What is Montessori Education?
Montessori is a method of education that is personalized to each child’s learning style, stage of development, and interests. Children develop complete academic and well-being foundations through hands-on experience, real-world application, and problem-solving using the Montessori Method of education.
The Montessori Method of Education
Montessori is a method of education that was developed by Doctor Maria Montessori. It’s worldwide and has proven successful for more than 100 years. It offers a broad view of education as an aid and a preparation for life.
Maria Montessori started her career as a Doctor; however, through her work with underprivileged children, she moved from medicine to education. She used her training as a scientist to observe how children learn and applied this to develop a better way to educate children with astounding results.
Each material teaches a specific learning outcome that progressively builds children’s knowledge and skills. Through repetition and practice, children master the five areas of the Montessori Curriculum, which include: Practical Life, Sensorial, Mathematics, Language, and Culture.
The role of the Montessori educator within this space is to observe what children are drawn to and introduce them to the materials that link to those interests, so learning is always purposeful and engaging.
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This is why Montessori works. It recognizes that children learn in different ways, and at different paces, and Montessori meets them where they’re at. It provides children with a learning environment where they have respect, independence, and the freedom to direct their own learning experience. This results in high levels of motivation to learn, and children who love learning, naturally apply themselves and do well.
The Montessori Method of Education
AMI, or the Association Montessori Internationale, empowers teachers and communities through the holistic approach of Maria Montessori, helping all children become truly capable and productive individuals by focusing on their moral, behavioral, emotional, and intellectual development. Montessori Method of Education was established in the early years of the 20th century by Dr. Maria Montessori. The AMI Montessori Method is based on the idea that children naturally crave learning, and that the idea, resistance, and feeling that ‘learning is a chore’ only comes when we stifle children, by forcing concepts and learning styles that they aren’t naturally ready for at a particular stage, or by using the incorrect approach.
Studies show that when traditional ideas of reward and punishment are attached to any task, learning activities included, that task becomes seen as just that: Work done to earn rewards and avoid punishments. Montessori schools are different. Whether your child is at an Embrace Montessori, or anywhere else around the world, he/she enjoys a curriculum that is individualized and sprouts interest in learning, and not one that is merely designed around standardized tests and state educational goals.
In a Montessori academy like ours, the goals of education are different. They are not a means to an end, nor a way of helping children achieve higher grades that they can compare to their peers or a way to push them through the educational system. Although our educational curriculums comply with state guidelines, our application of the authentic Montessori principles instills in children the desire for learning, while fostering creativity and helping their natural inquisitiveness bloom.
Montessori classrooms give children the tools to teach themselves, to understand what exactly they want to learn and what kind of help they need to learn it. When you think about it, this is how exceptional people — and through them, exceptional discoveries and inventions — come to be. It’s about asking “why?”, not because you need to know the answer, but because you want to know the answer.
That’s what Montessori education is all about. It’s no wonder some of our greatest innovators and creators, like world-famous chef Julia Child, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Academy Award-winning actors George Clooney and Helen Hunt, violinist Joshua Bell and music icon Sean Combs, are among those who can boast of a Montessori school education.
HOW MONTESSORI IS DIFFERENT?
Key Elements of Montessori Education
Prepared Environment
The Montessori classroom is a carefully prepared learning space where everything has a purpose and a place. It is characterised by beauty, order and accessibility. Classrooms tables, chairs, learning materials and sinks are child-sized. Shelves are open and accessible to invite interest and exploration. Everything is thoughtfully designed to support children’s independence. In the prepared environment, the Montessori materials are grouped by their curriculum area, and displayed from left to right in progression order from easiest to hardest. This logical structure provides a clear pathway for learning.
Montessori Materials
Montessori materials are hands-on learning tools that guide children to discover key learning outcomes through repetition and practice. They isolate one concept or skill and are designed with an in-built control of error. This allows children to identify and correct their own mistakes. As children progress through the curriculum, the Montessori materials increase in complexity, providing opportunities to extend on learning. Children master learning outcomes through repetition and practice.
Montessori Principles
The guiding principles of Montessori education were developed by Doctor Maria Montessori to provide a framework for how to best support children in their learning process. These principles are based on the belief that children are naturally intelligent, that they want to learn, and that they have immense potential.
Montessori Curriculum
The Montessori Curriculum is a child-centred learning framework that incorporates the cognitive, physical, social and emotional aspects of child development. There are five key areas: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Mathematics and Cultural Studies. Each curriculum area includes a sequence of Montessori materials that isolate one learning outcome or skill. As children progress through the curriculum, they develop a complete understanding of each subject area.
