How to Use the Montessori Pink Tower Lesson
The Montessori pink tower is a lesson consisting of ten solid wooden cubes painted a light pink. It is used to help develop coordination, set a basis for the number system and increase awareness of dimension. The set does not have to be painted pink, and if it is not, then it may be known as the cubes lesson.
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Instructions
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Place the cubes at random on the green floor mat. The child can do this, carrying the cubes carefully two or three at a time to the mat and arranging them in a random order. You should be sitting side by side with the child so that the two of you will see the lesson from the same perspective.
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Build the tower. Start with the largest cube, and place the cubes carefully and concentrically on top of each other. You must take care to place the cubes carefully since you should not adjust the cubes lest the child think the adjusting is part of the lesson and mimic your movements. As you pick up the cubes, grasp them with the fingers and thumb on all four sides in order to build a muscular impression of dimension and demonstrate that it is possible to judge size by touch as well as sight. None of this should be verbalized according to most Montessori experts.
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Take the tower down block by block. Knocking it over will cause a disruption and is disrespectful to classroom materials and classmates. Before you leave the child to work on his own, you must demonstrate the proper way to dismantle the tower.
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Allow the child to build the tower alone. Many children will have started to participate and even direct you or pick up cubes themselves before you have completed the first tower, so they will be eager to try their hand on their own. Do not correct mistakes at this point, as the tower will not stand steady if the cubes are not placed in the proper order.
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Encourage the child to work with the pink tower lesson on subsequent days. The lesson should be easily accessible, and the child should not be corrected or over-supervised. Only offer help if it is solicited or if the child is clearly struggling and very lost. Even then, some Montessori schools discourage instructors from intervening but recommend that you simply rework the lesson together at some other time.
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Tips & Warnings
Once the child can place the cubes concentrically, she can be shown how to place them so that two of the edges line up with each other. Then, the smallest cube can be run around the space in between the two blocks, demonstrating that the tower is being assembled correctly and showing the child the relationship between the sizes of the two cubes.
- Photo Credit http://www.kidonyc.com/pictures/wa12805d/m/124NIEpinkTowerm.jpg
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Comments
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mercedes9366
Jun 02, 2010
The cubes must always be carried one at a time, never two or three at a time. This carrying process reinforces the increasing or decreasing dimension and weight of the cubes. (Note: in keeping with the Montessori theories other reasons for this are a child's sense of order, respect for materials, development of precision and awareness of movement.) Also, the cubes should be carried with the child's fingers and thumb with the other hand resting under the bottom of the cube for support. When the cubes become too heavy for the child to lift with one hand, show him or her how to tip the cube back slightly to slide the supporting hand underneath.
