Drachman Montessori Magnet realizes the impact of critical learning periods in childhood on developing social, emotional, intellectual, physical, and moral capabilities. A Montessori-based education respects the uniqueness of each person and nurtures the innate capacity for every person to fulfill their potential as contributing citizens of the world.  This is accomplished through individually designed academic instruction and activities directed by Montessori certified professionals working together with students and their families. Our curriculum provides concept development and skill acquisition in prepared classroom environments with a focus on hands-on learning. Our methods enable students to develop respect for individual differences as they participate in purposeful, collaborative learning. Our students strive for inner discipline, concentration, and task completion in order to develop lifelong critical thinking and discovery skills.

What Is Montessori?

The fundamental tenet of the Montessori philosophy is that a child learns best in a social environment that supports his or her unique development.

Dr. Montessori believed that by providing children a stimulating, specially prepared environment, their natural curiosity would help them become self-motivated learners. She believed in meeting children’s individual learning needs, freedom of choice and movement, and the importance of self-discovery. Education was not simply a tool used to develop intellectual skills; it was a preparation for life. To this end, Dr. Montessori designed materials for all subject areas and activities that children experience through their senses and interactively in a multi-age, multi-ethnic classroom setting.

The teacher prepares the environment, programs, and activity, and then functions as a reference person and guide, providing encouragement. "Never let children risk failure until they have a reasonable chance of success," Dr. Montessori said. At every step of learning, the teaching material is designed to test understanding and correct errors. Patterns of time management, concentration, task completion, and thoroughness established in early years produce a competent learner in later years.

Montessori education was introduced in the United States in 1912 when Alexander Graham Bell established one of the first schools in his own home. America enthusiastically welcomed Dr. Montessori in 1915 to establish classrooms for the World Exhibition in San Francisco, California. Today the Montessori method thrives in the United States, with more than 3,000 schools established since 1957.

Who was Maria Montessori?

Dr. Maria Montessori, the creator of what is called "The Montessori Method of Education", based this new education on her scientific observations of young children’s behavior.  Born in Ancona, Italy in 1870, Maria Montessori was to become the first woman to graduate from the University of Rome Medical School. Upon her graduation in 1896, she became involved with education as a doctor treating children. Basing her educational methods on the insights she had gained from Itard and Seguin, she spent the following two years teaching children, preparing materials, taking notes, and reflecting on her observations and work. .  In l907 she was invited to open a childcare center for

the children of desperately poor families in the San Lorenzo slums of Rome.  She called it " A Children’s House".  Montessori based the program on her observations that young children learn best in an environment filled with developmentally appropriate materials that provide experiences that contribute to the growth of self-motivated, independent learners. As a result of her intensive studies, and her discovery that children could learn many things that seemed impossible, Maria Montessori devoted her energies to the field of education for the rest of her life.

Montessori’s dynamic theories included such revolutionary premises as:

She carried her message throughout the world, including the United States.  After an enthusiastic first response, interest in the U.S. waned until a reintroduction of the method in the mid-1950’s, followed by the organization of the American Montessori Society in l960.

Montessori is a Child Centered Philosophy

Dr. Montessori believed that no human being is truly educated by another person. For the most part, people teach themselves. A truly educated individual continues learning long after the hours and years spent in a classroom because he or she is motivated from within (intrinsically) by a natural curiosity and love for knowledge. Montessori’s experiments made children the center of education; her program was adapted to the interests and needs of children.

As a result, children concentrate with enthusiasm and achieve a real and profound understanding of their work. This intellectual progress is accompanied by emotional growth. The children become harmonious in movement, independent in work, and honest and helpful to one another.

It is important that before children are given the "freedom" of choice that there be a respect for the structure, discipline, and boundaries that are in place. The class is like a "little society" affording children freedom of both movement and speech. With freedom comes the inherent discipline and respect for others.

The Role of the Teacher

The teacher is active with students of each level, demonstrating the use of materials and presenting activities based on an assessment of the child's needs. Knowing when to observe and when, and how much, to intervene is a skill the Montessori teacher develops during a rigorous, specialized course of training offered at training centers throughout the world.

The Montessori Primary Approach (5 – 6 years)

Children in the primary program possess what Dr. Montessori called the absorbent mind, the ability to absorb all aspects of one's culture and environment without effort or fatigue. She demonstrated children's ability to read, write and calculate in the same natural way they learn to walk and talk. Montessori also saw that there are periods in children's development when they are drawn to and select materials that match their interest. They are guided in developing their natural capacities for learning so that their unlimited potential may be supported. Montessori materials are designed to give specific information to children and also to foster thinking skills, independence, competence and self-confidence.

Children in a Montessori classroom are taught through their hands. Therefore, Montessori materials invite children to use their hands to learn. It is through exploration with the hands that the mind perceives and organizes information. Children coming to the Montessori classroom begin with simple exercises all children enjoy. The materials they use help them to develop concentration, coordination and the necessary working habits for more advanced exercises in motor and sensory education, linguistic skills and mathematical concepts.

A Montessori program is purposefully structured, thereby giving children an early enthusiasm for learning and the key to their becoming an educated citizen of the world. When children leave a Montessori classroom they are well prepared to meet new challenges and experience life in a thoughtful and positive way.

Practical Life exercises instill care for self, for others, and for the environment. Specific tasks help children develop muscular coordination, enabling movement and the exploration of their surroundings. They learn to work at a task from beginning to end, and develop their powers of control and concentration. Sensorial materials serve as tools for development. Children build cognitive skills, and learn to order and classify impressions by touching, seeing, smelling, tasting, listening, and exploring the physical properties of their environment.

Children at the elementary school level have a whole new set of needs that call for the continued sensitivity of the teacher. The teacher's role is to prepare an appropriate environment with materials that have value and purpose, and to foster and protect the child's endeavor to explore. The teacher serves as a guide and is the link between the child and the environment.

From birth to age six, children are sensorial explorers, studying every aspect of their environment, language, and culture. From age six to twelve, children become reasoning explorers. The older child has entered a period of heightened receptivity to intellectual learning. For this reason, the Elementary curriculum stresses a rigorous academic program. Children develop new powers of abstraction and imagination. They utilize and apply their knowledge to further discover and expand their world. During this time it is still essential that the child carry out activity in order to integrate acting and thinking. It is his/her own effort that gives him/her independence, and his/her own experience that brings him/her answers to how and why things function as they do. The work of the Elementary child is social as well as academic. Driven by a desire to become part of society, the older child needs an environment that allows for social development. Lessons that encourage the children to work together in a non-competitive atmosphere allow them to practice creating and functioning in a harmonious world, participating actively, enthusiastically, and responsibly.

Where the first period of childhood is characterized by a more or less unconscious absorption from the environment, the second period is concerned with the acquisition of culture.

The teacher acts as a facilitator of learning.   Extensive training is required for a full American Montessori Society (AMS) credential, including a minimum of a full year following the baccalaureate degree and one year of student teaching under supervision. The student teaching is specialized for the age group with which the teacher will work, i.e. three to six year olds, elementary or secondary level.

What Happens When a Child Leaves Montessori?

Montessori children are extremely adaptable. They have learned to work independently and in groups.  Since they have been encouraged to make decisions from an early age, these children are problem-solvers who can make choices and manage their time well.

They also have been encouraged to exchange ideas and to discuss their work freely with others and they have developed good communication skills, which ease the way into new settings.

Research has shown that the best predictor of future success is a strong sense of self-esteem. Montessori programs, based on self-directed, non-competitive activities, help children develop good self-images and the confidence to face challenges and change with optimism.

The previous two sections were prepared by:  American Montessori Society, 281 Park Ave. South, New York, N.Y. 10010 Tel:  212-358-1250  www.amshq.org

Montessori Information Resources

Lawrence, Lynne

Malloy, Terry

Montessori, Maria

Polk, Paula Lillard

Standing, E.M.

Wolf, Aline D.

Tomorrow's Child Magazine:

Montessori Overview

NAMTA

AMS