Essay on Who is Maria Montessori

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

Students spend most of their time working on the floor where they have their own individual carpets. They put them down to outline their personal workspace. Instead of there being various toys and games spread through out the classroom, there are specific sensory materials and manipulatives that are self correcting and purposeful to student’s learning. On the walls students’ work fill spaces throughout the classroom, similar to the walls of a Head Start classroom. Montessori classrooms are made up of mixed grades and ages, something that is not typical of traditional classrooms.

Many people think of it as “controlled chaos” (Kramer, 1976). Montessori resources are divided into four categories: practical life, sensorial, academic and cultural/artistic supplies (Scotty, 2009).

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

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

He argued that the earliest years of a child’s life are the most important in a Childs education and lay the foundation for all later learning. Young children, he argued, learn best through self-activity, talk and play. (Tovey, 2012).

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

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.

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.

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

How is the child’s exploration and orientation in his physical environment complimented by the Montessori materials and presentation?

Children can also tell us a lot about themselves through their art. We can see emotions, interests, and sometimes a child’s personal struggles. It is a clue as to who this child is. The purpose is not to analyze the child, but to get to know the child. Above all, be sure to give art to the child so it can awaken a creative path. So that through his art he can enter a world of his imaginations which in turn gives the teacher an understanding of the mental growth of the child. This in turn helps the teacher to recognize and encourage those potential hidden talents. Thus the art works in cultural activities in Montessori environment aids the development of imagination of the child.

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.

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.