Candystripe.inc

Montessori Teaching

A good way to learn about how the Montessori philosophy works is to observe a classroom in action.   On their first visit, many adults are not quite sure what is going on.  

The Montessori classroom environment is like nothing they have ever seen.   There are children as young as three and as old as six in the same room.   At times the adults in the classroom are just observing what is going on, or working with a single child.   Most of the children are busy, working with various hands-on-materials.   They seem unusually independent, putting away materials they have finished with, and then making their own decision about what to do next.

The environment is beautiful with many colours.   The materials on the shelves have an intriguing appearance and texture, just begging to be touched.   The furniture is child sized.   The children seem unusually focused on what they are doing, sometimes repeating an activity, concentrating for long periods on what they are doing.   No one seems bored.   Most of the daily tasks from putting on coats to cleaning up the room are accomplished independently by the children themselves.

Other aspects of the Montessori philosophy may not be immediately obvious.   There is an emphasis on co-operation and respectful behaviour.   The adults in the classroom speak to the children at their own level in a clam voice.   If a child wants to use a material that another child is working, they learn to wait patiently for their turn.   Children are rarely interrupted if they are concentrating on an activity.   The materials are carefully designed so that the children can identify when they have made an error and correct the mistake on their own.

All of the children's senses are used in the educational process.   The sense of touch of sigh of sound even the senses of smell and taste are stimulated.

Another unique aspect of the Montessori Method is that it is international.   Maria Montessori spent many years working with children in her native Italy, in India and traveling all around the world, sharing what she had learned in working with young children.   Today Montessori schools and training centers' can be found worldwide.   Although all Montessori classrooms are different in some ways, the basic materials you find in any classroom are the same regardless of the country you might find them in.