To understand what is a Montessori School, first let’s take you back to it’s original roots. Montessori School was created by Maria Montessori (Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori) in the early 1900s. She recognized the importance of giving children independence of their learning. Her successful, child-centered teaching methods caught on and for the next several decades, she wrote and established teacher training programs. Her influence spread worldwide, where Montessori-inspired schools have blossomed for decades. Today, there are over three thousand Montessori Schools operating in the United States.
One of Montessori’s many accomplishments was the Montessori method. This is a method of education for young children that stresses the development of a child’s own initiative and natural abilities, especially through practical play. This method allowed children to develop at their own pace and provided educators with a new understanding of child development. Montessori’s book, The Montessori Method, presents the method in detail. Educators who followed this model set up special environments to meet the needs of students in three developmentally-meaningful age groups: 2–2.5 years, 2.5–6 years, and 6–12 years. The students learn through activities that involve exploration, manipulations, order, repetition, abstraction, and communication. Teachers encourage children in the first two age groups to use their senses to explore and manipulate materials in their immediate environment. Children in the last age group deal with abstract concepts based on their newly developed powers of reasoning, imagination, and creativity.
At International Montessori Academy, our Montessori School helps children from 18 months to 6 years old. We focus on Curriculum and Children Independence Learning. The curriculum at a Montessori school moves from the concrete to the abstract. Hands-on learning using manipulative makes the concept far more clear. When math instruction begins with concrete materials, where children can manipulate the objects and spend as much time as needed to master the concept, then they are able to answer the ‘why’ questions and have a deeper understanding. This is what facilitates the child to be ready to move to abstract concepts.
Children have ownership / independence in the classroom. Children are actively helping solve problems, a classroom culture evolves in which peers who need help are quickly recognized.
Montessori education is based on a model of human development. This educational style operates abiding by two beliefs: that psychological self-construction in children and developing adults occurs through environmental interactions and that children (especially under the age of six) have an innate path of psychological development. Based on her observations, Montessori believed that children who are at liberty to choose and act freely within an environment prepared according to her model would act spontaneously for optimal development.