About Montessori Education
What is Montessori Education?
Montessori is an individualized approach to education for children from infant through high school that helps each child reach full potential in all areas of life. It is a student-centered approach that encourages creativity and curiosity and leads children to ask questions, explore, investigate and think for themselves as they acquire skills.
A Montessori environment focuses more on a student’s learning than on a teacher’s teaching. Specially trained Montessori educators guide, coach and facilitate each child’s learning through continuous observation and assessment.
“Our aim is not merely to make children understand, and still less to force them to memorize, but so to touch their imaginations as to enthuse them to their innermost core.”
– Dr. Maria Montessori
Authentic Montessori
Since Montessori is a word in the public domain, it is possible for any individual or institution to claim to be Montessori. An authentic Montessori classroom must have the following basic characteristics at all levels:
- A classroom atmosphere which encourages social interaction for cooperative learning, peer teaching, and emotional development.
- A schedule which allows large blocks of time to problem-solve, to see connections in knowledge and to create new ideas.
- A diverse set of Montessori materials, activities, and experiences which are designed to foster physical, intellectual, creative, social, and personal independence.
- A partnership established with the family. The family is considered an integral part of the child’s total development.
- Teachers educated in the Montessori philosophy and the methodology for the age level they are teaching, who have the ability and dedication to put the key concepts into practice.
- A multi-aged, multi-graded heterogeneous grouping of students.
About Dr. Maria Montessori
Montessori education was founded by Dr. Maria Montessori as a result of her scientific observations of the behaviour and needs of young children. The first woman physician to graduate from the University of Rome, Maria Montessori became involved with education as a doctor treating children labelled as mentally challenged. In 1907 Montessori was invited to open a care centre for the children of desperately poor families in the San Lorenzo slums of Rome.
Montessori called it a “Children’s House” and based the program on her observations that young children learn best in a nurturing environment, filled with developmentally appropriate materials that provide experiences contributing to the growth of self-motivated, independent learners.
Among Montessori’s revolutionary theories were the premise that:
- Children are to be respected as different from adults and as individuals who are different from one another.
- Children create themselves through purposeful activity.
- The most important years for learning are from birth to age six.
- Children possess unusual sensitivity and mental powers for absorbing and learning from their environment, which includes people as well as materials.
As early as 1912, Montessori was carrying her message throughout the world, including North America. After an enthusiastic first response, a reintroduction of the method in the mid-1950’s followed, by the founding of a number of organizations such as the Association Montessori Internationale of United States (AMI-US), the American Montessori Society (AMS), the North American Montessori Teacher’s Association (NAMTA), and The Canadian Council of Montessori Administrators (CCMA), to name a few.
There are more than 22,000 Montessori schools in the world today.
Why is Montessori Relevant Today?
Dr. Montessori did not set out to start schools or develop a curriculum. Her intent was to observe children and learn from these observations. She noted definitive sensitivities and tendencies in their development, such as sensorial exploration, order, language, precision, and repetition.
She developed materials to meet these characteristics across the ages, and from this developed a highly integrated educational approach.
Montessori education has a curriculum geared to the child’s ability and varied competencies, with a clear path to guiding them to the next level of competency. While learning in a mixed-age community, the growth of independence within the child is encouraged and leads to confidence and competence as they explore.
The educators in a Montessori class use observation as a tool for ongoing assessment, which allows for appropriate skill-building in each individual or small group, as well as a way to encourage social awareness of the class, the school, and into the greater world.
Parents who choose a Montessori education, cite their desire for the children to learn successfully in the world that is their future. They see how an active role in one’s own learning results in a high level of academic development, social awareness, and character development. In this constantly changing and complex world, knowing how to integrate learning in one’s own life and apply this knowledge is of supreme value. Parents also want their child in a school where each is valued and respected as an individual.
Current research confirms the benefits of a Montessori education, which provides essential skills for future life and success. The skills that are often highlighted as necessary for success in the 21st century include: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. These are also at the heart of what we do.
Some notable graduates include Google founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales, and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.
Montessori education is indeed important, successful, and relevant today.
Start Your Montessori Journey Today
From nurturing curiosity in infants to preparing adolescents for adult life, Montessori education supports your child every step of the way.