- Knowledge must precede choice. E. M Standing, in "The Montessori Method: A Revolution in Education," lists "Twelve Points of the Montessori Method." One of these points is as follows: "The child works from his own free choice. This choice is preceded by knowledge and thus is a real choice." There is a difference between curiosity and true choice. A child who points to the City of Jerusalem and says, "I want to work with the castle!" has been attracted and is curious but does not have the knowledge to truly choose this work. If the title of the work is provided and the child says, "That's in the Land of Israel and is marked by a cross because it's where Jesus died and rose" it is far more likely that this child has much of the knowledge necessary to be shown this material. The presentation of the City of Jerusalem is rather lengthy, however, and thus the child must also have the ability to focus for the time needed to present it. Once the child has received a presentation on the City of Jerusalem he truly has the knowledge to choose to return to the material and repeat this work in order to internalize the details regarding the places Jesus went during Holy Week as He lived out in a very visible way the laying down of His life in order to take it up again, transformed. Impulsive choices are very different from true choices. Knowledge precedes true choice.
- The materials must be used correctly. There are two opposite misconceptions about Montessori education which have spread perhaps from the beginning of its implementation. The first misunderstanding is that in a Montessori environment the children may do whatever they want. The second misinterpretation is that the children must work in only one way, the exact way in which a material was shown to them. In the Atrium each material is intended to lead to prayer, to provide a way in which each individual child can listen and speak with God. Each material also has a very particular purpose and is intended to highlight or clarify or expose the child to a passage from Scripture, a moment from the Liturgy, or a truth of the faith as interpreted by the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit. While there is not one way to be led into prayer or only one way in which God and the child can speak, if the purpose of a particular material is not being honored in the way it is being used then the material is not being used correctly and redirection may be needed. However, as mentioned in an earlier post, it is prudent to follow specific steps by which we, as the adult, assess whether or not prayer is being entered into by the child through the way that the material is being used. If the sheep are being stacked in a tower and the child is attempting to see how many sheep he can stack before they fall, the work must be stopped as this is destructive to the material. If a child is bringing the chalice and paten from the model altar to another child to "give Jesus" this is to be redirected. The model altar is a place of learning the names of items, their arrangement in that space, and enjoying the beauty of the Lord's table. A child who takes out both the Annunciation and the Visitation materials and begins to recall the action of each in proper order is using the material in an appropriate way and is showing signs of synthesis work which might indicate that he moving from being a Level 1 child to entering the elementary plane.
While there are many more things which can be said regarding true freedom as it is experienced in the Atrium, there are two additional limits which I would like to offer as aides to our work.
The home page of this blog lists a quote from #3 of the Characteristics of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd or the 32 Points of Reflection which states:
In my elementary Montessori training I wrote a paper entitled "Freedom, Responsibility, and Social Development" which included the following thoughts: "In the elementary child one characteristic that must be recognized is the great power of the intellect. At this age, between six and twelve, this intellectual potential is at its greatest. The adult must challenge the intellect to come to its own conclusions, to reason for itself and to come to understanding. Work is crucial for this development. The value of work, and the expectation to work must be recognized; the children cannot be allowed to waste this time. If the children are not asked to work they compromise their chances to maximize their potential. To expect less from the child than their abilities is to demean them. If the adult does not expect the child to work, he is a hindrance to the child’s development. Work needs to be constant, developmentally appropriate, constructive, and even ambitious."
What does this look like in action in the Atrium? Here are a few ideas to keep in mind:
“The liberty of the child ought to have as its limits the collective interest of the community in which he moves; its form is expressed in what we call manners and good behavior. It is our duty then to protect the child from doing anything which may offend or hurt others, and to check the behavior which is unbecoming or impolite.” Maria Montessori, Discovery of the Child Another practical rule of advice in helping prepare an Atrium which engenders true freedom is to look at the needs of the community as a whole. We spend our time in the Atrium together, listening and speaking with God, and the way that we each live in this space can either provide or deprive others of that opportunity as well. In the 3-6-year-old or Level 1 Atrium, the adult takes on a large role in helping guard the needs of the community until the older children (in a new Atrium) or returning children (in an established space) are able to assist both through their modeling of appropriate behavior and in their calling others on to live well in the Atrium. The rule of the "3 Ds" is often cited in conversations on this topic. Thus, we, as adults, step in immediately if behavior is "Dangerous, Destructive, or Disruptive." If what we are seeing does not fit under one of these three adjectives we need to observe for a time, watching to see if we can discover what the need or purpose is for the behavior. Steps in observing questionable behavior include:
In the 6-9-year-old or Level 2 atrium, the needs of the community remain a limit to the freedom of the individual. The children in this space, in addition to those in the 9-12-year-old or Level 3 Atrium, are invited to assist in laying out the guidelines which will support the atrium as a place of prayer for everyone who uses this space. The children of these ages have a great desire to learn how to live well as part of the flock, how to remain on the True Vine bearing beautiful fruit. They are social, moral beings who are aware of the consequences which arise when decisions are made which are hurtful to others. With these children we can lift up how God has placed rules within the universe which keep all things working together to bring Him glory. We too are invited to be part of this unity, working with Him to care for each other and to honor Him through our love for them. In coming up with guidelines for the Atrium at the beginning of the year the children, especially those who have experienced the Atrium's potential in the past, will provide beautiful thoughts on what would be necessary for a peaceful, prayerful space. Many of their ideas revolve around respect for God, for others, and for the materials. When the children assist in setting these guidelines they are much more likely to take an active role in both following them and helping others to follow them as well!
The role of the catechist in the CGS Atrium is to prepare the space and facilitate the way in which it is used by both children and adults. In addition the catechist proclaims the truths of Scripture and Liturgy to the children, pondering these mysteries side-by-side with them. While the past few weeks of posts have been related to how we prepare and facilitate the Atrium space in regard to how it may or may not be enjoyed, there is another balancing act of which the catechist must become conscious, and it relates to the proclamation and pondering of truth. We can speak of the role of the catechist as being the one responsible for keeping the child on the path (and even pulling them up out of the ditch when needed!) but not being responsible for getting them to the end of the journey as this belongs to God alone. But how do we, as catechists, know where the boundaries of the path might be? Sofia Cavalletti, one of the founders of the work of CGS, tells us what guided her in her own work with the children, "In regard to content, we have a wealth of sources at our disposal: the Bible, the liturgy, and the Magisterium of the Church. If we hold faithfully to these, we will have a secure foundation" (The Good Shepherd and the Child: A Joyful Journey, p.31). Let's look more closely at how these sources can help us in our task of guiding the children. Here is an example which relies on the guard-rail provided by Scripture: We proclaim the Parable of the Good Shepherd to the children, introducing it by saying that many people who knew Jesus and listened to Him thought He was very special. They even asked Him, “Who are you, Jesus?” One day He said, “I am the Good Shepherd.” We then offer to read from God’s Word about when He shared this truth, inviting the child to listen for what makes Him so very good. Note that in this parable Jesus clearly says, “I am the Good Shepherd.” This is not something we wonder about. It is something we proclaim because He did. If we ask, after reading the Scripture, who the Good Shepherd is, and the child does not answer, we can (and should!) provide this answer - Jesus - because this is a truth of the Scripture revealed explicitly by Jesus Himself. We can read directly from God's Word to the child to answer this question. Similarly, if we ask the child what makes the Good Shepherd so good and he says that the Shepherd is actually bad, we again return to the Scripture passage which clearly lists "good" as an attribute of this Shepherd. Once more, the Scripture passage itself gives us the boundaries for our pondering. On the other hand, if we ask the children who the sheep might be, we do not give an answer even if they have no response. The answer to this question is not clearly defined in the text of this parable and to give this information would be to speed that child, before he is ready, to the end of the path, a journey which is for God and the child alone. A second example of this boundary between proclaiming and pondering can be found in the presentation on the Cenacle or the Last Supper. In this reading from Scripture we hear Jesus say, "This is my body," and "This is my blood." What a great mystery!! While we might ponder what the apostles understood by these words, we, ourselves, do not need to ponder them. Instead, because of the assistance of additional Scripture passages, guidance from the liturgy, and definitive statements from the Magisterium, we can confidently proclaim that these words of Jesus tell us deep truth. Thus we can say to the children, "If you are here in your body and your blood you're really here and you are alive. Jesus wanted to remain with his friends and so He gave them a new way of being with them, through His Body and His Blood. In these words Jesus is saying to all of us, 'This is Me; I am with you. I am giving you My risen life.' What a great gift!" While we might not be pondering His meaning, we can certainly take time to sit in awe of the great and mysterious gift we have been given through the Eucharist. Here are a few of the sources which give us the foundation for proclaiming this truth to the children:
Guided by Scripture, the Liturgy, and the Magisterium we can have confidence in guiding the children and helping to keep them on the path of truth. We have so many beautiful resources at our disposal that help us to provide a space in which the children may freely ponder and wonder, safe on the path, trusting us to remind them of the guide-rails and even, when needed, allowing us to pull them back up out of the ditch onto the pathway of truth! Father Mongillo, a Dominican who taught at the Angelicum in Rome as Sophia was beginning to work with the children in the atrium, gave a talk to catechists which is referenced in the L2 CGS training of adults. Here Mongillo is quoted as having said, “The primary and fundamental attitude of the person educated in the moral life is the awareness of belonging: to belong to God, to belong to God’s world, to belong to humanity.” "To Belong" begins with being in relationship with another. This primacy of relationship is a foundational premise of CGS; the child – every child – is, simply by existing, already in relationship with God, with the world God has created as gift, and with all those with whom God has surrounded us in our homes, our countries, and our world. As CGS catechists we seek to provide a space, the Atrium, in which the child can enter into a more conscious relationship with the One who has chosen to create him out of His great love, becoming a more active participant in this relationship. Thomas Aquinas, relying on the thought of Aristotle, observed, “There is nothing in the intellect that was not first in the senses.” Thus, to become a more conscious participant in our relationship with God, whom we cannot see and experience sensorially, it seems best to begin by entering into a more conscious relationship with those whom we DO see and interact with through our senses. For the youngest children, being known and loved by their parents in the home, by their relatives, friends, and faith community, and, for the purpose of this discussion, by their catechist in the Atrium, helps to provide the sense of belonging that Mongillo is speaking about. When we “belong,” and delight in this belonging, we desire to respond to this gift by contributing to this relationship, by helping to give what is best for all who share this community in this space. In the Atrium, when a child is struggling to settle, to focus, to remain, we can ask ourselves as catechists how we have helped this child to become aware of being known and loved in this space, of belonging in this place where God speaks in a most particular way. If you find yourself saying “no,” or “please restore that work; I have not shown it to you yet,” or “this is not the way you were shown to work with this material,” repeatedly to an individual, seek out opportunities to spend positive time with this same child in order to begin or begin anew a sense of belonging to this space and to one another within it. Seek to learn this child’s favorite activities and family dynamic, ask what has brought him joy this past week and what he is looking forward to enjoying in the coming week. When a child has a deep sense of belonging, the guidelines for this space, the “rules” of what may and may not be done, do not remain as obstacles but, rather, become gifts. Let us work to be patient with these children and with ourselves as we ask the Holy Spirit to help give us His love and patience for each child who has not yet come to know that this is a space and a community in which he truly belongs. After writing the previous post on freedom within limits, I realized that there is so much more to say on this subject, and so I appreciate you bearing with me as I speak more about this beautiful and challenging gift which we desire to offer the children in the atrium. Margaret Stephenson was a student of both Maria and her son, Mario Montessori. Stephenson led AMI trainings for both Primary and Elementary Montessori educators and helped them to implement their training in the academic Montessori environment. In an article entitled “Freedom and Responsibility” Stephenson writes, “The child cannot learn to be responsible unless he has freedom to exercise it – he cannot be truly free unless he can learn to be responsible.” Later in the article she continues, “Human beings have free will, which means they can choose what they shall or shall not do. Unless they are educated as to what they may or may not do, they will have freedom, but may not be responsible.” The distinction between “shall" or "can" and “may” is foundational and it seems likely that this distinction was much clearer in the time of Maria Montessori than it is now. Recently, I was reading a collection of lectures given by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger in the 1980s on creation. In one of his talks, he writes something very similar to this quote by Stephenson. “…Where man no longer accepts any limit on what he may do, but sees the limit on what he can do as the only limit at all – and anything that can be done may be done – then we extinguish the essence of what makes him truly human” (The Divine Project, p. 72). What a gift we give when we offer our Atrium children a space in which they discover what they can do but also where they grow in their understanding of what they may do. This is true human formation and it lays a foundation for our life of relationship with God and one another. For the 3-6-year-old child in the L1 atrium, this foundation begins to be laid on the very first day of our time in the atrium. We begin by introducing the Atrium as a space of listening and speaking with God, and then we provide guidelines for how we live in the space. We have quiet voices and walking feet; we are careful with our bodies, with the materials, and with one another so that we will all be able to listen for God in this space. One of the best ways to strengthen this initial foundation with the children is to present the Exercises of Practical Life materials with great care and attention, providing the children with simple, concrete examples of growing in what they can do (puzzles, pouring, sweeping) as well as how they may do such things (building the pieces outside of the frame without making a sound, pouring just to the line without spilling a drop, sweeping up a spill when a spill has occurred). Below are two examples of the type of things children can draw in the Atrium...and also a distinction being made regarding what they may draw in this space. “When the teachers were weary of my observations, they began to allow the children to do whatever they pleased. I saw children with their feet on the tables, or with their fingers in their noses, and no intervention was made to correct them. I saw others push their companions, and I saw dawn in the faces of these an expression of violence, and not the slightest attention on the part of the teacher. I had to intervene to show with what absolute rigor it is necessary to hinder, and little by little suppress, all those things which we must not do, so the child may come to discern clearly between good and evil. If discipline is to be lasting, its foundations must be laid in this way and these first days are the most difficult for the directress” (Maria Montessori, The Montessori Method). Not long ago, I was asked to speak with someone starting midyear in the role of coordinating CGS in a community which serves L1 and L2 children in both the school and parish. This woman expressed uncertainty as to how to support the children in her area, particularly the children in the school community, as well as the catechists, who had concerns over how the children utilized the Atrium space. In listening to her experience, it seemed clear to me that while the catechists were attempting to provide freedom to do what was right and good in the Atrium, the children, whose school days were structured in a traditional way, saw the Atrium as a place of freedom to do whatever they wanted. The children were having difficulty transitioning into the Atrium as a sacred space, a place of prayer. This interaction has really stuck with me because over the course of the next six days similar concerns, and thus similar conversations, occurred six more times. Seven times in seven days I spoke with seven different CGS catechists who were struggling to find the balance between freedom and responsibility or, in other words, were seeking to offer true freedom to the children who were entering their Atria. This delicate balance is one of the most difficult components to implement well in a Montessori environment, and, in the desire to offer freedom, which Maria Montessori speaks of repeatedly, it is often forgotten that true freedom comes only when a child has attained the ability to choose well. This ability can take a long time to develop and it is best supported by very clear limits and boundaries. Only once these have been set, respected, and internalized can the child handle, and thus be given, more freedom. Because the conversations I am referring to happened recently, I was able to offer the thought that Lent is coming! This change of season is the perfect time to step back and reset with the children, focusing on the purpose of the atrium as a place of listening and speaking with God. If your atrium is more chaos than order and more conversation than silence you might consider resetting your space during Lent as well. What a beautiful time to set aside certain behaviors which may be hindering our ability to listen and speak with God who desires to listen and speak with us. Practical Steps: Montessori freedoms are typically listed as freedom of movement, freedom of work choice (what, where, with whom), and freedom to repeat. If these freedoms are not being used well, please consider giving stronger limits. How could you help reestablish that the Atrium is a place of work? Are there some children who need an assigned place to do their work? Are there some children who need help choosing which material they will begin with when they enter the Atrium or perhaps they need help in choosing a work mid-way through their Atrium time? Do the children need a reminder that our work in the Atrium is individual so that we can each listen and speak with God (and is the physical environment set with individual workspaces to facilitate this)? Would it be of help to assist the children in going back and repeating work they have been shown? Perhaps consider taking a day off of presenting in order to focus on the joy of going back to previously shown work and going deeper into it instead of focusing on receiving “something new.” We all need help to use these freedoms well! How can you provide the assistance your children need to act with true freedom in the the Atrium? Additional Quotes from Maria Montessori: While we frequently hear that Maria Montessori held that the child's freedom is essential, I have found that we seem to focus on a limited picture of her thought. Here are a few quotes (ok, more than a few!) which may be of help in offering a more authentic view of Montessori's approach to freedom:
The variety of work in the Level 3 (4th-6th grade) Atrium is always a gift to see and the freedom to chose what to work on, where to work on it, as well as with whom to work (coupled with the responsibility to use such freedom well!) responds beautifully to the dignity of the elementary child as well as their developmental needs for purposeful work and social/communal activity. In this photo there are two boys working at the Cenacle or Last Supper material. One boy has finished His Armor of Light Scripture choice/copy and is watching. The girl to the far left is working on her Level 3 Missal while the girl in the middle is writing about the Spiritual Works of Mercy. The girl at the far table is finishing up a list of ways she can live the Corporal Works of Mercy. Both of these Works of Mercy follow-ups came from a Typology study on the Flood and its New Testament extension into Matthew 25's Judgement of the Nations. The remaining children in the far back of the photo are working on their Missals, copying a Scripture passage to take home as a reminder to live as children of Light during the upcoming week, and finishing up a family tree of Abraham after we concluded our communal reading from Genesis on Abraham's relationship with God and how it grew through time. There are so many ways to work and pray in the Atrium. This photo is a great snapshot of Level 3 children at work. They are working together in the same space, but each is working on a different follow-up activity. The girl on the left is copying a proper to fit into the Preface tryptic (orange paper on wood) related to a particular feast of the year. This work was presented that day to all three girls. The child to the upper right has chosen a verse from the communal work of preparing for the reception of Reconciliation during Lent, called The Armor of Light. She has chosen to copy a portion of Ephesians 5:8-9 which says "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth." The girl to the bottom right is copying the last parts of a family tree of Abraham which the group was tracing in Scripture during their shared readings over the previous few months. In observing this group of girls, who are often working together in this way in the Atrium, there were often moments of chatting as one or another of them lifted up an insight or asked a question of the others, most of which were related to the work they were doing! During the past week there were several instances of children presenting to other children in the Atrium. While many of the presentations given in this space come from the catechist, it is not uncommon for a child to be invited to give a presentation to another child. Here are a few examples:
While "La Fettuccia" is the "Great Lesson" for the Level 2 (E1) children, "The Plan of God" provides the springboard for the Level 3 (E2) children. In this meditation we focus in on the Plan God has for mankind, beginning, instead of at creation, at the creation of humanity. In the Plan of God, the horizontal bridges which link us to peoples from long ago, and the gratitude we can have for them, even without knowing their names, becomes clear. They discovered fire and invented the wheel, they figured out how to plant gardens and domesticate animals, developing shelter and transportation in order to meet their needs. We have learned so much from them! Great civilizations in the past like the Egyptians, Babylonians, Phoenicians, Incas, Chinese, and many more have also passed on to us inventions, discoveries, and ideals that have shaped us today. All of these peoples are part of God's Plan and they have all been part of establishing horizontal bridges which link us to each other throughout time and across the world. But God also desired vertical bridges which would link us more closely to Him. These He established first through Abraham, the father of the People of God. The Hebrew people have given to the world the gift of knowledge of the One true God. It is from the Jewish people that Jesus Christ, True God and True Man, is born. Through His death and resurrection He has chosen to remain with us through the Sacraments. The Christian people have received many gifts from the Jewish people including believe in One God, the Old Testament Scriptures, and many worship practices. Thus we are linked with them in this moment and also linked with God, in a most particular way, through Jesus and the Church He established which provides us with the Sacraments which give us all that we need to meet our spiritual needs. But what is the ultimate Plan of God? Parousia, the day when God "will be all in all" and there will be "Cosmic Communion," the union of all of creation with one another and with God. We await this day together, preparing for it through how we live this very day in His Kingdom.
|
Carolyn Kohlhaas
CGS Catechist and Formation Leader (Levels I, II, and III) Categories
All
Archives
May 2024
|