MONTESSORI PHILOSOPHY
The school’s programs are based upon the principles developed by Dr. Maria Montessori, an educator and Italy’s first female physician. Montessori felt that all children have periods of increased sensitivity when they learn more easily. She also observed that children learn best through active, hands-on
experiences.
Maria Montessori developed an educational method designed to fit each child instead of one that makes each child fit into a preset program. Montessori programs are noncompetitive, they allow children to develop at their own individual rates, and they emphasize educating the whole child, fostering cognitive, emotional, social, spiritual, and physical growth. Classrooms are equipped with materials appropriate for all children, no matter where they are in their development. Dr. Montessori believed that preschool children’s development if based on a three-year cycle. Multi-age classrooms enhance learning because younger children emulate older children, and older children assist younger ones.
Montessori education is child-directed rather than teacher-directed. It encourages initiative, independence, responsibility, and self-discipline. Teachers observe, support, and challenge children through “guided-discover” learning activities, rather than controlling or judging their activities. Throughout their Montessori training, teachers learn how to be as nondirective as possible in order for children to make their own discoveries. The child’s role is an active one, not a passive one as it is in many traditional programs.
The Montessori classroom is a prepared environment: it is a nourishing place for children and has been designed to encourage independent learning. The classrooms allow children to learn as they move about, touch objects, and explore activities. Furniture and materials are child-sized. Math materials are three-dimensional. Materials are designed to be self-correcting so a child can accomplish a task independently. The classroom setup encourages order so after finishing an activity, the child picks up the materials and returns them to the shelf. Other children then know where to find them.
Montessori classrooms are small, diverse communities in which children learn to get along with others, not unlike the real world. In a mixed-age classroom, children with a broad range of interests and abilities learn to interact respectfully.
Montessori education encourages many useful, real world skills. Children see the connections between different subject areas because their education is interdisciplinary. They are allowed the freedom to be creative and spontaneous. They develop valuable social skills as they learn to be unique individuals in a larger community. They become self-disciplined and self-motivated. They enjoy and feel in control of their learning.
The above philosophy was synthesized from Paula Polk Lillard’s Montessori: A Modern Approach (Schocken Books: New York, 1972).
Preschool & Child Care
Schedule
Keystone Area Educational Agency
If You Want To Know More
Other Interesting Links
For a tour or information about
Grand View Preschool
and Child Development Center
contact us at
563.582.8875