Re: Toddler learning

From: Dossy (dossy@panoptic.com)
Date: Sat May 18 2002 - 17:36:28 MDT


On 2002.05.18, Phil Osborn <philosborn2001@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> At the Montessori School I helped start,

Would you mind naming exactly which school this is and
where it's located?

> we introduced
> a school monetary system - on the cookie standard.
> The traditional Montessori school expects the kids to
> do various jobs around the school - wiping the tables
> after eating, sweeping the floors - as part of the
> learning process - part of the "practical life
> exercises" which also includes food preparations,
> shoestring tieing, buttoning clothes, etc. In fact,
> the Montessori director is not supposed to double as
> janitor. This is part of the kids' responsibility to
> maintain the environment.

It is exactly this kind of story that will make the
decision for me to home-school my child easier.

A school that tries to teach the value of money before
teaching responsibility is not one I want my child to
attend.

Children and people in general must do the things they
are obligated to do because we're responsible for them.
Not because we're merely paid to do them. When my
daughter is old enough to take out the trash, I expect
her to do it because it's her duty and responsibility
as her part of the family, not because she's earning
an allowance. This is why I'm also against allowances
as a way to teach children the value of money. There
are so many positive ways to teach kids the value of
money when the time is right, why use such a negative
tactic as an allowance or "earning it" -- you only
teach a child to work hard when they're being rewarded
that way, not to work hard because they want to
work hard at something.

-- Dossy

-- 
Dossy Shiobara                       mail: dossy@panoptic.com 
Panoptic Computer Network             web: http://www.panoptic.com/ 
  "He realized the fastest way to change is to laugh at your own
    folly -- then you can let go and quickly move on." (p. 70)


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