Skip to main content
Main Menu Toggle
Bringing Wisdom to Light

Ms. Erica's Class

Children often return to a material they have “mastered” in order to prepare themselves for bigger work later in the day. The simplest materials can be the spring that leads to concentration.
While the results of polishing can bring much satisfaction, it is the process of the work that calls to the child most.
“The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.” The Absorbent Mind
The oldest children in the environment find themselves in very natural leadership roles. They want to help and share their gifts with the youngest in the environment. Here, an older child is reading aloud from the North America continent folder and sharing the pictures with younger children.
The adults work is to initiate the child into activity with a material and then leave him to practice and explore as he is internally motivated.
With so much going on around the child, it’s a wonder he can stay attentive to his work, but as the child’s focus turns to concentration, little can break him from the material which engages him.
“[The teacher] is enormously successful…when she can say “The children can do everything by themselves, they didn’t need me.” The Child, Society and the World
“[For the child] the development of his mind comes about through his movements... The child uses his movements to extend his understanding.” The Absorbent Mind
The cylinder blocks provide a visual discrimination of dimension. Within the four blocks, the dimensions of length, width, and height shift from abstract to tangible, allowing the child to form the manipulations herself.
The cry of the 3–6-year-old child is, “ Help me help myself.”
The doors to our environments are a work in and of themselves—they are heavy and often need two hands or even another friend. For a 3-year-old child, opening the door on his own is a great accomplishment.