Montessori
Why Montessori
The name “Montessori” is after Maria Montessori, an Italian lady who was born in 1870. From what I’ve read, she seems to be a Jill-of-all-trades; her excellence at Physics and Math drew her to pursue an Engineering degree, halfway through, she decided medicine would be her preferred choice – and when she graduated she became Italy’s first ever lady doctor.
Her early work in anthropology, philosophy and psychology lead to an interest in human development and education – and when she discovered children, especially ones with special needs, seemed to respond well to her methods, she devoted most of her life to the study of early childhood education.
Her theories and the materials used are amazing – I find it hard to believe that all those ideas came from one person. Her ideas and material are still used today – most are still applicable although times have changed a great deal.
The material that the children work with are immaculately designed, and simply beckon to the child to try it out, once it is demonstated by the teacher. The amount of information learnt by a child through material exploration is phenomenal, but the beauty of it all is that the child does not realize he is learning, he learns through play and repeated activity cycles with the material, learning something new each time.
When a child first enters a Montessori nursery at 2 ½ , he is taught how to perform everyday tasks, like pouring water, folding, dressing himself (handling buttons, zips, buckles, and even laces!), using cutlery, tongs, a blunt knife. They also learn to walk along a straight line, hop, skip and jump. These activities build confidence, improve dexterity, hand-eye coordination and well as balance and poise.
“Practical Life” activity (as these are called) is every much as important as other, more academic subjects. They not only help the child take his place in his family as a “chore-helping” member, but working with practical life material in class seems to serve as a “de-stresser” or a winding down activity after a long period of academic activity.
Each child works at their own pace, there is no rush to catch up with anyone/anything, making the environment pressure free and relaxed. For this reason, children are not segregated by age, they simply move around comfortably in the work area, choosing to work with material on the floor or sitting at a table. This kind of classroom a vertical grouped class which means children of all ages are in the same area.
The teacher directs each child’s activity, leaving him to explore the material for himself after a simple demonstration, but making sure he has mastered each type of activity and understands the concept to be learnt by it before he moves on to the next activity. This method is used for each subject; math, language, etc. Each day, the child works with a piece of material for each subject, moving on only when he is ready.
A child usually leaves a Montessori kindergarten with a strong foundation in all subjects especially reading and maths. The syllabus is extensive. The child gets an insight to world and continent maps, & different land forms in Geography. The evolution of the species in History. The different classification of animals, life cycles, parts of the body in Zoology. Leaves, plants, trees, parts of flowers, photosynthesis in Botany. To add, subtract, multiply and divide large numbers up to thousands in Maths. And even get a glimpse of binomial and trinomial equation theories.
All this - effortlessly, AND with the child’s full cooperation.
This article first appeared in Bonda Magazine April 2002 and was written by Jelita Rubina Kayani
Montessori in Malaysia
In Malaysia, unfortunately, there is no governing body for Montessori schools as there are in the US and UK. We see many kindergartens mushrooming up all over town with signboards declaring that they are “Montessori” schools, when in actual fact probably only 2 in 10 actually are.
As for the rest of them, they probably call themselves that because either the principal or some of the teachers is montessori trained, or because they sport several pieces of Montessori material on their shelves.
There are certain criterion for a school to be truly Montessori. First, there are no classrooms; just several large work areas with lots of floor space and some tables and chairs.
Teachers (or directresses, as they are called) are trained in the Montessori theory and should know how to use each and every piece of apparatus. There should be not more than 10 children to a teacher. Children are not segregated by age groups, they are segregated by choice of what material they are working with at the time.
Learning by rote, memorising & chanting is unheard of, and teaching on the board is almost not used at all. Children are never forced into learning something, instead, the teacher makes the demonstration of the apparatus look so interesting and appealing that the child will not be able to stop himself from wanting to explore it. Each child works at his own pace, only moves on once he has mastered whatever he was exploring previously.
If you desire a Montessori school for your child, visit the school at least once with your child, and try asking if you and your child can observe for a day. Watch how classes are conducted, and enroll only if both you and your child are happy.
If your child's attention is held (even for a short while) when the teacher talks and sings; if he is enticed watching other children playing with the material, and readily leaves your side to have a go at it, then the school is probably right for you. If he clings to you, but is still interested in the activity he sees, he probably needs more settling in time – try leaving him for half an hour at first, increasing the time by fifteen minutes everyday, until he eventually stays for the whole session.
Many parents worry that their child will not be able to cope with the rigid primary school system here, after having so much freedom in choice of activity and work pace. To be honest, children adapt to change much better than adults. They assimilate themselves easily to any environment, and most of the time, their anxieties come from the vibes emanated by their parents. So, relax and your child will relax too.
Ultimately, whatever choice of early education you pick for your child, you need to remember that you are still the most important person in his little world. The best teachers will not be able to work wonders on your child if you do not exclaim over his drawings once in a while, or let him teach you a song he learnt at school.