Welcome to Montessori 101 By Leslie Gray “The secret of childhood resides in the fact that through their spontaneous activity, children labor to make themselves into men.” - Maria Montessori
Who and What is Montessori?
Who was Maria Montessori?
Medical Doctor, Scientist & Researcher F irst female physician to graduate from the University of Rome Medical School (1896) Child Psychiatrist Early career - co-director at the Orthophrenic School • Helped to establish the new field of Child Neuro- Psychiatry • Developed an extensive understanding of brain functions, mental and emotional development during childhood Writer, Pacifist & International Lecturer : • P ublished over 15 unique books • Nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize • Activist & advocate for the rights of women & children.
What is Montessori? 3-year age span (multi-age classrooms) • Models real-life communities • Younger students - modeling / tutoring from older students. • Older students - leadership role • Strong sense of community with classmates & teachers • Research - students who stay with the same teacher more than one year experience fewer gaps in learning
Concrete to Abstract • New concepts in all subjects are introduced with concrete materials - many designed by Dr. Montessori herself • Helps make connections to the “real world” • Supports retention of information and make connections to future experiences • Lays a strong and lasting foundation once introduced to the abstract (Neural Pathways) • Materials are specifically arranged and sequenced on shelves
Prepared Environment • Attributes of a prepared environment: – Order, reality, beauty and simplicity • Environment should reinforce independence and intellectual development • Set up to facilitate student discussion and stimulate collaborative learning • The teacher is considered part of the prepared environment • Preparing this environment appropriately is one of a Montessori guide ’ s greatest tasks
Sequence and Order “Order, most especially within the child, but also in the child's environment, is prerequisite to the child becoming an independent, autonomous, and rational individual.”
Reality and Nature
Beautiful and Inviting
Simplicity
Work • Any activity that meets developmental needs • Given freedom and time, children choose purposeful activities to fulfill those needs Work cycle • 3-hour uninterrupted work cycle (morning) • Through careful observation Montessori concluded that with freedom to choose meaningful work, children displayed a distinct work cycle • Two peaks and one valley and lasts about 3 hours
Work Cycle & False Fatigue
A 3 Hour Work Cycle (in 4 minutes)
Freedom with R esponsibility (Limits) • Children are free to move about the room… – with purpose • Free to use the works they please… – as long as they use them appropriately • Free to work with others… – as long as they stay focused and get their work done • Free to have snack when they are hungry… – but must prepare it themselves and clean up any messes they make
Practical Life • Lessons on skills needed for everyday life • Self-control, independence, focus & coordination • Designed to help child adapt to new community and see as contributing part of social unit • Develops confidence and executive functioning • Fine motor development • Vastly different over the age ranges
Grace and Courtesy • Lessons that demonstrate positive social behavior • Helps them adapt to life in a group and to provide socially acceptable behavior cues
Independence • Normal developmental milestones such as weaning, walking, talking, etc. • Empowering on a social and emotional basis • Children become confident in ability to: – master the environment – ask questions – puzzle out the answer – learn without needing to be spoon-fed by an adult • Throughout four planes of development, the child and young adult continuously seek to become more independent
Planes of Development • Each phase or plane is marked by external and internal changes – Physical – Mental – Emotional – Social • Each plane has specific developmental needs • The environment must provide the right enrichment and proper conditions for optimum potential to develop
Four Planes of Development
Four Distinct Planes Infancy 0 to 6 The Sensorial Explorer: What? Childhood 6 to 12 The Cultural Explorer: Why? How? When? Adolescence 12 to 18 The Humanistic & Social Explorer: Who am I? The Specialist Explorer: Maturity 18 to 24 How can I change the world?
Sensitive Periods • Phase in development in which a child will be more open, interested, motivated, and capable of learning particular concepts or developing particular skills • Unquenchable passion for mastering the skills or concepts of this phase - motivated by an intense inner drive • Maria Montessori – – “a burning intellectual love” – “an animated psychic factor leading to an immense mental activity” – “a drama of love between the child and its environment”
Sensitive Periods 3-6 • Movement • Language • Small Objects • Order • Music • Grace and Courtesy • Refinement of the Senses • Writing • Reading • Spatial Relationships • Math
Sensitive Periods 6-12 Justice and Moral Judgments The child is very concerned (or obsessed) with right and wrong, fair treatment and justice Social Relationships Important part of the elementary class experience is for them to find positive ways to explore relationships Money and Economic Value They love to count money and are fascinated by how it is earned and what it will buy
The Abstract Use of the Imagination Now firmly grounded in reality and can allow imagination to soar to the abstract The Use of Tools and Machines A Sense of History and Time With imagination the child is able to further explore the concepts of distant past and future A Sense of Human Culture & Membership in the Human Family Interested in other cultures and easily forms positive or prejudiced attitudes A Sense of How the World Works The child at this stage loves to explore the world and its scientific principles - experiments and asks questions
“ The secret of good teaching is to regard the children's intelligence as a fertile field in which seeds may be sown, to grow under the heat of flaming imagination. Our aim therefore is not merely to make the children understand, and still less to force them to memorize, but so to touch their imagination as to enthuse them to their innermost core...” — Maria Montessori
The Integrated Montessori Curriculum • Curriculum not compartmentalized into separate subjects • Concepts introduced simply and concretely • Reintroduced several times over succeeding years at increasing degrees of abstraction and complexity • Interrelated so concepts are reinforced across the classroom culture
Research
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