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The Montessori Environment The Montessori classroom is a child-sized
environment which offers your child a means for exploration, continuing
development of movement, independence, language development, and positive
social interaction. This is what
Dr. Montessori intended for the “prepared environment.” The Montessori materials are kept on
low shelves that are easy for a young child to reach. Children are free to choose the
materials they want to use as well as select the place in the classroom where
they want to work as long as they don’t interfere with the work of
others. Our only requirement is
that the classroom materials be used with purpose and that everything be
returned to its original place when finished. Maria Montessori discovered that young
children exhibit “sensitive periods” or an all-encompassing interest in a
particular facet of the environment.
This interest produces in the child an immense amount of intellectually
driven activity. The activity
brings about the acquisition of that particular knowledge or skill which the
child then masters with ease. In
the Montessori classroom, the teacher acts as a guide for your child. Through his/her knowledge of the “sensitive
period”, the teacher is able to guide a childe to the activities which will
benefit his/her needs to the fullest. There are four major areas in a Primary
Montessori classroom – Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, and Math. Practical Life The Practical Life exercises are everyday
life activities which form a link between home and school. They include such exercises as
washing tables, polishing shoes, metal and wood, and dressing frames for
practicing such everyday routines as buttoning and tying. These activities assist development
of controlled and coordinated movements, concentration, self-discipline, independence
and activity completion. They
also form the foundation for the later work in the Montessori classroom. Sensorial If you think about our busy world, you can
imagine all the impressions that your child is absorbing. Wherever the child goes, he sees
colors and shapes, feels textures, hears sounds and smells odors. It is natural for the young child to
be curious and observant about these impressions. The sensorial materials help a child to classify and
understand all that he takes in through the senses. Each of the sensorial materials isolates on quality such
as texture, size, shape, color, or sound. Thus, the child’s full attention is focused on that
quality. It is not the aim of
Montessori to give the child more impressions, but instead, to help him
understand those things that he is exposed to everyday. Language From birth, you child absorbs the language
from the family unit in which he lives.
When introducing language in the Montessori classroom, we’re not
presenting, something new, but continuing to build upon that which the child
has already acquired. Language
work begins on the first day your child enters the class and continues
throughout his stay. We help
your child classify his world by broadening his vocabulary. Through pictures and real objects we
materialize the vocabulary words with which he is working. Reading instruction begins when your child
is introduced to he sounds of the letters. Next he is given the letter for that sound and finally, he
is shown how to put the sounds together to form words. In later work, the child is shown
exercises which help him realize how words relate to each other in expressing
thought. Instead of teaching
reading and writing, we are helping your childe become aware of the language skills
already acquired. Math As young children, most of us were forced
to lean math by rote. We never
knew the reasons for rules that were taught us. A dislike for mathematics arises because the mind is made
to abstract before dealing with the concrete. A verbal explanation is not enough for the young
child. Montessori gives the
child concrete objects for the hand in order to help the understanding. As with the other Montessori
materials, the math equipment isolates on concept for the child to
absorb. The materials are concrete
and represent all types of quantities which the child is free to manipulate
as he counts. He no only sees
the quantity for 1, 10, 100, etc., but he can hold them in his hand. Later, he is shown the written
symbol, or number, for that quantity.
When the child is ready for mathematical operations like addition, he
can actually perform the operation with the concrete materials. There are a variety of materials the
child can use for the same operation.
This variety not only maintains the child’s interest but allows for
much repetition. In this way,
the tables are memorized and the child gains a true understanding of the
operation. |
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