Nature has blessed all animals with an instinct that they can make great efforts in preparing an environment for their young one to be born.They seek a solitary dark and safe place to receive their baby.The mother animal protects and provides warmth and nurses the baby till the patient instinct is awakened and they are another individual from the same species.
If such preparation and care is taken by the animals,then we human beings should prepare most suitable and comfortable environment for a new born baby.We should not only prepare a physical environment but a mother should await till the advent of man in child.
Absorbent mind of the child takes nourishment from the environment in which he lives. The child always reacts to the environment, If the environment is prepared,the child will benefit a lot from it and his potentialities will develop to the fullest.
Prepared environment is like a flight of stairs,which the child is always climbing upwards fulfilling the requirements.It should meet the physical and psychic needs of the child.
Preparation of adult is as necessary as the preparation of the environment because it is the adult,either parent or nurse or teacher who prepares the environment and comes directly in contact with the child,hence they too are a part of the environment.
A baby comes from a dark protecting world to the world of sound and light.He is not born in a natural environment.Suddenly there is a lot of difference in both the worlds.We should try to make it as close as possible to the prenatal conditions so that it should impel the child and not expel.
It was a good idea that mother and baby used to be confined for forty days.They were isolated and an establishment was formed between the mother and baby.A child has his psychic needs and to fulfill these needs, we must keep some guideline for preparing an environment.The child should remain as close as possible to the mother for the first few days.
When he is little older,he needs to be taken out into the society.A child absorbs and takes in psychic qualities of the environment.His impressions are so profound that a biological and psycho-chemical change takes place by which the mind ends up resembling the environment in which he lives.The child imbibes the qualities of the environment both animate and inanimate,if he is unable to adopt himself then it means that he has not adjusted himself.
Adults play an important role in the psychic development of the child.The child not only needs a prepared environment but he also needs love and care and of course there's nothing like mother's love.
Love is something which is irreplaceable.There must be loving but sensible adults in the environment who should not neglect the child and on the other hand they should not interfere too much in his constructive activities in the sensitive periods.
In the sensitive period of order,order should be maintained,there should be fixed setting and place for everything in the environment.As time goes enough freedom for the child should be provided.When the child is two and a half years old,he is ready for a Montessori school.
A real Montessori school should be like an extension of home.Montessori method lays emphasis on the prepared environment as this age is for conscious absorption and correction.Transformation is required in the adult's attitude.When the child is in the age group between 0-6 years his mind is an absorption mind,hence the child needs not only a prepared environment but also a prepared directress.
A child at this age cannot be taught directly.A new third factor is prepared environment,teacher and the child.These factors are always related to each other.
Primary aim of the prepared environment is to faster the process of independence.In choosing a Montessori environment,adequate space is needed.If the space is too large it will loose its feelings of homeliness,lack of space should not be a big problem.You can make use of corridors,balconies etc.Make sure that the environment is safe, protected and comfortable for the child. There should be natural light and good air ventilation etc.
There should be some pets in the environment. The directress should be in a place from where she can watch children including those who are in the garden. A class with low windows would be ideal so that the child looks out and absorbs. Un necessary thing should be removed.There should not be two many adults around. If the directress is very interfering she should be removed. Furniture should be simple, light in color and weight, the light colors are quicker to reveal dirt and dust on the furniture.
Was basins etc balanced and neat and smooth lavatories etc. Furniture should be properly placed and material should be well displayed and grouped. Separating children age wise is not advisable. Children of mixed age look like a family. Older ones may help the younger ones.
Order is very important, it will be impossible to run the school without order. Children find deep sense of satisfaction in returning things into their places. The rule is "There is a place for things and things for a place".
It is the duty of the directress to maintain order in the environment and there should be a separate place for the tiff-in-boxes etc.
Order prevents waste of energy. A well prepared environment acts like a magic for the normalization of the child.
Prepared environment is the gateway to cater everything keeping in view the inner need since he is hungry for words.Therefore his vocabulary can also be enriched by classified cards.He is also fed with the technical terms.Besides this the child personality is properly groomed when lie is given attention at the right time and the right age simply by talking and listening properly to the child in the prepared environment.The language taken in during the unconscious period is preserved in sub-conscious of the child.Later three years onwards the consciousness arises and all the stored collection of knowledge is reflected through the speech of the child.
Child has a great capacity to retain and reproduce words.He takes in much more than he shows.If at once a foreign language is to be introduced at this stage to the child,the earlier the better.At first the child produces few words,and then there seems to be a big pause,with the passage of time the clarity comes in his language as well as in his thinking. Normally the development of speech is finished and completed at six years.
Every child faces a pre-reading period as well as a reading period.The pre-reading period is more important.It helps in enriching the childs vocabulary, therefore sufficient time and attention should be given to the child.Correct nomenclature cards of exact things around him.The language games i.e I spy game should be given to make him realize that the words are made up of different sounds.
The question game helps him in logical and systematic thinking.It is an indirect preparation for future analysis.
No comments:
Post a Comment