The Difficult Child

Now that we have caught your attention with this title, we would like to remove the word difficult from the word child.  Difficulty is not the result of the child, but rather of his or her environment.  As a parent, you would be wise to examine your home situation in relation to your child.  The concept of the “difficult child” is usually situation-related.  Is your child “difficult” because he hasn't slept enough?  Not eating enough?  We also need to look at stimulation.  Is your child stimulated at home?  What we mean by this is whether your child uses his hands.  The more your child uses his hands, the more choices he can express.  By making choices, children express their desires.  Once your child has expressed his desire, he can start using his hands to work.  Work will be expressed through the use of the hands, as these are a direct link with the mind.  The mind is the concept of intellect, feelings, reasoning, consciousness, unconsciousness, memory, attention span and will.  When your children work with the hand, they not only stimulate all these concepts, they also express their individuality, adapt to their environment and connect with other human beings.  The hand is also linked not only to intelligence but also to freedom, because when a child doesn't use his hand enough, he disobeys.  Simple questions to ask yourself are: “Am I providing enough activity for my child's hands?  Does my child express his desire through the use of his hands?"

“...A child's intelligence can develop to a certain level without the help of his hand.  But if it develops with his hand, then the level it reaches is higher, and the child's character is stronger... In my experience, if, for particular reasons, a child has not been able to use his hands, his character remains at a low stage of formation: he is unable to obey, has no initiative and seems lazy and sad.”

Dr. Montessori,  AM

Ryan