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Conscious will is a power which develops with use and activity. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 254. When my son was young, I always knew by his behavior when he was getting sick. Normally a sweet and gentle boy, he would turn into a mean-spirited, hard-to-please child that was unrecognizable. Bedtime was a welcome reprieve for all, only to be followed the next morning by a fever and malady of some sort. Extreme ‘naughty’ behavior soon came to be followed by the adults in his life giving each other a knowing look and saying, “He must be getting sick.” He was not acting out willfully; it occurred because of a disturbance of his physical person. Montessori says that “the will does not lead to disorder and violence. These are signs of emotional disturbance and suffering.” (p. 253) When the environment and conditions are right, the will leads the child to activities to help him develop. The Three Levels of Discipline — Studying the Works of Montessori: The Absorbent Mind, Chapter ...

To let the child do as he likes when he has not yet developed any powers of control, is to betray the idea of freedom. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 205. Previously, we discussed how to add variety to the Montessori three-period lesson to help children learn to generalize, or transfer information. Behavior interventions will also play a role in developing good judgment and impulse control. Helping Children with Executive Function Challenges in the Montessori Environment The Montessori environment is set up to allow freedom of choice. Yet, as the opening quote warns us, giving the child freedom when he is not ready for it will backfire. A child who has not developed self-control will not be able to make good choices in work or behavior. Cognitive behavioral interventions are used to help children think about their behavior and how it affects them and those around them. When I started teaching, I would tell my high-school students to “make me proud” when we went on trips. When...

A while back, we presented a blog called What is Executive Function? Montessori Perspectives . In that article, we discussed that executive function involves working memory, inhibitory control, and mental flexibility. Executive function is important for cognitive, social, emotional, and moral development. It helps us understand, internalize, and fulfill the steps required to solve a problem: Recognize a problem. Make a plan to solve the problem. Execute the plan. Evaluate effectiveness. Executive Function and Childhood Development Executive functions are controlled by the frontal cortex, one of the last regions of the brain to mature. We reach developmental milestones related to executive function by the time we are 1 year old, during early childhood, and during puberty. Some development in the brain continues well into the 20s and even 30s when myelination occurs, which is the process of forming electrical sheathes around the axons of the neurons. With all this continuous, long-range ...