Question: Why do children in Montessori schools work on the floor? Is there a pedagogical signigicance to working on mats (small rugs)? We asked Rita Schaefer Zener, Ph. D., AMI Director of Training and member of the editorial board, to explicate and elaborate upon the Montessori theory that forms the basis of this common practice in Montessori environments.
Rita Schaefer Zener, Ph. D., AMI training director and member of the Editorial Board, explains the Montessori theory underlying this common practice in Montessori settings.
Answer: Children’s working on the floor on small rugs is a practice born out of Montessori’s astute observation of children. Her medical and anthropological background came together is establishing this practice. As a scientist she realized that children needed an environment where they could freely express themselves in spontaneous activity.
It is a well recognized fact today that children need to move and charge positions. Yet, as children grow, their need for movement varies. The baby, with 68% of her height in her trunk, will naturally lie on her back with feet and hands up in the air. The child of three, as she enters our Children’s Houses, has longer legs in proportion to the trunk; the trunk then is only 62%. These children are at the point of developing a perfect equilibrium. We can see them often lying on their stomachs with their legs bent at the knees and feet up in the air. The leg muscles are stretched in this position. Children between 3 and 5 years old often seek a resting position on the floor and raise their head and shoulders by supporting them with their elbows (Discovery of the Child, “Education in Movement”, “Gymnastics and Behavior”).
The first time I read this information, I was sitting on a couch in the family room in 1963 in San Antonio, Texas. My children were nearby, playing on the floor. I looked over the top of the book to see Cindy, age one, on her back with her feet in the air. Stuart, age three, lying on his stomach with knees bent and propped up on his elbows. It made profound impression on me about the validity of Dr. Montessori’s observations.
Dr. Montessori goes on to point out that the 7-year-old’s legs are 75% of his height. (Adult torso and leg length is about 50:50.) No wonder our young children feel the need to stretch their muscles so often. Montessori saw that little children have to find positions of rest different from that of sitting on a chair. Indeed, children love to sit cross-legged on the floor or with both legs placed to one side.
Thus we see that children in Montessori schools work on the floor to satisfy a natural need to rest from their continual movement.
Considering this need for rest, Montessori began the practice of using small rugs for individual children who would like to work on the floor rather than seated in a chair. There are several pedagogical rationales for this:
- It respects the child’s need to change positions.
- It allows for spontaneous activity which is energizing rather than tiring.
- It answers one question of discipline and freedom in an environment where children are allowed to walk about. The rugs serve as “islands” of work about the room. Many a lesson of grace and courtesy shows the children how to carefully walk around these rugs.
- The children working on a rug on a floor have no fear of being bumped or stepped upon.
- The limited space on the rug allows the children to practice order in their work.
- Rolling and unrolling rugs, carrying rugs about, sweeping rugs, walking around rugs, etc., are all worthwhile practical life exercises. The children learn skills of coordination and respect that are valuable for life.
The rug offers a straight line for laying out certain materials and it helps contain loose pieces as in the pink tower or the puzzle maps.
The rug may offer a central point in a small group lesson. The children seated around the rug can participate easily. Children standing around a table often cannot attend as well as if they were seated on the floor.
I would like to point out some practical and cultural reasons for working on rugs on the floor. Rugs are cheaper than tables and chairs. There can be many different sizes of rugs to accommodate various materials. Where space is limited, rugs have the advantage of disappearing when work is over. In cultures where much of life happens on the floor, the rugs offer a way of respecting that cultural custom.
The question might have sounded trivial or superficial at first. After examining the practice in depth, we can see that working on the floor on small rugs is actually an integral part of the prepared environment. Older children and youth may have different needs for using the floor and those we respect as well.
AMI Communications – 2007/1, page 70-72
