Montessori School

As a result of her medical background, she approached education not as an educator or a philosopher, but as a scientist. The Montessori Method of education was developed over many years of observation of children and the development of many ideas and materials that would help them achieve their full potential. Her theories were tailored to the needs of the growing child and sprang from Montessori’s intense love and respect for all children. Her work soon became widely known and she travelled the world, establishing schools and lecturing about her discoveries. She wrote numerous books and many articles until her death in 1952 at the age of 82. She left the world a legacy of a method of education, which combines a practical approach, based on the carefully planned learning environment, with a philosophy centered on the idea of developing independence in the child. She believed all children are intrinsically motivated to learn and that they absorb knowledge without effort, when provided with the right kind of activities, at theright time in their development.

She was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize three times in 1940, 1950, and 1951, with a move a foot again this year (2002) re-nominate her.

In the Montessori classroom this objective is approached in two ways, by allowing each child to experience the excitement of learning by her own choice rather than being forced. Second, by helping her to reflect all her natural tools for learning, so that her ability will be at maximum in future learning situations. The Montessori materials have this dual long-range purpose in addition to their immediate purpose of giving specific information to the child.

Another observation of Dr Montessori’s that has been reinforced by modern research is the importance of the sensitive periods for the early learning. These are periods of intense fascinations for learning a particular characteristic or skill. Such as going up and down steps, putting things in order, counting or reading. It is easier for the child to learn a particular skill during the corresponding sensitive period than at any other time in her life. The Montessori classroom takes advantage of this fact by allowing the child freedom to select individual activities, which correspond to her own periods of interest.

The Montessori Classroom is indeed a child’s world, geared to the size, the pace and interest of boys and girls. It is designed to put the child at ease by giving his the freedom in a environment prepared with attractive materials. These materials are arranged on low shelves with easy reach of even the smallest child. The tables and chairs in the classroom are moveable, permitting a flexible arrangement for many activities. The children also work on small mats on the floor where they are naturally comfortable. The Montessori materials are divided into three groups:

• The Practical Life Exercises
• The Sensorial Materials
• The Academic Materials

These await each child’s moment of interest in reading, arithmetic and geography. The role of the teacher or Directress is to observe the interests and needs of the child. She demonstrates the correct use of the materials. She is trained to recognise the child’s sensitive periods. She allows the child to discover his own mistakes through further manipulation of the self-correcting materials. She must encourage a child who is hesitant and divert a chid who chooses materials beyond his ability.

The Montessori classroom offers the opportunity from a wide variety of graded materials. Having children ages 18 months through to three years, three to six years, six to nine, nine to twelve years together in a 3 year cycle, permits the younger child a graded series of models for imitation and the older ones an opportunity to reinforce their own knowledge by helping the younger ones.