Reggio Emilia Approach Choke Hazards And Montessori Dangers/Mess

[permanentvacation]

I have been researching the Reggio Emilia approach and the Montessori method. I truly am interested in implementing some of both into my daycare. But I see a lot of choking hazards with the Reggio Emilia approach and potential for getting cut by broken glass or slivers of glass getting into kids' eyes when they break and shatter. And the way they want the little ones to drink from a real glass is nothing but a huge mess.

So many of the things I'm seeing are dangerous for little kids like give them little rocks (choke hazard) and sticks (poke eyes out, put into mouth, move about, shove stick down throat), pine cones that they will pull apart and choke on, little babies putting different shaped buttons into glass containers (both a choke hazard and potential broken glass).

Can anyone show me or tell me ideas of either Reggio Emilia or Montessori that would not be messy or pose potential choking hazards? - other than painting/drawing.

I'm really trying not to be negative here, I really like the idea of bringing nature into the classroom. But every picture I look at, I think, OMG! the kid's going to choke to death!

[daycare]

I have been researching the Reggio Emilia approach and the Montessori method. I truly am interested in implementing some of both into my daycare. But I see a lot of choking hazards with the Reggio Emilia approach and potential for getting cut by broken glass or slivers of glass getting into kids' eyes when they break and shatter. And the way they want the little ones to drink from a real glass is nothing but a huge mess.

So many of the things I'm seeing are dangerous for little kids like give them little rocks (choke hazard) and sticks (poke eyes out, put into mouth, move about, shove stick down throat), pine cones that they will pull apart and choke on, little babies putting different shaped buttons into glass containers (both a choke hazard and potential broken glass).

Can anyone show me or tell me ideas of either Reggio Emilia or Montessori that would not be messy or pose potential choking hazards? - other than painting/drawing.

I'm really trying not to be negative here, I really like the idea of bringing nature into the classroom. But every picture I look at, I think, OMG! the kid's going to choke to death!

just like any other method of teaching you have to have firm/clear boundaries, clear expectations and good behavior management in place before you can teach these things.

Obviously you would need to limit the equipment to each child according to age.

For example my preschool area is up higher and off limits to the little ones, anything they can choke on they don't have access to.

however, they have a full environment with very similar but larger sets of the same toys that they do have full access to all day long.

I train the kids this way and they all know, nothing ever goes in your mouth but food. Once they show me that they have learned this, then they can gain access to the other items.

the kids start off with items that are safe and graduate to the other items.

I don't have any glass in my program, but I do have open cups and everyone of every age uses them.

[jenboo]

I have been researching the Reggio Emilia approach and the Montessori method. I truly am interested in implementing some of both into my daycare. But I see a lot of choking hazards with the Reggio Emilia approach and potential for getting cut by broken glass or slivers of glass getting into kids' eyes when they break and shatter. And the way they want the little ones to drink from a real glass is nothing but a huge mess.

So many of the things I'm seeing are dangerous for little kids like give them little rocks (choke hazard) and sticks (poke eyes out, put into mouth, move about, shove stick down throat), pine cones that they will pull apart and choke on, little babies putting different shaped buttons into glass containers (both a choke hazard and potential broken glass).

Can anyone show me or tell me ideas of either Reggio Emilia or Montessori that would not be messy or pose potential choking hazards? - other than painting/drawing.

I'm really trying not to be negative here, I really like the idea of bringing nature into the classroom. But every picture I look at, I think, OMG! the kid's going to choke to death!

I am reading many books on reggio emilia right now and I worked in a very well done reggio inspired center. For the little ones (under two) I plan on using larger loose parts. I'm obviously not going to give them tiny marbles. As children get older, they (generally speaking) stop mouthing stuff and you are able to use smaller loose parts. Also, reggio is about respecting the child and trusting that they know what will hurt them/ letting them learn their boundaries. I have a 12 month old who likes to find all the little rocks in the backyard. I remind her that they are yucky when she tries to put them in her mouth. After 3 days, she hasn't tried to eat any and now she just collects them.
There isn't a "one way fits all" for reggio. It is more about the idea of children having 100 languages and the relationships between child-parent-provider-classroom. You have to adapt it to fit the culture of your daycare. Some things they do in italy are not allowed to be done in america because of licensing regulations. Not to reggio inspired schools are going to be the same.

Now montessori is different. There is no way to do montessori. I don't know too much about montessori. Although my cousin worked in one school and said that glass was very rarely broken. When it did break, the teachers just swiftly cleaned it up. No one got shards of glass in their eyes. The kids weren't playing in the broken glass...everyone was fine.

They both are going to be messy. Reggio involves lots of free art and loose parts. Montessori involves regular cups and the children doing things themselves.... If you dont want mess, these might not be for you.

What parts did you want to bring into your daycare? What about reggio and montessori caught your interest?

[permanentvacation]

I like that the Reggio Emilia approach brings natural items into the classroom rather than the kids just playing with plastic toys all day. I like that the Montessori Method gets kids to be more independent. They both give more realistic purpose to the children's play and activities.

I also think that the daycare regulations that I've had to abide by for the past 25 years has taught me to make sure there is nothing in the area that the child could possibly hurt themselves with. My current specialist (inspector) is so nit-picky that she drills it in to you not to have anything that could possibly become a dangerous situation with the children.

My personal beliefs is more along the lines of not over baby proofing your home, but to teach the child not to touch things that will hurt them. And, if the child does something they should know not to do, after getting themselves hurt, maybe they won't do that again. But, in daycare, we can't take a chance on the child getting hurt in the first place. So, 'respecting the child' to know what will or will not hurt them and letting them learn their boundaries' has been drilled OUT of me.

Now that you guys are responding to my post, it makes perfect sense to start the children off with bigger pieces and letting them use smaller pieces as they show they won't put them into their mouths. I just keep seeing pictures showing babies and young children with very small pieces. But I guess if they've been raised with these methods, they have been learning all their lives to keep things out of their mouths. They weren't raised in safe little bubbles like I've been trained to do with the daycare kids.

[Heidi]

I also use some of these methods in my program.

For the glass cups, my answer was something similar to these:

http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-1772920/?affsrcid=Aff0001&CAGPSPN=pla&CAWELAID=120120820000152204utm_source=channeladvisor&utm_medium=CSE&utm_campaign=googlepla&catargetid=120120820000151817&cadevice=c

I got them at Dollar General for $1 each. Most of my kids graduate to them at around 16-18 months (from bell tumblers by tupperware).

[permanentvacation]

Oh, and as far as me being concerned about the mess. Many of my clients claim they can't afford daycare rates, but they are able to dress their 2 year olds in pants and shirts that total $50 and shoes that are another $50 (which is why they can't afford the necessities such as daycare). Therefore, if a child gets a speck of dirt on their clothes, I get fussed at something awful. Plus, I have carpet in my daycare room. I certainly can't have them spilling cups and bowls of milk constantly. I think I'll stick with the sippy cups, but try some of the activities and other methods.

I was expecting to receive the book 'The Hundred Languages of Children' today from the library. My local library told me they requested it to be sent to them from a library farther away and I'd have it today. When I called today to see if it's arrived, I found out that the book seems to have disappeared into thin air! No one has a clue where it is. The local library can't verify whether it was requested or not and the library it was supposed to come from has no record of it being requested. And of course, all the other libraries' copies are rented out right now.

[jenboo]

Oh, and as far as me being concerned about the mess. Many of my clients claim they can't afford daycare rates, but they are able to dress their 2 year olds in pants and shirts that total $50 and shoes that are another $50 (which is why they can't afford the necessities such as daycare). Therefore, if a child gets a speck of dirt on their clothes, I get fussed at something awful. Plus, I have carpet in my daycare room. I certainly can't have them spilling cups and bowls of milk constantly. I think I'll stick with the sippy cups, but try some of the activities and other methods.

I was expecting to receive the book 'The Hundred Languages of Children' today from the library. My local library told me they requested it to be sent to them from a library farther away and I'd have it today. When I called today to see if it's arrived, I found out that the book seems to have disappeared into thin air! No one has a clue where it is. The local library can't verify whether it was requested or not and the library it was supposed to come from has no record of it being requested. And of course, all the other libraries' copies are rented out right now.

I definitely would put my foot down about the clothes. I tell my families from the beginning that we get very messy. I let them know that I expect play clothes. I'm not going to worry about a child getting dirty or making them sit out because it's a messy activity.

I'm reading that book now (the newest addition). It's so boring :: it's like reading a textbook. I hope I get to an interesting part soon. I read a really great book too. I'll post the title after the kids leave.

[permanentvacation]

When I called the bookstore, Barnes and Nobles, to see if they had The Hundred Languages of Children in stock, they called it a 'text book'.

We had a discussion on here a few months ago about my parents and their expensive clothes. I did finally put my foot down with the worst one. But that group is gone now. However, it seems to be common in my area that parents send their children to daycare in expensive clothes.

I am going to start making sure to tell people on the interview that we get messy and they need to wear inexpensive play clothes to daycare. I might even put it in my handbook.

[Laurel]

When I called the bookstore, Barnes and Nobles, to see if they had The Hundred Languages of Children in stock, they called it a 'text book'.

We had a discussion on here a few months ago about my parents and their expensive clothes. I did finally put my foot down with the worst one. But that group is gone now. However, it seems to be common in my area that parents send their children to daycare in expensive clothes.

I am going to start making sure to tell people on the interview that we get messy and they need to wear inexpensive play clothes to daycare. I might even put it in my handbook.

At least originally, Montessori was intended to be for ages 3-5. Now I think some places do younger children but not sure. In the 3-5 age range they should know better than to put small things in their mouths. As I recall, we didn't have true 'glass' glasses but small plastic ones and a plastic pitcher (clear ones that kind of looked like glass). I currently have some very heavy weight but small glasses that are real glass that I use for my grandkids. I think it would be pretty hard to break them from just falling.

We did use some glass in the classroom for things like transferring but they were more the heavyweight glass also. Just go with common sense. If it looks too fragile, it probably is.

If children are still putting things like pine cones, little rocks in their mouths, I'd just do something Montessori like but with bigger items. We used to do 'scrubbing' work in the class I worked in. Like rock scrubbing, pumpkin scrubbing, etc. They loved it. You need a large rock, a small stiff scrub brush, a bar of soap and a little rubber thing to set the soap on and a bowl of water. They just cleaned things.

On youtube somewhere there is a Montessori class for infants/toddlers. It is very cool but I don't think it would work in home as it seems like every child has an adult or maybe each adult has two or so children. Montessori, in my opinion, is best done starting at age 3 in the preschool age range. However, I did try to be Montessori like at my home. In other words, "Don't do for a child what they can do for themselves."

Laurel

[permanentvacation]

I went shopping today and got some items to incorporate some activities from the Reggio Emilia Approach and the Montessori Method in my daycare. I don't have much money to use to make changes, but I got a couple of things today. It's a small start.

This is my sensory bin. It has items that you would see around a typical house and more natural items. A playing card, which is smooth, an outlet plug which is hard, a piece of sandpaper (rough), square of cotton (soft), a seashell (hard), a furniture slider; carpet on one side (soft and fuzzy) and hard plastic on the other side (hard and smooth), and 2 shower curtain rings; one is smooth the other is bumpy.



This is to help the children develop their small muscles by using their fingers to pick up each bean from one ice cube tray and put it in the other tray.


This is to help the children develop their small muscles, coordination, and balancing skills by using the spoon to transfer the beans from one ceramic bowl to the other.


This is to help the children develop their small muscles by using their fingers to pick up each shell from one ice cube tray and put it in the other tray.


I bought enough materials to make at least 4 of each of them. I'm licensed for 8 kids. But I think 4 of each is alright. They don't all have to be able to do the same activity at once. They can take turns.

[Ariana]

Hmmmm I do all of this and have never had an issue with kids doing anything to harm themselves. Kids can literally poke their eyes out and cut themselves on anything!

[permanentvacation]

Yeah, I know. I've said before that we're lucky that we are allowed to feed the kids. You know, they might choke on a piece of food.

When I started daycare years ago, I did activities that weren't completely child proof. We had so much more fun, the children were more interested in and more engaged in the activities we did, and I felt like a much better daycare provider.

However, from the years of doing daycare and the rules and regulations drilling into me to make sure that everything is child proof, being told not let them have anything that fits into the opening of a paper towel tube, etc. then the parents freaking out if the child gets anything messy on their clothes, I've become a daycare provider that now keeps the kids in a sterilized environment and have become paranoid about child safety. But I'm bored and my kids are bored. My younger daughter (16 years old) even told me that I USED TO BE a better daycare provider! That really hit me hard!

I started telling you guys here a while ago about not being happy with my daycare lately. I realized that the way I operate my daycare now is completely different than the way I operated it during the first few years; when I really LIKED my daycare. So I am making changes that will hopefully make me truly like doing daycare again. It use to be so simple. Kids came in, we played, laughed, did activities, learned, and overall, had a fun day. Now, I constantly say things like, "Don't do that, you might get hurt." Or when my daughter sees something in the store that she thinks the daycare kids would like, I ALWAYS see the possible dangers of the item or tell her how that activity could lead to someone getting hurt. That way of thinking really takes the fun out of daycare!

Today, I tried to buy things that were bigger than the opening of a paper towel holder. But I knew I needed to buy beans and more natural items. I finally forced myself to buy the beans and seashells and kept telling myself that no one will choke on them!

I let my little 17 month old do all the activities I bought today and he never once tried to put any of the pieces in his mouth. So, that brought my paranoia down to a slight concern that it might happen. I'm sure that the more I implement these types of activities, the less worried I'll be.