Building Character

Bayley Siewek, Toddler 1 Teacher

Moral development, for even the youngest of children, is essentially the foundation or backbone of a child’s character that develops as soon as the child comes earth side. This is done within the child, through close observation and concentration. At that point, the child can be guided, nurtured, and absorbed in a positive way to develop the morals of oneself. This is all possible because of the child’s absorbent mind that soaks in the world around them like a sponge.

All of this is evident in the way adults and caregivers push for children, in the first plane of development, to gain their independence through meaningful work. Children are then able to make logical choices and decisions for themselves based on their strong morals that they now lean on and were introduced to at such a young age.

We encourage this practice through every aspect of our day in the toddler room. Some examples include when a peer unintentionally hurts another peer we advise them to check on one another, instead of pushing them to go straight to an apology. This also allows the child to build their empathy skills. Another example that is utilized throughout our day is guiding the child to use their strong words when attempting to accomplish a goal. One final example of how we foster moral development in our toddler room is by modeling mutual respect between children and adults. This leads the pathway to a strong moral backbone. By respecting the whole child, we empower them to also do the same with their friends.

Once a child feels secure in their moral development, and the world around them, they can start building relationships with others. These relationships can be built on the foundation of their moral development. Children become more curious about the world around them, and they then start to reason and hypothesize on the meanings of right and wrong. They can independently complete work, even if problems arise. Based on the child’s moral development and past experiences, they can move forward and really problem solve. A child’s moral development is always adapting and changing as he grows and reaches new planes of development and milestones in growth.

You can nurture your young child’s moral development by asking questions about their world. Observe when your child is deep in play so that you can best feed the needs of the child, and finally, give your child space to problem solve and make choices to strengthen this important skill that they will build on for the rest of their lives.

Guiding Principles

You may have witnessed circumstances when a child laughed when his friend fell off a chair or saw a child tell her friend “Your picture is ugly!” These are common occurrences in the early childhood stage which provide us an opportunity to support our children’s moral development.

Dr. Montessori suggested that children in the second plane of development (6 to 12 years) begin to develop reasoning abilities and interests to discuss moral issues. However, the foundation of moral principles and character development happens in the first plane of development (birth to 6 years).

Between the age of two and six, Dr. Montessori identified that young children are in the sensitive period of learning grace and courtesy as they show interest in becoming part of a community and learning to imitate adults’ behavior.

In the Montessori environment, the essence of moral education is taught through rules and relationship building in a warm and loving environment; where adults provide both guidance and model essential moral behavior such as respect, integrity, honesty, compassion, and empathy. Instead of relying on reward and punishment to cultivate expected behaviors, we provide clear and consistent boundaries and expectations in a kind and firm manner. Children are also equipped with strategies for socialemotional learning, mindfulness practices, and conflict resolution. In our environment, we provide a peace corner where children can safely self- regulate and independently calm down before they engage in a necessary conflict resolution with their peers using positive language choices.

There are many lessons that are grounded in the essential moral virtues that involve grace and courtesy principles, self-awareness, community awareness, and social-cultural awareness. Many of these activities are meant to guide children to make responsible choices in their interactions with other people and the environment. This healthy interaction is also supported by the multi-age principle that nurtures the spirit of collaboration and respect. At OFMS, each child learns the guiding principles of taking care of oneself, others, and the environment at a very young age. There is also an emphasis on exposing children to the diversity of people and life on our planet. This effort cultivates awareness and appreciation of all living and nonliving things and encourages a commitment to making our world a peaceful place to live.

Montessori education supports children’s character development and inner calm necessary for becoming respectful, empathetic and peaceful adults. This approach, which Dr. Montessori herself refers to as “education for peace”, is designed to nurture children’s interpersonal skills to work peacefully and harmoniously with others; as she believed that peaceful children contribute to future world peace.