St. James Montessori School
                                       ESTABLISHED SINCE 1969 

The Montessori Education (adapted article)

The Montessori Learning Purpose

Dr. Maria Montessori, a general practitioner, started the first Montessori classroom in 1907. She believed that in order for a person to be truly educated, they must be motivated from within by a natural curiosity and love for knowledge. Therefore, Dr. Montessori’s goal in early childhood education was to cultivate the student’s own natural desire to learn. The method she established develops the habits, attitudes, skills, and ideas that lead to a lifetime of creative thinking and learning.

These outcomes are approached in two ways:

1. By letting every child experience the excitement of learning by their own choice, rather than being forced by a pre-selected course of studies.

2. By helping children exercise their natural ability for learning so that this ability will be at a maximum for future learning situations.

In her book The Absorbent Mind, Dr. Montessori wrote, “The most important period of life is…the period from birth to the age of six.” She goes on to explain that it is this age when their intelligence is being formed, and any obstacle that hinders their creative work will lessen their chance of achieving their full learning potential.

The Montessori Learning Philosophy

In each child, there are periods of extreme sensitivity for learning a particular skill. This may be going up and down steps, putting things in order, counting, or reading. It’s easier for children to learn a skill during the corresponding sensitive period than at any other time in their life. The Montessori style takes advantage of this by giving the child the freedom to choose an activity that corresponds to their own particular period of interest.

The Montessori Prepared Environment

The Montessori classroom is designed to help a child learn independently through touch and exploration. They are free to move around and investigate the materials. 

The room is set up with child-sized furniture. The children can also work on the floor with small mats that define their work space. All classroom materials are easily within their reach. These materials are available for children to explore according to their interest, personal needs, rhythm and pace. Having everything adapted to the size of a child allows movement and manipulation without the help of an adult. It also allows them to discover and self-correct their mistakes.

The classroom consists of children of different ages so that they can learn from each other and learn social skills naturally.

The Montessori Learning Style

“If the child can only see, listen or touch an immovable object, he will only have a superficial and passing interest...but if each object can be selected, manipulated and returned to its place, interest and understanding can be unlimited.”  Maria Montessori, The Montessori Method.

The Montessori style replaces the verbal teaching of traditional schools with material for development, which allows children to teach themselves. In this environment, the teacher serves as a link between the material and the child, a guide who explains the use of the materials. The educator encourages the children to recognize success and error through self-correcting teaching materials that makes it possible to develop self-discipline and self-esteem. The children work by themselves, acquiring confidence and a feeling of mastery, as well as independence in daily life. The children don’t all do the same thing at the same time; they are free to work in a group or on their own.

Dr. Montessori refers to the young child’s unique ability to learn as “the absorbent mind.” They literally absorb information from the environment. This is very evident in the way children learn to speak their native language without formal instruction. Acquiring information this way is very natural for young children who use all their senses to investigate their surroundings.

A child has the ability to learn by absorbing until they are almost seven. The children’s experience can be enhanced by a classroom where they can handle materials that show the basic educational information to them. The Montessori learning style proves that young children can learn to read, write, and calculate in the same natural way that they learn to walk and talk.

Dr. Montessori emphasized that the hand is the main teacher of the child. In order to learn, there has to be concentration. Children are able to concentrate better by fixing their attention on a task they are doing with their hands. All the equipment in a Montessori classroom invites the child to learn by using their hands.

The Montessori learning style is a type of learning designed to take advantage of children’s sensitive years when they can absorb information from an enhanced environment. Children who gain the basic skills of reading and math in this natural way have the advantage of starting their education without boredom or discouragement. By pursuing their individual interests in a Montessori classroom, they gain an early enthusiasm for learning, which is the key to becoming a life long learner.

References

Montessori, Maria. The Absorbent Mind. New York: Dell Publishing, 1984. Original Edition, Karachi, 1949.

Montessori, Maria. The Montessori Method. New York: Schocken Books Inc., 1964. Original Edition, 1912.