Why follow the child and not a schedule

Many of us can not resist putting the important things in life on a schedule. And this includes the education of a child.  Now the more material something is, meaning that it is more limited to its activity in terms of space and time, the more one can figure out its schemes of recurrence, and thus build schedules around this. Such is the case with our hours, days, months, and years, which revolve around the rotation of earth, the cycles of the moon, and the orbit of the earth around the sun.  But as one moves up the hierarchy of being, the more these higher beings develop along spiritual rhythms, and these do not follow the rotations of the earth, the cycles of the moon, and the orbit around the sun so easily.  This is especially true when it comes to the development of virtues in a child, whether these are the intellectual, moral, or theological virtues.  There are patterns and cycles of course to the emergence of these virtues, but they are not rooted first and foremost in space and time, and so cannot be put on an arbitrary timeline.  Instead, these must be based on the interior conditions of the spirit that need to be tilled, cultivated, and respected, including the free will of the creature in front of us, even if a child or young adult.

To become a wise teacher, we need to pay attention to the fruits of the spirit. We need to pick those fruits when they are ripe. Picking these too early or too late will leave much to be desired, and usually does much harm to the child. This is true on whether we are expecting them to read before their time or we have missed the best stage of development for learning language.  The same is true with math and art and practical skills.  If we could know all that is taking place in the child, all the future contingents that are going to unfold in the child’s life and soul, all the free choices the child is going to make, we might have some chance of laying these out in a physical timeline, but that is impossible for even one child let alone a whole classroom of children. This is why Montessori was keen on setting up the keys for life in the classroom environment, and then as a teacher operating more as a guide or tutor in that environment.  And as a guide or tutor, one learns to look for the signs of need.  A plant will grow if the soil has some fertility and water, and the sunlight is sufficient.  With a classroom environment, there needs to be practical life activities, language and math materials, a prayer space, and a few other items that are made to feed the child. Then one must let the child graze as needed, showing him or her how to do so.  One must always offer only when a child is seeking.  As the child’s language is developing, listen to it, and respond to it as best as one can do.  The key here is never put a child on an arbitrary schedule.  That will cause tensions and it will hinder development because it does not respect the conditions of development.  It ignores these and thus ignores the nature of the child.

It should be noted that not putting a child on a schedule is not the same as a hands off policy.  There are many other interactions with the child that can and should take place, most should be positive–such as telling stories, asking them how they are doing, offering something to drink–but some are negative, especially when the child is being disruptive and destructive.  But even those negative moments are more times than not triggered by the guide trying to make the child do something that the child is not yet ready to receive.  We should always ask ourselves before asking a child, “Is what I am about to request needed? Or wanted?”  If no, and you go ahead anyway, prepare for a negative response, or at least, a dull response.  Unfortunately, many of us chalk these responses in children to original sin, because we think it is an illustration of disobedience. But in fact, the start of this evil is the guide not the child.  This wisdom about holding back our requests and commands is repeated by Montessori many times.  We are the one who should be obedient to her.  And not just to her. St. John Bosco says the same in his preventative method as does Saint John Henry Newman in his writings about discipline.