I am a small town girl who grew up not knowing that there were any alternative types of education. Montessori?! What is that? Like some super religious school for hippies and weirdos? Wrong Sam. Definitely wrong. However, I’m still fairly certain that half of my family and friends think I am one of those hippy weirdos – but hopefully they will find their way to this post!
Anywho…back to the question. What is Montessori?!?! Only weirdos send their children to Montessori school, right? WRONG.
Dr. Maria Montessori was a very well educated Italian woman who worked and studied children from ages 0 to 6 years. However, her work has since expanded into elementary, adolescent and high school years as well. After her philosophy for working with children spread through Italy, it made its way to the United States around 1917. Maria Montessori offered many different training courses that aimed to educate adults, so that they are able to help children reach their maximum human potential. As the popularity of this type of education grows, more and more Montessori training courses are offered all around the globe!
The key to this work is understanding the physical and psychological needs of the child so we, as the adult in the child’s life, can adequately prepare the environment for development and growth during this time in the child’s development. Once the adult is able to create an environment that properly meets the needs of all the children, it allows them to direct their own learning guided by their individual interests and passions. This unique environment not only cultivates independence and self confidence, but also a love of learning and nature. As the adult, it is important to be able to really listen and observe your child so you are able to see them as a capable individuals and allow them to figure life out on their own.
Because of this very different learning style, a Montessori classroom looks much different than a typical childcare facility or public school classroom. If you were to walk into a Montessori classroom right now, you would not see rows of desks facing a white board with a teacher lecturing in front. You would see a beautiful space filled with natural and purposeful work that allows the child to learn at his or her own pace. In a Montessori toddler classroom, you wouldn’t see you boxes of plastic toys, cartoon characters, and high chairs. You would see a room filled with appropriately sized wooden furniture, including sinks and toilets, real life objects (nothing pretend and very little to no plastic), and materials that allow the child to become independent. What do I mean by materials that allow the child to become independent? The classroom has materials for language development, self-expression (art), and practical life. Practical life includes learning to care for themselves, feeding themselves, caring for the environment, and caring for the outdoors. These things sounds like work to you and I, but to toddlers, these are activities that allow them to become functioning members of the community and it gives them purpose. They truly love their work! These types of activities expand into the children’s house (preschool & kindergarten), elementary and adolescent levels.
If you are at all interested in sending your child to a Montessori school, I would highly recommend going and observing at a school near you. I can go on and on trying to describe what a Montessori classroom looks like, but the truth is that you will never get the full image unless you see it all in action! It’s a beautiful thing!
As you can imagine, this is not only confined to the walls of a school building – it is a lifestyle. Home and school go hand and hand, so it is important to to establish consistency and incorporate the Montessori philosophy into your everyday life. There are SO many ways to do this! But don’t worry, there will be many Montessori in the home posts come 😉
