What is Montessori?

Montessori is an educational method that was developed by Dr Maria Montessori over a hundred years ago in Italy. It is now found world-wide and has many successful graduates, including the founders of Google who credit their Montessori education as a key to their success. Montessori education focuses on developing independence and child-centred learning; each child is guided to be responsible for their own learning and to flourish as a life-long learner. All the materials used promote hands-on learning for each age level while developing true understanding of the work completed. For instance children learn to work out square roots using specialised beads and learn land forms such as archipelago with models and experiments. Montessori introduces children to a wide range of topics, not only to entice their enthusiasm for learning but to also help build connections within their neural pathways. Even though Montessori is over a hundred years old, modern neuroscience is validating her theories even now.

 

Montessori encourages mixed-age classes where each child has a chance to be a mentor to others while also being inspired by older children. These classes are based upon a foundation of respect for everyone and all living things. Montessori engages in social awareness and helps the children to care for their surroundings and strive to make a difference in the world.

 

Montessori is truly education for life with practical life activities from learning basic cooking skills to woodworking and budgeting skills. Montessori children are prepared for the world as they are independent thinkers who are encouraged to be innovative and use problem solving in every aspect of their lives. Montessori children are guided through their interests and each follows an individualised curriculum which caters to their strengths and weaknesses.

Montessori is internationally recognised and develops the out of the box thinking that is so coveted in today’s world.

“The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child’s own natural desire to learn.”

- Maria Montessori

Montessori Students you may have heard of:

  • Larry Page and Sergey Brin – founders of Google
  • Jeff Bezos – founder of Amazon.com
  • Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis – former First Lady
  • Gabriel Garcia Marquez – Nobel Prize-winning novelist
  • Anne Frank – famous child diarist from World War II
  • Prince William and Prince Harry – sons of Charles, Prince of Wales
  • Melissa and Sarah Gilbert – actresses
  • Sean Combs – famous rapper
  • Julia Child – first TV chef
  • Helen Hunt – Academy Award winning actress
  • George Clooney – Academy Award winning actor
  • David Blaine – magician (also sent his children to a Montessori school)
  • Chelsea Clinton – daughter of Bill & Hillary Clinton
  • Dakota Fanning – Academy Award nominated actress

Montessori Principles

Principle One

Classes in Montessori Schools are mixed-age and non-graded:

  • Mixed-age classes comprise at least three-year groupings corresponding to the Planes of Development: 3 to 6; 6 to 9 and 9 to 12 or 6 to 12; 12 to 15 and 15 to 18 or 12 to 18.
  • Mixed-age groups are not correlated to grades, nor are they divided in other ways according to achievement levels or normative standards.

The 0-3 sub-plane is divided as follows:

  • Infant (Nido) groups: Approximately 3 months (or older) to when the child is walking well (about 12 – 18 months; and
  • Toddler Communities: From when the child is walking well (about 12 – 18 months) to about 2½ or 3 years.

Principle Two

Montessori schools accommodate an extended period of uninterrupted self-chosen activity – a period during which children can choose their own activity and work undisturbed for a minimum of three hours.

Principle Three

Rewards and Punishments are not used in a Montessori environment.

Principle Four

A prepared environment is a critical component of Montessori Pedagogy.

 

The prepared environment:

  • Serves the developmental and pedagogical needs of the children using it
  • Supports freedom of movement, speech and association
  • Supports free choice of activity
  • Facilitates normalization (3-6), adaptation (6-12) and valorisation (12 – 18)
  • Includes a full range of Montessori materials appropriate to the age for which it is prepared

Principle Five

The adults in the Montessori environment exhibit and apply the principles of Montessori pedagogy through:

  • A disposition of respect and patience towards the child
  • An ability to balance the principle of non-intervention while at the same time not abandoning the child
  • Trust in Montessori principles, methodology and pedagogical aims
  • Seeing the role of the adult as primarily observer, scientist and interpreter of the environment rather than as a teacher in the conventional sense
  • Guiding the child to normalization and development appropriate to each Plane of Development

Principle Six

Montessori schools implement the SAMA Montessori curriculum for ages 0-12.