In Montessori readings and Montessori circles, you’ll hear a lot about follow the child.
But what does that mean?
Follow the child is an important Montessori principle and one that took me along time to understand. I guess for me to “follow the child” I need a really good grasp of the scope and sequence of Montessori. A thorough understanding of each material is important because my knowledge of that underlies my observations. When I am observing a child, my child,working, I am trying to get inside their head.
What are they thinking?
Do they understand?
Is now the right time to present the next extension/material?
Why is the child doing that?
Do I need to re present the material or is the child exploring a new thought?
For my older kids, “follow the child” means talking about interests, desires, what I want to learn? How does the child want to learn? How does the child learn?
For example: I have one child who likes to read everything, answer questions, take tests. I have another who is just absorbing the world around him, another who just goes with the flow, ‘sure mum I’ll do an activity’ and another who sometimes engages, sometimes doesn’t. It’s about knowing when to interfere and when to just let the learning flow.
Sometimes the best thing I can do for my child is to just get out of the way and other times they will ask me to provide something. That is following the child.
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