Normalization - why it’s easier for preschoolers to acquire good behavior than gradeschool children

Children’s character defects acquired from birth to three years old can be cured during the following periods of three to six years old in a good preschool when nature is still busy perfecting the newly-formed powers.

If owing to negligence or wrong parental guidance or poor early schooling the defects are not then corrected, not only do they remain, but they get worse. These prevent the child from developing his moral awareness in elementary school or his intellectual capacity may not be maximized. By high school, his inferiority will cause other failures. Then he will become a wastrel throughout life.

From deviation to normalization through work

In the growing child there are, according to Montessori, two streams of energy which must be balanced, the physical energy of the body and the mental energy of the intelligence. These two streams of energy must work in unison to make the complete man. However, if they are divorced or separated from each other we should expect to find deviations from the normal.

There are two main groups of deviation. In the first group is a series of traits recognized as abnormal by child psychologists. These include lying, timidity, quarrelsome, gluttony, various kinds of fears, disorderly, destructive movements, frequent disobedience, etc. These are exhibited by the “strong children.”

The second group of deviation is recognized by many as normal, but which Montessori regards as deviations. They are possessiveness, excessive make-belief (like children who are frequently talking to imaginary companions). Some are constantly asking questions and not waiting for answers, or the child who shows extreme attachment to another persona and marked instability of attention, which psychologists think is a normal part of childhood.

The ‘strong children’

It is usual to discuss children’s defects one at a time with a view to counter-acting each with a separate form of treatment. Numerous though they are, we can simplify them as defects of two types of children: the strong and the weak.

The strong children resist and overcome obstacles. They are capricious. Tendencies to violence, fits of rage and aggression are common. They also have a marked disobedience with a “destructive instinct”. Possessive, they are often selfish and envious. This is shown by grabbing other people’s things.

Unable to focus attention, they have difficulties coordinating their hands. Thus, they tend to break or drop objects. Exaggerated imagination is attributed to them. Genuinely noisy, they tend to shout and scream. They are often unkind to smaller children and animals. They also disturb and tease.

Home environment adverse to development conditions such personality defects. Strong children are not felt as blessings. Parents tend to get rid of them. They are entrusted to baby sitters or sent off to nursery schools. The parents wonder what to do. Often, they treat them severely. The defects become worse.

The ‘weak children’

The weak children are passive by nature. They succumb to unfavorable conditions. They are idle, crying for what they want or want others to wait on them. They are always easily bored and always wish to be entertained. They cling to grown-ups for they find everything frightful. They are often lying (a passive form of defense) or steal things (another form of compensation), etc.

They may suffer from physical defects, refusing to eat, always saying they have no appetite or indulge in over-eating. Disturbed sleep, nightmares, fear of their dad and others may cause their insomnia.

The passive children attract attention. Their behavior is not considered a problem. Since they do nothing wrong, the mother thinks they are good and obedient. Their clinging to their mother is taken as affection. — This child loves his mother so much, he will not go to bed without her. But later on she notices the speech and movements are backward. “He is so sensitive. Everything frightens him. He is not even interested in food. Truly a spiritual child. I have to tell him first a story before he eats. Someday, he will be a poet.” In the end, she has to send him to a doctor. Child specialists then make a fortune from their maladies of the mind.

Few of these children have been able to find necessary conditions for a full development. Thus, the “strong children” who need to anchor themselves to real challenging work, but instead are scolded or spurned by adults, develop their defects. Meantime the “weak children” who are so over-protected by their parents also fail to develop their own self confidence since they are kept away from many activities.

Replicating the phenomena of normalization in 4 decades for all children

For 46 years now at O.B. Montessori Center, we have seen the numerous defects of the “strong” and “weak” children fall away by maximizing their learning competencies between the ages of three to six (from 1983 to present, the same phenomena of “normalization” occurs in our 150 Pagsasarili Preschools for children of laborers).

Applying the Standardized Intelligence and Achievement Tests to each child, every year we see a constant rise in achievement of the threes to the sixes. Measured as average or sometimes below average, their IQs and achievements rise to high average to superior. By then, they enter first grade and the superior advancement would remain constant. As character defects fall off, the learning competencies advance.

Deviations are transformed through work

Maria Montessori stated “What the child needs is not a broken will but a strengthened will.”

How does the will develop? By conditioning it to do what is right and proper. As the German philosopher Goethe in his Wilhelm Meister said, “I saw that invaluable happiness of liberty consisted not in doing what one pleases and what circumstances invite you to but in being able, without hindrance or restraint, to do what was right and proper.”

The smorgasbord of work materials

Leaving on one side all technical definitions and theories, let us observe how “liberty in the prepared environment” works. Early in the morning, a mixed group of fours and fives are trickling into the Montessori classroom. Here comes Albert, all smiles (quite different from the tear-stained 3 1/2-year-old boy of a month ago, at the opening of the school year), greeting teacher with a handshake. Having deposited his snack bag in the usual shelf, he spreads a plastic mat on the table where he organizes the shoe shining tray.

Four-year-old Jenny takes out again the number counters, which teacher just taught the day before. It is the third and most difficult of the three materials for counting 1 to 10. These bingo chips will teach her the “even and odd numbers” within 10.

Joseph, 4 1/2 years, prefers to concentrate on reading. He takes out the “reading baskets” and invites two others to enjoy reading together the basket with their classmates’ names, the basket with the names of 11 colors, and the basket with action words. Teacher reminds them to finish one basket at a time.

Four-year-old Julius grabs the little flags of Asia, Five-year-old Jessica is placing on the puzzle map of Asia. Teacher suggested that Julius work first on the puzzle map of the world or the geography pans. He chooses to work on the three pairs of “geographic contrasts,” namely the lake/island, the bay peninsula and the strait/isthmus.

The cycle of work

From time to time, the specially trained teacher intervenes. The tendency to step on the work mat of the children working on the floor is redirected by her when she demonstrates (not dictates) to the errant classmates how to work around the edge of the mat. The children oblige excitedly and follow her steps, careful not to disturb the worker on the floor. In another instance, the teacher notes that there are too many children tracing geometric shapes. She redirects some of them to shift to language, science or history materials.

Although the teacher would let alone the children in their work, “she should never be afraid to destroy what is evil; it is what is good she must fear to destroy.” Good is any activity that leads to order, self development and therefore, to discipline.

Working in a prepared environment maximizes the child’s potential

Work chosen by the children and carried out without interference has its own laws. It has its beginning and ending like a day, and it must be allowed to come full circle. The sun rises and sets, and never becomes weary. No one comes and says to the sun, “You must stop working now or you will get too tired.” These children show clearly that if they are permitted, without interruption, to finish their cycle of work, they do not become tired. Scientists have studied how to reduce fatigue in the classroom. They say, “Shorten the hours of work: Work half an hour then rest five minutes, or work an hour and rest 20 minutes.” While in fact, the children are only rendered more tired by these interruptions.