Montessori Movement: Birth to Crawling

Even though I'm a certified Montessori teacher for grades 1st through 3rd, I had a hard time wrapping my brain around how to implement Montessori principles for an infant. I read this book and this book, as well as several different blogs. But still, the sequence of which materials to use and when wasn't very clear to me.

That's why I'm so excited to share this guest post by Carrie of Beginning Montessori. She's a certified Montessori teacher and owns a Montessori school. Today's post is about how to nurture children's movement from birth to crawling, and tomorrow's post will be about crawling to walking. Although I prefer to use plural pronouns to avoid the she/he dilemma, Carrie prefers the singular pronoun. Today's post will use "he" and tomorrow's will use "she."

Without further ado, here's Carrie!

As a parent of a newborn, your mind races as you think about what the next year will bring. Often thinking about the present moment is more than enough! As adults we have so much impact on a child's development and it is for this reason that we must become active participants in this role. While there is so much to consider when it comes to the development of a child (sleeping, eating, attachment, and much, much more), today’s focus will be on nurturing the development of voluntary movement from birth to crawling from a Montessori perspective.

When we look at children's physical ability at birth, his movement is involuntary and guided by reflexes. The neck muscles are not yet developed and we are careful to support his head as we hold him. Much of this early time is spent in the arms of the adults who love him. This helps him develop trust in the world as the sounds and smells are familiar to him from his experiences in the womb.

As the newborn adjust to life outside the womb and we observe that he begins to show interest in people and objects apart from his parents, we begin to offer opportunities for movement. We lay him on his movement mat or blanket in order to provide a safe place where he can look around while gaining a sense of comfort within his surroundings. When laid on his back, we offer mobiles to look at such as the Munari and Gobbi. As his eyes become focused and his coordination increases, we then offer grasping mobiles such as the Bell or Ring or Primary Colours. With these, his hand-eye coordination develops so that he is able to intentionally grasp at the mobiles. When laid on his stomach, we offer interesting things to look at such as himself in the mirror, an accordion book stretched out, and ourselves as we talk and sing to him. This helps strengthen his neck and back muscles, and as a result he will gain the ability to hold up his head, as he strains to look at the interesting world that you have safely set up for him. To ensure that his world on this vertical plain remains interesting, we lay down beside him and experience it ourselves.

The neck and back muscles will not be strengthened if these opportunities are not given by an adult. By using infant seats or dressing him in clothing that impedes his ability to fully stretch out his body or use his hands, he will not be able to learn to bring his movements under his own control. In fact, Dr. Silvana Montanaro cautions that "any obstruction to free movement, especially in the first year of life, can have serious psychological consequences that may compromise the harmonious development of the personality" (Understanding the Human Being). It is important that we place infant in situations where he will have the opportunity to move freely and be successful in his self-motivated movements. It is also important that we provide the infant with uninterrupted time to do so. We need to become aware of his ability to concentrate and not interrupt his deep interest in an object or repetition of movement as he masters it.

When the infant is about two months, we utilize the grasping reflex by placing small grasping toys in his tiny hand, ensuring he can easily hold it. As the infant loses this reflex and instead begins to reach out, we begin offering toys in which he is interested and chooses to take. When the movement is self-motivated and the object is the correct size he will feel great self-confidence, “I did it!” As he begins to be able to have intentional grasping of objects, we place them just out of his reach to encourage him to begin rolling or creeping to obtain them. These toys have a variety of natural textures to impart real knowledge of the world such as soft woolen balls, silver rings, dried gourds, bamboo rattles, cotton cloths, or wooden toys. He loves to bring items such as these to his mouth to explore them. Once these objects become familiar to him, place a few of them in a basket with a low edge. He loves to explore with this basket of treasures and gains a sense of order that toys need to be replaced where they are found.

We carefully choose toys that will only roll away slightly when nudged so the infant will be successful at moving to reach them. Balls made of fabric such as puzzle balls and the Montessori interlocking discs are perfect for the infant who is creeping further away but not yet crawling. He will begin creeping faster and lifting himself to semi-sitting positions. Over the course of a few months, you will notice that he will be able to get up on his knees, rocking back and forth and before you know it, he will be crawling! Begin offering balls and cylinders that roll further away and spinning tops that twirl around to encourage the movement. Be sure to double-check all that you thought was safety proofed for your child as his world has now expanded well beyond his movement mat.

Be sure to check back tomorrow as Sara has invited me to continue with Part II: Crawling to Walking.

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