DISCIPLINE
AND
INDEPENDENCE
Discipline
must come through liberty…We do not
consider
an individual
disciplined only when he has
been rendered as artificially silent as
a mute
and as immovable
as a paralytic. He is
an individual
annihilated, not disciplined.
– Maria
Montessori
In
the Montessori
school, discipline and independence go hand in
hand.
Classrooms are
designed to encourage
movement and activity.
It is
the goal of the
Montessori
educator to guide the children to find their
own inner
discipline, their own
independence. The role
of the directress
is that of role model,
mentor and
observer. All
discipline is based in
positive direction so
children are shown how to do things rather
than told not to. The
goal of the directress
is to allow the
children more and more
independence as they
demonstrate more and more discipline. To achieve this end, we have
one golden rule in our school and that
is
respect. Children must
show respect
to all the
people and items when
they are under our
care.
Discipline in Our
Nest and Children’s
House
Children are aided in their
development of self-discipline
and
independence. When
one is disrespectful to someone or something,
the directress first
explains the respectful
way to approach the given situation. Next, the child is
redirected. This simply
means that the child is introduced to a new
activity. Much of our
“discipline”
ends
here. If
redirection does not
work, then the child is
kept within an arm’s
reach of the
directress.
This
keeps the child in the area of
influence of
the
directress. On the rare
occasion that the child is still not settled,
he/she is removed from
the group for a few
minutes and given the opportunity to calm
down,
to settle himself. This
removal time usually
lasts for only a few
minutes. When the child
says that he
is ready to
return to the group,
or to his work, he is
allowed to
return. Positive
reinforcement is used in all three steps of
discipline. There is
never blame or
punishment. Children
are encouraged to grow in their ability to
achieve inner discipline
and independence of
spirit while learning to care for
others.
Discipline in
Elementary
While
the golden
rule remains the same for the Elementary
class, the
students develop their own set of
Ground Rules
each year. They may
elaborate on this
to
include: walk with slow
feet, clean up after
yourself at lunch
time or
be kind to the animals by touching them
carefully, feeding
them daily and cleaning
their cages. At the
beginning of the
year, the ground rules are
discussed, printed,
signed by each
student and teacher, and posted
in the classroom.
The
steps used
in maintaining these ground rules are
different than in
the Children’s House since
the Elementary
children are on a
different plane of
development. In the
Elementary class, the
children are empowered
to work out their differences through
discussion, negotiation,
and through peer
mentoring. While an
adult may ask to be
present, or may be asked
by the children to be present while
difficulties are being
worked out, it is the
children who are given
the responsibility to
resolve differences.
The
three steps
for resolving conflicts are as
follows:
1)
Ask the
person to stop the
behavior that is bothering
you.
If the person
stops, simply
say, “Thank
you.”
2)
If the
bothersome behavior has not
stopped, ask an
adult to
assist you.** At this point, an adult will
simply listen to the students’ discussion
until the problem is
worked out. Usually
having an adult know that a ground rule has
been broken will be
enough impetus to correct
the behavior.
3)
If the
problem persists, the adult
will give ideas to
help
guide the students to a solution that is
acceptable to both of
them.
** If
one student is
too angry to discuss the problem right away,
he is
given time to cool down
and collect himself.
Once
he is ready to discuss the matter, then the
above steps
are tried again.
If
a child is being
disruptive during class time, and does not
respond
to positive direction, then the
directress may
choose to give the
student time away from the
group – usually in the office or other
quiet
area. This
isolation lasts until the student is ready to
return to the
group.
Again, blame and
punishment are not
part of the steps to inner
discipline and
independence in the Elementary
program.
Courteous,
kind
behavior is the foundation of the elementary
relationships. If a
child continues to be
discourteous, uses
inappropriate language, or
hurts another
child,
than a note will go home to the parent to let
them know of the circumstances. The elementary directresses
take a team approach to correcting behaviors
for the students in
their charge and
appreciate parents helping in these
instances.
The
Montessori
environment focuses on natural consequences
and
redirection when inappropriate behavior
occurs.
However, in the
event that a
child’s behavior should become
physical against another child, the
following
policy will be
enacted. Examples of this kind of physical
behavior include aggressive hitting or
spitting at another child.
Offenses will be
cumulative over a 5 month time
period.
First
offense: The
child who has misbehaved will write a letter
of apology
to the other child and both sets of
parents.
The child will
discuss with
the principal, classroom teacher,
and injured child events leading
up to the
offense, why
the action was inappropriate, and how to
avoid
it in the
future.
Second
offense: Parents
of the offending child will be called into
school
for a conference with the child’s
teacher, the
child, and the
principal.
Possible reasons for the
child’s
behavior will be discussed and
preventive
measures will be
agreed upon and
put in place at school. The child will provide
an
act of service to the school as a
consequence.
This act of service
will be agreed upon
between the teacher, parents, and principal
and
will take place during recess for three
days
following the
incident.
Third
offense: Parents
will be called to pick up the child
immediately,
with a three day suspension from
school to
follow. Tuition will not
be credited for
missed
days. Depending on the severity of the
offense and the
likelihood that effective
measures can be put
into
place to avoid any
future such incidents, the child may or may
not
be allowed to return to
school.
Due
to the age of the
students in Children’s House and the fact that
they are still learning right from wrong, any
inappropriate behavior
at that level will be
addressed on an individual basis at the
discretion of the
teachers.
