The importance of presentation
In the recent days I have been reassured, how important clean, organized and beautiful environment is to a child. And more than that - how a different way of presenting materials, toys etc influences, triggers (or not) the child's interest.
I have always tried to keep Adelaide's things (as well as the rest of our home, but especially her things) organized, neat, in their place. No mess. If some mess appears, it never lasts long, I would say I have managed to be quite successful and consistent with that, and as I have written previously, it already is showing good effects on her, she has absorbed this understanding, that everything has it's place.
For the last couple of weeks we had a little renovation going on in our living room (almost done!!!), and for this time - all of the furniture was pushed together in the middle of the room, it was very tight (surprisingly, you get used to it! Once we put things back, our small room seemed huge! :D) Her shelf was still there, in the middle, accessible, as well as her carpet and the rest of her toys.. But it was still quite messy and crowded. And it totally showed! Pretty much, for all these 2 weeks.. She didn't play the way she normally does, that she occasionally goes, takes something and plays with it, she was really unusually not interested, not noticing her things.. And now I am sure, it was the mess to blame.
Because, last Sunday, finally! The walls were done and we put the furniture back in it's place, and the room is looking normal and neat. We did it in the late evening, and first thing - even before cleaning up and organizing my own things - I put her shelves nicely (there still is some re-organizing to do, as she is not interested in some of the materials anymore), her books, her dolls.. And the next day was so much nicer, she was discovering her toys again, being interested in some things, like she hadn't seen them before. :) (Even though they were right there all the time.) And overall, the life was finally back to it's calm and more enjoyable self.
It just proves, how utterly important it is. To have child's toys displayed nicely. Not all in one big mess, not all in one big toy box.
And another thing.. I kinda knew this, and partly have been following it, but not perfectly. I just saw again a reminder of it in one Montessori blog. The Montessori way of displaying materials (toys) to a child is somewhat different from maybe a usual way. The toy should not be displayed as done - meaning, the pyramid - put together; the puzzle - finished - but should be displayed as not done, taken apart. This way, it triggers the child's interest, invites him to come and do it, as oppose to when the toy is already done and finished - there is nothing for him left to come and do.
With some things (in the trays) I have tried doing it, but once organizing now, I tried it also with our peg puzzles and the pyramid. It was an interesting experiment - will it attract her attention more this way? (In the blog, that I mentioned, it was said that it definitely makes a huge difference - child can not even look at a toy, when it's displayed one way, and run to it, when it's put a different way.)
And, who knew it, Montessori was right again, and it's totally true!
The puzzle was standing on her shelf all the time, she sometimes touched it a bit, but not very much. And actually, it really didn't make sense - she took a piece out a bit, then put it back, it was hard to tell even, is she really able to do the puzzle or not.
Now, she saw it.. She immediately took the pieces out of the bowl and started putting them in, one by one. Then she put the pieces back in the bowl.
And today I made a video.. I had planned to just film her doing it once. But it surprised me, as she was doing it again and again!
Also, how you display the books, is same important - they should be visible, with their cover seen. (So-called open-shelf.) Of course, not overcrowded. We don't have any perfect display of books, due to lack of space (I have big plans for Adelaide's playroom, once we have it..), we have her books in couple of the lowest shelves of our bookcase. But I still try to display her favorite books like this, possibly visible, and it really does make a difference.
I have always tried to keep Adelaide's things (as well as the rest of our home, but especially her things) organized, neat, in their place. No mess. If some mess appears, it never lasts long, I would say I have managed to be quite successful and consistent with that, and as I have written previously, it already is showing good effects on her, she has absorbed this understanding, that everything has it's place.
For the last couple of weeks we had a little renovation going on in our living room (almost done!!!), and for this time - all of the furniture was pushed together in the middle of the room, it was very tight (surprisingly, you get used to it! Once we put things back, our small room seemed huge! :D) Her shelf was still there, in the middle, accessible, as well as her carpet and the rest of her toys.. But it was still quite messy and crowded. And it totally showed! Pretty much, for all these 2 weeks.. She didn't play the way she normally does, that she occasionally goes, takes something and plays with it, she was really unusually not interested, not noticing her things.. And now I am sure, it was the mess to blame.
Because, last Sunday, finally! The walls were done and we put the furniture back in it's place, and the room is looking normal and neat. We did it in the late evening, and first thing - even before cleaning up and organizing my own things - I put her shelves nicely (there still is some re-organizing to do, as she is not interested in some of the materials anymore), her books, her dolls.. And the next day was so much nicer, she was discovering her toys again, being interested in some things, like she hadn't seen them before. :) (Even though they were right there all the time.) And overall, the life was finally back to it's calm and more enjoyable self.
It just proves, how utterly important it is. To have child's toys displayed nicely. Not all in one big mess, not all in one big toy box.
And another thing.. I kinda knew this, and partly have been following it, but not perfectly. I just saw again a reminder of it in one Montessori blog. The Montessori way of displaying materials (toys) to a child is somewhat different from maybe a usual way. The toy should not be displayed as done - meaning, the pyramid - put together; the puzzle - finished - but should be displayed as not done, taken apart. This way, it triggers the child's interest, invites him to come and do it, as oppose to when the toy is already done and finished - there is nothing for him left to come and do.
With some things (in the trays) I have tried doing it, but once organizing now, I tried it also with our peg puzzles and the pyramid. It was an interesting experiment - will it attract her attention more this way? (In the blog, that I mentioned, it was said that it definitely makes a huge difference - child can not even look at a toy, when it's displayed one way, and run to it, when it's put a different way.)
The wrong way:
The right way:
The right way to display the pyramid:
I couldn't make a picture of the wrong way to display it (usual way, put together), because she got so interested and started putting it together. :)
And, who knew it, Montessori was right again, and it's totally true!
The puzzle was standing on her shelf all the time, she sometimes touched it a bit, but not very much. And actually, it really didn't make sense - she took a piece out a bit, then put it back, it was hard to tell even, is she really able to do the puzzle or not.
Now, she saw it.. She immediately took the pieces out of the bowl and started putting them in, one by one. Then she put the pieces back in the bowl.
And today I made a video.. I had planned to just film her doing it once. But it surprised me, as she was doing it again and again!
Also, how you display the books, is same important - they should be visible, with their cover seen. (So-called open-shelf.) Of course, not overcrowded. We don't have any perfect display of books, due to lack of space (I have big plans for Adelaide's playroom, once we have it..), we have her books in couple of the lowest shelves of our bookcase. But I still try to display her favorite books like this, possibly visible, and it really does make a difference.
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