“Montessori” is a term that has many layers: A method, a philosophy, and a set of materials, Montessori is a form of education that can suit any learner. Here are a few reasons why you should choose a Montessori education for your child.
- Multi-age classrooms allow children to learn from each other and practice what they are learning in an authentic way. The Montessori Method has several tenets that speak to the needs of children as they grow, and learn a main one being the importance of multi-aged classrooms. These classrooms allow younger children to learn from older classmates and older children to firm up their knowledge by guiding, and therefore practicing with younger, less capable ones.
- Montessori classrooms enable independent learners. The Montessori Method seeks to guide children to independence. Activities, lessons, materials, and experiences in the classroom all lead children to be able to “do it myself.”
- The importance of hands-on learning originated in Montessori classrooms. The Montessori Method recognizes the importance of the senses in learning. Hands-on lessons allow children to build a conceptual base kinesthetically; as Dr. Maria Montessori said, “The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.”
- Montessori students learn organizational skills that help them throughout their education and life. The concrete Montessori Materials are designed to help children develop coordination, order, and control. Lessons are designed to help them internalize a complete cycle of work: students get out a material or activity, carry it to a self-chosen work place, complete the work in the way it was presented, record the results, and return the work to its place of origin in the classroom. Students internalize this cycle which prepares them for completing all the tasks and work that lie ahead in life from science fair projects to household chores.
- Specially-trained Montessori teachers guide students in their learning. The Montessori Materials and Method are delivered by teachers who have, in addition to teaching degrees, Montessori certification earned over the course of as much as 24 months. Montessori classrooms typically have both a state- and Montessori-certified lead teacher and a classroom teaching assistant with about 24 students.
- Teaching and learning in Montessori classrooms are individualized. The Montessori philosophy includes the importance of observation by the teacher of the students in her classroom. Through one-on-one work with and observation of students, the teacher can pinpoint the needs of the individual learner and will guide the lessons and follow-up work that children are exposed to. This individualization helps lagging students make up deficits and proficient students continue at their own more advanced paced.
- Montessori classrooms are designed to suit the developmental needs of children. The Montessori philosophy recognizes the age-appropriate and -expected abilities and sensitivities of learners at all ages and uses this information to most effectively aid the individual child. Recognizing these “sensitive periods” further allows children to advance at their own pace.
- Montessori classrooms are beautiful, inviting, and peaceful. The “prepared environments” in Montessori schools include shelving at eye-level enabling students to see all the materials and activities that are available to them. These flow from least to most complex allowing skills and concepts to build on one-another. They are self-correcting which furthers independence. Classrooms include quiet, peaceful spaces.
