I am a part of a montessori yahoo group (okay 3 groups). Anyway, one of them recently has been talking about Montessori's approach to children's literature. It has been VERY interesting. I have not read about this myself but apparently she discourages any type of fantasy literature before a child is 6 years old. This is because young children cannot tell the difference between real and make believe. So she discourages any books where animals where clothes and speak, where mythical creatures are involved and similar types of things.
Along the same lines she makes an interesting distinction between fantasy and imagination. She talks about fantasy play not being helpful to kids, while imagination should be encouraged. Fantasy play is when kids pretend to be a pretend character (like Batman, Arial, etc.). Imagination is when they pretend to be something that is real (a pilot, a teacher, a bus driver - whatever). The idea is that in fantasy play they are not really being imaginative they are fulfilling someone else's script (even if the words/ actions are there own). In imaginative play they truly are using their imaginations.
I am still learning more about this topic and I might have to hunt down some original sources. It did make me pause and think. I have known some 4 year olds that can only think about being one character - it becomes and obsession.
On a related note I started looking at the Charlotte Mason approach again. They basically have her whole curriculum laid out online. This includes a great reference list for books (scroll down the page to find it) worth reading. There is also an interesting conversation about how to choose books worth reading. Both approaches focus on helping the child learn for themselves - but they have MANY differences. Good thing I have another couple years to figure out which way we might lean.
4 comments:
I'm trying to check my friends' blogs a bit more often...Yea for little guy walking. He is getting big!
This post is interesting. And I have thought about the implications of young children not being exposed to "fantasy" literature until they are old enough to know what "fiction" is. But then again...
About imaginative and fantasy play. Don't doctors and bus drivers and pilots all have their own "scripts" that children adapt in their play, just as they adapt the story lines of fictional characters to suit the needs of the story they are telling at the time? Couldn't both qualify as "imaginative" if they are providing the words and actions from their own base of knowledge? Especially if they are old enough to understand the difference between pretend and real? Just a thought.
And then there is my daughter, who doesn't usually pretend to be fictional characters, but who does pretend they are around as her friends--in which case, she gets to dictate their worlds. Which makes her happy. By the way, in case anyone ever wondered, it seems Cinderella prefers to drive a blue minivan around town. ;-)
-monica
Monica makes a good point. I'm trying to think about other cultures and their approach to fantasy/imagination. Storytellers in other countries and cultures use animal characters all the time--witness the Brer Rabbit stories from West Africa and coyote and Spider Woman stories from Native American cultures.
I also think (and have absolutely no evidence but observation of my two-year-old) that even very young kids have a greater understanding of reality/pretend/fantasy than we give them credit for having.
I agree with rmh, watching my two girls (5 years old and 2 years old) play together and asking them questions about a who's here or who hit who and I'll get a "just pretending, MOM." They go between fictional characters and real friends in their imaganitive play. They will often play "school" or one will be the parent and the other the child.
As far as not exposing them to fictional characters than what about TV and things like "Dora the Explorer" or even the Wiggles have Dorothy the Dinasour? We can't keep them in a bubble and not expose them to any of these things. Meghan didn't know who these Characters were until her friends and nieghbors started talking about them. The best thing is to be there and talk about what they are seeing. I think though that it's harder for kids to realize that TV characters aren't real than for characters in books. TV seems more real to them, even at 5 and 6 years old.
I have one question? Does an imaginary scenario based on say past events or figures who really existed count as imagination or fantasy? Obviously the past cannot be recreated, but the figures in it did exist.
So what about a child pretending to be a knight in Medieval England, or even an adult making up a fictional person who 'exists' in a real historical setting for instance. Is this fantasy ot imagination because it is untimately grounded in reality?
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