EPL - the innovation of Montessori

EPL -Exercises of Practical life - of a Montessori House of children ( also called as pre-school) is the best example of the benefits of education, when activities in a school are 'embedded' in the daily life of a child. 

EPL are daily activities of a child which include three distinct nature of activities: a> taking care of environment (such as brooming, gardening, washing) b> taking care of one self (such as fastening buttons of a shirt, pouring water in the glass, tying shoe lace, washing one's hands, walking on a straight line, carrying objects of different sizes) and c> social behaviour (like greeting, how to interrupt others, how to yawn, cough or sneeze, how to offer water/tea to others). Because EPL activities are embedded in a culture in which the child lives, EPL activities vary according to the location of the school. EPL activities in Netherland Montessori pre-school will be different than in Indian or a British school.

Many parents ask me 'why EPL is important for a child of 3 year of age'. One line answer to that question is that the direct aim of the EPL exercises is to help the child acquire 'independence' in true sense. Unless a child learns to 'pour water without spilling', how can he be confident of 'giving water to his parents'? Until the child manages to walk on the line, she keeps on 'bumping' against objects in the house. However, despite knowing the importance of these activities to the 'psyche' of a child, no educational method has taken the effort to 'help' the child to 'master' the coordination of his movements.  

Montessori method is the only method where every activity of EPL ( 100-150 activities are roughly available in a Montessori pre-school) has been analysed in details so that every moment of an activity ( such as pouring water) is 'shown' to the child, who can therefore 'repeat' it in the same sequence. When 'coordination of movements' is not helped, the child performs an activity and keeps on repeating it without success. When we see such a child, we wrongly call such a child 'hyperactive'! If the child is unable to 'master his coordination' for a long period of time, it may also lead the child into fantasy or day-dreaming or unreal imagination, a deviation.

Although the direct aim of EPL is to help the child become 'independent', it is the indirect aim that is more important in the development of child. When the child can successfully execute his desire(the Will)of 'pouring water in the glass' by coordinating his movements and intelligence, he is integrating his personality ( Will, movement of muscle, and intelligence) with every 'attempt'. For better understanding of this integration, read this.

EPL exercises are therefore not simple muscular gymnastics like a game. A game is just an adhoc activity, that if designed properly may help the child coordinate his movement and intelligence at the most. But the game for less than 5 year is rarely designed to help the child integrate his  'Will'. You will therefore observe, that a child rarely engages in a game for more than 2/3 days. No sooner she has played it, she loses interest in the game. When Dr Montessori tried to introduce 'toys' to the child in her school, she discovered that the children rarely touched those toys. 

If you observe a child of less than 5 year old in a public place like Airport, Railway train or bus, who eats without spilling anything, or who uses 'tissue paper' to clean his hands, and who seems 'composed and graceful', please ask his parents the name of the school he is in? In 2 out of 3 cases, you will find that the child has been in a Montessori pre-school. You have to remember that in pre-school education ( some even say that in secondary and primary education), development is more important than learning. 

Unique contribution of Montessori

Child development

In his early years, child primarily uses sense of ‘sight’ to develop.  For instance, before a child repeats a movement, he ‘observes’ it closely by his ‘eyes’. Later, the child engages in simple activities like picking a toy, or using a phone that coordinate his hand and senses. This natural desire of coordinating is so powerful in a child, that he performs the activity repeatedly without tiring. At this stage, the child is performing an activity for the sake of performing, not to achieve any end (i.e without any contribution of will).  

Then while practicing to walk, another important activity of a child, child learns to coordinate his legs(body) with his senses. More than anything else, ability to walk gives the child independence to move to where he wants. This enables the child to start using his Will, the ability to choose do something visavis any other thing.

Initially, a child learns to grasp something unintentionally, but as he masters the coordination of his fingers and ‘sight’, he starts grasping objects intentionally. This is the use of his Will. His ‘Will’ now can direct his hands to move objects from one place to another. 


Combined with his independence of walking, the child can now achieve numerous small goals ( that his Will has chosen) by performing more complex activities. For instance, even when the child ‘wills’ to repeat a heard word, she has to coordinate her body with her senses. For instance, learning to say a word ‘cat’ requires active synchronization of ‘hearing’ the word, ‘seeing’ the lips of the person uttering the word (two senses) and using the vocal muscle chord (one of her muscles in the body) to utter the word.

Montessori's approach of child development

Montessori firstly promotes this coordination of body and senses by making the child do every activity meticulously and sequentially. Every activity is 'presented' to a child individually ( not in a group) so that he watches the adult ( who is the teacher) perform the activity closely. The child therefore learns to use his body and senses in a methodical fashion, be it an activity such as putting a cylinder block in the different holes by matching them, or arranging the pink tower vertically, or aligning the long rods. 

More importantly, 'Will' is actively developed in Montessori pre-school by pushing back all the decisions/choices to the child. For instance, the child decides which 'work' is she going to do on the day or 'where' is she going to sit to work. She can repeat a work as many times as she wishes, because no one in the Montessori asks her to stop. She decides the time of going to eat; there is no bell in Montessori.

When a child choses to perform an activity of cylinder block in Montessori, he is actively synchronising his Will ( desire to perform that work) with the coordination of body ( hands) and senses ( sight). When the child, for instance, makes a mistake in matching cylinder blocks with their holes, he 'realises' his mistake. When he uses this 'realisation' to avoid that mistake again, he is using  Intelligence. Montessori facilitates the development of intelligence by ensuring that the child does the work by herself with her own hands individually and by designing the Montessori material in a self-corrective manner. ( Technically it is called as designing the control of error within the material ) Because of this design, the child knows that she has made the mistake in the activity without anyone telling her. Child therefore corrects the mistake herself. The entire event of 'mistake detection and correction' is driven by the child, not by the adult in Montessori. This design enables the child to develop her intelligence with every repetition of activity. 


As a Montessori child learns to repeat the activities day after day by his own Will, the child learns to synchronise his Will with body, senses and intelligence.Because of this synchronisation, the child develops her own ability to decide 'what to do' and then carry out the decision through her own actions.( by using body and senses together). 

It is this active synchronisation of Will with body, senses and intelligence, that develops the child personality, so to say. And because this synchronisation is established at a young age before 6, it creates a solid foundation of personality of the child which stands good for him for the rest of his life. This is what separates Montessori pre-school from any other pre-school !  This is why  Montessori method is called development-centric.

Can we offer value education at pre-school level?

I visited a pre-school last month where value education is being given to children below 6. If you visit the website of Living value international, you will understand the work that is being done to inculcate values at the stage of school. Values that are typically inculcated are of peace, respect, love, responsibility, honesty, cooperation, humility and others.

Although i could see the huge effort to inculcate values, i am not sure if it is really useful if given in the way it is typically given. Let me explain.

As the child's mind is absorbent mind till the age of 6, that i talked about in my blog , the child takes in things without understanding anything. How can such a mind 'understand' the concept of 'peace' or 'humility' which is very nebulous, vague and requires 'conscious intelligent mind' to comprehend ? At this stage, the child cannot even comprehend the difference between 'real and unreal', which is why when such a child is introduced to 'unreal' stories of comics and fairy tales, his mind absorbs it unconsciously and becomes a 'chaotic mass of impressions'.

Although the child, due to his absorbent mind, may 'recite' the meaning of values verbatim, he is not likely to practice them until he understands them ( which is unlikely because he is still developing his intelligence). In such a situation, can something be done to help the child 'imbibe' values before the age of 6? The answer is definite yes, but it will only work if it is done by following the laws of the child's nature, not by avoiding it. Here are some suggestions:

1. As the child's mind is absorbent mind, he learns through constant observing and repeating the 'behaviour'  he sees around him. This is the dominant mode of learning at this age. If the child has to 'imbibe' these values at this age, it will only 'imbibe' them, only if the environment around him is nurturing that type of behaviour.

That is why Montessori method of promoting the value of 'social development' through design of the environment is so effective. We have seen how through design of the environment, Montessori method enables child to imbibe the social skills ( which sometimes are also called values) such as  'patience' and  'respect'.

2. Because the child's mind is absorbent mind till 6, these values cannot be 'taught' in a class-room fashion through instruction or even facilitation, as is done in a traditional school.

One has to ensure that the behaviour is practiced infront of the child consistently to make him 'absorb' the value, so to say. For instance, if you are trying to enable the child to show 'respect', he will 'learn respect' only if the behaviour is consistently practiced with him and infront of him.

Consistency is the key.  If he does not want to eat, and you are pushing him to eat because it is lunch time, you are not showing your 'respect' to his views that 'he is not hungry'. If you want your child to play till, say 6 pm, you have to show him respect by telling him 'he can play till 6 pm' beforehand. You cannot just 'tell him to stop playing abruptly' at 6 pm.

3. Because 'values' are tied to 'behaviour', it is better to relate the value to the child's interpretation of value rather than your interpretation. For instance, if the child of age 5 says that 'respect' means 'not interrupting another child when he is working', you should resist 'giving' your definition of value to him.

More importantly, you should not 'force' the child to 'practice' the behaviour because it is 'right'. The child is more likely to practice the behaviour only if he 'voluntarily accepts' to practice it. Do not force any agenda in value education. Instead it is far more prudent to let the child dictate the agenda. As systems thinkers say Slow is fast.

Are you creative enough to foster imagination in your child?

As we discussed in the earlier blog, imagination ( not fantasy) is useful for developing 'creativity'. Creativity is 'reconfiguring' the existing combination of elements in the 'real world' in a new form that did not exist till then. Creativity in music, for instance, is 'reconfiguring' the same seven notes of music ( and the silence between the notes) in a uniquely different way. It is not creating the eighth note, so to say.

A child seems to respect the 'real' world intuitively. For instance, if you ask your child to draw an elephant, he will always draw elephant in 'black'. If you try to tell him to draw it in 'orange', he will listen to you, only if he has not seen a 'real' elephant. If you tell your child to draw a tree, he will always paint the leaf of a tree with 'green' color.  Although 'drawing' can be done only by 'imagining', the child refuses to draw something 'unreal', unless we provoke him.

Why is it important to keep the distinction of real and unreal for a child below the age of 6? Because the child's mind is a absorbent mind till the age of 6. Till this age, therefore, the child 'takes in' everything indiscriminately. When the mind is 'absorbent', it soaks in whatever it receives without any filter, like a camera. Child's absorption is so powerful that he can recollect the long list of numbers and objects, without understanding them.Because of the child's ability to 'recollect' and 'repeat' whatever he sees or hears, we often confuse this 'absorbent mind' with 'intelligent mind'.

Because of his powerful absorbent mind, a child can readily 'absorb' stories of unreal people like Superman or fairy tales. Once he absorbs them, his equally powerful  mind starts using them 'unknowingly'. For instance, a child fed with these comic book stories will be seen running from one place to another, telling you that he is 'flying like superman'. Or tell stories to their children about going to a 'planet', fighting 'demons' and so on. Their mind becomes fully occupied with 'ideas' that are based on unreal world.This reduces the child's engagement with the 'real' world and 'real' work, which is not a helpful habit.

Such deviant behaviour is observed in a child who is admitted to a Montessori pre-school, after he has attended a play school for 6 months. Such children find it 'so difficult' to undo their habits ( and do the real work in Montessori), that they often go back to play schools. These children get sucked in the fantasy world and have difficult time in correcting themselves later!

On the other hand, if this power of absorbent mind is used with the elements of 'real' world, it can 'establish' habits and patterns that can help the child develop his imagination. As Dr Montessori mentions ( in her book The Absorbent Mind), adults require special kind of sensitivity to create an environment for the child that will help the child to foster his imagination by using the elements of 'real world'.

Here are some examples to guide your creativity in helping create events that will help your child imagine and not fantasise. Remember imagination uses elements of 'real world' ( as contrast to fantasy which uses elements of 'unreal world':

1. A child can only understand 'concretes'. Help him use his 'imagination' to understand the 'concept'.

For instance, a child understands the distance of 1 meter, because he can see it 'concretely'. But he has to use 'imagination' to 'understand' the distance of 10 Kms, because one can never 'see' 10 kms. How will you help him 'imagine' 10 kms?

Or a child cannot see the physical property of 'long' or 'heavy', because it is a concept. A pen can be long, a ruler can be long, or a car can be long. How do you 'isolate' the physical property of 'length' from these three different objects by using his 'imagination'? How will you do it? Hint: Montessori method uses different materials to help the child 'understand' these physical properties. Ask your Montessori teacher for more ideas.

2. The child cannot understand the concept of 'time'.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow are concepts for a child to comprehend. That is why, he cannot understand that he has to 'wake up at 7 am to go to school at  8 am'. How will you help the child to imagine 'time'? Hint: Buy a calender for him and 'make' him 'paste' events on the date, and see it 'later'. Ask your Montessori teacher for more ideas.

3. Use 'real' world mysteries of life to provoke child's imagination. 'Biology' mysteries are most suitable at this age, because the child can 'discover' the mystery himself by using his 'eyes'.

For instance, tell him how chicks come out of 'eggs', while puppies come out of the 'stomach' of a dog? Or how some plants can be seeded with 'seeds', and how some can be seeded with 'stems'? Or how the same 'water' can exist in three forms : solid, liquid and vapour? Or the air is full of 'gases' which we cannot see? Hint: Ask your Montessori teacher for more ideas.


Imagination is a powerful tool to help the child become creative. But if the child has to use this tool, we have to become creative in designing an environment that will help our child use imagination. Are we creative enough? 

Pre-school is not a school for killing time

Pre-school, the school for 3-6 years, is still regarded as a school that will help a child to spend time away from the house. As one of the woman parent told me ' I am unable to do anything when my child is at home. Only when she is in the school for 3 hours, can I do something constructive'.

This view - that pre-school is only meant to kill time - is shared by parents across different strata. Parents in a modern city like Bangalore share this view as strongly as the parents in a small city like Dharwad and Belgaum. Even education does not make a difference. Educated parents and uneducated parents both believe that pre-school is meant to keep the child physically active. Even language and culture does not matter. Parents in Mumbai and Delhi both believe that pre-school is just a 'preparation for the final school'; not a real school.

Parents therefore expect very little from pre-school. They expect pre-school to help their child play with toys. Or engage with other children in playing group games. Or learn rhymes like 'Jack and Jill went up the hill'. Or celebrate 'birthdays' with other children. Or participate in 'Annual days'. Or run on the sports day. Or participate in fancy dress.

At the most, parents expect children to learn something as a bonus. They expect the preschool to teach their children 1-100 or A to Z, at the most. They want pre-school to help their children to imbibe social grace and answer questions such as "What is your name" or "What is the name of your school", because it will help their child get dmission in a ' real school' in the first class.

So when these parents hear that Montessori method helps their children 'develop', they do not believe it; because they think that it is not possible to help develop a child at 3 years. When they see children of 3-4, they see children as irresponsible, undisciplined, unruly and noisy. When they try to help them 'eat food', they refuse help. When they 'tell' them to stay silent for a while, they make 'noise'. How can a child of age 3 helped to develop?

When Dr. Montessori first discovered that a child can behave differently in 1907 ( in her first school in Italy),  if proper 'development environment' is provided to him, everyone was surprised. She discovered that a 'child' can concentrate on an activity, not just for 10 minutes, but also for 30 minutes if proper activity is given to him. She found out that a child can also learn to have 'patience to wait', if the environment is primed for it. She discovered that a child can 'choose' his set of activities, if he is given appropriate practice to do so. She found out that a child of 4 can help other child of 3, if the children of his age are around him. In other words, with proper environment and scientific help ( done through Montessori method), a child can be helped to develop 'habits' that can prepare the foundation of his personality by the age of 6. Dr Montessori discovered that pre-school is the real school, where the foundation of child's personality is created.

Many parents in Italy could not believe what they saw in 1907. It took 50 years for American parents to learn that Montessori method is 'scientifically right'**. Even In India, Montessori schools are not known beyond Bangalore and Chennai, even when Dr Montessori was in India for 9 years from 1939.

I know that it is difficult to believe that a child can be developed till the age of 6. But do you want your child to miss an opportunity because you find it difficult to believe. Do you want your child to miss his  'development' because you could not understand the magic of child development? Do you want to blindly follow other parents and put your child in a play school, because you think that is the most a child can do ?

Or do you want to benefit from a 100-year old Montessori method of child development ? Do you want to learn more about Montessori method that can help your child grow 'better'? Do you want to take the 'pain and effort' to understand child development and help your child with your 'open eyes'?

However, if you want to give the best to your child, you will have to understand child development. Using  home grown recipes of child development will not help you any more. You will have to understand the magic of child development, by asking questions and verifying evidence. You cannot just rely on someone, because your child's future is at stake.

If you do not want to waste these 3 years of your child between 3 to 6 years of age, we can help you. 

** This book of Angelina Lillard ( Montessori Method: The science behind the genius ) explains why Montessori method works.

If you choose learning over development, schools will happily oblige

Raageshwari, a 4 year child studying in a Montessori school, had recently learnt the words which has 'ch' and 'sh' as one of the sound. That day, Raageshwari told her mother, who is a professor, what she learnt at school. In her eagerness to help her daughter,  Raageshwari's mother opened up a dictionary and started narrating words with 'ch' and 'sh' to Raageshwari. She asked  her daughter to write those words in her notebook. She listed out almost 24 words. Rageshwari got 23 right. Raageshwari's mother was very happy with her child's progress. Buoyed by her success, Raageshwari's mother started giving her new words every day whenever she was taught a new sound, say like 'sk'. Raageshwari's mother thought that she was helping her daughter ! **

While educating a child, especially a child less than 6 years of age, there always comes a time when there is a conflict between development (developing qualities in a child like concentration or willpower) and learning (such as learning English words, or counting numbers). And like Raageshwari's mother, we often (sometimes unknowingly) choose learning over development !

When traditional schools make the mistake of promoting learning at the cost of development, the mistake is 'understandable'. However, even when your child is in Montessori school ( which is development centric) you still have to be careful. Today's parents have to understand the trade-offs normally done in child's education, and not just blindly try to help their child that will 'undo' the 'development growth' of a Montessori child. 

Whenever i meet parents ( during my coaching sessions), they always tend to assume that ''development traits' can be fitted in a child like 'plug and fit' piece. They feel that child is like a toy-machine, whose 'development' mistake can be corrected anytime by just 'screwing the nut and bolt tighter'. For them, having a will-power is just a matter of resolve and serious intention. Ignorant of the arithmetic of development, most of the parents, such as Raageshwari's mother, just 'focus' on learning, instead of helping the child to 'practice will-power'. 

Raageshwari's mother came to know about her mistake only when Saritha, Montessori Adult (a teacher is called as Adult in a Montessori environment) called her to the school after a month.

Saritha asked her 'if there is something odd happening in the home'. When Raagheshwari's mother replied that everything was fine, Saritha looked surprised. She told Raageshwari's mother that lately she has observed a significant difference in her child's  behaviour. She told that Raageshwari has been constantly pestering Saritha for help, which was very unlike Raageshwari. 

For instance, when Saritha taught new sounds, Raageshwari kept on asking Saritha 'for words' instead of finding them by herself. Or when Raageshwari came  in the morning, she asked Saritha for direction of what should she do. When Raageshwari wanted to go for lunch, she came to Saritha to ask  for permission. When Raageshwari wanted to rest, she asked Saritha's permission. Saritha  was surprised to see that Raageshwari was unable to make simple choices. When Raageshwari's mother told Saritha on how she has been helping her daughter with words, Saritha understood the root cause of Raageshwari's behaviour.

Helping child to develop will-power requires a huge effort and attention to details. One of the component of willpower is to help the child practice making simple choices between seemingly similar alternatives. Montessori environment is carefully designed to confront the child in making choices by creating different scenarios. For instance, a child is encouraged to choose her own work from the 300 odd activities. Even if the child comes to the Adult to find what she should do, the Adult will simply tell the child " There are many activities that you have learnt. What would you like to do?'. Even if the child wants to rest and not do any work, the child is 'never asked why'. The child's choice is respected. ( Montessori environment also has a rest place for a child!) If the child wants to help others, she is indirectly encouraged because that makes the child 'independent'. In short, all seemingly simple decisions are 'pushed back' to the child so that the child  practices them repeatedly. Initially, a child will be nervous and keep on asking help from the adult; but slowly and surely, she learns to develops her ability to take these decisions. 

By helping Raageshwari to find more words, Raageshwari's mother unknowingly discouraged her daughter in finding her own words. This ready-made help prevented Raageshwari in using her own 'ability' to find more words on her own. She became dependent on her mother to find more words. This dependence became so 'habitual' to Raageshwari that she started finding it difficult to make even simple choices such as 'which activity to work in the morning' and so on. Slowly and surely, she started pushing her decisions on others, because these decisions invoke lot of anxiety in the child in the first place. 

Raageshwari's mother's unnecessary help to her daughter helped her learning of English words, but discouraged her ability to become independent. It took Saritha 3 months to correct the Raageshwari's development behaviour, because Saritha spotted the mistake early enough. It takes huge amount of effort and patience to develop such qualities in the children, but it can be 'undone' easily by such a 'small' mistake.

If you are a parent who is proud of your child's ability to recite a table of 9, instead of her ability to choose between green dress and blue dress, you are unknowingly making it difficult for your child to develop. If you are a parent who is proud of your child's ability to recount 30 words in a jiffy, instead of her ability to 'concentrate on her work for 10 minutes', you are unknowingly making it difficult for your child to 'develop'. Schools will be happy to help your child 'learn', instead of develop, because it is easier for them.

Please remember that a mistake in learning can be rectified easily even at a later age, but a development mistake becomes more and more and more difficult to rectify with passing age. Until parents understand the arithmetic of development, they will continue to make wrong decisions !

** Source of case: Dew Drops Montessori House of Children, Bangalore

Does Montessori offer too much freedom to a child?

One of  the parent, named Ashwin, who was invited in a Montessori school to observe his 3 1/2 year child for half an hour ( who was studying in the second year of a preschool Montessori house of  children) told me what he observed in the school:

My child was sitting in a mat. Did nothing for 5 minutes. Then he went and chose an activity of 'pouring grains'. Worked with it for 10 minutes. Did nothing for next 15 minutes. He seem to be watching some other child's activity. No adult came to suggest him or even ask him why the child is sitting idle. 

I can understand that the child should be given 'freedom'. But doesn't the child misuse the freedom?

Based on 30 minutes of observation, would you react like Ashwin? Even when we go for work, we chat, we engage in banter, and we also work hard. So can we expect children to 'work hard' all the time like Ashwin?

Remember, in Montessori House, the child is engaged in 'work-activity' and therefore goes through four different periods of Engagement, Relaxation, Activity preparation and Assimilation phase (where the child recapitulates the activity and absorbs it in her psyche) as he works. In a Montessori House, it is therefore observed that every child goes through these four periods in a cyclical manner, repeated 2/3 times in a day.

Therefore, only when one is aware of what the child has been doing, one can make realistic assessment of the child's 'engagement' or 'idleness'. Even 'pouring grains' is supposed to be a 'relaxation' activity for a  3 1/2 year old child, although it was a challenging engagement for a child of 2 1/2 year old child when he learnt it first. It is therefore imprudent to conclude anything from a snap shot of 30 minutes ( or even one hour) without knowing the full context.

This however does not answer Ashwin's question: does the child misuse the freedom: the freedom to work or not, the freedom to choose the type of work?

Does the child misuse the freedom in a Montessori House of Children?

In a Montessori, a child is never seen to misuse this freedom . Quite the contrary, it is observed that the freedom given to a child generates many intended and unintended consequences, all of which are surprisingly positive: the child develops his own will power to choose his own activity, learns to thwart other attention-diverting distractions, practices self-discipline without being told.

However, Montessorians also observe that a child sometimes misuses 'freedom' to avoid doing a 'challenging' activity. For instance, a Montessorian will notice that when a child is introduced to a new challenging activity, which is just above the threshold level of his 'capability', the child will tend to avoid that activity for a while. Such activities could be learning addition through snake exercise, or forming words by phonetic analysis of sound such as milk or cat.

The Montessorian is trained to observe this 'resistance' and not 'react' to it. She gives the child enough 'time' to 'readjust' her expectations. Only after the child refuses to 'overcome' the resistance on her own, will she gently prod the child. She may even 'repeat' the presentation of the activity. She uses various indirect ways to prod the child back on course without damaging the child's delicate sense of confidence.

Because of the mixed age grouping ( 3-6 year old are in one group) in a Montessori, a parent will observe that young children spend considerable time in watching the activities of older children. A Montessorian will never discourage this 'watching activity', because this is how a child gets interested in newer challenging activities. While observing someone else, she is also gaining the 'confidence' that she will also do it in the same way when she grows up.

Due to the mixed age grouping, a parent will also observe another occurrence in a Montessori House of Children. She will see that a young child will call an older child to 'evaluate' his activity, and not go to the Montessori Adult. Very often this is confusing to the parent. They feel that an older child may misguide the younger child. On the contrary, it is observed that an older child can point out 'mistakes' in a younger child far more directly ( it may look ruthless if done by the adult) and in a fashion that is far more easy to correct.