| What is Montessori? |
 What is Montessori? Dr. Maria Montessori lived from 1870 to 1952. Her lifetime accomplishments include being the first female doctor in Italy, a world famous author, educator and spokesperson for human rights. As a result of her work, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Montessori used her talents to observe children’s development and thereby provide them with learning opportunities appropriate to their readiness and needs. Her acute observations of children led to the evolution of her philosophy of natural child development and the designing of materials to promote learning. Her belief was that no human is educated by another person. In order to be genuine, learning must be done internally by each individual. A truly educated person continues learning long after the classroom experience has ended because there is motivation from within that is fueled by a natural curiosity and a love of learning. Dr. Montessori felt that the goal of early education should not be to inundate children with facts from a direct course of study. Instead, an objective of the education process is to cultivate the child’s own natural desire to learn.  Intellectual Materials The Montessori materials are beautifully handcrafted and are displayed on low, open shelves. These unique materials are tools to stimulate the child into logical thought and discovery. Each piece of material has a specific purpose and is presented in a manner that will enable the children to direct their own learning. Each piece presents one concept or idea at a time and has what is known as a “control of error”. If the child has done something incorrectly, it will be self-evident. The geometric shape, for example, won’t fit the hole; or the last label will not match the last picture. In this way, children learn to work with increasing independence, taking control and responsibility for their own learning. Structure and Freedom The classroom is ordered and well planned, allowing for physical, intellectual and social freedom. The curriculum and teaching materials are carefully selected and presented to each child. When children choose material, they are then free to work with it for as long as it provides a challenge. This creates a structure for their learning. Everything is child-sized and all the activities are within reach to allow free choice. Social Interaction The Montessori classroom is not only a place for individual learning. It is a vibrant community of children learning to interact socially in a variety of ways. The three-year age range in classes enables older children to teach the younger children, learning much themselves from this experience, while the younger children are inspired to more complex work by observing the older ones. With such a variety of levels in the classroom, each child can work at his or her own pace, unhindered by competition and encouraged by cooperation. The Director/Directress In a Montessori classroom, the place of the traditional teacher is held by a fully trained Montessori director or directress. The director/directress is a guide or facilitator whose task it is to support the young child in his or her process of self-development. He or she is foremost an observer, unobtrusively yet carefully monitoring each child’s development, recognizing and interpreting each child’s needs. The director/directress provides a link between the child and the prepared environment, introducing the child to each learning tool when he or she is ready in a precise, clear and enticing way. On a broader level, the director/directress provides a link between the classroom and the parent, meeting with each child’s parents to discuss progress. He/she needs to be an example of the values we seek to instill in our children by being calm, consistent, courteous and caring. The most important attribute of a director/directress is the love and respect he/she holds for each child’s total being. |
