montessori environment - montessori curriculum

The Montessori Environment

The montessori learning environment is much different than the traditional model. Instead of information passing from the teacher to the student, as in traditional school systems, the teacher is skilled in putting the child in touch with the montessori curriculum, and helping him learn to make intelligent choices and to carry out research in a prepared environment. The teacher then protects the student's concentraion from interruption. This fosters a love of lifetime learning in the student.

Keep in mind the montessori triangle: the student, the parents or teacher and the environment. It is the role of the adult to prepare the montessori environment, to link the child to it through books and materials, projects and lessons, which nurtue the child's exploration and creativity. Children then learn to find answers for themselves.

The montessori school environment is arranged according to subject area - cooking, cleaning, art, caring for animals, science, library corner, etc - children always free to move around the room instead of staying at desks. There is no limit to how long a child can work on something she has chosen. At any time in a day all subjects, practical work, math, language, science, history, art, music, geography, etc - will be being studied, at all levels, by montessori children of mixed ages learning from each other, facilitated by careful observation, individual lessons, record keeping and the assistance of the teacher.

What Makes The Montessori Environment Unique

The "Whole Child" approach. The primary goal of a Montessori environment is to help children 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 for the montessori children. The holistic montessori environment, under the direction of a specially trained teacher, allows the child to experience the joy of learning, time to enjoy the process and insure the development of self-esteem, and provides the experiences from which children create their knowledge.

The "Prepared Montessori Environment". In order for self-directed learning to take place, the whole learning environment (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 trust of the montessori children, which enables them to try new things and build self-confidence.

The "Montessori materials".Dr. Montessori's observations of the kinds of things which montessori children enjoy and go back to repeatedly led her to design a montessori curriculum filled with a number of multi-sensory, sequential and self-correcting materials which facilitate the learning of skills and abstract ideas.

The "Teacher" (also called a directress). The Montessori directress functions as designer of the montessori environment, resource person, role model, demonstrator, record-keeper and meticulous observer of each child's behavior and growth. The directress acts as a facilitator of learning.