Montessori Schools Should Not Be A Montessori School

Montessori Method there are two branches of Montessori schools the first is the Association Montessori International which was started by the founder Maria Montessori in 1907. The second branch is the American Montessori society started by Nancy Rambush in an attempt to Americanize the Montessori Method. Montessori schools have multi-aged classes that have self-correcting materials that the children use. The children are allowed to make use of any of the equipment in the classroom after they have been given a silent demonstration by the teacher.

In today’s society many people recognize that our current educational system is antiquated and heavily flawed. Many do not believe the education our children routinely receive adequately prepares them to be successful in their adult lives and because of this parents are very concerned. This dissatisfaction has led to the implementation of numerous alternatives to the traditional educational system to which we have become accustomed. Each of these alternatives has their own collection of philosophies and methodologies, proponents and opponents, advantages and disadvantages, but the common thread is that they each aim to provide our children with a better, more effective education suited for today’s world. Montessori education is one of these alternative learning options that been around for many years and has been steadily gaining popularity.

As early childhood educators we all have our own philosophies and approaches to education. There are several types of early childhood programs. Each program has its own philosophies, methods, and program goals. Every early childhood educator is unique making each early childhood program experience special. Consistently, early childhood programs offer educational foundations that prepare young students for their educational futures. In this paper I will focus on comparing and contrasting two programs that stood out to me, Ridgeline Montessori and the Whitaker Head Start.

The Montessori approach aims to promote children 's holistic development but by stepping back and allowing the children to play by themselves without intervention. Practitioners are expected to step back and only get involved in the children 's learning only if invited or if the child is at risk of harming themselves or other children. I think that it is important that practitioners get involved in children 's play and learning only to improve the child’s current learning. They could do this by challenging them or by asking the children questions to further the child’s learning. This could also be done through adult-led activities as they are more structured as APPOSE to the child-led activities. Child-led activities are SPONTANOUS and are often do not have a certain aim where as in adult-led activities have an aim that is expected to be reached by the end of the activity.

Maria Montessori founded an education system which is called Montessori and still bares her name, her system is based on belief in the child’s creative potential, (Douglas, n.d.). Her first Casa Dei Bambini (Children’s house), where Maria was using her approach of teaching was opened in 1907 in Rome. She was great educator who believed that children are learning through their personal experience at their right time and their own pace. (Ridgway, 2007). Children rather than learning largely from what the teachers and the textbooks say, learn from “doing”,(Douglas, n.d.). To provide for children an effective, independent learning process, and that they become a competent and confident learner, Teacher had to provide for children a healthy, clean, well-prepared and well organised environment in which children could develop. Maria Montessori came up with idea that if children have to work and play independently, they have to be comfortable and need appropriately sized tools and items that fit their small hands (Mooney, 2000). Montessori believed that children learn through sensory experiences. Teacher has a responsibility to provide wonderful sights, textures, sounds, and smells for children. Sensory

Education is very important especially in this day and age. What school one attends and how they perceive school to be is a huge factor in one’s life success. There has been research done in the past few years proving that students who receive a Montessori education will prosper academically more so than those who receive a traditional education (Ryniker and Shoho, 2001). Traditional schools typically follow teacher based philosophies and the Montessori education is student centered. On average, children enjoy student based philosophy classrooms. Therefore, they are much more in tuned to what they are learning and that benefits their educational career. Having fun while learning is the key to keeping children engaged.

Inspired by the work of Itard and Seguin, two almost forgotten French doctors, Maria Montessori took the idea of scientific approach to develop her theories, principles and beliefs in early childhood education, which through observation and experimentation. All the learning activities and teaching materials are purposeful and aimed to stimulate senses, mind, and provide self-esteem and achievement.

In reality, the children move about the classroom independently, choosing the order of their learning activities. There may be 15 or more activities, or ?jobs? as they are called in some Montessori classrooms, occurring at the same time with small groups or individual work, yet the classroom remains quiet, yet busy and productive, sometimes with the soft hush of classical music playing in the background. Many Montessori school classrooms place a card around the child?s neck with the day?s objectives written in the form of a checklist for the students to monitor themselves. This checklist encourages the students to take responsibility for their own learning, as well as discourages prompt-dependence, since the student need not wait for instruction. Some of the activities in a Montessori classroom include reading, pre-reading using phonics, math, discovery science and writing. Children learn skills in a way that he or she is not aware that learning is taking place. For example, a child playing in the sand box with a small rake is not aware that he or she is learning fine motor skills and how to hold and control a pencil. Another observation in a Montessori classroom is that most classrooms tend to span three grade levels. This practice allows to children to become mentors to younger students. Also, the large gap in developmental levels allows children to ?learn at their own pace? (Keller, 2001), which is another important Montessori

The success of the Montessori method depends on how the environment us set up, it is essential that it is prepared and simplified for the students’ understanding.

DR Maria Montessori’s main discovery was the reality of a child’s true nature WHICH IS the NORMALIZED CHILD. She described the

It takes a very special person to become a Montessori Teacher. The Montessori teaching method emphasizes the heightened learning ability of children when they are allowed to make their own choices. It was developed by Dr. Maria Montessori in the early 20th century to improve children’s education by helping them help themselves. Montessori teacher’s role revolves around this very method of guiding young minds.

There is no set level that all children must follow; they learn when they explore by themselves. This method leaves children with freedom where they can learn self-discipline in a place designed specifically for their developmental needs. Teachers would have a part in the education of children though even though 80% of it was up to the children. Teachers are to make sure that children are presented with the right extent of material at the right time. In other words, if a child is too advanced for one activity, a teacher would present a new one to fit them, and vice versa. Maria believed if her methods were applied to public schools the results would be even better than the traditional method results. Since the government didn't let her, she started to work with poor daycare children. She doubted that her methods would work under these conditions but she had shocking results. She discovered if the children were in an orderly place to work, they will respect that and care for it. They are able to learn longer and better than in an everyday setting. In Montessori preschool, five areas make up the prepared learning environment. These areas include practical life, the sensorial area, mathematics, and cultural activities. In the elementary program, areas include integration, presentation of knowledge, presentation of the formal scientific languages, the use of visual aids, mathematic curriculum, Montessori trained teachers, emphasis on open-ended research and

The education system back in her era focused on teaching the children to memorise word to word from books and posters and Children sat in rows at desks at the classroom learning from a blackboard and slates. This method of education wasn’t stimulating and exciting for children. Nevertheless through her experience Montessori discovered children want to learn, and they will do it in their own time frame and they shouldn’t be forced.

Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, was born on August 31, 1870, in Chiaravalle, Italy, and died on 6 May 1952, in Noordwijk aan Zee, Netherlands. She was one of the pioneers of theories in early childhood education and her theories are still applied in Montessori schools all over the world. At that time, when Montessori was growing up, Italy had conservative values about women’s role but she consistently broke out of those prescribed gender limitations as she grew younger. When her family moved to Rome, she attended boys’ technical institutions where she developed her mathematics and scientific interests. Despite her father’s resistance but with the support of her mother, Montessori went on to graduate with high honor from the medical

Maria Montessori was the originator and founder of the Montessori Method. She was the first female to graduate as a doctor from her university in Italy. After graduation, Montessori's work with so called “idiot children” led to an interest in child development. (M. Beaver et al, 2001, p.379) After researching Montessori was convinced there was a need for special schools catering to children who presented learning disabilities.