The Montessori Advisor: My Own Childhood Handiwork

Handwork is one of many important life skills, what we call Practical Life exercises, that will benefit the child as they grow up. We start as an infant with a threading work, rings on a vertical dowel, and progressively grow the child's sewing ability. In addition to the obvious usefulness of the skill, it strengthens the fingers for writing and other fine motor work and as well as develops concentration, coordination, order, and independence.

A main part of my first Montessori training (3-6) was about examining my own childhood and education as a child. To breakdown our own barriers to optimal education, and then build us into the greatest guides we can be. Through this self-examination I found that much of the way I was raised at home (not my formal education) was very Montessori. I wonder if this was due to my parents specifically, our socioeconomic status (bouncing between poor and very lower middle class), the time I was growing up, or the place I grew up (small city edge of Appalachia). Probably a combination of all of these things. What this meant in practice was that I had what we would now call a "free range" childhood AND I had chores and learned how to take care of my environment very early. Sewing was normalcy in my world. My grandmother sewed many of my clothes as a child, I made Barbie clothes with her. It is interesting to me that this is now an extraordinary thing.

This cross-stitch sampler was one of my first major sewing projects. My mom was an avid cross-stitcher, so she taught me the basics and bought me the pattern and supplies. My dad was a woodworker. He made the frame, but he let me mount my finished sampler. Notice that it isn't framed exactly straight. After my Montessori training, I loved looking back at this and seeing how they guided me, but let me make "mistakes" in my work. How important!

Below is some resources for sewing and weaving. Enjoy!

Infant Threading (Rings on a Vertical Dowel)