Imagine
a world where calm deliberation and lateral solutions
were the rule, not the exception.
Imagine a society that
valued the individual, without ignoring the collective
good.
Imagine a community
where the creative brilliance of children was
respected and encouraged.
Imagine an education
system that respected and nurtured the child and
that created a unique learning environment designed
to create continuous opportunities for discovery.
Imagine a school where
children learn at their own pace, often outstripping
currently accepted standards of achievement.
Imagine a class where
teachers act as fellow travellers on the lifelong
journey of learning by asking the right questions.
Imagine a student
who leaves school with the skills and attitude
to prepare them for a lifetime of learning, loving
and leadership.
"Establishing peace
is the work of education." Dr Maria Montessori
Dr Maria Montessori developed
a philosophy of education, which is as inspirational
as it is comprehensive. Dr Montessori believed
that if education following the natural development
of the child, society would move to a higher level
of co-operation, peace and harmony.
"Our schools are Alive."
Dr Maria Montessori
The goal of the Montessori
School is to support children in this development,
with the primary airm to provide opportunities
for each child to reach their full potential.
To provide children with skills to enable them
to look within themselves for self approval and
wisdom.
"One test of the
correctness of educational procedure is the happiness
of the child itself." Dr Maria Montessori
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During her lifelong
observations of children, Dr Montessori observed
that all individuals progressed through four stages
or planes of development.
The first plane of development,
from birth to age six, is characterised by the
"absorbent mind". This term represents
the manner in which children on this plane of
development use all of their senses to absorb
information from their environment.
The second plane, from
age six to twelve, known as the "reasoning
mind" develops as the child explores the
world using thought and imagination.
The third plane, from
twelve to eighteen, the "humanistic mind"
leads adolescents to understanding humanity, and
their place in society.
The fourth plane,
from eighteen to twenty four, the "specialist
mind" allows the young adult to take his
or her place in the world.
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Dr Montessori created the Montessori Method
as a means of interpreting the philosophy translating
it into a concrete formula which supports children
in their development from open, inquiring individuals
to mature responsible, independent human beings.
"Education is a natural
process spontaneously carried out by the human
individual and is acquired not by listening to
words but by experiment upon the environment."
Dr Maria Montessori
Dr
Montessori belived that the three year age Cycles
best accommodated the planes of development in
today's educational context.
| Cycle 1 |
age 3 - 6 |
3yo kinder, preschool
and prep |
| Cycle 2 |
age 6 - 9 |
grade 1 - grade
3 |
| Cycle 3 |
age 9 - 12 |
grade 4 - grade
6 |
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Dr Montessori created
a learning environment to enhance the development
of these "planes", each building on
the previous one, providing the optimum opportunity
for each individual to reach their full potential.
Respect for self and others
develops as each child works within the Montessor
classroom using grace and courtesy as a means
of relating with their teachers, peers and environment.
Not only does a Montessori
Classroom encourage individual learning, it also
provides opportunities for children to work together
in a co-operative and caring manner.
The multi age grouping provides
a family style environment where the older children
support and nurture younger children, consolidating
their knowledge and skills in the process.
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Equipment developed for
the Montessori Method stimulates children into
discovery and logical thought.
This equipment is:
- appealing and challenging
- most often self-correcting
- introduces only one new stimulus at a time
- sequenced from simple to complex
- designed to enable the child to learn specific
skills and concepts
"Needless help is
an actual hindrance to the development of natural
forces." Dr Maria Montessori
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The teacher or classroom
Director has recognised teaching qualifications
as well as Montessori experience and qualifications.
In Victoria Montessori qualifications are considered
training at post graduate level. The Classroom
Director or Teacher provides the link between
the child and the prepared environment. The Director
observes each child's progress, able to ascertain
each child's developmental status and individual
needs. The classroom teacher or Director presents
each piece of equipment in such a way as to enable
the child to direct their own learning. The Director
models confidence, caring and self control displaying
a mutual respect for the children. Each child's
progress is carefully programmed and recorded.
In response to the child's
perceived readiness each piece of equipment is
presented in an inviting and appealing manner.
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Observing a Montessori
classroom you see children moving purposefully around
the classroom. They select an activity from the
many displayed on the easily accessible shelving.
The children can work by themselves or with a friend
or a group of friends.
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Cycle
One (Preschool and Prep)
When the child has selected an activity it is
carried to the appropriate individual workspace
whether it be a table or floor space. Once a child
has established a workspace, the space is respected
by other children and remains untouched until
it is cleared away by the child using it.
If the child is not familiar
with the chosen activity it is demonstrated to
them by the Director. Once the child has been
shown how to perform the activity he/she is free
to repeatedly perform it.
"The greatest help you
can give your children is freedom to go about
their own work in their own way." Dr Maria
Montessori
When the child has completed
the activity he/she reassembles it and returns
it to its place on the shelf.
Cycle 1 Activities are formulated
to directly develop a child's independence, confidence,
need for order and structure. Indirectly the activities
support the development of motor, sensory and
intellectual skills needed to advance to the more
complex Montessori equipment and learning.
"From the earliest possible
age the child must be provided with things which
may help to do things by himself." Dr Maria
Montessori
The activities are grouped
into four fundamental areas:
1. Practical life -
comprised of activities that children see their
parents doing at home. These activities form a
bridge between home and school. These activities
enable the child to concentrate of a set task,
and work uninterrupted to develop precise movements.
The activities are structured so the child can
complete a cycle of work and feel satisfied and
confident.
2. Sensorial - equipment that is designed
to develop co-ordination and encourage the child
to discriminate, order and classify. This development
and refinement of the senses prepares the child
for later work.
"First the education of
the senses then the education of the intellect."
Dr Maria Montessori
3. Mathematics - through
the sensorial activities the child explores spatial
relationships, distance, grouping and quantity.
The role of Numbers is developed through the concrete
equipment such as numbers rods, counters, spindles
and beads. The decimal system is introduced and
the steps of addition and subtraction, followed
by multiplication and division.
4. Language - forms the foundation for
literacy. Sound is linked to developing fine motor
skills through the sandpaper letters and extended
to practical writing opportunities. The development
of reading skills is encouraged with the moveable
alphabet, enabling the child to work methodically
through the phonic words and onto the complexity
of blends and phonograms.
Language is extended through
the additional subjects: geography, cultural studies,
science and history.
Cycle 2 and Cycle 3 (Primary)
Once a sound foundation has been acquired
the primary children are well able to build their
knowledge base. The areas of mathematics, geometry,
language and literacy, science, cultural studies,
geography, history, art, music, are extended as
the child's readiness is apparent.
"If the child is not intellectually
stimulated during the elementary (primary) years…
the child's mind becomes artificially dulled."
Dr Maria Montessori
Lessons parallel studies undertaken
in mainstream schools, and include trips outside
of the classroom to foster a feeling of connection
to the community and encourage the child's natural
desire to make contributions to the world.
Learning is an active process
of accessing many different concrete materials
as well as revisiting some of the earlier equipment,
from a new perspective as the children's ability
to imagine and abstract develops.
The children will work with
reference books, make their own books, draw their
own maps or time lines, and develop their own
projects.
Children move from the concrete
through their own efforts and discovery to the
abstract - thus greatly expanding their field
of knowledge.
Through imagination children
learn to co-ordinate this abstract movement of
their mind. They take imaginative steps based
on the detail they have been given.
The primary school student
begins to explore moral issues. Who am I? What
is my place in this universe? What is good and
bad?
The Montessori curriculum for
the primary years is built around the five great
lessons:
- creation of earth
- coming of plants and animals
- the arrival of humans
- development of language
- math and inventions
The child learns to love these
studies developing a fascination with all aspects
of the world around them and an enormous desire
to investigate, research and explore.
These five lessons grow to
include such topics as algebra, square and cube
roots, geometry, botany, zoology, evolution and
classification, chemistry and physics experiments,
the history of math and language, grammar and
sentence analysis and so on.
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The Montessori Education develops independent,
confident, responsible students who are self motivated
and comfortable with research, study and time
management. These attributes enable them to easily
adapt to secondary studies.
"Montessori school taught
me to think - that makes the hardest test seem
easy." A Montessori Primary Graduate
"If a Montessori child
does not have access to something - he or she
will find it… has the confidence to ask for
more (information)… wants to know why."
A Montessori Primary Graduate
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The Montessori Education
provides the child with firm limits against destructive
or asocial actions while demonstrating calmness,
consistency, courtesy and respect.
"We must… check in
the child whatever offends or annoys others, or
whatever tends toward rough or ill-bred acts."
Dr Maria Montessori
Meaningful activities channel
children's focus to encourage purposeful work,
thereby initiating the development of concentration.
"He must find out how
to concentrate, and for this he needs things to
concentrate upon." Dr Maria Montessori
Recommended Reading:
The Absorbent Mind
by Dr Maria Montessori
Montessori: a modern approach by Paula Polk Lillard
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