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The Montessori Concept - pt.5 |
The following is a seven part article based on information from www.montessori.org. You may read the article through or choose portions of it by means of the subtitle summaries at the top of each page.
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The Montessori classroom is organized into several curriculum areas, usually including: language arts (reading, literature, grammar, creative writing, spelling, and handwriting), mathematics and geometry, everyday living skills, sensory awareness exercises and puzzles, geography, history, science, art, music, and movement. Most rooms will include a classroom library. Each area is made up of one or more shelf units, cabinets, and display tables with a wide variety of materials on open display ready for use as the children select them. The Montessori curriculum is organized into a spiral of integrated studies, rather than a traditional model in which the curriculum is compartmentalized into separate subjects, with given topics considered only once at a specific grade level. In the early years, lessons are introduced simply and concretely and are reintroduced several times over succeeding years at increasing degrees of abstraction and complexity. The course of study uses an integrated thematic approach that ties the separate disciplines of the curriculum together into studies of the physical universe, the world of nature, and the human experience. Literature, the arts, history, social issues, political science, economics, science and the study of technology all complement one another. This integrated approach is one of Montessori's great strengths. As an example, when students study Africa, they also read African folk tales, create African masks and make African block print dashikis in art, learn Swahili songs in music and traditional folk dances, and study the ecosystems, flora, fauna, and natural resources. Montessori schools offer a rigorous and innovative academic program. The Montessori Materials: A Road from the Concrete to the Abstract A basic element of the Montessori approach is the simple observation that children learn most effectively through direct experience and the process of investigation and discovery. In her studies of child development, Dr. Montessori noted that most children do not learn by memorizing what they hear from their teachers or read in a text; instead, they learn from concrete experience and direct interaction with the environment. Asking a child to sit back and watch us perform a process or experiment is like asking a one-year-old not to put everything in his mouth. Children need to manipulate and explore everything that catches their interest. Anyone who has raised a child knows that this is true just from daily experience. It's ironic that most schools today still teach primarily through lecture, textbooks, and workbooks. Most students still spend their days sitting behind a desk praying for the recess bell to ring. Dr. Montessori recognized that concrete learning apparatus makes learning much more rewarding. The Montessori learning materials are not the method itself; they are the tools that we use to stimulate the child into logical thought and discovery. They are provocative and simple, each carefully designed to appeal to children at a given level of development. Each material isolates and teaches one thing or is used to present one skill at a time as the child is ready. Montessori carefully analyzed the skills and concepts involved in each subject and noted the sequence in which children most easily master them. The materials are displayed on low, open shelves that are easily accessible to even the youngest children. They are arranged to provide maximum eye-appeal without clutter. Each has a specific place on the shelves, arranged from the upper left-hand corner in sequence to the lower right, following their sequence in the curricular flowchart. The materials are arranged in sequence from the most simple to the most complex and from the most concrete to those that are most abstract. Typical Class Size A normal class is made up of from 25 to 35 children, evenly divided, boys and girls, among the three age levels. With the strong Montessori emphasis on international education, most Montessori schools both seek and attract a multi-ethnic and international student body. The class will be taught by a trained Montessorian and one or more aides or two Montessori teachers with possibly one or two aides. By consciously bringing children together in a group that is large enough that it will allow for two-thirds of the children to return every year, the school environment promotes continuity and the development of a very different level of relationship between children and their peers, as well as between children and their teachers. Classes tend to be fairly stable communities, with only the oldest third moving on to the next level each year. Next. . . Montessori
classes are made up of a two- or three-year age span |
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