"The child should love everything that he learns, for his mental
and emotional growths are linked. Whatever is presented to him
must be made beautiful and clear, striking his imagination. Once
this love has been kindled, all problems confronting the
educationalist will disappear" (Dr. Maria Montessori, To Educate
the Human Potential).
Respect is the fist and foremost important value that is
instilled in the life of a Montessori child, respect for their
fellow learners, respect for themselves, respect for their
environment and respect for the adult.
In a Montessori classroom children are encouraged to follow
their natural inclination towards learning: the children learn
"by doing", by physically interacting with their environment.
Children are allowed enough freedom to move and act and they are
able to take from their environment language, characteristics
and customs, furthermore, through interacting with the
environment, the child discovers, constructs, and reacts.
The Montessori child works in an environment that is prepared to
inspire them and to make their learning experience an exciting
one.
In the Montessori classroom, the directress is a guide who
assists the child develop to their full potential.
Montessori children have more freedom of movement, but they also
have more responsibilities.
The materials in the Montessori classroom are self-teaching, and
self correcting, so that the child can recognize their own
errors and thus learn through their own experiences.
Children who attend a Montessori program are encouraged to
educate, collaborate and help each other at all times.
Montessori education emphasizes cognitive development and the
environment and method encourage self-discipline.
The open classroom encourages the children of different ages to
guide and help each other, we refer to this as vertical
grouping.
The peace and tranquillity of the classroom incorporate singing,
movement, and cultural opportunities involving music, art,
biology and botany.
The child sets their own learning pace and reinforces their own
learning by repetition of work and an internal feeling of
success.
In a Montessori classroom the teacher is called a Directress,
being as unobtrusive in the classroom as possible, using
positive encouragement. She mainly gives individual instruction
based on the ability of the child.
In Dr. Montessori’s words: "The task of the teacher becomes that
of preparing a series of motives of cultural activity, spread
over a specially prepared environment, and then refraining from
obtrusive interference. Human teachers can only help the great
work that is being done, as servants help the master" (Education
for a New World).
Every child is different and should be treated as an individual
and be provided with the opportunity to develop their own
personal needs.
"It
is, then, not so important which facts one teaches the student,
because
very often these
facts are
already obsolete by the time they can be
used. It is more important to help him to develop his
potentialities so that he can rely on his own ability to cope
with the unexpected and solve
whatever new problems may crop up. He must be helped to feel
independent in his own world and to develop the vision that will
help him as an
adult to maintain the environment in such a way that the
unending, creative and gigantic cosmic task of man can continue"
(Mario Montessori, Jr., in Education for Human Development:
Understanding Montessori).
