On the Move

My girl is always in motion. Even as an infant she found ways to get around. When she learned to roll over she used it as transportation, sometimes rolling across an entire room.

I've been reading about the connection between movement and learning in a book called Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius, and it makes perfect sense. Maria Montessori recognized the absurdity of sitting kids down at desks all day and "learning at them." She championed mobile, hands-on schooling - the kind that actively engages kids. Take a look into a Montessori classroom and you won't see any desks; instead kids move about to work at different stations, alone or in groups, throughout the day. How refreshing. The kids seem like artisans, absorbed in their chosen tasks, instead of like factory workers on auto-pilot. Where was Montessori when I was a kid? Not in my town.

If school taught me anything, it was inertia. I was not allowed to leave my desk so I had no choice but to master art of utter passivity. Even gym was, in a sense, passive: It did not teach me joy in movement. And television after school strongly reinforced this lesson of inertia over and over again.

At two my daughter literally dances with life. There is a freedom to her limbs, a sense of boundless energy entwined with joy. Am I going to let her dance card run out when school age hits? Not if I can help it.

homeschooling
Montessori