Practical Life Essay

MONTESSORI’S research shows that children learn through movement and should have environments that are specifically tailored to meet their needs. Montessori schools provide a foundation for learning that is centred on care for the environment, care for the self as individual and

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.

Montessori’s teaching approach aims to develop all aspects of the child mentally and socially (Pound, 2012). Montessori cautioned teachers to remember that children need to be allowed to do basic tasks to learn for themselves (Mooney, 2000, p.28). The role of the teacher in a Montessori setting is mainly observation of the child, encouragement, preparation of the environment, leadership, fostering the child’s independence (Mooney, 2000, p.29), and keeping a complex and delicate balance between each role. (Miller, 2010, p.79). Both theorists acknowledged that children learn best by doing and through repetition of tasks (Mooney, 2000, p.29). Large blocks of time for free work and play, should be scheduled as this was part of the Montessori legacy, this can also be seen in Steiner settings. (Pound, 2012). The teacher should also give children responsibility for keeping the setting space clean and tidy and allow the children to structure their own play. (Mooney, 2000, p.29). Steiner’s role of the teacher is comparable. Steiner wanted to create an education which gave children ‘clarity of thought, sensitivity of feeling and strength of will’ (Pound 2012, p28). Like Montessori the role of the teacher is all about observation, the teacher needs to be both interested and observational of the child’s basic needs to fully develop the child both

The first activity that parents can introduce to their children to help promote physical, cognitive, and social development is to give them access to toys that promote mental and physical development as they grow older. A second activity that can help promote physical development is to allow them greater independence as they grow and not stop them from taking minor risks. The third activity that can help promote both their mental and physical development is to make sure that you are communicating with them instead of just taking care of their needs. A fourth activity to help promote your children's cognitive development is to let infants and toddlers solve their own problems if the problem does not include a significant risk of harm to the

Physical: To promote physical development, children will have many opportunities to engage in activities that will strengthen fine motor, gross motor and sensory skills. They will participate in art and craft activities that will allow them to refine the use of their hands and fingers for more precise movements and further develop their hand eye coordination. The children will have the opportunity to participate in several outdoor, large group gross motor activities. These activities are designed to improve coordination (when moving or standing still), balance, and spatial awareness during movement. There are also activities that will engage the children in tasting and touching to help further develop their sensory skills.

Within lectures, environments in general were discussed and how an environment can motivate a child to learn, “The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experiences,” Montessori [1995:81] by an environment being exciting, it

As children’s bodies become more streamlined and less top-heavy, their center of gravity shifts downwards toward the trunk. As a result, balance improves greatly, paving the way for new motor skills involving large muscles of the body. (Berk, 1999) During the preschool years until approximately age seven, fundamental motor skills develop including the locomotor skills needed to run, jump, hop, and skip. Also the object control skills such as throwing, catching, and kicking are developing. By the age of six or seven, children begin to integrate two or more of these skills. Though all children will not develop these skills at the same age, they will follow the same sequence.

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.

To an average student in a public school in the United States, children are subjected to a standard form of teaching in which typically teachers are given the role of an expert while students are treated as “empty vessels” that are forcefully fed information. This was a very different approach in teaching into what I was used to growing up. Before moving to the United States, I was attending a Montessori school in Manila, Philippines. I was privileged enough to attend this well-known school for its academic program since pre-kindergarten up until 7th grade. So, naturally I was accustomed to the Montessori method of teaching. In preschool, we were given the freedom to explore different materials in the classroom in order to pursue our own interests

A pre-normalized child does not have the joy normalized children have . a pre- normalized child coming into the Montessori environment has a chaotic impression from surrounding environment, he has a low self-esteem. He would abandon his work without completion. He shows discipline only when an adult is around and it does not last.

The Montessori approach supports the use of interesting, reality based tools that work to keep children involved and motivated in the educational process. It Constructs a road map to long life learning by incorporating skills to navigate situations and produce informed decisions based on deductive reasoning, regardless of what situations or questions may arise. The Montessori approach is lauded for building self-esteem in students because it encourages analytical thinking, which is a basic problem-solving tool. Montessori is credited with supporting the development of strong learning skills, which leads to a greater sense of accomplishment among students and promotes a greater sense of independence later in life.

All through life, we experience various occasions when decision-making become necessary. A number of them present themselves in difficult forms and at crucial points. Most of the verdict we take will eventually figure and describe our track of lives. These are what we refer to as lessons of life. Choices never present themselves in an easy way. In some instance we are always forced to pay a price to achieve something. This implies that we are trading for an outcome we are seeking.

Watching a small child discover how to operate his or her favorite plaything is awe inspiring. The look of wonder at the item as it's carefully chosen from amongst their belongings and studied ever so carefully for each and every nuance. How that little face lights up with each new discovery no matter how large or small. The sounds of delight an even dismay at an unwanted result are beautiful. Consider an educational system that would continue to utilize a child’s natural curiosity, unyielding ingenuity and thirst for knowledge. Montessori education creates that environment for children by allowing them the freedom to not only gain knowledge in a natural progression, but also provide a basis on which to continue to grow no matter where

“Intelligence is frequently rendered useless through lack of practice, and that this practice almost always consists in a training of the senses. (Maria Montessori, the discovery of the child). Due to the absorbent mind of the child, the child uses their senses to develop in his/her environment. At this age he does not have a whole lot of experiences, he is still discovering and learning anything the environment has to offer. In a Montessori classroom, the prepared environment helps stimulate all the senses and helps aid in its learning process. The sensorial area of the classroom, especially, focuses on the sensory need of the child. All the materials in this area deal with the seven senses the child uses to learn. These seven senses are visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, olfactory, kinesthetic, and stereo gnostic senses. Each are all equally important for the development of the child.

We can help the child attain independence by giving opportunity for him to work with the materials by himself, by directing him towards a given end to develop his will, by giving him constructive work to help him in developing discipline, by letting him know and have an understanding of what is good and bad and also giving him freedom to reveal himself completely by playing only passive role.