{"id":919,"date":"2018-01-16T20:27:16","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T03:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yycmontessori.ca\/?p=919"},"modified":"2018-01-16T20:27:16","modified_gmt":"2018-01-17T03:27:16","slug":"walking-on-the-meandering-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yycmontessori.ca\/walking-on-the-meandering-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Walking on the Meandering Line"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Sanford Jones and Jean Miller* both recall that when Maria Montessori’s son Mario and his wife Ada visited America in the early 1970’s, they were puzzled to see children doing the Walking on the Line exercises on a line in the shape of an ellipse (used in many classrooms for group activities). Ada described how in Europe, a meandering line, with its irregular curves, gives children more points of interest and greater challenge. She also said that a different, much larger ellipse should be used to accommodate the faster movements such as marching, running, and skipping.<\/p>\n

Sanford immediately removed the ellipse in his classroom and replaced it with a meandering line, which he said, “made all the difference in the world.” Children began to spontaneously choose to walk on the line daily, as a natural part of the work period, whereas with the elliptical line, he had to make Walking on the Line a group activity in order to interest the children.<\/p>\n

The Purpose of Walking on the Line<\/p>\n

Montessori was a careful observer and she noticed that children liked to walk along logs and curbs. She understood that they were mastering their sense of balance. Since the child (3-6 years old) is in a sensitive period for the perfection of movement, she created the Walking on the Line exercises to help children develop coordination, balance, muscular control, and body awareness.<\/p>\n

\"Meandering<\/p>\n

The Meandering Line<\/p>\n

You can draw a curvy line in your classroom with chalk, or make the line with a long piece of yarn on a carpeted surface. For a more permanent line, use painter’s or\u00a0cloth tape. Where should the line go? Be creative! You can have it meander over to the birdcage, around the snack table and past a window, before joining up where it began.<\/p>\n

Rather than a formal lesson to introduce Walking on the Line, Montessori described in\u00a0Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook<\/em>\u00a0the teacher going over to the line by herself and beginning to walk on it, without saying a word. In a short time some children began to imitate her as they made “efforts exactly similar to those of real tight-rope walkers…”<\/p>\n

After the children are able to stay on the line, introduce heel-to-toe walking as you play soft background music. Later, provide more challenge with items the children can choose to carry as they walk:<\/p>\n