Who is Maria Montessori? – Montessori by Ashbourne

Montessori

The beauty of the Montessori philosophy is the simplicity of the ethos and how children are at the forefront of the classroom and their own individual learning. There is nothing purer than following the child and their interests and this is the baseline for the whole Montessori philosophy.

Maria Montessori believed in both sides of the nature/nurture debate, believing children are born with a personality that would gradually unfold. The key to supporting a child’s personality and intellect reach their full potential, is through a provision enriched with a nurturing environment.

The Montessori method focuses highly on how the environment (Classroom) is organised and the role of the Montessori practitioners who prepare and work with in the environment.

The vision is for each environment to be idyllic where children are happy and content and there is obvious learning taking place. To achieve this, there needs to be certain aspects of the environment that are embedded to an excellent standard. These are:

Freedom

Montessori allows for a lot of freedom – NO interrupting the children at crucial points of learning, whilst taking into consideration the nurseries golden rules.

Structure and Order

Montessori environments have an order to how they are presented and prepared. There is a clear progression of activities and this allows for the children to understand structure, order and boundaries.

Reality and Nature

It is paramount to the Montessori philosophy to ensure everything in the Montessori classroom is part of reality, which will support children in their future life, learning and caring for nature and the environment.

Beauty and Atmosphere

All Montessori settings should be aesthetically pleasing, with a rich, calm and inviting atmosphere; allowing children and adults to enjoy their environment and take pride wherever they are.

Montessori Materials

Montessori materials have been carefully and thoughtfully created in a way to support children in their continued development. The majority of Montessori materials have direct and indirect learning objectives, allowing the child to learn a direct new skill with the beginnings of preparing the mind and body for new skills in future development.

Consideration for Community Life

Montessori environments should always have a consideration for the local community and acknowledge the individual home life of all the children attending.

Philosophy

Another key aspect is that Montessori is a philosophy that works in today’s world and will support the children in the future world is that Montessori stressed the importance to practitioners that the Montessori method was not set in stone. As society changes, practitioners need to also change and be innovative in the classroom.

History

Throughout the history of the Montessori educational method it has been recognised and valued worldwide for its many benefits to early years children and beyond. The Montessori ethos enables children to grow harmoniously in accordance with their nature. Montessori education has given many foundations for a future path of learning and success. Above all Montessori has done all this through fostering a positive and holistic approach.

Development

In a Montessori nursery, children will not be moved on to the next stage of learning until they are absolutely ready and the previous skills they have been learning are a concrete skill and the child has mastered what was expected. Although Montessori is focused on process, not product, children will not be pressurised to do what is unachievable for them but given the time and strategies to have a continuous progression of their individual development in the nursery. The only way to know what children are able to do with confidence is to OBSERVE and LISTEN.