As a trained Montessori teacher, I find myself frequently thinking of what activities Solu might already have been presented with if he was in a toddler community. I especially miss the big practical life activities like table and cloth washing. It is tempting to set them all up and convert our home to a classroom but I try to follow the child instead of the material(s). I watch and wait for the right opportunities to make this activities a practical part of our lives.
I got one of such opportunities today. I’ve been trying some Baby Led Weaning with Metu and he kept pulling off the plate and table mat, so I cleaned the table and let him explore directly on the table.
When he was done, I started to clean the table and Solu wanted to help and lightbulbs went off in my head… Table washing! Yes! I grabbed some of the basic requirements and gave him a simplified version of the table washing lesson and boy did he wash!
And when he was done, he happily moved on to other things. I wonder if he’ll offer/ask to wash it the next time it’s dirty. I think he will!
I also figured out (by following him) how to make cloth washing practical for us. In the classroom, the children wash napkins used around the classroom but that doesn’t make sense for our home. Yesterday, while peeing, he got some pee on his underpants. When he came out, I asked him to go change it because it was “dirty.” He went into his room and was gone for a while. I went to check on him and found him washing it in the toilet sink. That’s what you do when things are dirty. Duh! And so it came to me… Underpants are a perfect option for cloth washing at home. They are a part of daily life, the right size, and not so dirty that they require any heavy duty washing. I’ll be setting it up for him today.
Like table setting, these washing activities meet the child’s needs for movement, order, language and independence amongs other things.
How do you follow your child?
Live a Good Life!
P.s. Yes, the mirror has not been hung back up. I somehow ran out of the heavy duty sticky back Velcro I use to hang up stuff so waiting for it to be delivered. #incaseyouwerewondering 🙂
0 Comments