The Montessori Classroom

The Montessori Method
The educational system that Dr. Montessori developed became the Montessori Method. It has several important elements. The "Prepared Environment" is the Montessori classroom. It is carefully designed and filled based on the needs of the children and careful observation by a guide, or teacher. These materials are designed to be attractive to many children. The children are free to choose which materials meet their own developmental needs at the moment. The freedom in the classroom does have many limits. The safety and well being of the entire classroom is important and children are given specific lessons in Grace and Courtesy in order to assist in communication, conflict resolution and social skills. Children may be gently guided or given a lesson to ensure that a balance of activities are chosen.


Montessori materials are created so that the child can identify errors without assistance. In this manner, they control the learning experience and have the opportunity to repeat work unhindered. Children are provided with a long work period which allows flexibility in choice and time for challenging works.


Scientific research has supported many of the ideas that are natural in a Montessori classroom. Movement, choice and interest all promote learning.


Practical Life and Art
Practical life is an area of the classroom designed to help children become more independent in everyday living. The tasks that adults take for granted are broken down into manageable steps that a child can practice. In the course of the day, children might perfect their ability to pour themselves a drink or serve a snack, learn how to scrub a table, sweep the floor or polish a mirror. They might choose to use dressing frames to understand how buttons work or learn to tie shoes.
Art materials are carefully chosen and available to the children at all times. Art is a creative process and one that is essential overall intellectual, emotional , and expressive development of the child. Many skills are naturally developed when a child freely uses art materials. These include fine and gross motor skills.


Sensorial
The sensorial materials in a Montessori classroom are colorful, attractive to children and designed to educate and refine the senses. Each material focuses on an increasingly complex attribute. The pink cubes increase in volume. The brown prisms increase in length and height while the red rods increase in length. There are materials designed to bring out the child's awareness of touch, smell, color, and geometric shapes.
Work with the Montessori sensorial materials has indirect benefits that are not easily seen. Many of the materials are designed with ten elements and are based on the properties of the metric system of measurement. Children discover relationships among the materials and can use them as a unit of measurement. Hand strength, eye hand coordination, and work with patterns are all skills that support the development of reading and writing.


Language
The Montessori language materials are designed to support reading, writing, and vocabulary development at the child's own pace. A child will be introduced to sound games and the sandpaper letters to begin to learn to distinguish the phonemes, or distinct sounds in a language, that make up words. Work with the metal insets helps to develop hand control and strength, but is often quite artistic. Children may begin to write letters in sand or on chalkboards before moving to paper. They will be able to write their own words with the moveable alphabet and many begin reading.


Mathematics
The Montessori materials in a primary classroom are designed to meet a wide range of abilities. Children initially learn to understand quantity and the related numerical symbol with materials that provide a wide opportunity to develop and strengthen counting skills. These include the red and blue rods, the spindle boxes and the skip counting chains. The Seguin Boards are then used to further develop an understanding of how numbers are made from a combination of tens and units. Children can then move to work with the golden beads which allows them to begin work with mathematical operations.


Geography, Culture, and Nature
Children in a Montessori primary classroom learn about geography through the use of puzzle maps, globes and cultural events. Children will often become interested in making their own maps. We are able to look at realistic and beautiful pictures of people, places and animals from all over the world. Animals are studied in relationship to the basic classifications (mammals, reptiles, fishes, invertebrates, amphibians and birds) their environment and geographical location. Children can choose to work with land and water forms that show the relationships between land & water structures such as an island or a lake.


All rights reserved.  Copyright Tracy Crawford 3/6/2011