Montessori

Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori was born in Chiatavale, Italy in 1870. Montessori was the first teacher to mention the importance of the first six years of a child’s life. Leraning in these six years and creating a solid foundation can optimise their future with both learning attitudes towards the social side of life and learning.
Setting up her first school in 1906 it became the first Montessori school, the children’s house called Casa dei Bambini.

Montessori schools help every child to reach his/her potential because it is essential. Developing her own resources, Montessori helped to encourage children to learn and make education fun for them.

Some of her methods are still used today in current Montessori schools throughout the UK and encouraging the children to make sure they look after the utilities supplied, gives them the opportunity to use what the want to in the classroom as long as it is looked after and put away after the child has finished with it.

“Montessori saw that children learn best by doing and that happy self-motivated learners form positive images of themselves as confident, successful people. She created specially designed resources to foster independence and a love for learning from an early age.”(Montessori)



Learning Environment child size
 and ergonomically designed

The key principles in a Montessori school are as follows:

•         Freedom
•         The work cycle and cycle of activity
•         Vertical grouping
•         Control of error
•         Scaffolding
•         Observation and assessment
•         Promoting self discipline in Montessori environments.

 “The Montessori approach is holistic and aims to develop the whole child. Fundamental to the approach is the belief that a child's early years from birth to six are the period when they have the greatest capacity to learn.” (Montessori)

Montessori has a lot of similarities compared to the foundation phase. Both having outdoor learning, both involving play and lifetime skills etc. However Montessori can have its advantages because the learning groups are a lot smaller meaning teachers that have been trained and teach in the Montessori schools are more able to help and assist a child when needed.

A difference also between the Foundation phase and Montessori schools is that the age range and groups are mixed (Vertical Graphing). They do not have set years with set ages so the children grows older whilst still giving them option means that can gain foundation for positive learning in their own environment, their own way.

Also in Montessori the time is more flexible. The child can pick and choose when they want their break and lunch meaning that they choose when they want to learn. It can be a positive thing because the children become more responsible for their actions.

 Montessori schools optimise a Childs learning and give them the head start to the education that they need. Building the foundations of learning in early years can give them a better attitude towards learning later on in life.

 

Sources

http://www.montessori.org.uk/what_is_montessori