The Montessori Method

The basic premise of the Montessori
philosophy of education is that all children carry within them the adults they will become.
In order to develop their physical, intellectual and spiritual powers to the fullest, they must have freedom-a freedom achieved through order and self-discipline.

The world of children is full of sights and sounds, which at first appear chaotic. From this chaos, children must gradually create order and learn to distinguish the impressions that assail their senses, slowly but surely gaining mastery of both themselves and their environments.

Dr. Maria Montessori developed what she called the "prepared environment" which already possesses a certain order and disposes children to develop at their own individual speeds, according to their own capacities, and in a non-competitive atmosphere in their first school years.
"Never let a child risk failure until he has a reasonable chance of success",
said Dr. Montessori, understanding the necessity for the acquisition of a basic skill before its use in a competitive learning situation.

The years between three and six are the years that a child most easily learns the ground rules of human behavior. These years can be constructively devoted to "civilizing" children freeing them through the acquisition of good manners and habits, to take their places in their cultures.

Children who have had the benefit of a Montessori environment are freer at a later age to devote themselves more exclusively to the development of their intellectual faculties.

The method by which children are taught in Montessori school might well be called "programmed learning." The structure of Montessori learning involves the use of many materials with which the child may work individually. At every step of learning, the materials are designed to test understanding and correct errors.

Dr. Montessori recognized that the only valid impulse to learning is the self-motivation of child. Children move themselves toward learning. The teacher prepares the environment, programs the activity, functions as the reference person and exemplar, offers the child stimulations; but it is the child who learns, who is motivated through the work itself (not solely by the teacher's personality) to persist in the chosen task. If Montessori children are free to learn, it is because they have acquired from their exposure to both physical and mental order, an "inner discipline" This is the core of Dr. Montessori's educational philosophy. Social adjustment, though it is a necessary condition for learning  in a schoolroom, is not the purpose of education. Patterns of concentration, stick-to-itiveness, and thoroughness established in early childhood, produce a confident and competent learner in later years.

Montessori introduces children to joy of learning at an early age and provides a framework in which intellectual and social discipline go hand in hand.

The American Montessori Society has emphasized the importance of Montessori insight for children and adults of all ages. Although children traditionally begin Montessori education at age three, the principles of self-motivated learning apply to all learning experiences.

Modern learning research has confirmed the validity of the Montessori principles of programmed learning by the "non-teacher" (who does not distort or inhibit the learning experience).
Many public, private, and parochial elementary and secondary schools are now utilizing this approach.

Montessori 101