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The
Montessori
Method
© Aline D. Wolfe 1975, 1980, 1995
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The Purpose
of Montessori Education
Preschool Ages 2 1/2 - 6 years
Dr. Maria Montessori believed that no human being is educated by
another person. He must do it
himself or it will never be done. A
truly educated individual continues to learn long after the hours and years
he spends in the classroom because he is motivated from within by a natural
curiosity and love for knowledge.
Dr. Montessori felt, therefore, that the goal of early childhood
education should not be to fill the child with facts from a pre-selected
course of studies, but rather to cultivate his own natural desire to
learn.  In the
Montessori classroom this objective is approached in two ways: first, by
allowing each child to experience the excitement of learning by his own
choice rather than by being forced and second, by helping him to perfect
all his natural tools for learning, so that his ability will be at a
maximum in future learning situations. The Montessori materials have this
dual, long-range purpose in addition to their immediate purpose of giving
specific information to the child.
How the
Children Learn
The use of the materials is based on the young child's unique
aptitude for learning which Dr. Montessori identified as the "absorbent
mind". In her
writings, she frequently compared the young mind to a sponge. It literally absorbs
information from the environment.
The process is particularly evident in the way in which a two year
old learns his native language, without formal instruction and without the
conscious, tedious effort which an adult must make to master a foreign
tongue. Acquiring information in
this way is a natural and delightful activity for the young child who
employs all his senses to investigate his interesting surroundings.
Since the child retains this ability to learn by absorbing until he
is almost seven years old, Dr. Montessori reasoned that his or her
experience could be enriched by a classroom where he could handle materials
which would demonstrate basic educational information to him. Over ninety years of experience have
proved her theory that a young child can learn to read, write and calculate
in the same natural way that he learns to walk and talk. In a Montessori classroom, the equipment
invites him/her to do this at his/her own periods of interest and readiness.
The
Importance of the Early Years
In
"The Absorbent Mind", Dr. Montessori wrote,
"The most important
period of life is not the age of university studies, but the first one, the
period from birth to age six. For
that is the time when man's intelligence itself, his greatest implement is
being formed. But not only his
intelligence; the full totality of his psychic powers .. At no other age
has the child great need of an intelligent help, and any obstacle that
impedes his creative work will lessen the chance he has of achieving
perfection."
Psychological studies based on controlled research have confirmed
these theories of Dr. Montessori. After analyzing thousands of such
studies, Dr. Benjamin S. Bloom of the University of Chicago, wrote in "Stability
and Change in Human Characteristics",
"From conception to age
4, the individual develops 50% of his mature intelligence; from ages 4 to 8
he develops another 30%. This would
suggest the very rapid growth of intelligence in the early years and the
possible great influence of the early environment on this
development."
Like Dr. Montessori, Dr. Bloom believes "the environment
will have maximum impact on a specific trait during that trait's period of
most rapid growth". As an extreme example, a starvation diet
would not affect the height of an eighteen-year-old, but could severely
retard the growth of a one-year-old baby.
Since eighty percent of your child's mental development takes place
before he is eight years old, the importance of favorable conditions during
these years can hardly be over-emphasized.
Sensitive Periods
Another observation of Dr. Montessori's, which has been reinforced
by modern research, is the importance of the sensitive periods for early
learning. These are periods of
intense fascination for learning a particular characteristic or skill, such
as going up or down steps, putting things in order, counting, or
reading. It is easier for the child
to learn a particular skill during the corresponding period than at any
other time in his life. The Montessori
classroom takes advantage of this fact by allowing the child freedom to
select individual activities which correspond to his own periods of
interest.
At What
Ages?
Although the entrance age varies in individual schools, a child
usually enters a Montessori Casa classroom is between the ages of two and one
half and four, depending on when he can be happy and comfortable in a
classroom situation. He will begin
with the simplest exercises based on activities which all children enjoy. The equipment which he uses at three and
four will help him to develop the concentration, coordination and work
habits necessary for the more advanced exercises he will perform at five
and six. The entire program of
learning is purposefully structured.
Therefore, optimum results cannot be expected either for the child
who misses the early years of the cycle, or for one who is withdrawn before
he finishes the basic materials described here.
Parents should understand that a Montessori school is neither a
babysitting service nor a play school that prepares a child for traditional
kindergarten. Rather, it is a unique cycle of learning designed to take
advantage of the child's sensitive years between three and six, when he can
absorb information from an enriched environment. A child who acquires the
basic skills of reading and arithmetic in this natural way has the
advantage of beginning his education without drudgery, boredom, or
discouragement. By pursuing his individual interest in a Montessori
classroom, he gains an early enthusiasm for learning, which is the key to
his becoming a truly educated person.
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