Montessori Education
Montessori is education for Life. The Montessori philosophy believes that children between the ages of zero to six years are in the crucial stage of self-development – they are developing gross and fine motor skills, the foundation for language and the awareness of a world around them.
Dr. Maria Montessori developed this method of early childhood education that directly addressed the child’s needs. Montessori educational practice helps children develop creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking and time-management skills, care of the environment and each other, and prepares them to contribute to society and to become fulfilled persons.
Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page credit early Montessori education to their success, where they learned to be self-directed and self-starters. In an interview with Barbara Walters on the ABC TV special “The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2014”, they said that Montessori allowed them to learn to think for themselves and gave them freedom to pursue their own interests.
The Montessori difference
“Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words, but by experiences in the environment.”
– Dr. Maria Montessori
The Montessori Method is a highly scientific educational system, developed by Dr. Maria Montessori.
Children start exploring their world at the age of 14 months. At that time, they have a need for purposeful activity, communication, exploration, repetition, order and self-perfection. Every child has the power to learn by himself, and is in the need of a place, where he can develop these skills that prepare him to be an independent, self-motivated individual.
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The Prepared Environment
The Montessori classroom is completely an open plan system, and all the materials are placed on shelves at the eye level of the children. Each child has the freedom of choice of activity, place of work and pace of work. This freedom gives the child a strong sense of confidence and instills independence.
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Individual learning
The Montessori classroom has few ‘group lessons’. Every child works as an individual, choosing their wn activities. This gives them an opportunity for repetition, manipulation and exploration. The children develop concentration while working on their own, without being disturbed. This gives them the freedom to follow their own path to self learning and through their own experiences.
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Scientific materials
The children work with scientific tools, made using natural materials like wood and metal. The materials are precise and intuitively appeal to the child’s aesthetic senses. There is no usage of electronic devices or media, and the children work with their hands, developing the mind-body co-ordination necessary for their holistic development from an early age.
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The Montessori Directress
The Montessori environment has a trained teacher – her role is to observe the child and provide assistance only when the children need it. The teacher guides the child on his path to self-discovery and exploration of the environment. The materials that the child works with have a built-in control of error, allowing the children to self-correct and self-learn, without being dependent on the teacher.