Dr. Maria Montessori believed that no human being is educated by another person. They must do it for themselves or it will never be done. A truly educated individual continues learning long after the hours and years spent in the classroom because they are motivated from within by a natural curiosity and love of knowledge. Dr. Montessori felt, therefore, that the goal of early childhood education should not be to fill the child with facts from a preselected course of studies, but rather to cultivate their own natural desire to learn.
In the Montessori classroom, this objective is approached in two ways. First, by allowing each child to experience the excitement of learning by their own choice rather than by being forced: and second, by helping them to perfect all their natural tools for learning, so that their ability will be at a maximum in future learning situations. The Montessori materials have this dual long-range purpose in addition to their immediate purpose of giving specific information to the child.
The use of materials is based on the young child’s unique aptitude for learning which Dr. Montessori identified as the “absorbent mind”. Dr Montessori frequently compared the young mind to a sponge. It literally absorbs information from the environment. Acquiring information in this way is a natural and delightful activity
for the young child who employs all his senses to investigate his interesting surroundings.
Since the child retains this ability to learn by absorbing until he is almost seven years old, a classroom where he can handle materials which demonstrate basic educational information invites him to do this at his own periods of interest and readiness.
Dr. Montessori always emphasized that the hand is the chief teacher of the child. In order to learn there must be concentration. The best way a child can concentrate is by fixing his attention on some task he is performing with his hands. All the equipment in a Montessori classroom allows the child to reinforce his casual impressions by inviting him to use his hands for learning.
Another observation of Dr. Montessori is the importance of the sensitive periods for early learning. There are periods of intense fascination for learning a particular characteristic or skill. It is easier for the child to learn a particular skill during the corresponding sensitive period than at any other time in their life..
The classroom takes advantage of this fact by allowing the child freedom to select individual activities which correspond to his/her own periods of interest. The role of the teacher in a Montessori classroom is that of observer. She observes the needs and interests of each child and prepares the environment to help the child. Daily work proceeds from her observations rather than from a prepared curriculum which helps the child achieve his/her own goal.
Maria Montessori considered her emphasis on the environment a unique element of her method. The “prepared environment” is a place where the child can learn to do things for himself without the immediate help of an adult. A place of beauty with child sized furnishings carefully structured and ordered by an adult for the child’s freedom. The proper environment is divided into different areas that enhance a child’s development. The first one is practical life. These daily living exercises develop
concentration. They involve self-help skills, eye-hand coordination and fine motor coordination sequencing. They allow the child to imitate adult activities and generate a sense of independence.
The next area is the sensorial area. A young child meets the world around him through the constant use of all his senses. Through the use of special materials, the child’s classifying powers become more refined. Awareness of the world is heightened as he experiments with sharing, color, sound volume, taste, size, smell and touch. The classroom provides opportunities for oral communication using stories, poems, vocabulary enrichment and sharing. Skills such as phonics, reading and creative writing are introduced as a child is ready.
Using the manipulative materials of math, the child is introduced to counting, numerals,, the decimal system, concepts of addition/substraction, multiplication and division. In addition to the basic curriculum, the child’s development is also enhanced through special programs of music, movement, art and foreign language. During the course of a child’s Montessori career, he is also introduced to the universe and all its aspects through geography and natural science.
