Comment by bitexploder | Hacker News Reader

Comment by bitexploder | Hacker News Reader

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A lot of early education is based on sensitive periods. Materials are introduced at ages and times when the child shows interest. It is guided learning.

Kids learn to do things like cut apples, with a regular knife. At age 3. I will never forget one parent’s reaction. She was horrified and asked us “won’t they cut themselves?” My partner: “yeah, usually.” You could see her mentally nope out. That is a great viewpoint into Montesorri’s philosophy: that small kids are way more capable in many regards than adults assume.

There is also almost no need for a traditional gifted program because as kids finish materials nee ones are available. Grades are very fluid in a Montesorri classroom and kids have the freedom to explore everything. I think it works well for most children. Better by a lot for most kids compared to the traditional systems of public school.

So you give them a specialized environment and let them loose and then follow their interests, “follow the child” as Montesorri said. Then you guide them. The materials are designed to make it easier for kids to do on their own, but they also get plenty of help.

It is a very uncomfortable notion for many parents, but my daughter is a great example. She is 10 and easily doing work several grades ahead in topics that she excels at. No need for a gifted program really, the materials and support system is there to let all kids work at their own pace.

How does Montessori address topics that may not be of much interest to a child but are still important and necessary in developing a well-rounded and productive member of society?

I'm thinking along the lines of getting all students a baseline level of maths even if their passions lie in words and language. Or perhaps vice-versa for the majority of this crowd.

There is a balance, but Montesorri is mostly an elementary level and below system. High schoolers and middle schoolers that still attend a Montesorri program have a much more structured curriculum. They still give kids more freedom with electives and research but follow a more college prep style curriculum. Interestingly kids in our Montesorri program have a way higher rate of finishing 2 and 4 years of college than avg. parents of Montesorri kids tend to be more focused on raising their kids well and educating them at home and at school compared to avg.

Our school is a charter school, publicly funded, but still fully Montesorri. It has a functional farm even.

Steiner preschool also entrusts children with knives to cut fruit (or at least mine did, back in the 90s).

I would trust 5-7 year olds with knives unsupervised or semi-supervised more than 8-11 year olds and definitely more than 13-15 year olds!

Which kinds of knives? If they are sharp enough, and the kid loses a finger or an eye, I suppose that is also a learning experience, but are we willing to let them pay that price?

At least in our experience, it's graduated based on age and ability. Soft fruits and vegetables with a glorified shape cutter. Firmer things with a plastic or ceramic knife. Harder things with metal.

Not dissimilar to what you'd do at home, except supervised closely with peers and integrated into the classroom.

Edit: I should mention that gross and fine motor control is a really big focal point in general. Like how writing things down has been shown to improve memory, other forms of tactile interaction increase engagement and learning.

Similar experience. They aren’t given a massive finely sharpened chefs knife or anything. Just a small not too pointy knife that can manage small fruit. But it is still a sharp enough metal knife early on. They also set the environment up to keep it safe. One food station. Careful movement of knives. Near a sink, etc. never heard of more than a butterfly stitch or two across a lot of kids and parents :)

> It is a very uncomfortable notion for many parents

In my experience Americans seem to have a very negative view of knives in general. So I would phrase that as "for many American parents"

A lot seem to only eat with a fork, treating it like a spoon and leaving their knife to one side. My MIL has had to learn that my children use knives to eat, and if she doesn't give them one then they will ask.

What does “treating a fork like a spoon” mean exactly? Additionally, many, if not most, foods don’t require a knife to be eaten at all. I can’t remember the last time I brought a knife to the kitchen table.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_utensil_etiquette

Even with the European habits, using a fork spoon-style is inevitable to an extent. Some things are too small or soft to skewer.

From what I've noticed, people in other countries tend to use a spoon for things a lot of Americans use forks for. Eating rice, for example, is always done with a spoon. Same with cakes and similar soft food.

I (murrcan) use a fork as a knife. Not because of any knifobia (neologism ftw). Because it's handy and it usually works. Drives the (n.european) wifie nuts tho. But heck, why so many implements in the air ? It's eatin' time, not a display of hand-tool virtuosity. Teach the children.

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