Montessori Moment: Pouring Rice

While I've read several things about Montessori education, I must confess that I still don't know a ton about how it really works. With apologies for actually linking to Wikipedia, this isn't a bad explanation of the various tenets. In layman's terms, here's what I do know:

• My husband went to a Montessori preschool, and my mother-in-law says it was fantastic.
• Children are expected to focus quietly on a task for a looooooong time. (Like, 2-3 hours.)
• There is a focus on being neat and orderly.
• It is largely child-driven work, in that the child chooses an activity from a set of options (all within reach). 
• It requires "trays" or "bins" or something to organize the materials and have them within reach.
• Montessori children practice a lot of real-life skills.

It's that last point that really caught my attention while reading through a book recommended by a few different sources (at least two homeschool blogs, one of a friend and another I can't remember now), Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Preschool Years. (I got it from the library here in Cincinnati.) While there are people in the blogosphere who organize their living rooms to be Montessori preschools, I personally don't have the time or energy to restructure my cupboards. (Suggested age for a Montessori preschool is 2.5-6, so maybe by the time Toby turns 2, I'll be ready. I doubt it.) 

I do, however, want to be intentional about helping my boys to become self-sufficient in real-life tasks. So, that lengthy introduction just to say, I poured over the activities included in the book mentioned above, made a list of things I'd like to do, and hope to incorporate one a week or so. For how long, you ask? I don't know. Until we've done them all, or until each boy is proficient at each task (that'll be a while!), or until some new method of organizing my week strikes my fancy. :) Hopefully, if I can stay on top of my goals, you can count on seeing several more "Montessori Moment" posts throughout the summer.

First up: pouring rice. Instead of learning to pour with (potentially messy) water, Levi and Owen poured rice from pitchers (my glass 2-cup measuring cup, and a cheap plastic pitcher I happened to have in the cupboard) into plastic cups over a jelly roll sheet. Except for a few stray grains, the rice really did stay in the pan on the occasions they poured a little too fast or a little too much.

Following the Montessori approach, I demonstrated each step of the task: hold the cup in non-dominant hand (I always have to remember that, since Levi's a lefty and sometimes he'll try to copy me exactly), center the pitcher's spout over the cup, pour slowly and watch the cup fill so you know when to stop. I supervised while they each tried it once or twice, then left them to practice. (Being able to check one's own work is a main point of Montessori activities.) After a few minutes of repeating the action, they were both running to me periodically to announce proudly that they'd poured without spilling. We all felt victorious!