Are you a fan of teaching children rules and getting them to do things the "right" way and use materials "correctly" (like Montessori schools insist upon)
Or, are you a fan of leaving preschoolers alone and just letting them figure things out as they go? (like if they want to pretend the mouse is a phone instead of learning to use it correctly, just let them - don't even bother trying to get them to use it correctly until they decide they want to?)
I was all about the Montessori way of doing things, which is - you get your toys you can play pretend with, but when it comes to using learning materials, you must use them correctly. But now I don't know what to do.
My 24 month old knows all her letters and letter sounds, loves practicing counting and wants to do learning-type activities, but when I show her how to use materials I get screamed at. If I persist, there is a tantrum. So I don't usually persist. But then again, sometimes she takes the instruction and tries to mimic me. I never know what she's going to do. Her behavior is pretty age appropriate, obviously.
She read "happy" off the TV yesterday and then we did some reading games and she would get a bunch of the words right (picking 1 out of 4)...but then we'd try again later and she'd get nothing right. I'm pretty doubtful she's reading. Either way, I feel like I need to *do* something to keep her learning. She watches a lot of TV every day and I want to counter that with some good activities where we spend time together. She keeps asking for the cat on Reading Eggs after we did it, so she enjoyed herself.
Anyway, I'm afraid that insisting she use things correctly is terrible for her creativity and free spirit... but at the same time I feel like it's my job to help her organize her thoughts and actions- to show her there are rules to how things work and to help her understand how to use the tools and materials so that she can do new things (like play games using a mouse, or cut paper to eventually make creative crafts.)
The Montessori books I've read made a very strong case for insisting tools be used correctly, and that giving the child those skills and tools allows for even more sophisticated learning, creativity and exploration, so in the long run, it's a good thing.
But... she's only 2. So.
I'd love to hear your thoughts!
