Assessing Your Child While Following Their Interest

DJ is still into building things. I decided we needed another bookshelf in their school area. While shopping for a cheap one that I wouldn't have to put together,(by the way DJ did not get his love for buliding things from me:) DJ was listening to me talking to myself out loud during the process of elimination. "No not this one I will have to put it together, etc. DJ volunteered to put one together, I couldn't say No! or You can't do it! I purchased the bookshelf and this is what happened.

When I first saw the assortment of hardware the first question that came to my mind is How well is his sorting skills?

                                                    DJ is an excellent sorter.

Can he follow step by step directions?

This was a struggle at first for him. What he did was began the process of going back to reading the directions out loud.

          Hand/eye coordination?                                                                                                                                        

  Can you apply other concepts to the task on hand?

DJ showing me how the screw was magnetized to the screwdriver.


How far will you push yourself before becoming frustrated?
                                                                                 

 DJ stayed on task it took him about fours hours to complete. When I tried to touch a tool he firmly told me that this was his project and he can do it all by himself!

 Admiring his work!!  The other bookshelf  pictured is the one he put together the night before that didn't require any tools.

In an effort to keep this post short I will not share all of the pictures I took during this process. As you can see the bookshelf does have some mistakes. I wasn't about to point this out to my seven year old son who is so proud of his work. He tells everybody who will listen how he put this bookshelf together. I am so glad I purchased this bookshelf! I got to learn a whole lot about DJ that will help him to become even a better thinker and doer.

To see other children or activities inspired by the Montessori Method please visit Living Montessori Now for Montessori Monday.