Trillium Montessori Talks 012: Human Tendencies as Witnessed in the Elementary Child
Humans are the only creatures that we know of that have the ability to not only adapt to but also shape our environment. Human tendencies helped our hunter-gatherer ancestors to survive the wilderness, and today, they help us survive and adapt to different environments and social groups as well as society as a whole.
In today’s episode, we’re discussing how human tendencies present themselves in the elementary child. The list is comprehensive and largely unchanging, and we’ll go through each tendency with examples of how they can be carried out in the Montessori classroom. These inclinations influence the behavior of the elementary child and construct the framework for the adults they will eventually become.
What’s in this episode:
- Why elementary children need to feel oriented to their environment
- The importance of exploring their immediate environment and the larger world around them
- How daily observation plays a role in the Montessori environment
- How to bridge from concrete to abstract learning
- Physical activity is how children learn best
- How imagination can create reality
- The motivation that comes with practicing for exactness
- Why variety is important to repetition
- How various forms of communication provide important social interaction
- Focus on mental and moral perfection in the elementary child
For full show notes, resources, links and to download the transcript, visit trilliummontessori.org/podcast
Connect With Us