Principles Of Maria Montessori In Early Childhood Education

The Montessori system of education was developed during the first half of the 1900’s by Dr. Maria Montessori as a result of her extensive research observations and experimental testing (Lillard, 2005, pp. 16-18). Dr. Montessori was of the belief that children contain an innate desire to learn and her research showed that, when given the

Maria Montessori and Jean Piaget are two educational philosophers whose theories are still being used and influence today’s educational system. Their theories and methods were revolutionary for their times, but they came to be greatly respected. Both of these theorist developed their own stages of child development and were able to base education on these stages. Although in many ways Piaget and Montessori were very similar in their thinking they were also very different in their teaching approaches. Piaget and Montessori are two main players in the early childhood education field and based most of their ideas on their observations of children.

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.

This essay discusses two great theorists Maria Montessori and Friedrich Froebel. First, I will evaluate and compare their similarities and differences in philosophy and methods of education. Furthermore, Montessori’s and Froebel’s influence and implementation on early childhood education. Finally, my personal view of theorists educational methods which I could use in practice with young children in early childhood and childcare education as a practitioner. I will discuss my own attitudes, values and beliefs related on reflection on learning from Maria Montessori and Friedrich Froebel.

The role of a Montessori teacher is to ensure that the materials in the prepared environment

The Montessori method began in the early 1900's by the first female doctor in Italy, Dr. Mary Montessori, as a way of educating mentally disabled children. Her ideas were so successful with these children that she began to apply her understanding of learning to study the potential of normally functioning children (Oalf, 2001). Dr. Montessori's approach to education stresses the importance of learning styles, independence and responsibility.

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.

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

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

Dr. Maria Montessori is the creator for the Montessori Education Method for a new world who devoted her life to improve children’s education excellence. Her educational method is widely used in schools or at home for children 3 t0 6 years old. Maria Montessori lived through one of the traumatic time eras of the world history, which changed everybody’s lives including children. It was the time of anxiety, cruelty, death, family separation and children facing starvation. Maria Montessori felt the best solution to overcome endless, war, violence and poverty is education. Therefore, Maria Montessori believed educating the next generation will improve children’s live and future of the

Dr Montessori emphasizes the importance of the development of imagination. How do cultural activities in a Montessori prepared environment aid in the development….

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

Dr. Maria Montessori was a keen observer of children. She used her observational and experimental proclivities from her medical background to develop, what we might today call, a Constructivist understanding of the process of learning. She studied them scientifically. If she saw some unusual behavior in a child, she would say,”I won’t believe it now, I shall if it happens again”. She studied the conditions in which the children would perform those actions.