Montessori and Concentration

In the past I have written about “Work vs. Play” and more recently, “Process over Product”. Many of the topics I have written about on the blog point to an important tenet in Montessori, and one that we hold sacred in the classroom: Concentration.

A child who is concentrating is not be disturbed, no matter what (mostly). This might be a child who is busy washing a window in the classroom or it might be someone putting on their jacket to go outside. It also requires a lot of patience on the part of the adult. All the patience and time spent is completely worth it, to see the sense of pride and satisfaction when the child is “done” with the work.

As part of the Montessori philosophy, we build on concentration during the 3 years in the classroom. We start by short works that are interesting to the child. The works slowly get longer and the skills of focus change as they transition from toddlers to kindergartners. For example, one of the first color matching works in the classroom has the children match red to red, blue to blue and yellow to yellow. Color box 2 has more colors and is usually done for children who are able to sit for longer, mostly in the middle of their first year. If a child completes this work and is one that has a need to move around, we might ask them to fetch objects that match each color (and then put them back in their correct spots). Color box 3 is organizing the colors by grades, lightest to darkest.

Older children might write the names of the colors and make a color book. They may pick a color and then write words that are that color (Yellow: banana, sun, etc.). These extensions are geared towards each individual child and are specific to the stage they are in and the skills that they are currently working on.

If a child is having trouble concentrating on a particular work, we first ask ourselves is the work too hard or too easy for them. Next, is it a work that is truly interesting for that child? If not, how can we make it interesting? The idea is that if once the child picks their perfect work, they are able to concentrate for long periods of time (yes, even the 3 year olds!).

Because we value concentration so much at the Montessori, a unique aspect of our curriculum is how we approach “sharing”. We believe that a child will use a work and continue to use it until their need is fulfilled. As a result, we do not think they need to stop after an arbitrary set of time (determined by the adult) and share with a friend. If a work is being used at the school, it is not available and the child needs to find something else to do in the meantime. We try to preserve the concentration of the child who is already using the work. We are also able to find a similar work for the child who wants to use it. I believe this is also a great lesson in waiting and the lack of instant gratification. We do have a few confused children every year, but they quickly catch on.

At home: We talk about patience and letting the child do things on their own timeline, especially to preserve their concentration. But to be real – do we always have time for that? No. A few tips for parents who want to let the children practice skills but also be on time:

• Practice new skills when you don’t need the child to complete it correctly. For example, practice putting on the jacket instead of playing legos, instead of when you need to get out of the door. That way, you and your child are relaxed and not needing to go anywhere at a specific time.
• When you can, allow for a lot of time when you know the child is practicing a new skill. (When you can is key)
• If you are rushing, let them know and make a plan to practice at another time OR you can give them two tries and then make a plan. “Can I help you now and how about we practice after dinner today?”

The important point is that time to concentrate and practice skills be built into the day or week, giving them the opportunity to be successful and proud in their work.