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They [misbehaviors] are merely his reactions to an environment that has become inadequate...But we do not notice that. And since it is understood that the child must do what adults tell him, even though his environment no longer suits his needs, if he does not comply we say that he is ‘naughty’ and correct him. Most of the time we are unaware of the cause of his ‘naughtiness.’ Yet the child, by his conduct, proves what we have just said. The closed environment is felt as a constraint … —Maria Montessori From Childhood to Adolescence Helping young children through challenging behavior can be a challenge itself. Training, knowledge, and experience all help the early childhood teacher prepare for those inevitable times when a child requires some extra support. Recently, however, there seems to be a distressing trend to expel young children who exhibit challenging behavior. The rising expulsion rates in early childhood settings are staggering. Over 8,000 public preschool children were su...

What is the difference between redirecting and distracting children from unwanted behavior? The biggest difference is in the approach. Redirection involves guidance; distraction merely diverts attention. Let’s look at a few examples and see if we can tell the difference: 1. Baby Sarah gets upset and cries when Mommy leaves for work. As Mom closes the front door, Sarah’s caregiver gives Sarah a toy and says, “Look at this pretty toy.” Redirection or distraction? This is distraction. There is no acknowledgment of Sarah’s feelings, and the toy is unrelated to the event. Redirecting Unwanted Behavior Versus Distracting in the Montessori Environment 2. Miles likes working with the small hammer that he uses with his peg board. He starts to use the hammer on his puppy. Mom says, “Miles, you may only pound your peg board with the hammer. You may not use it on the puppy.” She guides him back to the peg board. Redirection or distraction?  This is redirection. Mom takes the t...

“To have a vision of the cosmic plan, in which every form of life depends on directed movements which have effects beyond their conscious aim, is to understand the child’s work and be able to guide it better.” – Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind , p. 147. “It is high time that movement came to be regarded from a new point of view in educational theory.” (Montessori, p. 136) Those words are as true today as they were when Maria Montessori first said them. What parent doesn’t dread the parent conference where they know that will hear “Johnny cannot sit in his seat”? What new teacher, who after dreaming of neat rows of desks filled with silent, attentive students, doesn’t find himself at a loss when he learns that the children know multiple ways of sitting in chairs and that the simple act of opening a textbook can cause a whole class to start talking? In her article “What schools can do to help boys succeed,” Christina Hoff Sommers states that many people feel children need to sit sti...