Prepared Environment – 6 to 12 Mths – Freedom to Move

This is the first part of an eight-part discussion handout.

Freedom to move

Children of 6 months can do so much.

They are able to sit up.

Their hands become more dextrous

in the way they handle objects.

They swivel and slither from one place to another,

like reptiles, without lifting their chest.

They lift off the floor, rock back and forth, and then crawl.

They pull to stand.

They walk.

Who teaches them these things?

Not us.

All we need to provide is a good environment.

An environment that is, above all else, loving and nurturing.

Yet what it means to ‘love’ is not always obvious, nor easy.

For instance,

we say that any unnecessary help given to a child

is an obstacle

to their inner growth.

What is a good environment?

One which respects

the extraordinary intelligence

of the human child.

One in which

they are free to use this great intelligence,

so they can grow naturally,

in harmony with themselves.

 

Next: Movement is the first expression of intelligence