Jan Szczypka
Posted by Rafał Szczypka
On Wednesday, 23rd of January 2008, our son Jan Szczypka was born. He is beautiful, big (3.87 kg) and he is the joy of our life!
Joanna and Jan came back home from the hospital yesterday and we are all together now. Jan is a very brave boy, sucks Joanna’s breasts and sleeps a lot.
You can find some pictures of Jan in our photo gallery.
When we find some spare time we will add some more photos and more details. All the best for you all!
Popularity: 83% [?]
The phenomenon of the child first six years
Posted by Joanna Szczypka
Maria Montessori underlined in her researches how important for child’s mental and physical creation is his education from birth. Basing on her long-term observation of children at the earliest period of human life she indicates that child whose potentialities at the beginning are almost called zero after six years achieves higher stage of development than other species. This phenomenon of the earliest period should be supported by parents with special care because it is the most intense and decisive period for him. Some psychologists even said that this “period of infancy is undoubtedly the richest. It should be utilized by education in every possible and conceivable way. The waste of this period of life can never be compensated. Instead of ignoring the early years it is our duty to cultivate them with the utmost care.”
Why is this time so important?
If we realized that at the beginning our child is mute, and can even move and coordinate his limbs than we understand what work the child need to do due to his own effort since the beginning to achieve many new challenges. This first period was named Sensitive Period because during this time the child as the sensorial explorer develops himself by his unknown nature powers. Maria Montessori discovered that the child under six years is self-centered and egocentric in action and attitude what allows him to use energy for his self-development. He learns to walk, talk, and recognize persons and all things around him and laid down the foundations of his personality. It happens due to his observation and absorption of environment that helps him builds his inner possibilities.
The tips for learning
Moreover, the value of the child’s learning during this time should engage the whole child, his body and mind, the hand and brain. That is why tasks for the child should take into account his physical and mental development. They should develop his sustained attention and profound concentration during a work. It was proved through many observation in Montessori schools that child after such type of work is more peaceful, happy, rested, refreshed and with generosity spirit that was not apparent before. This structure of learning should be supported by wonderful emotional atmosphere of the home. Good mood in the family is the best for positive development of the child and protect him from negative feelings. It is also important to surround the child with proper toys that will help him to discover his own powers and not restrict his learning. The child under six years old absorbs the environment due to his senses by touch, smell, taste and further hearing and talking but can not thinks abstractly, imagines or finds the reason. The most suitable toys for the child during this time are not nonsense pictures, songs, stories that are the product of parents’ fantasy but everything that represents real world.
Four areas of the child self-formation
In this article I would like to characterize the four areas of the child self-formation during the first six years of his live:
All of them are very important during the initial process of the child development.
Read the rest of this entry »
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The first days of life – preparing the environment
Posted by Rafał Szczypka
We are expecting a baby. She or he is due around the end of January 2008. We think about this event and prepare ourselves not only psychically but also physically.
These days when we are still pregnant, there are plenty of things that we can do to help our child get to know us. It is already the time to look for lullabies and good children stories, listen to music, sing and read to our baby. Some researches show babies that used to listen to smooth lullabies yet being in their mums react better for their parents voices after birth. What is more, the same lullabies help calm babies faster. A good piece music in different languages can be also very important to help our child learning new languages in future.
According to Maria Montessori, the first two years of life are dramatically important to baby’s development. The absorbent mind finds all what build it in its environment. Therefore, the first step to help baby’s mental life is making the surroundings as interesting and attractive as possible. According to Montessori, baby’s first environment is her home. We need to notice that the mental life of our babies is as important as their health. It is even further connection. Happy baby is less sick and can fight every disease faster.
Infancy is the period when baby absorbs her environment and adapts to the social life of her family and generation. We – parents need to remember that the environment creates the mental life of our babies therefore, it is necessary to keep the conditions as good as we can so our babies feel attracted to the new world. This will aid their growth and development.
In this article
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Preparation of the child’s room
Posted by Joanna Szczypka
In the preparation for our child’s birth we decided to arrange her or his room in compliance with Montessori principles. These principles allow supporting child’s development from the birth because they take into account his absorption of the qualities of the environment. The most important features of child’s room are beauty, simplicity and order. From the beginning the child explores the environment by his senses thus the arrangement of the room and home should facilitate him this first investigation and gives him motives which lend interest to activity. Parents are obliged to make child’s room as free as safe for his development’s needs.
We are going to establish four places in our child’s room. Place for sleeping, changing, nursing and activity. Each of them is significant for our child development from the beginning that is why we want to prepare them with special care. According to Montessori Method cribs, playpens and cots are not suitable for child first discoveries of the environment because they limit his freedom and in some way can be danger during his activities. I notice here the situation when child stands up in the cot catching the rungs and has problem with lay down without parents’ help.
In this article
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To be prepared parents
Posted by Joanna Szczypka
Parents are the first teachers and the most important people for their children from the beginning. Since gestation time child is connected with his mother and depends on his mother. It is said that in the sixth month of pregnancy he can hear her voice, breathing and heart beating and after the delivery he can recognize mother by her voice and due to feels safely and confidently in her arms.
In this article
- The bond between child and his parents
- Parents as the discoverers of their child
- Rules and order in the environment
- Introduction to prepared environment
Popularity: 96% [?]