What is Montessori
Montessori simply put is a different approach to education. It can be described as “child-centered” where the child’s development directs the lesson, not a cookie cutter curriculum based on age. In Montessori we focus on the developmental stages of each individual child, the rate at which a child grows through those stages, and the interests and needs of each individual child. Teachers plan individual, one-on-one lessons for each child based on the stages of development. Montessori classrooms are equipped with specifically designed materials to guide the children as they grow. In Montessori the teacher is an observer, follower and guide who facilitates the child's academic, social, and intellectual exploration.
Montessori is a carefully created and purposefully prepared environment where every element of the curriculum, the materials and the classroom is designed to engage the learner. Maria Montessori crafted an educational approach and developed materials, which correspond to each child's individual development and make abstract concepts real through concrete experiences.
Grace and courtesy have been an integral part of the Montessori day for the past 100 years. How we create community, resolve conflicts, solve problems, and how we treat one another with honesty, care and respect are among the most important lifetime skills we can embed in our children's character. By creating a respectful, stable and interdisciplinary learning environment, Absorbent Minds Montessori presents a sense of order, understanding and respect in the world of each student.
Absorbent Minds Montessori School provides a well-developed, clearly defined curriculum, which recognizes, understands and responds to the needs of each child in a developmentally appropriate way. Highly structured, it is the very formation of each environment at Absorbent Minds Montessori that allows for the intellectual freedom and exploration, which characterizes the Montessori classroom.
Absorbent Minds Montessori School provides specially designed, multi-sensorial materials that engage the children constantly in their own learning, allowing each to learn (and to understand) by doing. With cross-age groupings in three-year developmental cycles, children eventually internalize what they have learned by teaching the younger children and by being mentors and role models. In this way they also learn leadership, character and responsibility.
Frequently Asked Montessori Questions
Q. What is the role of the teacher in the Montessori classroom?
A. Dr. Maria Montessori saw the adult in the classroom as a guide for the child in his natural impulse to learn; therefore the adult is referred to as the "directress." It is the directress who connects the child's intellectual and physical growth and development within the classroom.
Q. I thought Montessori was only for gifted kids or for slow learners?
A. Montessori classroom work is done individually allowing each child to succeed at his own pace. More important than the speed of grasping a concept is the process the child goes through to come to a conclusion. Being "child-centered" allows Montessori education to fit any learning style.
Q. What is the best age to enter Montessori school?
A. Dr. Montessori's observations showed the child's mind being the most absorbent between 2-1/2 and 6 years of age. It is during this time period a child longs to expand his horizon and his experiences beyond the home.
Q. What does the word "work" mean in the Montessori classroom?
A. Work is the self-chosen activity of the child. Work is not just "labor." It is fulfilling experiences that the child enjoys. "A child can only develop by means of experiences in his environment. We call such experiences ' work.'" ~ Dr. Maria Montessori
Q. With so much freedom, how does a child learn discipline?
A. The child is free to work and build himself in a way that is respectful of the environment and his peers. There are well-defined rules of conduct and he is not free to harm himself, others or the environment. The Montessori environment is designed to promote concentration, which in turn teaches self-discipline.
Q. How is creativity promoted in the classroom?
A. Creativity is not limited to art or music. Each child possesses individual creativity while he forms his personality and his ability to operate in his world. While the Montessori Method does incorporate art and music, we must remember the environment is specifically designed to challenge and stimulate creativity within the child's mind.
Q. Why are there children of different ages in the same classroom?
A. Mixed age grouping provided a very unique environment in which children learn more than academics. By having students of different ages together there is opportunity for understanding of various levels of ability, appreciation of others’ strengths and weaknesses and resourcefulness (finding answers from peers, not just teachers). Students are also able to learn what it means to set an example for another child, what it means to be a leader and even how to teach what they know to others.