Pawleys Island Montessori

Montessori

What is a

MONTESSORI EDUCATION?

Montessori is a unique method of teaching developed more than 100 years ago by Italian born physician, educator and peace advocate, Dr. Maria Montessori.

The Montessori teaching method uses hands-on, self-correcting materials in a thoughtfully prepared environment that encourages responsibility, independence and confidence. It is an approach that values the human spirit and the development of the whole child-physical, social, emotional and cognitive.

Students are focused due to their desire to learn. They work in multi-age classrooms at their own pace, guided by the teacher, until they master their work. In this environment, learning is an exciting process of self-discovery. Children are fully engaged in work that matters to them. They are given freedom with responsibility - they are trusted and respected. Montessori is the spark that ignites a lifelong love of learning.

Some basic premises of the Montessori approach to teaching and learning include:

Children have a natural tendency to learn by active participation.
Children are capable of self-directed learning.
Children learn in a distinctly different way from adults.
Children are masters of a classroom environment that has been specifically prepared for them to be academic, comfortable, and to allow a maximum amount of independence.
Children learn through discovery, so instructional materials that are self-correcting are used as much as possible.

Maria Montessori

About

DR. MARIA MONTESSORI

Dr. Maria Montessori, the creator of "The Montessori Method of Education," devoted her life to developing a philosophy of education emphasizing the importance of the child's early years. As the first woman physician to graduate from the University of Rome, she became involved with education as a doctor treating children labeled as retarded. She treated even the smallest child with a respect that amounted almost to reverence. In 1906 she was invited to open a daycare center for the children of desperately poor families in the San Lorenzo slums of Rome. She called it "A Children's House," and developed an environment geared to the size, pace and interest of the boys and girls between the ages of three and six.

Dr. Montessori described the function of education as an "Aid to Life." Her dynamic theories included such revolutionary premises as children are to be respected as different from adults and as individuals who are different from one another, children create themselves through purposeful activity, and the most important years for learning are from birth to age six. "The task of the child," said Dr. Montessori "is to construct a man, oriented to his environment, adapted to his time, place and culture." She emphasized two main points: first, it is the duty of the teacher to help rather than judge; and rudimental work does not exhaust, but rather gives nourishment.

Montessori vs. Traditional

Comparing

MONTESSORI WITH
TRADITIONAL EDUCATION

Montessori children are unusually adaptable. They have learned to work independently and in groups. Since they've been encouraged to make decisions from an early age, these children are problem-solvers who can make appropriate choices and manage their time well. Encouraged to exchange ideas and discuss their work freely with others, Montessori students develop strong communication skills that help ease the way in new settings.

Research has shown that the best predictor of future success is positive sense of self-esteem. Montessori programs, based on self-directed, noncompetitive activities, help children develop strong self-images and the confidence to face challenges and change with optimism.

MONTESSORI Education	TRADITIONAL Education
Emphasis on cognitive structures and social development	Emphasis on role knowledge and social development
Teacher's role is unobtrusive; child actively participates in learning	Teachers role is dominant, active; child is a passive participant
Environment and method encourage internal self–discipline	Teacher is primary enforcer of external discipline
Individual and group instruction adapts to each student's learning style	Individual and group instruction conforms to the adults teaching style
Mixed age grouping	Same age grouping
Children encouraged to teach one another, collaborate and help each other	Most teaching done by teacher and collaboration is discouraged
Child chooses own work from interest and abilities	Curriculum structured with little regard for childs interest
Child formulates concepts from self-teaching materials	Child is guided to concepts by teacher
Child works as long as s/he wants on a chosen project	Child usually given specific time for work
Child sets own learning pace to internalize information	Instruction pace set by group norm or teacher
Child discovers own errors from specially designed materials	Errors corrected by teacher
Learning is reinforced internally through child's own repetition of activity; internal feelings of success repetition	Learning is reinforced externally by rewards, discouragements
Multi-sensory materials for physical exploration development	Few materials for sensory, concrete manipulation
Organized learning program for care of self and self-care environment (shoe-polishing, sink washing, etc)	Little emphasis on instruction or classroom maintenance
Child can work where s/he is comfortable, moves and talks at will (yet doesn't disturb others); group work is voluntary and negotiable	Child assigned seat; encouraged to sit still and listen during group sessions
Organized program for parents to understand the Montessori philosophy and participate in the learning process	Voluntary parents involvement often only as fundraisers, not participants in understanding the learning process

Glossary

Glossary of

MONTESSORI TERMS

Whole Child

The "whole child" approach gives the Montessori program a primary goal to help each child reach full potential in all areas of life. Activities promote the development of social skills, emotional growth, and physical coordination as well as cognitive preparation. The holistic curriculum allows the child to experience the joy of learning and to develop self-esteem and independence.

Prepared Environment

The "Prepared Environment" is set in order for self-directed learning. The whole learning environment "the room, materials, and social climate" must be supportive of the learner. The teacher provides necessary resources, including opportunities for children to function in a safe and positive climate. The teacher thus gains the children's trust, which enables them to try new things and build self confidence.

Montessori Materials

The Montessori materials that are used in the learning environment came from Dr. Montessori's observations of the kinds of "toys" which children enjoy and return to play with repeatedly. This led her to design a number of multi-sensory sequential and self-correcting materials which facilitate the learning of skills and concepts.

Self-directed Learning

The Montessori classroom is prepared by the teacher to encourage independence, freedom within limits, and a sense of order. Every day children practice concentrating on work they choose and are given time to accomplish the work in their own time, not just until the bell rings for the next class. They can be so absorbed in the task at hand that long periods of silence are not uncommon in the classroom. This allows students to become fully absorbed in an idea. and experience the joy of self–discovery, which has much more value than if someone tells them how to do it.

Montessori Teacher

Originally called a 'Directress' the Montessori teacher functions as a facilitator of learning. She is a role model, coach, designer of the environment, demonstrator, resource person and observer of each child's growth and development. She is trained to recognize a child's readiness according to age, ability, and interest in a specific lesson, and is prepared to guide individual progress. She encourages, respects and loves each child as a special, unique individual. She also provides support for parents and joins them in partnership to nurture the development of the child.

Teaching Method & Assessment

"Teach by teaching, not by correcting." In Montessori, there are no grades, or other forms of reward or punishment, subtle or overt. There are no papers returned with red marks and corrections; instead, the child's effort and work is respected as it is. Assessment is made by the teacher through extensive observation, record keeping and by the child's portfolio. The teacher plans individual projects to enable each child to learn what he needs in order to improve. Assessing whether or not the system is working lies in the accomplishment and behavior of the children, their happiness, maturity, kindness, love of learning, and level of work.

Learning Styles & Areas of Study

All kinds of intelligences and styles of learning are nurtured: musical, bodily kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, intuitive and the traditional linguistic and logical-mathematical (reading, writing and math). All subjects are interwoven, not taught in isolation. The teacher models a 'Renaissance' person of broad interests for the children. A child can work on any material she understands at any time.

Freedom Within Limits

Each Montessori class, from toddler through high school, operates on the principle of "freedom within limits." Every program has its set of ground rules that differ from age to age, but are always based on core Montessori beliefs - respect for each other and for the environment. Children are free to work at their own pace with materials they have chosen, either alone or with others. The teacher relies on his observations of the children to determine which new activities and materials he may introduce to individual children or to a group. The aim is to encourage active, self-directed learning and to strike a balance of individual mastery with small group collaboration within the whole group community.

Mulit-Age Classrooms

Montessori places children in three-year age groups (3-6, 6-9, 9-12, etc.) allowing younger students to learn from older students, and older students to serve as mentors and reinforce their learning by teaching concepts they have already mastered. Multiage groupings are a hallmark of the Montessori teaching method and provide a family-like grouping where children can find peers who are working at their current level. The age range also allows especially gifted children the stimulation of intellectual peers, without requiring that they skip a grade or feel emotionally out of place. Because teachers normally work with each child for three years, they get to know their students' strengths and weaknesses, interests, and personalities extremely well. The children learn compassion, collaboration and a strong sense of community by working outside their peer group. This arrangement mirrors the real world, where individuals work and socialize with people of all ages and dispositions.

Global Citizenship

Montessori is an international philosophy and teaching method used in countries around the world. From an early age, the Montessori curriculum focusses on compassion for other people, and a respect for basic human rights is integrated into the study of diverse cultures. Montessori students learn how to be stewards of the environment and focus on the connectedness of all the earth's elements giving children deep respect for life. By instilling independent critical thought, personal responsibility and appreciation for diversity and nonviolence, the Montessori method fosters global citizens who can contribute to building a more just and peaceful world.

Character Education

Education of character is considered equal to academic education. Children learn to take care of themselves, their environment, each other – cooking, cleaning, building, gardening, moving gracefully, speaking politely, being considerate and helpful, doing social work in the community, etc.

AMS

American

MONTESSORI SOCIETY (AMS)

AMS Philosophy & Practice

The American Montessori Society desires to define Montessori education as it is practiced in AMS accredited schools, taught in AMS teacher education program AMS, and articulated in AMS sponsored publications, symposia and conferences.

The American Montessori Society is committed to promoting quality Montessori education for all children from birth to 18 years based on these key concepts:

The aim of Montessori education is to foster competent, responsible, adaptive citizens who are lifelong learners and problem solvers.
Learning occurs in an inquiring, cooperative, nurturing atmosphere. Students increase their own knowledge through self- and teacher-initiated experiences.
Learning takes place through the senses. Students learn by manipulating materials and interacting with others. These meaningful experiences are precursors to the abstract understanding of ideas.
The individual is considered as a whole. The physical, emotional, social, aesthetic, spiritual, and cognitive needs and interests are inseparable and equally important.
Respect and caring attitudes for oneself, others, the environment, and all life are necessary.

The Montessori teacher is educated in these areas:

Human growth and development.
Observational skills to match students' developmental needs with materials and activities. This allows the teacher to guide students in creating their individual learning plan.
An open-ended array of suggested learning materials and activities that empower teachers to design their own developmentally responsive, culturally relevant learning environment.
Teaching strategies that support and facilitate the unique and total growth of each individual.
Classroom leadership skills that foster a nurturing environment that is physically and psychologically supportive of learning.

A Montessori classroom must have these basic characteristics at all levels:

Teachers educated in the Montessori philosophy and methodology appropriate to the age level they are teaching, who have the ability and dedication to put the key concepts into practice.
A partnership with the family. The family is considered an integral part of the individual's total development.
A multi-aged, multi-graded, heterogeneous group of students.
A diverse set of Montessori materials, activities, and experiences, which are designed to foster physical, intellectual, creative and social independence.
A schedule that allows large blocks of uninterrupted time to problem solve, to see the interdisciplinary connections of knowledge, and to create new ideas.
A classroom atmosphere that encourages social interaction for cooperative learning, peer teaching, and emotional development.

Code of Ethics of the AMS

Principle I - Commitment to the Student

In fulfillment of the obligation to the children, the educator:

Shall encourage independent action in the pursuit of learning
Shall protect the opportunity to provide for participation in educational program AMS without regard to race, sex, color, creed, or national origin
Shall protect the health and safety of students
Shall honor professional commitments, maintain obligations, and contracts while never soliciting nor involving students or their parents in schemes for commercial gain.
Shall keep in confidence information that has been secured in the course of professional service, unless disclosure serves professional purposes or is required by law.

Principle II - Commitment to the Public

The Montessori educator shares in the responsibility for the development of policy relating to the extension of educational opportunity for all and for interpreting educational program AMS and policies to the public. In fulfilling these goals, the educator:

Shall support his professional society and not misrepresent its policies in public discussion. Whenever speaking or writing about policies, the educator should take the precaution to distinguish his private views from the official position of the Society.
Shall not interfere with nor exploit the rights and responsibilities of colleagues within the teaching profession.

Principle III - Commitment to the Profession

The Montessori educator makes efforts to raise professional standards and conditions to attract persons worthy of trust to careers in Montessori education. In fulfilling these goals, the educator:

Shall extend just and equitable treatment to all members of the Montessori education profession.
Shall represent his own professional qualification with clarity and true intent
Shall apply for, accept, offer, recommend, and assign professional positions and responsibilities on the basis of professional preparation and legal qualifications.
Shall use honest and effective methods of administering his duties, use of time and conducting business.

As American Montessori Society members, we pledge to conduct ourselves professionally and personally, in ways that will reflect our respect for each other and for the children we serve. We will do whatever is within our talents and capacity to protect the right of each child to have the freedom and opportunity to develop his full potential. AMS requires that all member schools and teacher education program AMS agree to comply with the AMS Code of Ethics. AMS relies solely on self-compliance of this Code.

Adopted by the AMS Board of Directors October 1969. Expanded June 1975. Updated 2005