Ty has been doing really well with the Pink Tower. I continue to only provide every other block instead of all ten to give him greater success, and it's really working for him as just enough of a challenge without being too easy. Sometimes I think we all forget this Montessori principle and give works that are too difficult, missing the whole point. While it can be neat and sometimes impressive to see a child do something amazing once or twice at a young age, whether they're truly ready to understand and able to do it independently and successfully without an abundance of adult help is the real question we have to ask. I know I did this at first with The Pink Tower. Yes he could stack them correctly when I lay all ten horizontally, and yes, twice he did stack all ten correctly when they were randomly laying on the rug, but this wasn't meeting the goal of independence or enough successful attempts at all. Five blocks is currently just right. I'm so glad I caught myself!
Montessori = just enough challenge = success = joy for learning and a wonderful sense of self!
Anyhow, (tangent over) after observing Ty and noticing that he's able to lay the five blocks horizontally and stack them correctly with ease, (even noticing him getting a bit creative with them) I decided he could use a new challenge.
The Pink Tower Extension Cards seemed like they would be a good next step for Ty and they were easy to make. Using pink paper, I traced and cut-out each block. I then cut white paper just a big bigger than the biggest block and cut four more the exact same size. Next I centered the pink blocks onto the white squares, glued, and laminated.
I have only demonstrated this with Tyler a couple times so far, but he seems to be understanding what his job is. He even stacked the cards on top of each other by size as if they were the blocks themselves, which I found quite funny! These photos were from the first demonstration and I did place each card in front of the corresponding block to further understanding.
What an awesome point you make! Pup, who is two, has built the whole pink tower once all by herself, but she has had a hard time with it since then. Maybe taking away some of the blocks would be a good way for her to work! Too much challenge is bad, just enough is what they crave! Thanks for the reminder!
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