Who’s Washing the Dishes?
It felt like a “big deal” to be invited to wash all the dishes. Every day, my Montessori students ages 3, 4 and 5 used 26 glass plates and cups to have a refreshment throughout the morning, and by lunch time, there was a neatly stacked pile and a tray of them, needing to be washed for the next day. The younger children all went home at 11:30, so after we had lunch together in our classroom, the five-year-olds and I would decide which two individuals might like to do the dishes as a team.
Two of my five year olds pairing up for the task!
(I made a little book about our classroom–circa 1997–for my students to read!)
Two responsible souls would volunteer or be asked, and the rest of us would get down to our other work choices: memorizing and drawing maps of the world, reading command cards and acting them out, analyzing sentences, making a large multiplication problem with the decimal bead material…
And in the background, we would hear the murmur and gentle clinks of the two children setting out the wash tubs, filling them with warm water and soap, and beginning the long process of washing, rinsing and drying each dish.
Usually, this was a mild affair, but sometimes–depending on the spirits involved–it could be quite animated, even loud or messy. Much more was involved than just the mediative act of washing and the thinking through and execution of a process, independent from any adults or supervisors. You see, it’s not simple for children as young as five to always get along, or to work out their different ideas!
Now and then, I might have to go over and redirect the two children to be more productive, to stop being silly, squirting soap or poking each other. There might even be heated emotions or tears. But this rarely had to be resolved by excusing one of both of the children to go do other work and the aprons handed off to someone more dependable. Most of the time, issues were swiftly resolved with a conversation or a reset. Five-year-olds are right in the thick of learning how to work side by side.
Having the responsibility to wash the dishes was something the children relished. They loved it! There must be something so satisfying for a young person in this activity; the importance and appreciation it was given; with the opportunity to be with a classmate, doing something together. As the year went on, I was rarely needed in the process, and I would often look up after about 20 or 30 minutes to see the area by the sink clean, dry and all put back in place. Two damp aprons, a damp mop and some towels in the hamper would be the only signs of what had transpired.
A daily set up: everything laid out to wash the dishes in bins near the sink.
Most importantly, I always saw the two dish washers working away somewhere else in the room, now settled back into writing a story they had began in the morning, or counting a long chain of multiples. They would always appear very proud and content.
When you’re five, washing dishes is about much more than washing dishes.