Montessori Monday: Reality vs Fantasy

For her birthday, Coco received this sweet book, by the author of our favorite, Goodnight Moon. My cousin, who is mommy to three little girls, gave it to us and said that they read it so many times and carried around in the diaper bag for so long, that it just fell apart one day! After reading it to Coco, I could see why. Big Red Barn follows a day in the life of a group of barn animals, from sun up to sun down, the things they do, where they go and how the act. At night, it shows how they sleep with the big moon in the sky. The book introduces loads of vocabulary for babies: big, small, animal names, colors. And for older children, there are infinite prompts for curiosity and discussion. For example, the line "...And under the hen was a quiet egg," is just the sort of thing to capture the intellect of a small child. Why is the egg quiet? What is inside the egg? And why is it under the hen? Big Red Barn is perfect because children, even little tiny babies, want and love books that portray the world in a realistic way. 

In my Montessori training course, we learned that the world is wonderfully exciting, interesting and satisfying to children just the way it is. We don't need to make it magical or interesting by adding fairies or wizards because it already is magical and interesting to them. Not only that, but until children gain a firm understanding of the world as it is (around age six), they aren't ready to integrate the dimension of fantasy into the mix. It's impossible for them to separate reality from fantasy and that leaves them confused and dissatisfied. As a Montessori guide, the favorite books in my classroom were always the ones deeply rooted in the reality of everyday life. Books like Little Mommy, A Day at the Seashore and Angus Lost would have the group of 26 children silent, mouths literally hanging open, listening to and adoring every. single. word. By contrast, the very cute and whimsical Olivia series never held their attention for long. Children want pigs to be pigs and children to be children because that is something they can relate back to their own lives and understand.

When reading good books to children, it's not necessary to try to facilitate discussion or learning; it happens naturally when books are written well. Simply read, read often, and the rest shall follow. The most frequently asked question I received as a Montessori teacher from parents was "What should we be doing at home?" My answer: Read together. How often do you read with your children? And what books are the favorites in your house?