Writing. Coloring. Drawing. They all seem like normal childhood activities, but they never have been around our home. Ian has always said that it's "too boring." If Ian's body isn't moving, he isn't interested. This hasn't been an issue in school since the boys go to a Montessori house. The Montessori philosophy is "follow the child." What does that mean? It means that a child is driven by something internal to learn something new. A child won't learn to write if they do not feel the internal drive to write but feel the drive to build with wooden blocks instead. So, if the child wants to build with wooden blocks, they are allowed to do so because they are absolutely learning since they are engaged with the material.
Montessori teaches that there are sensitive periods where a child is most likely to be engaged in learning and mastering a new skill. For writing, the sensitive period is from age 3-4. This has come and gone for Ian. I have been fretting over it. I knew that eventually Ian would learn to write, but it just seemed like it would never happen. Within the last month his desire start writing and drawing has exploded! I have felt so relieved and soooooo excited. I have been doing everything I can to facilitate this new endeavor, and it's been going really well. Kind of.
The boys wanted to paint peg people the other day. They painted and painted and painted. Then the entire jar of purple paint got dumped on the dining room rug. While I was cleaning it up, Eli dumped the jar of white paint on the rug, at which point I had to shut the painting operation down. They were getting way too careless.
But it started out with such good intentions. Ian truly wanted to work with writing utensils so I said, "Yes, yes, yes, you can paint!" He's been carrying composition books around, sketching when the mood strikes him, even if that's in the produce department at the grocery store. <--happened last week
Before school today he told me that he was probably going to work on his fraction book at school. I thought that was fantastic as I've always felt he shows more interest in math and science than language (other than being read to everyday, which can go on for hours). But, when I picked him up from school, he had a writing worksheet in his book bag. This was HUGE! Never, in a million years would I have guessed he filled out a worksheet today, and he was proud of himself. I told him that it looked like he had worked hard and really concentrated while writing the numbers ( he's writing numbers not letters...he's Cole's boy). He confirmed that it was hard work and it did take a lot of concentration.
It might not sound like a big deal...my preschooler is beginning to color and draw. But I'm so excited to watch this new skill develop, and he can't seem to get enough.
Today's writing worksheet. Pretty exciting stuff.
Our project at home: drawing a solar system banner for Ian's room
