Let Children Grow up through Labor —— Thoughts on Reading The Secret of Childhood

During this period, I finished reading The Secret of Childhood. Maria Montessori (1870 August 31-1952 May 6) is an outstanding woman. She is the first female doctor in Italy and the first female doctor in medicine. Her knowledge background enables her to study children's cognition from the perspectives of physiology and medicine, thus helping children.

Exploring and discovering the secrets of childhood is Montessori's lifelong pursuit. This book is written on the basis of long-term observation of children. She advocates the establishment of new educational methods aimed at discovering and liberating children, and emphasizes effective training for teachers in order to prepare a suitable growth environment for children. Therefore, as a teacher, reading this book deeply is of great significance to our understanding of children. By entering this book, it opens a new horizon for us to study children's views on children and makes our educated objects more awe-inspiring.

Montessori put forward in her book that "children are the father of adults", and the core of her thought is to establish a new education centered on children and "following the laws of nature", but she deeply felt that "innocent children are persecuted by adults, and the wrong educational concept formed by human beings for centuries is killing them."

It has been decades since Montessori put forward his views. Today, the neglect of children has actually turned into excessive care for children, especially the decrease of children in urban families, which has kept them in shelter and replaced all life except study, making children lack the minimum self-management ability, living ability and contact with society. From a few years old to high school for more than ten years, they only need to do academic things. At school, when you walk into the classroom, you can see the messy schoolbags, the scraps of paper and snack bags in the drawers, and you don't know where to start cleaning the classroom every day. On campus, cups, umbrellas and clothes are littered everywhere ... Montessori put forward that "children should return to normalization through labor". "For children, labor represents an instinct. Through labor, you can shape your personality and show yourself. It is no exaggeration to say that people grow up in labor. " He believes that "happiness and emotion cannot replace the role of labor, and neither punishment nor reward can eliminate psychological deviation." Hand is a tool for people to develop their personality and realize their wisdom and will. People realize their existence through their hands. "

I have read several books about Waldorf education. Waldorf education is also a people-oriented education, which pays attention to the all-round healthy and harmonious development of body and mind. It offers a series of manual courses, and the conditions for building a school are not superior, but it uses more space to build a labor base for students. In addition to raising poultry, practical workshops such as carpentry and cement workers are also specially set up for students. Guide students to learn sewing, design, clothing production and other courses, so that every child has the experience of participating in labor every day. These labors are not only physical exercise, but also creation, cooperation and sharing, which bring rich nourishment to children's body and mind. For example, weaving scarves and wallets as gifts for yourself or friends, playing clarinet with bamboo, making wooden spoons and boats with wood, etc. We can experience the development of human history through different handicraft classes. For example, the material requirements of the handicraft class range from animal fur, such as wool, to plant products, such as wood, and finally to mineral products, such as iron. Grade one students knit wool, grade five students do carpentry, and middle school students work while the iron is hot. From working with both hands, to using hand tools, and finally to machines. The learning process from natural raw materials to processed materials does not need chemistry and synthetic materials in principle. Before each class, we should clean the workshop first, so that everyone can work in a clean environment and feel a pleasant and solemn atmosphere. After class, train students to take the initiative to put tools and handicrafts back far away and clean up the sawdust on the table and ground. Handicraft course is children's favorite course, and everyone is immersed in it. Here, you can not only feel the active participation of children, but also feel the creative and unique works.

In the fifth grade, there was a parent named Nanfeng who organized children to carry out 24 solar terms activities, taking experiencing farming as one of the important contents. In different busy farming seasons, she will take her children to the countryside to sow, cultivate and harvest. The first children she brought with her had this five-year labor experience. These children not only improved their farming skills, but also felt the hardships of farmers' labor and got used to it. Cherishing every serving of food has become a height without parents' reminding. ......

So Montessori firmly said, "Labor is a perfect art ... Under the guidance of a mysterious force, human beings have surpassed their own needs ... Children, driven by human instinct, shape their personality through their own labor, point out the direction for human development and complete their mission."

Labor is so important for children's physical and mental development. As a school education, how should we provide a suitable environment? Although the conditions are limited, there is still room for improvement.

First, guide them ideologically. Guide children and parents to understand the significance and value of labor, so that parents can fully realize the positive role of labor in children's physical and mental development, thus providing children with opportunities to participate in family labor, learn common sense of life and self-management, and actively serve family members. Make full use of the existing conditions to plant family plants, learn planting methods, and cultivate the sense of responsibility for labor and the sense of accomplishment gained by giving.

Second, cultivate labor skills. In school education, students are guided to master basic labor skills, such as how to tidy up schoolbags, how to carry out sanitation and cleaning, how to Bao Shu, how to tidy up bookshelves and how to tidy up family cabinets.

Third, establish labor courses. For example, hand-cut paper, knitting, embroidery, hand-sewn toys, etc., are relatively simple to operate.

Fourth, provide a practice base. With the extensive use of social resources and linkage with rural schools and agricultural research bases, children can personally participate in agricultural production and labor in different agricultural seasons and feel the joy, hardship and happiness of labor.

Montessori wrote in the section "Children's Labor", "Faced with difficulties and tests, children are fearless and persistently accumulate experience through their own labor, and grow, improve and sublimate through labor. Adults are transforming the environment, but children are perfecting people. A child is like a tireless walker, and will not stop until he reaches his destination. "

Let's open up a sunshine avenue for the "non-stop pace".