Learning to work together

Both S and L didn't fall asleep at nap today, so they came in to the classroom with me for the afternoon. By this point in the day the oldest children are about an hour in to the afternoon workcycle and so it's important that any nappers who can't sleep don't disrupt them. I usually try to take advantage of this to work one on one with the younger children but had some cutting prep for an art work to do. So instead I proposed this to S and L-

"Do you guys want to work together?" "YEAH!" I had them set out the color tablets, showing them how to get out only one of each color. Then I used a small indicator stick to point to one tablet and sent both girls out in search of something that was the same color. After a couple more turns, making sure they understood the 'game' and the idea of taking turns, I stepped back and let them run it.

This is one of the hardest things to learn as a Montessori Directress, when to step back and leave the child working. The role of the teacher is simply to guide the child in how to use the material, and then let them explore and learn from it at their own pace.

I purposely set up my cutting work at a table where I could still see and hear the girls without being in their way. S and L did come and check in with me a couple times, mainly to show off what they had found for colors. Otherwise they were quite happy to take turns choosing the color and then both going to find an object to show the other. Finally they got stuck on looking for something gray and kind of gave up and put the work away.

But still, they're 3, that's a pretty good process for them. They cooperated, took turns, and even decided together when they were finished working. Actually sometimes I think those younger children end up working better together than the older ones!