During these first two weeks of 2026 we have been discussing Martin Luther King, Jr.’s messages, focusing on his words of love, kindness and friendship.
Children under age 6 are known for their concrete thinking. Abstract thinking and large, complex thought and reasoning is still under development. As we know from our readings in The Whole Brain Child their executive function remains “under construction.”
So when it comes to notions such as history and social justice and what MLK Day represents, these discussions are not truly grasped by young, developing minds. Over the years, we have come to discover that children under age six are more responsive to basic, concrete skills such as love, kindness and friendship.
So it is that recently we have talked at lot about kindness and read several books about what it means to be a friend. These are our core messages from Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., that align with young children’s abilities as they build the skills necessary to understand social justice in the future, when their brains can understand such abstract notions.
“The education of even small children does not aim at preparing them for school, but for life.”
–Dr Maria Montessori
We continue building these skills with the children, not just for one holiday, or one week, but to continue the MLK’s legacy throughout each and every aspect of their lives and they grow into productive members of our society. Our future doctors, lawyers, governors and scientists. It is they who will lead the way to our future.
