By Brenna Wiegand
“Montessori may not fit into everybody’s lives, but every single family can start a baby off with the kind of environment that is respectful to the child, is pleasing to look at and builds his ability to be self-directed and engrossed in an activity,” Jennifer Traeger says. “People can spend thousands of dollars, but it doesn’t need to be expensive – many of the things you already have; many you can make.”
Since becoming familiar with Montessori education a few years ago, Matt and Jennifer Traeger have made this a priority in the home they share with Grace, 6, and Quinn, 1. They helped found Silverton’s first two Montessori schools.
They are passionate about the emphasis on independence, freedom within limits and respect for a child’s natural psychological development espoused in the comprehensive education model developed by Italian physician Maria Montessori (1870-1952), whose life was devoted to creating the optimal learning environment for every child.
Perhaps the most difficult thing is baby proofing, though it is a lot more fun when part of a quest to make the space attractive and engrossing for the little ones. Dr. Montessori was adamant children should be as unrestricted in their movement as possible.
“Babies are obvious explorers,” said Jennifer, a teacher in the Woodburn School District. “It is important that they have room to explore safely.” It is an ongoing process: Quinn recently discovered his mom’s office corner.
“Being a parent is hard, hard work and sometimes you need a break, and there are times when the bouncy seat or TV comes in handy, but that’s time the child misses out to move and to develop both gross and fine motor skills,” Jennifer said. “’Bucket Children’ is a term going around in the child development world.”
Quinn’s bedroom is a prime example of Montessori in action – the whole family likes hanging out in the cheerful, baby-safe space. His floor bed is large enough for them all, but when he wakes up alone, Quinn has plenty to see and do. There’s a large, floor-level mirror, prints of fine art framed safely and mounted at his eye level, colorful carpet and mobiles and low shelves containing his toys, books and even his clothes – he picks his own. The door or a baby gate keeps him within bounds.
The key lies in observing and responding to a child’s needs, in which Matt plays an active role. The co-owner of Traeger Construction observed Quinn would benefit from a small set of steps and made it for him.
“We purposely create our space so they know that this place is for them as well as us,” Matt said.
When Quinn started pulling things across the floor, they laid a plastic mat, the type used under desks, over a portion of the carpet. They were about to remove it recently until they realized he was now using the smooth surface to push his chair to the dinner table.
“When you see it happening; when you see a child get to that state of concentration, it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing,” Jennifer said.
On a Sunday afternoon, Grace decided to make a copy of the periodic table poster on her bedroom wall and spent the next three hours doing so.
“Nobody told her to do that; she thought it would be fun,” Jennifer said. “It’s that self-motivation bit that is so important to me.”
The Montessori way calls for an organized, uncluttered and appealing environment with softer color themes so as not to overwhelm the senses. A child knows where his things are and has a sense of where specific activities take place, such as a restful corner dedicated to books and reading.
“Children zero to six understand organization by space; they have no concept of how time actually works. They derive their sense of security from a tidy, organized environment where they know ‘that’s where you read; this is where you sleep and here is where your clothes are,’” Jennifer said.
Many Montessori homes and classrooms have long, low mirrors on the wall with wooden railings a child can use to pull herself up.
“Montessori believes children are drawn to beautiful things,” Jennifer said. “If we want them to concentrate and to build their ability to be self-directed and engrossed in an activity, when you make it beautiful for them they’ll want that. We should provide them the best things our culture has to offer.”
