurons from his ear stimulatetheformationof

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edicated connections in his brain's audirry cortex This "perceptual map," ex-_ lains Patricia Kuhl of the Universily of y'ashington, reflects the apparent dismce-and &us the similarity-berween neuronsin runds.So in English-speakers, re auditory cortexthat respondto "ra'lie u from thosethat respondto "1a."But for

less involved, mothers; at 24 months, the ing, the amount of somatosensorycortex sap had widened to 295 words. (Presum- dedicated to the thumb and ffih finger of ibiy the findings would also apply to a father if he were the primary caregiver') It didnt matter which words the mother used-monosyllables seemedto work. The soundof words, it seems,builds up neural chcuitrv that can then absorb more words,

rpanese,where the sounds are elarlv identical, neurons that

:spond to "ra" are Practirlty itrterrtrined, like I

early in life, the ones for music endure. Wayne Statds Chugani playedtheguitar asachild, then gave it up. A few years ago he started taking piano lessons with his young daughter. She learned easily, but he couldnt gethis fingersto follow his wishes. Yet when Chugani recendY picked up a gurtar, he found to his delight that "the songsare still there." muchlike the muscle memory for riding a bicycle.

Researchers find evrlence of these tendencies

(as shown by

ffi.;l:,il1ff#:,::f; |2 months," saysKuhl, "infants rave lost the ability to discrimirate sounds that are not sigrficarlt in their language, and *reir babbling has acquired the

The LanguageBrain sKrLL:Language WTNDOW:Birth to 10 years LEARNTNG WHAT wE KNow: Circuits in the auditory cortex, representing the soundsthat form words, are wiredby the ag*eof 1. The more words a child hears by 2, the larger her vocabularywill grow. Hearing problems can impair the ability to match soundsto letters. WHAT wE cAN Do ABour rT: TaIk to your childa lot. If you want her to master a secondlanguage, introduce it by the age of 10. Protect hearing by treating ear infections promptly.

Kuhl's work also suggests E suchasSpanrelatedlanguages ish and Frenchare easierto learn than unreLated ones: more of the existing

circuits

can

do doubleduty. With this basic circuitry established, a baby is primed to turn sor:ndsinto words. The niore words a child hears, the faster she learns language,according to psychiatrist JanellenHuttenlocher of the University of Chicago.Infants whose mothers spoke to them a lot linew 131more words at 20 months than did.babiesof more taciturn. or

much as creatinga computJrfile allowsthe us€r to fill it with prose. "There is a huge vocabulary to be acquired," says Huttenlocher, "and it can only be acquired through repeatedexposureto words,"

Music Last October

researchers at the nnan muslc

examined with magnetic resonance imag-

Math and lo$ie et UC Irvine, Gordon Shawsuspeetedthat all higher-order thinking is characterized by similar patterns of neuron firing. "If youre worle ing with little kidsil sayl Shaq "yotfre not going to teach them higlrer mathematics or chess. Qut they are interested in and can process music." So Shaw and Frances Rauscher gave 19

children -eiven.ng pulig lessons.asshownin their abilitv to and eoFy patterns of ffres qggcaloEJacks. The mechanism behind the'"Mozart eF fect" remains mu*y, but !@u that when children ex-

their use in

Emotions:@ controlling@ take oyer. Perhapsthe birth.Glarents strongest influence is what psychiatrist Daniel Stern calls attrmement-whether caregivers "play back a childs inner feelings." ff a baby's squeal of delight at a puppy is met vrith a smile and hug, if her excitement at seeing a plane overhead is F E B R U A B Yr g , r 9 g 6

Nnwswrrx

57

1: ll

i,,,

mirrored, circuits for these emotions are reinforced. Apparently, the brain uses the

lsrul8 resuolrsc-.oaDy

rs Pr'ouu

a slyscraper out of Mom's best and Mom is terminally

annoyed-

SCHOOLS

Why Do Schools F-lunkBiology? BY LYi'UNELLHANCOCK

child for life. [$be-pgLtern that counLs, ald; t " " ' ho@ f Stern'sstudies,a babywhosemother never matched her level of excitement became extremely passive, unable to feel excitement or joy. Experience can also wire the brain s 'talm down" circuit, as Daniel Goleman describesin his best-selling"Emotional Intelligence." One father gently sootheshis crying infant, another drops him into his crib; one mother hugs the toddler who just skinned her knee, another screams "It's your own stupid fault!" The first responses are attuned to the child's distress; the others are wildly out of emotional sync. Between 10and 18months,a clusterof cellsin the rational prefrontal cortex is busy hooking up to the emotion regions. The circuit seemsto grow into a control switch, able to calm agitatiop by infi-rsingreasoninto emotion. Perha;is parental soothing trains this circuit, strengthening the neural connections that form it, so that the child learns how to calm herself down. This all happens so early that the effects ofnurture can be misperceived as innate nature. Slressand constant threats also rewire emotion circuits. These circuits are centered on the amygdala,a little almondshaped structure deep in the brain whose job is to scanincoming sights and sounds for emotionalcontent.Accordingto a wiring diagram worked out by JosephLeDoux of NewYork University,impulsesfrom eye and ear reach the amygdalabefore they get to the rational, thoughtfirl neocortex. If a

IOLOGY IS A STAPLE AT MOST

American high schools.Yetwhen it comesto the biology of the studentsthemselves-how their brains developand retain knowledge-school offi"cialswould rather not pay attention to the lessons.Can first graders handie French?What time should school start? Should music be cut? Biologistshave someimportant evidenceto offer. But not onlv are they ionored.their findings,areoften turned upsidedown, Force ofhabit rules the

tuned into brain research. scientistsargue,not only would scheduleschange, but subiectssuchas foreisn ' .---------.-.-_

Irytr-egueelselry, . mlch Would be oftered tn

lAusic. Ylsscer-sblldrcn.

and qym would be dnily,requirements. Lectures. work sheets and rote memoriza-uon wouio De replace hands-on materials. drama and project r aork.And

were expert puzzlemnsterq,

Pnlg- [,0 qercen!hieher

t@ spatlal mtellEence-tne i'ii?---n-.r abiliby to visualize the worl

tion is often the first "frill'f to be cut when schoolbudg on averets shrink.'Schools agehave only one music j ects.'lArado_uores&sa-teacherfor every500children, accordingto the Na@ ebjgl!9lv(dd,"says tional Commissionon MuFrank Vellurino, a professic Education. sor of educationalpsycholoThen there'sgrm-dngy at StateUniversity of other expendablehour by New York at Albany, "and mostschoolstandards.Onl' we isnore more as well." 36 percentof schoolchildrei Platooncesaidthat music today are required to partic "is a more potent instruipate in daily physicaledumentthan anyotherfor edu- cation. Yet researchersnow cation."Now scienlists know why. Music, thevbelieve. trains the brain for thitrlQtg. Llgb"t f"!q!"f the UniverResearchers at sity of California,Irvine, studiedthe power of music by observing two gloups of preschoolers.One group took piano lessonsand sang nough confirmed this by daily in chorus.The other watching rats at his Univer did not. After eightmonths sity of Illinois at Urbanathe musical3-vear-olds Champaign lab. One group teacherswould pay greater attention to childrenls emotional connectionsto sub-

The Windows of Opportunity PRENATAL

BIRTH

I YEAR OLD

2 YEARS

,i

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lege of Medieine, more circuits attend to

'4.

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dren s Hosnital of Miehigan. determined this -hugani the by measwing brains consumption ofits chiefenergy source,glucose. (The more glucose it uses,the more ae tive the brain.)-Chi\ dren s brains,he observes.qobDleup olucoseat twice the e.

.

i

i

4sllJa[g-EsLtbe gegillo"Pubedy Usunqbrabge

as orimed as thev'll

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nothing. A secondex- schoolsgoesbeyondsimole exercise.Children ised on an automatic rdmill. Athirdwas set sein a Barnum & Baiobstaclecourserering the rats to per m acrobaticfeats. :se "supersmart"rats w "an enormous not only aurally but emqount of gtay matter" and phvsicallvto nparedwith their sed- tionallv ffi ary partners, says !re_@!g43Lsays unrversity of Oregon educa:enouqh. tion professorRobert )fcourse, children it ordinarilynrn such Sylwlsterin'A Celebrartlets; still, Greenough tion of Neurons." Good teacherslnow ieves,the resultsare that lecturing on the nificant. Numerous American Revolution is dies. he savs. show far less effectivethan act- t chi ing out a batde.Angles and dimensionsare better understoodif children

new irrfomatinnComplexsubjects such as trigonometry or foreign languageshouldn't wait . chuck their work sheets andbuild acomplexmod- for puberty to be introduced. In fact, Chugani el to scale.The smell of says,it g far e4sier,fo,r,-an the glue entersmemory cnuo one sensorysys- elementary-scnool to hear and processa seetem, the touch of the wood blocks another,the ond lanpuase-and even sieht of the finished mod- speakit without an acel-still another.The brain cent.Yetmost U.S.districts wait until iunior then createsa multidimensionalmentalmodel high to introducL Spanish or French-after the of the experience-one "windows'' are closed. easierto retrieve. "ExReform could begin at plaining a smell," says Sylwester,"is not as good the beginning. Many sleepresearchersnow as actuallysmellingit." believe that most teens' Scientists4rguethat biological clocksare set children are capableof far more at younger ages later than thoseoftheir than schoolsgenerallYre- fellowhumans.But high schoolstartsat 7:30a.m., alize. Peopleobviously usually to accommodate continue learning &eir bus schedules.The result whole lives,@g-@p[

canbe wastedclasstime for whole groupsofkids. Making mattersworse, manv kids have trouble readjustingtheir naturel sleeorhvthm. Dr. Richard^Allen of Johnsl{opkins University found ' that teenswent to sleePat the sametime whether they had to be at school by 7:30a.m.or 9:30a.m. The later-to-rise teens not only getmore sleeP, he says;they alsogetbetter grades.The obvious solution would be to start schoollater when kids hit puberry.But at school, there'swhat'sobvious, and then there's tradition. Why is this bodYof researchrarely used in mostAmericanclassrooms?Not many administrators or school-board membersknow it exists, savsLinda DarlineHammond,profesior of educationat Columbia Universityq,,'Teachers College.In-!ssstsla!9$, nor qdneitherteacher,s r,nTdstrators?re,req\ired to kJrowmuchabouthow childrenlearn in order to be cer-tified.\t"l'l worse,shesaYs,decrslons to cut music or S'/rnare often made by noneducators, whose concernsare more often monetarythan edueational."Our sclooi systemwas inventgd,b

this way?" With Par WrNcsnr ond Menv Hacen inWashingon

al\or,r t-no* *ro^Lfiorrol onns, +auha,{ a Honjcssoci c[a,.ss0oo/y1 at diferent ages.Give-yourchildr-enthe stimulation they needwhen ;cuits in different regions of the brain mature at different times. need it, ind anytfung's possible. Stumble,and all bets are offthey experiences to hfe's a result, different c#cuits are most sensitive ;.-4 YEARS

5 YEARS

6 vrans

TYEARS

8 vrans

I YEARS

ihit:1!.iiir;#&EWWWW ftiilltutamawru&w$**gtr**nmwruw*t*ffi.r,ffi Mffiffi sffiffiffiffiwffi.www riw*r*w:m ffiffi* ffiffi ii*'wmffirtgs:gt*'ryffi ffii,gewgd,#ff#ds.trgffittri.fd$ffi,ffi WWWWW ffi ffi-*".-{$-e".wffi .WWWW ffi.#ffi.,:,l: iti$lilr;lrtjlqig mlseg.W*W*,r9 ffiMffi,it{I pa'@wwwwmww*wwwffiwwlww w*ffiffiiif gq re

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59

cells becometrue neurons' They vgment Fetal movementsbegin at 7 do these qrow called an axon that carries a fiber peakbehveenthe 15thand 17th The axon might reach signals. Eiectti"ul brain "[t the "ta of regions eks. That is when door,or it might wend next tt"nion u to orrly The rtrolling movement start to wire up' the other side of the to across clear :ical pJriod lasts a while: it takesup to ib;;" that form connections axonal ttt" it t-iri".'r, which r n""it f"t cellsin the cerebellum, the determine Genes cireuits. ih" [tui"t t#oit oottut" and movement, to form travel to axons which along t igh*"ys i"tional circuits. 'A lot of organization -"itt

intheworld,"sal's ,vesabout

()Il Lrrs *;:i |d6c gnp l;l;iJ tnerr ;$"JtH';

illiam Greenoughof the I rsity of lilinois.

spastic move-

lTifiil-lv

ents send a signal to the

ains motorcortex;the more

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e stro.nqqr tf.Ie clr-c]]lt. an'

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ffi.'3i"ru*iq1i:i:i,f,l

discover, and manl' mo:e eru-ironmental

ati" r fQ gainsi-adeafter aloyt Craig Rameyof the th;; t;;.

;f*'":*,ffn5j'ffi%-ff;1

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grow p5 percentmore

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lf:i''il*H,'ro*'',:i: aswere rarnilies r'"* rzopoor

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siqned to one of four grouPs:

-lHTi-:"ft."i"#'i*::i:; u **1.,..r*Y; fi'#fr:* N #*x*m$#",ili;,ffi*

ristr of only a few ad ;coutsbreakingtrail: within a larser area of their sensory they.march :;-o; . weekof conception -"i"u.yo'' on thelr ' idiil; "neuralthe.Imgerl"g ;';i-ir," Ftgl1?-11:: begin a cylinderof celtsextend- cert-Ievel pJtiofri"ts tube,,, rpil..Multiplytt"tiu, i, rruc''arLrur age of L0. Jt rs ingfromhead.to "t".fi ingastheygo(thebrainaddsan as an adult.

cortex dedicated to left hand. Few con::::"1':'i^-lli"llir.. gl-anng later than the . an instrument rv*r'*'"^"*:"^"^.* io LUftar;

yy+r wE cAN Do ABour rr: Sinssonesw"ith ]:*::t*ffiilff ;:T$;€ pdt;m"t*"d, m"lodic-musii.If a child .tr*p i#'iir'" ihe neurons getan "hiidr"rr. shows*v J;i;';;;t;d;liinterest' ;;;; ;",. which-commands urcaluur6, and breathing, heartbeat nealtDeat auLr 1*'1I ?ll* the little cerebellum at th,e u,l{

#l*:*liiHxTlt"t#;"

t,curJ. llalr|.l early. IleI hand lmo her into lnstrument instrument -

to Sy"rtr, Fom 5 to 8 years,or nor," all. Whatdoesit mean "t a 4-m i;":.#,;;";'^i"iiionth-old? to "educate" Nothingfancv:blocks'beads' :ffiX1;:#ft3:1#t"Sffi:;

in the6ook"Learningames,"* activities eachof the200-odd

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paper, recent pape., a recent In a development. In J"""topir""i. r"a

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to-reach I :f"*1.Y*':i:::#** connection-But their 1*-e fn:Hrgx as inAbecedarian fril;;;;;;i,,*"",r,u"*;il;;f;; P,"L':: I ir,ut.rua,"nenroued -"y

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sosreat, andthe&stance irnall, 1.r'"'lt"#""it'"*, -that-a ;'ilh: ffi;,.! il"

s"*"^.1*,r*;; lp;tgh""Iersstillscoredhigherinmathand

Yqil-t|1r:*l aYeraee d'"".fhechil&enstillretainedan thitiav totheol- I| i::*x*'j*:9:"""Tfi::?l'Hi'trT9":H lT#"T,hH.? "T$T":r"#,i';ii thechil| fa.to.y."ril". '"p"ri"', earlier The points. 4.6 of ro trt" nnrr riy Gi"- | equiv-| adistance prefrontal iortexmigrates the themoreenduring i"t" enrolled, a'i""+" -g{irt"r -arent t;;;;,Jiil;;a;;iJ walkingfromNewyork 1,r"" "i"ii#J"J#; to a humarrs i'*'i.l;q{::g:::*.i.':-:T a"'tffi"i' neurobideveropmental says to california, 1

I I *l**":*Xtltl"**:age

5conferred

ffiHil;.u!';r1;iytjr"luitors:i#S"#,? uruBrsLrvr.rJ B::r'ff,T#'Jiff"l,iirrii* "^ ---- --. I L"'??'ii"o"TLli,ll!1, ,,,,, walken (226,_r, pages. I*vrs ,,", tlr"y ol accornmodate.- _- I *onr-lfr* I .l*"tn tt-u.*ril Isabelle | University. "'6"i,

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they reach their destinations I

How doesthe-wiring get sorted out? The I t-a.ss).

F E B R U A R Yr g , r 9 9 6

NBwswrPx

61

v

All of which raises a troubling question. If the windows of the mind ciose. for t}e

To aid life,leaving it free' however. to unfold itself, that is the basic task of the educator MariaMontessori

There are many wha hold, as I do, that the most impartant period of life is not the age of university studies, but the first one, the period from birth to the age of six. For that is the time when man's intelligence itself, his greatest implement,is being formed. But not only his intelligence - thefull totality of his psychic powers.

level the news is

the older brain and, like a microseopic screwdriver,rewire broken circuits.In January, scientists led by Paula Talal of RutgersUniversityand Michael Merzenich of UC San Franciscodescribeda study of learnchildren rvho have "language-based ing disabfities"-reading problems. LLD aFects 7 million children in the United States.Talial has long argued that LLD arises from a child's inability to distinguish short. staccatosounds*such as 'd." and "b." Normally, it tal<esneurons in the auditory cortex somethinglike .015second to respondito a signal from the ear, calm dorv:rand get readyto respondto the next sound; in LLD children, it takesfive to 10 times as long. (lVlerzenichspeculaiesthat the defect might be the result of chronic middle-ear infectionsin infancy: the brain never "hears"soundsciearly and so fails to drarv a sharp auditory map.) Short sounds such as "b" and 'ri" go by too fast-.04 second-to process.Unable to associate sounds with letterc, the children develop readingproblems. The seientisisdrilled the 5- to l0-yearoids three hours a day with computerproduced sound that drarvsout short consonants,like an LP played too slow. The result: LLD childlsn who were one to three years behind in language ability improved by a full two years after only four weeks. The improvement has lasted. The trainiag, Merzenich suspect, redrerv the wiring diagram in the child.ren's auditory cortex to processfast sounds.Their reading problems vanished like the sounds of the ietters that, before,'theynever heard. Such neural rehab may be the ultimate payoffofthe discoverythat the e4periences oflife are etchedin the bumpsand squiggles ofthe brain. For now. it is enouEhto know

The Absorbent Mind Dr. Maria Montessori

Tke child cdn only develop by means of experiencein his environment. We call such experience work. Dr. Montessori

The most important discovery is that a child returns to a normal state through wark. Countless experimentsmade upon children af every race throughout tlze world have shown thet this is the most certain detum that we have in thefield of psychology and education. A child's desire to work represents a vital instinct since he cannot organize hispersonaliry witho* working: a man builds himself through working. There can be no substitutefor work, neither affection nar physical well-being can replace it. A man builds himself by carrying aut manual labor inwhich he useshii hands as the instruments af kis personality and as an expression of his intellect and will

I had always understoad that M adame M antes sori di spensed with disctpline and I wondered how she manageda roomfull af children... On sending my little boy of three to spend his mornings in a L{ontessori school, I found that he quickly becames more disciplined human being... The pedagogical discoveries involved keve required genius but the teachers who sre to apply them do not require genius. They require only the right sort of training, together with a degree of sympathy and patience, which is by no meansunusual. The fundamental idea is simple: that the right discipline con"sistsnot in external compulsion, but in habtts of mind,which leed spontaneously to desirable rather than undesirsble activities. Whot is astonishing is xhegreat successinfinding technical methods of embodying this idea in education. For this, Madome Montessori desemes tke highestpraise." from'ONEDUCATION" by Bertrand Russell

helping him to dotninate his environment. A child's instinctfor work is a proof that work is instinctive to man and characteristic af the species.(fromThe Secret of Childhood) . . ,f *e showed then exacttryhow ta do something,this precision itself seemed to holdtheir interest. To have areal . purpase to which the action was directed, this was the first condition, but the exact way af doing it acted like a swpport which rendered the child stable in his efforts, and therefore brought him to make progress in his development. Order and precision, wefound, were the keys to spontoneous work in the school. (ftom The Absorbent ivfind) Dr. Maria Montessori

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