This is so simple...the boys love this.
Just a pin from a cork notice board with an end to grip,
and poke, poke, poke to their hearts content.
The paper is placed on a big sponge (... like ours . Car wash sponge for 50p!),
or piece of foam or polystyrene.
They trace inside letters of their name and then hold it up to the light...
Even Little Seed likes poking into the sponge or paper pictures...
Anything goes.
And yes... that is my 20 month old son with a sharp pin.
I am influenced by Jean Liedloff who wrote the Continuum Concept.
An amazing woman who went into South America and lived amongst Stone Age Indians.
She advocated baby wearing, breastfeeding, not to deny screaming babies but to trust their and your own instincts.
This is what she says in an interview with Michael Mendizza from The Mother Magazine:
"We pride ourselves on being so intelligent, and yet we feel that we are the only species whose children are so stupid that they're going to throw themselves into the fire, out of windows and into swimming pools."
" We are the only animal that doesn't follow its mother, how can this be? Because we keep showing our children we expect them to run away: whereas people in the jungle have their children follow them around like animals."
"The point is trust. We are paying a terrible price when we don't trust our human nature, which works beautifully when we do. When we don't trust, our expectations are inappropriate, for ourselves and our children."
I show Little Seed what to do, and he copies his eldest brother.
I show him how sharp the needle is and he then concentrates and builds up skills, thereby building up self-confidence.
He has not hurt himself yet and probably won't.
He cuts strawberries and bananas with knives, and handles scissors ( although he can't cut).
He is allowed to do things without an air of nervousness around him and he enjoys.
Try hesitating next time you want to shout, "Don't do that! " and see if you can
find a way to scaffold what they want to do.
x
My kids love this type of work too. :)
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this idea. I don't know why I haven't tried it before. Thanks for inspiring me to try it. I shared your idea on Montessori MOMents' facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Montessori-MOMents/186597394722411
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I'd never thought to pin punch numbers - I have no clue why! Thanks for the idea; we'll be using it soon. And thanks for linking to Montessori Monday. :)
ReplyDeletei agree dont hold children back . We also love push pin art. great post !
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing that such a simple activity is so popular with preschoolers, but my own children as well as children I taught always loved it. And the excerpt about trust is wonderful! I featured your post at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/LivingMontessoriNow
ReplyDeleteI love the work! My toddler loves pin punching.
ReplyDeleteHowever re: continuum concept--we're also the only species with things like swimming pools, fire, and windows. Very frequently we see dead baby mice in the bottom of pools around here, or dead baby deer on the side of the road, or dead baby birds who were eaten by other animals once they left the nest. Unfortunately, also dead toddlers who *did* wander off into pools, etc. So, I don't necessarily agree with the author there. But, I do agree with your point that came from the your interpretation of the book, as my little 2 year old is so very proud of herself after cutting a snack or pin punching or snipping paper. :)