Dr. Montessori, in Education for a New World (p.46-47), wrote: "At the age of two years, the child has a need for walking that most psychologists fail to consider. He can walk for a mile or even two, and if part of it is up-hill, so much the better, for he loves to go up; the difficult points in the walk are the interesting ones. But adults have to realize what walking means to the child; the idea that he cannot walk comes from the fact that they expect him to walk at their rate, and when he cannot, from the shortness of his legs, keep up, they pick him up and carry him to get the quicker to their goal. But the child does not want to get anywhere; he just wants to walk, and to help him truly the adult must follow the child, and not expect him to keep up." She wrote that "the child has his own laws of growth, and if we want to help him grow, we must follow him instead of imposing ourselves on him." Instead of walking where we want to go or walking to get somewhere, children should walk "guided by attraction, and here education can help the child by introducing him to the colours, the shapes and forms of leaves, and the habits of insects, animals and birds...All these give point to his interest when he goes out and the more he learns, the more he walks."
In my attempt to capitalize on Montessori's wisdom, my son and I take what I like to call "little" walks. We often walk for a long time, sometimes an hour or more, but we may hardly go more than a few blocks. We do not walk with any purpose other than walking and we go wherever my son's interests take us. I do not make him follow any intended course, and when I do need him to follow a certain direction, I bait him using his interests. I may point out a leaf down the path we need to go, or show him and animal, and he runs in that direction not because of my decision but because there is more to learn and discover!
On our little walks we find wonderful things. We may find a bug and watch how it moves or stop and consider the movements of a squirrel or a bird. My son likes to explore different terrains and trying to walk over them, "off-roading" as I like to call it. Sometimes he finds a new place to explore, or a door to open and close.
Sometimes he chooses to bring his Y- Bike outdoors and explore new terrains that way.
Often, my son will stop and pick up rocks and move them around the environment over and over, for a long time.
Because he loves to pick things up, and in my desire to help him find something to do with those things rather than put them in his mouth, we bring a small bag or bucket for him to carry and collect things. This works great as he is very much in that "load and tote phase"discussed by Alissa Marquess at Creative With Kids. Such an elemental part of development to let kids explore and feel the weight of the items they discover, and giving them purpose or direction.
I am not in control of our walks, he is. I only assert myself when he wants to go into the road (which he is not allowed) or I use the tricks I mentioned before to help direct him down certain paths. How long we walk, how far we go, and how long that takes is all up to him. And the most amazing part of it is that it allows ME to reconnect with nature and find opportunities to share my knowledge with him. Instead of walking along and not being able to see his little face in a stroller or a carrier, I can instead share the world with him, and that's the best part.
So, the next time you go for a walk, let your kid take control and see where you end up!!
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