All About the Process

Ava was working with her shape cube up in her room. I watched as she took each shape in her hand while looking at all of it's sides. She enthusiastically found the correct hole and slid the shape in. I watched as she waited for the clunk sound as it hit the bottom of the cube or other shapes. After putting all the shapes in the cube and sliding the lid on I was sure she would place it back on the shelf and move on to something else. She sat for a few seconds gazing at the completed work. She then opened the lid and proceeded to dump the shapes out again. While watching her do this work I was reminded of this quote “Repetition is the secret of perfection” – Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child, p. 92

E.M. Standing, author of Maria Montessori Her Life and Work, compares how adults and children view work. He discusses that an adult usually works toward an end goal or a finished product, what is considered an external aim. A child, on the other hand, is more intrigued by the process of a task (internal aim). Standing further exemplifies the difference of the adult and child's work by providing an illustration of shoveling sand into a wheel barrow. An adult may shovel sand into a wheel barrow with the intent to use that sand to build something. A child may shovel sand into his barrow only to dump it out and start the process again, because the process itself is intriguing. While the adult has an end goal in mind, the child simply goes through the process led by curiosity and the discoveries that are being made. Discoveries such as the texture of the sand, the difference in weight when the sand accumulates, the sound the sand makes as it hits the barrow or is shoveled, and the dust that comes up from the sand. 

Here is a video and a great example of repetition. This little girl repeatedly takes off her socks and puts them on again. As an adult viewing this video you are probably thinking "what could she possibly be getting from taking her socks on and off so many times?" But for this little girl she is meeting an inner need and drive. Each time she takes them off and puts them back on she is getting something from the process she didn't receive before. 


Tips for allowing your child to enjoy the process through repetition:

1. Give your child toys (works) that have a specific purpose and allows for open ended play (Exploration). For instance, fitting lids onto pots and containers. 
2. Stand back and OBSERVE before interrupting a task your child may be engrossed in.   How many times have we unknowingly interrupted a child's work? We all know how we feel when we sit down and are consumed in an activity and someone or something interrupts what we are doing. Our concentration is broken and we lose our place. When you need to talk to your child stop before you speak and interrupt. If your child is focused on a particular activity, even if they are using something not for its intended purpose (as long as it's not destructive), wait until they are finished to talk to them. This can be difficult when we are in a rush or need something right away. 
3. When you've read that same book for the 100th time or your baby has thrown that toy off the edge of his high chair for the gazillionth time....be patient and read it one time and pick it up one more time. All that repetition is feeding an inner need. 


Love this quote from Montessori Candid Approach

Coming to one’s own conclusions, making and self correcting one’s own mistakes and learning through one’s own repetition is far more fruitful and long lasting. It is this experience that makes learning fun and lively. This important freedom to repeat and explore instills lifelong love and thrust for learning and exploration in a child which is utmost necessary to progress in practical life.