When most people think of the Montessori child, they think of a respectful, curious, and hardworking child. How do we foster these characteristics in young children? Dr. Montessori discovered that children of this age are working on the development of the will, or the child’s inner discipline. In Montessori environments, we encourage the development of the will by offering choices. We also offer the child only as much freedom as they are able to handle appropriately. We give the child the freedom of choice (which appropriate material to work on and when), the freedom of repetition (the child may work on the same material for any length of time), and the freedom of movement (the child may work where they like and they may move safely around the room). As you can see, there are restrictions to those freedoms. This means that we do not allow the child to do whatever they want, whenever they want. We offer a small amount of freedom in order for the child to develop their will in a safe, controlled environment. The boundaries we set in our environments help the individual child to contribute to the greater community in a meaningful way. Children also feel safer when there are clear boundaries. Following consistent guidelines creates a safe, predictable environment, and this reduces anxiety. It is also important to note that we do not use a system of rewards and punishments. “Natural consequences” are more effective than traditional punishments. 

To continue this work at home, you should have guidelines (boundaries) that are absolute, consistent, and very clear. You should also offer your child appropriate choices and encourage independence appropriately. An example of a basic guideline is expecting your child to clean up their toys after playing. Using the same example, your child would have the choice of toy with which to play (from an appropriate number of toys--a large amount of options overwhelms young children). Your child will not be able to do this independently every time, so you may have to give them a few reminders and help them clean up occasionally. A natural consequence at home could be that your child misses a fun activity because they are still cleaning up their toys.