To cultivate an environment of balance and peace for children in the Montessori environment there need to be two key factors working hand in hand - freedom and limits. When speaking of freedom in the Montessori classroom we often use the phrase “freedom within limits”. Dr. Montessori found that there must be four basic freedoms given to each child in the environment, the freedom to move, the freedom to choose, the freedom to communicate, and the freedom to repeat work for as long as the child desires. The thought of 25 children in a classroom with access to all of these freedoms may seem a bit chaotic but this is exactly why freedom is only granted within clear limits. In a Montessori environment, the limits are based on three key concepts; the child is not allowed to harm others, themselves, or the environment. Dr. Montessori wrote, “To let the child do as he likes when he has not yet developed any powers of control is to betray the idea of freedom.” Limits offer the child the structures and routines of the environment thus letting the child develop their sense of order, safety, and eventually discipline.

Implementing freedom and limits in a Montessori classroom isn’t an easy task, but watching the child become who they are meant to be and reach the point inside themselves where they can navigate each freedom and limit independently is what makes this work so magical. To grant the freedoms necessary for the creation of the child’s inner discipline, the adult must be intentional about the freedoms and limits provided as they must correspond to the children’s needs and to those of the community. The four basic freedoms (movement, choice, communication, and repetition) and the corresponding limits are offered in all environments at TTMS however, they may look different in each room as the needs of every class vary slightly. Let’s take a look at how freedom and limits are implemented in the Red Cedar primary environment.

Freedom of choice is given to every child as soon as they enter the classroom. Throughout the course of a school day there are ample choices to be made. The child chooses what material they are going to work with, where in the classroom they would like to work, who they are going to work with, and how long they are going to work with their chosen materials. As the child receives lessons their choice of work broadens. Freedom of choice is only limited if there is misuse or disruptions that are being caused by the child and the material. In Red Cedar, this can look like a child taking out the pink tower and hitting the cubes aggressively against each other causing loud noises, potentially denting, or scratching the cubes. Thus, testing the boundary of not harming the environment. The first thing we will do is give the child the chance to correct their behavior themselves by saying “I see you’re being rough with the material. Let’s be gentle or we will have to put it away.” If the child continues hitting the cubes together an adult will step in and say “I see that you are still hitting the cubes together. It’s time to put this material away. Would you like to do it on your own or would you like me to help?” Giving the child the limit in this way reinforces that they are not allowed to misuse materials while also letting them have the choice of putting it away themselves or with help.

The freedom to move offers the child the ability to be autonomous in the environment as we believe that movement should be child-driven and directed. The child is encouraged to move around the environment and become a sensorial explorer of the classroom. In Red Cedar, if a child is not staying within the limits of this freedom, we will stop their movements in the moment and redirect them. For example, if a child is running indoors, an adult will approach the child and in a firm yet neutral voice say “stop” we will then remind the child that we walk inside the building so we don’t get hurt or accidentally hurt others. We also let the child know that if they’d like to run, they may go outside to the garden area. If the limit is tested again we may say, “I see you’re still choosing to run in the classroom. Should we find you a table to bring work to or would you like to help me with ______ ?” The adult will then offer tasks that need to be accomplished in the classroom that the child can help with such as putting away the dishes, spraying tables, cutting paper, going on a walk to return something to the kitchen, etc. This redirects the child’s movements and brings them to purposeful work while enabling them to choose the way they would like to redirect their movements.

The next freedom is the freedom to repeat. Through repetition of work the child is motivated by their human tendency to self-perfect while also pursuing inner discipline. This freedom goes hand in hand with the uninterrupted work cycle we offer the children in Montessori environments. Similar to the freedom of choice, the only time this freedom is limited by adults is when the child is being destructive with the materials, and we have to ask them to put it away. This freedom has physical limits as well. For example, if a child is polishing wood and uses all the polish in the bottle they cannot use the wood polishing until the bottle is replenished again.

The last freedom, that of communication, supports the child’s sensitive period for language. Children are encouraged to communicate with each other because the ability to communicate and respond thoughtfully is an inner discipline that the child needs to acquire for success in social interactions. The freedom to communicate is only limited when the children’s volume becomes too loud and disrupts others’ work or if they are using their language to hurt the feelings of another person in the environment. In Red Cedar if a child is speaking too loudly, an adult will politely remind them to keep their voice at an appropriate volume. If a child is being hurtful with their language a conversation will be had to try to find out why they have chosen hurtful words. Often it is because the other child did something that the child did not like, and they did not yet have the language to explain their frustration. For example, if a friend took a book or other material from the child, they might respond with, “you can’t come to my birthday” (the ultimate primary classroom slight!). An adult would intervene by saying, “oh you meant to say, I don’t like that you took the book from me. Please give it back. Would you like to go say that instead?”. If the child agrees to try again (and they often do), the adult and child will approach the child who took the book and say what was originally meant rather than what was said just to hurt the feelings of the other.

As previously mentioned, it is no easy task to maintain the freedom and limits of the environment. At times it can feel discouraging when we have to repeat the same limits over and over again without getting upset with ourselves and asking what we are doing wrong. In those moments, I often think about a story my AMI trainer told me when she was talking about freedom and limits. She said that when she was a guide there was a young girl in her class who would always walk on other children’s work rugs and destroy their work. The other children would get so frustrated and she would have to speak to the girl many times. One day she counted 17 times she talked to the girl about walking on other children’s rugs. After a couple more days of constant talks and reminders, she said she was observing this girl, and she could see that the girl was about to walk on another child’s rug with work on it. As she was preparing in her mind to have another conversation about not walking on other rugs, she said that the girl stopped and walked around the rug and she never had to have a conversation with her about walking on rugs again. This story is always heavy in my thoughts when I am feeling discouraged as it reminds me that eventually, the child will not need to be redirected as much. I now even have some of the same kinds of stories of my own. There is a light at the end of the tunnel! We are now reaching a point in the year where the children have fully embraced the limits of the environment. So much so that they are now holding each other accountable and working through boundary setting with one another, and that could not have been possible if freedom and limits had not been enforced from the start of the school year.

Lyrik Lopez, TTMS Children's House Guide

March 2024