What comes to mind when you think of children? I picture them smiling, laughing, and just enjoying the moment.   The “Joy of Childhood,” is a phrase that has been used in articles, book titles, and lecture topics for those in childhood education for years.  Is it a topic we truly understand?  I believe joy is an emotion that takes place within an individual when they are truly content, satisfied, pleased, and happy.  The outward signs of joy are seen in the smiles on a face, the happiness in ones eyes, and the tone of someone’s voice.

The feeling of joy is something that all of us, no matter what age, want to experience.  My life has probably seen more joy than most, because I have had the privilege of working with young children!  

How can we truly create an environment that encourages joyful moments?  What factors contribute to an individual’s disposition? 

1. The people within a child’s environment
2. The activities that they are allowed to experience
3. The freedom/independence to leisurely enjoy every moment

Look at the adults around your child.  Children cannot express joy if they don’t see it!  Do you laugh, smile, sing, and enjoy the little things in life?  Or are you full of worries and anxieties?  Pay attention to your own nuances.  Try to stay in the moment with children!  Listen to them and talk with them and not “at them.”  Do you understand the difference?

What type of activities are the children in your life exposed to?  In our Montessori classrooms, there are literally hundreds of opportunities.  Children are naturally curious and most enjoy learning new things.  Keep your lessons alive!  Studying about plants (botany)…bring in real flowers into their environment!  Allow children to play in leaves and then create crayon rubbings of leaves naming the various parts.   Have you ever stopped to look at a tree with a child?  Felt the trunk?  Created a crayon rubbing of the trunk?  Talked about how it gets water?  Looked at the wild life in that tree?  Discussed how birds and squirrels use a tree?  Botany is so much more than the parts of a plant, flower or leaf puzzle or nomenclature cards.  Again, think…… how can I make this lesson come ALIVE?

An often heard expression around children is…  “I did it myself!”  or   “Watch me!”  There is joy in those statements!  Children enjoy being able to do things for themselves.  This is the freedom that we are speaking of.  An environment where the child is allowed to do for themselves rather than the adult dictating their every move.  There is satisfaction when something is started and then completed!

In today’s world, many children are over scheduled at a young age.  We think of children being overscheduled in their home with extracurricular activities.  Though this can be a real concern it often happens in the classroom as well.  How?  When teachers “schedule” children to begin writing before they are ready or “push” them into lessons where there is no interest.  These practices tend to rob children of their “joy of learning.” 

“It is this joy which the children manifest in their work which makes the Montessori school so indefinably attractive.  Theirs is indeed a cosmic joy, which springs from the heart of a being…”  (Maria Montessori:  Her Life and Work, E.M. Standing, p. 148)

Take the time to see through the eyes of a child and find joy in every moment with them!