Montessori Education

Separation Anxiety

Bach-Gounod, Ave Maria

About Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori graduated from the medical school of the University of Rome in 1896, and was the first woman to practice medicine in Italy. As a physician, Dr. Montessori was very involved with the care of young children. Through scientific observation, she came to see how children interacted with one another, learned through the use of materials she provided, and went through specific phases of development. Her approach to education was developed based on her observations, in collaboration with her background in psychology and her belief in the education of children as a means to create a better society. She continued to observe children around the world, and found that the universal laws of development she had recognized were inherent to children of all raves and cultures. The Montessori approach to education continues to be respected and practiced internationally.

About Montessori Education
A truly educated person continues to learn long after the years spent in the classroom because he is motivated from within by a natural curiosity and love for knowledge. Dr. Maria Montessori felt the goal of education should not be to fill the child with facts but rather to cultivate his own natural desire to learn.

Dr. Montessori, in decades of observing and studying children, concluded that they pass through sensitive periods when they possess a unique and amazing aptitude for learning. To take advantage of these sensitive environment properly prepared to stimulate their particular interests and allow them to exercise their innate ability to learn. If the sensitive period is missed or if the environment is not properly prepared, learning becomes difficult and tiresome.

The "Montessori method" consists in a carefully developed set of materials which create the proper environment for children at each stage of their development. In this environment and with the guidance of trained teachers, they can develop their intellects and acquire all the skills and content of human civilization. Over sixty years of experience with children around the world proved Dr. Montessori's theory that children can learn to read, write and calculate as easily and naturally as they learn to walk and talk.

Parents should understand that a Montessori school is neither a baby-sitting service nor a play school. Rather it is a unique cycle of learning designed to meet the natural development of the child. Those children who learn the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic in this natural way have the advantage of beginning their education without drudgery, boredom or discouragement. They gain an early enthusiasm for learning which is the key to their becoming truly educated persons.
At this stage of development, children have an "absorbent mind", soaking in facts like a sponge. They learn through concrete experience, and they tend to work best by themselves. The curriculum of the primary Montessori classroom is designed to meet these characteristics.

About Association Montessori Internationale
Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) was established in 1929 by Dr. Maria Montessori to maintain, propagate and further her ideas and principles for the full development of the human being. AMI, with headquarters in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, is the oldest recognized authority on Montessori education worldwide.

Montessori vs. Traditional Teaching Methods
(comparison provided by InfoDisc, Div. of Software Holdings, 1000 Words & Pictures CD ROM)

Montessori Method:	Traditional Method:
1. Emphasis is on cognitive and social development	1. Emphasis is on social development
2. Teacher has unobtrusive role in classroom	2. Teacher is center of classroom as "controller"
3. Environment and method encourage self-discipline	3. Teacher is primary enforcer of discipline
4. Mainly individual instruction	4. Group and individual instruction
5. Mixed age grouping	5. Same age grouping
6. Grouping encourages children to teach and help each other	6. Most teaching is done by the teacher
7. Child chooses own work	7. Curriculum is structured for the child
8. Child discovers own concepts from self teaching materials	8. Child is guided to concepts by the teacher
9. Child works as long as he wishes on chosen project	9. Child is generally allotted specific time for work
10. Child sets own learning pace	10. Instruction pace is usually set by group norm
11. Child spots own errors from feedback of material	11. If work is corrected, errors usually are pointed out by the teacher
12. Child reinforces own learning by repetition of work and internal feelings of success	12. Learning is reinforced externally by repetition and rewards
13. Multi-sensory materials for physical exploration	13. Fewer materials for sensory development
14. Organized program for learning care of self and environment	14. Less Emphasis on self-care instruction
15. Child can work where he chooses, move around and talk at will (yet not disturb the work of others); group work is voluntary	15. Child usually assigned own chair: encouraged to participate, sit still and listen during group sessions
16. Organized program for parents to understand the Montessori philosophy and participate in the learning process	16. Voluntary parent involvement

Learn more about Montessori tools and methods from other sites:

Primary Montessori Albums: Montessori tools and materials purpose and descriptions

The Montessori World Web Site Magazine

Dr. Montessori and Child
Montessori at Home

North American Montessori Teachers' Association
North America Montessori Teachers Association

Association Montessori Internationale