Grace and Courtesy

 

Grace and Courtesy

The word “Grace “Grace”” means “Elegance” or “Refinement of movement”. It also refers to an attractively polite manner of behaving.

In a Montessori environment, grace is a natural by-product and ingrained in everyday classroom activities thus enabling them to grow up to be well-mannered and polite. Children in the age group of 3 – 6 years learn through demonstration of activities  broken down into simple steps that they can easily imitate. For example, introducing childr chi ldren en to their their classro classroom om and orchestra orchestratin ting g how to enter enter the room, room, greet greet their  their  classmates and teachers, hang their coats; take their seats in an organized manner, roll/unroll their mats etc. The best time to demonstrate these activities is at “circle time time”” when when th thee teach teacher er ha hass th thee atte attent ntio ion n of al alll th thee ch chil ildr dren en in th thee cl class assro room om..  Nevertheless, the teacher can always pull up with individual children or smaller  groups as needed to demonstrate these activities.

The following are examples of activities where the concept of grace can be instilled in a Montessori classroom:

A) Meets Meets and and Gree Greets ts on on first first day of school school 

Organize the children during circle time (Make them sit in a circle with the teacher being part of it).

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Teacher greets the children and introduces herself in a slow, clear and cont contro roll lled ed mann manner er and and a soft soft voic voice. e. For For ex exam ampl plee “ Good morning  morning  children, my name is Ms. Melanie.”

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Teacher then asks the children to introduce themselves in turn in a similar  manner man ner.. Other Other childr children en are then then asked asked to recipr reciproca ocate. te. For exampl example, e, teacher smiles and asks the child sitting next to her “What “ What is your name? Can you tell the class”? When the child responds, “ My name is Beth”,

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the teacher reciprocates “ Hello Beth” by Beth”  by looking her in the eyes and asks other children to imitate by saying, “Can we all say hello Beth”? Then she asks the child sitting next to Beth to do the same. In this polite manner, children are introduced to their teacher and to each other.

B) Raisin Raising g hand to to draw atten attentio tion n during during group group discu discussio ssions. ns. 

Organize the children as in circle time.

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Start by asking a simple question to which most children would know the answer. For example “What “What animals will you see in a Zoo”? When Zoo”?  When the children start to answer all at once, the teacher raises her hand in the air in demonstration and announces “ Please raise your hand like this and wait for me to call your name out before answering”.

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When children eagerly raise their hands, the teacher gestures to one of  them, and says, “ Let us all listen to what Alex has to say” and goes around the class till each of the children who have raised their hands get an opportunity to speak.

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In this manner, the children learn that they have to wait to be called out  before they can express their answer as opposed to yelling out instinctively.

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If a particular child speaks out of turn, the teacher addresses that child  by reiterating in a firm, yet gentle manner, “ Peter “ Peter,, if you would like to answer, please raise your hand and wait for me to call out your name. Thank you!”

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The word courtesy courtesy means,  means, “being polite in attitude and behavior towards others”.

Gracee and courte Grac courtesy sy go hand-in hand-in-gl -glove ove.. Dr. Dr. Maria Maria Montess Montessori ori firmly firmly believ believed ed that that imitati imi tation on of polite polite and consid considera erate te behavi behavior or leads leads to an intern internaliz alizatio ation n of these these qualities into the personality. In a Montessori classroom, courtesy is not taught so much as modeled, and practiced, at every level of interaction with the children. For  example, examp le, teachers demonstrate demonstrate how to walk quietly and carefully around mats in the classroom so as to not come in the way or disturb others, how to close the door quietly etc. These lessons are kept brief and performed as dramatically as possible during circle time.

Thee foll Th follow owin ing g ar aree exam exampl ples es of ac acti tivi viti ties es wher wheree th thee co conc ncep eptt of co cour urte tesy sy is demonstrated in a Montessori classroom:

A) Open Openin ing g and and closin closing g a door door quiet quietly ly Gather the children and organize them as in circle time. 

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Teacher announces that she is going to demonstrate how to open and close the door in such a way that it does not disturb the others in the room.

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Teacher slowly walks up to the door slowly and demonstrates demonstrates how to turn the knob and open the door as quietly as possible and also how to close the door as noiselessly as possible.

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She then calls out to a child and says “ Marie, “ Marie, would you like to try this now?”

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In this this mann manner er the the ch chil ildr dren en lear learn n ho how w to op oper erat atee th thee do door or in a courteous fashion

B) Demo Demons nstra trati tion on of of Tab Table le mann manners ers 

Duri Du ring ng circ circle le time time,, the the teac teache herr an anno noun unce cess that that sh shee is go goin ing g to demonstrate how to eat a snack and leave a clean table for later.

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The teacher sits at a chowki and slowly takes her snack out and places it at the center of the chowki.

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The teacher carefully unfolds the napkin on her lap.

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Shee then Sh then open openss the the sn snac ack k box ca care refu full lly y an and d uses uses a sp spo oon to meticulously take the food to her mouth.

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She also demonstrates the chewing process with her mouth closed in such a manner that there is no chewing sound heard outside.

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 She makes sure she takes a pause between morsels.

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After the meal, she looks around for crumbs and demonstrates how these can be cleared, by gently hand-sweeping them into the empty snack box and shutting it.

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The teacher then slowly wipes her mouth with a napkin.

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She then puts away the snack box and napkin back into her bag.

The virtues of grace and courtesy can be imbibed into children at a very young age when their minds are quick to absorb and grasp and they easily imitate role models in their environment. Party manners, auditorium etiquette and social etiquette can all be demonstrated at different times in various steps in a classroom involving the children for sure impact.

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