Montessori From the Start: The Child at Home from Birth to Age Three by Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen, Schocken paperback, $13.Reviewed by Cam GordonShe has done it again. Now, for the fourth time, Paula Polk Lillard offers her wisdom and writing skills to bring Montessori education and philosophy to more people. This time she is not alone. She is joined by her daughter, Lynn Lillard Jessen. After opening a school and teaching workshops for parents of children under three, these two Montessorians have co-authored, Montessori From the Start: The Child at Home from Birth to Age Three. For those familiar and pleased with Lillard's previous books Ñ Montessori: A Modern Approach, Montessori in the Classroom and Montessori TodayÊÑ this book represents a welcome addition. In many ways "From the Start" is a wonderful gift to the Montessori community and to parents throughout the world, where information about the Montessori approach to infants and toddlers is relatively rare. In this book, Lillard and Jessen present an understandable, authoritative and in-depth look into the best practices for educating and raising our youngest children in the Montessori tradition. The Big Picture One of the most extraordinary strengths of this book, and consistent with Lillard's previous work, is how clearly it lays out Montessori principles in general. Early on, without fancy formatting or fanfare, we find the Montessori mission statement for parents and teachers alike: "It is our role as adults to assist our children in the formidable task of finishing their own formation as human beings." This is one of countless gems shining from the pages of Montessori From the Start. Another is when the authors give one of the best, and most concise, explanations of Montessori's basic human tendencies that I have seen. Some of the most outstanding ideas presented in the book can be applied to people of all ages. One, for example, occurs when Lillard and Jessen describe the importance of matching environments to the skill levels of children and honoring the "flow" of children's concentrated work cycles. When they write, "...we must bring the baby to the edge of her skill level. We have to find the right balance of challenge to the baby and support from the environment," we find what may well be the fundamental key to all successful teaching. Jessen and Lillard offer us the big picture in the organization of the book as well as in the sections which discuss more general themes. Chapters on movement and coordination, daily living, personal care, language and the will demonstrate the comprehensive and holistic scope of the book. One particularly striking look at the "Big Picture" is provided by the 11-page Montessori-esque illustrated timeline covering the first 30 months of life found early in the book. This is a great reference to small and large-motor development, as well as preparation of the environment. The parts to the whole Montessori From the Start also offers the reader step-by-step guidelines for raising our youngest children. The authors provide detailed descriptions of preparing and furnishing the new baby's room. Careful explanations and rationales for materials and learning activities are given for each phase of development. Detailed tips on clothing, feeding, sleeping, toileting routines and limit-setting are presented. For those looking for a practical guide on how to provide a comprehensive Montessori home during the first three years this book is of enormous value. But it is also of value to all parents, educators and child-care providers even if they are not in a position to implement every idea. Challenging the status quo Throughout the book Jessen and Lillard challenge common practices and common thinking about raising babies in the United States. Much of what they are advocating in this book is revolutionary and dramatically different from what may parents are doing. Instead of cribs, playpens and infant swings, for example, Lillard and Jessen call for a small mattress or futon on the floor and free mobility for infants in baby-safe, adult-supervised areas. Instead of video movies, dolls, trucks and other plastic toys they call for, among other things, practical living supplies that engage the early walker in housekeeping tasks. Much of what parents do in the United States is antithetical to healthy development, according to Jessen and Lillard. In one particularly critical passage of the treatment of one-year-olds they write: Too often they are not in the home or a homelike setting at all. Instead, they are out and about most of the day, parked in the drop-in room at the health center while parents exercise, strapped into a stroller at the mall or grocery store, or confined to a car seat in transit while father, mother or sitter is on the car speaker phone, making calls and planning the next scheduled events. When the child is at home, the television or VCR is often on and he is surrounded by plastic toys and mechanical games in an environment of entertainment, rather than of collaboration with adults in their daily work. Lillard and Jessen call on us to rethink what we give to our babies and do with our young children. One of the greatest gifts, they write, is time, "Time to concentrate and focus without distractions is essential to every area of development..." The television, computers and video games are of particular concern, mesmerizing and immobilizing infants and children. What's missing One of the biggest challenges for any author is determining what to include and what to omit in a book. There is only so much one can cover in 250 pages. There were times when I wanted more. I wondered what this particular mother learned from raising this daughter and what things she tried in their own home that worked and did not work. While a few anecdotes in the book help to bring the concepts to life, as a reader it would have been interesting to learn more about Lillard's own efforts, and even mistakes, with her own daughter. I also wanted to learn more about how current parenting trends and child development research mesh or conflict with the Montessori perspective. The area of attachment theory and parenting, for example, may have opened a number of interesting doors into seeing how Montessori ideas fit with this major child development theory of our day. Finally, it should be clear, that Lillard and Jessen present us with an ideal, a model and a level of investment into structuring our homes and our lives to support our children in ways that many of us may be unable to attain. The realities of large families, the necessity to work full-time and many of the demands that we all face, may make the full implementation these ideas impossible. Still, this book provides something to strive for and plenty of ideas and suggestions for things we can do regardless of our situation. It inspires as well as informs. Montessori From the Start is an exciting and much needed addition to the world of Montessori literature, as well as to Lillard's already impressive body of work. One can only wonder, and look forward to, where she might turn her attention next. Cam Gordon is a Montessori educator and author of Together With Montessori, published by Jola Publications. |
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