What is Montessori?
History and Philosophy | The Program | Practical Life | Sensorial
Language | Mathematics | Cultural Areas | Related Resources

Basic to the Montessori philosophy is the concept that young children are motivated from within by a natural curiosity and love of knowledge. The goal of early childhood education is to cultivate the child's own natural desire to learn.

History and Philosophy

Born in 1870, Maria Montessori was the first woman physician in Italy. An educator and humanitarian, she devoted her life to the study and observation of children. She developed a philosophy of educating young children within a prepared environment using carefully designed materials and equipment, resulting in the establishment of Montessori schools around the world Basic to the Montessori philosophy is the concept that children are motivated from within by a natural curiosity and love of knowledge. The goal of early childhood education is to cultivate the child's own natural desire to learn. This is achieved within a prepared environment which already possesses order and allows children to learn at their own pace, according to their own capabilities, and in a non-competitive atmosphere. Children acquiring basic skills in this natural way gain an early enthusiasm for learning as their personal dignity, independence, and self-discipline develop. Dr. Montessori observed that children pass through various sensitive periods of intense fascination for learning a particular activity or skill. Because the child goes through these "Planes of Development" in three year increments, Montessori classrooms are organized into 3-year age groupings. The Montessori classroom encourages and invites the child during these sensitive periods with appropriate materials. Younger children become stimulated by exposure to the work of older children; older children build on earlier skills and reinforce their knowledge by helping the younger children. What evolves is a natural and mutual respect for one another as individuals.

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The Program

Within a framework of a supportive, orderly and nurturing environment, the children develop according to their own readiness. Everything in the classroom is proportioned to be easily accessible to children. The materials are attractive and moveable to permit flexibility. The children are aided in gaining independence and developing freedom to choose and work with materials and activities they can successfully complete. They may work alone or with others.

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Practical Life Practical life activities include daily living tasks such as buttoning, snapping, tying, shining shoes, sweeping and polishing. Children also learn the forms of grace and courtesy such as returning materials neatly to the shelves, pushing in chairs, and not interrupting others. To the children, these meaningful activities involve caring for oneself, other people and the environment. They also help the children concentrate, expand their attention span, and gain independence. The Practical Life exercises help children develop an inner order and smooth rhythm to gross and fine motor skills. They also help to establish an easily defined method of process. Children learn to recognize the beginning, middle and end of an activity. "In order to educate it is important to know those who are to be educated." - Dr Maria Montessori

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Sensorial

The Sensorial materials are intended to help the child relate, order, explore, and classify the sense impressions the child had before coming to school. The materials are designed to aid the senses in discriminating form, shape, size, color, sound, and touch. Some Montessori materials, such as the binomial cube, are concrete representations of mathematical concepts that appear in later schooling.

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Language Language is woven into all parts of the program. The child learns that words are made of sounds. Then she learns that each sound has a symbol. Knowing the sound and symbol for each letter of the alphabet, she begins to build words. Stories, poems, plays, and ordinary conversation are important in the environment. The aim is to increase the child's knowledge, organization of thought, confidence and ability to express and use her mind through the use of the reading, grammar and writing exercises found in the Montessori language program.

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Mathematics Dr. Montessori observed human tendencies to abstract, investigate, calculate, measure, imagine and create. If allowed to develop these tendencies through manipulating concrete materials, the child moves easily on to abstraction and a love for mathematics. The early materials teach the very basics such as quantity and symbols. Later the decimal system (bead bar units of tens, hundreds, thousands) is brought to the child along with basic arithmetic processes.

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Cultural Areas

Cultural Areas include basic nomenclature and introduction for the biologies (zoology and botany), geographies, (political, cultural and physical), and invitations to various science experiments.

For more information about Montessori, visit the American Montessori Society. See also, Montessori Resources which provides important information about montessori education and brain research.