Squiggles on the Page

About a month ago, I found my oldest daughter sitting deep in thought, examining a page illustrating the correlation of quantities to the written number. She stated, (and I paraphrase), “Hmm. I wish I had had something like this when I was learning. This makes sense. All that numbers are to me, are squiggles on the page.”
I have spent a good deal of time pondering some different aspects of this revelation.
1. Where was I, a Montessori teacher, in her foundational years?
2. The significance of the concrete understanding
3. What about a child’s sensitive periods

Where was I when she was learning her numbers? We were in the midst of family struggles just like everyone else in the whole world, and she would rather take her siblings out to play than to sit with a math lesson. She was very creative and I was working with babies. She began kindergarten at the local public school. Life moved on from there.
She struggled with math, and gratefully, when it came to higher math, her dad was able to help her see things in a way she could understand if she couldn’t see it another way. College math was a real struggle for her, but she persevered and conquered. And now, she is sitting studying a Montessori math sheet and gaining a new perspective and understanding.

The Montessori philosophy introduces a concept with the concrete first. (Concrete, meaning it can be felt, seen, smelled, heard or tasted, existing in a physical form, not abstract) Next, the abstract counterpart is introduced, (abstract - existing in thought or as an idea, but not having a physical or concrete existense) followed by the correlation of the concrete with the abstract for quite a solid understanding of the concept. Only then, will a concept have a value or meaning associated with the abstract-only then, for some, will it be more than “squiggles on a page”. I acknowledge that some children have brains wired with a math understanding however they received their education. I have a few of those children in the family. I also have those who need the concrete. They are very creative and their expertise is more in the areas of communications-writing, speaking, reading, visualizing and creative design.

The “sensitive period” also plays a role in the child’s development. (A sensitive period may be described as a time when a child is very interested in a subject or topic-they are ready to learn about something in which they are interested.) If a concept is introduced when a child has interest in it, they are much more likely to absorb all the knowledge associated with the topic that they are given. For my daughter, she might have had it introduced, but not in a way that met her learning style, or she may not have been ready for it. I might have been too distracted to catch her sensitive periods.

Whatever the reason, life being what it is, she has now, a new vision of what numbers are, how they correlate, and will have a better picture in her head as she moves forward. Numbers are no longer just “squiggles on the page”.

ShaMayne Mason