In this pre-recorded one-hour video presentation, Laura LeClair discusses how to be a respectful adult with children. She uses the principles outlined in "Montessori's Decalogue" as a framework to delve into behaviors and mental attitudes adults can adopt to best serve the needs of young children.
This presentation is best suited for teachers and care givers of infants, toddlers, and young preschoolers.
Laura LeClair
Laura is an instructor, mentor, educational consultant, and postpartum doula. She spent over two decades in Montessori classrooms, guiding children from Birth through Kindergarten. She has a passion for tending to classrooms and the adults who bring them to life, with a special interest in creating successful, inclusive environments for children of all abilities.
Laura has a B.A. in English from Middlebury College in Middlebury, VT. She holds American Montessori Society credentials in Infant and Toddler (CME|NY) and Early Childhood (MTTP). She received her M.Ed. in Interdisciplinary Studies of Preschool Education & Development from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She also studies the science of compassion, contemplative practice and yoga. Laura sees this work as key in the spiritual preparation of the adult, as educators and families develop their capacity for personal transformation and well-being.
Montessori's Decalogue
Never touch the child unless invited by him (in some form or the other).
Never speak ill of the child in his presence or absence.
Concentrate on strengthening and helping the development of what is good in the child that its presence may leave less and less space for 'evil'.
Be active in preparing the environment. Take meticulous and constant care of it. Help the child establish constructive relations with it. Show the proper place where the means of development are kept and demonstrate their proper use.
Be ever ready to answer the call of the child who stands in need of you, and always listen and respond to the child who appeals to you.
Respect the child who makes a mistake and can then or later correct himself, but stop firmly and immediately any misuse of the environment and any action which endangers the child, his development or others.
Respect the child who takes rest or watches others working or ponders over what he himself has done or will do. Neither call him nor force him to other forms of activity.
Help those who are in search of activity and cannot find it.
Be untiring in repeating presentations to the child who refused them earlier, in helping the child acquire what is not yet his own and overcome imperfections. Do this by animating the environment with care, with restraint and silence, with mild words and loving presence. Make your ready presence felt to the child who searches and hide from the child who has found.
Always treat the child with the best of good manners and offer him the best you have in yourself and at your disposal.