Montessori supports early childhood education and nurtures physical, mental and emotional development. Also it helps children to develop communication skills.
What is the role of the adult in the Montessori method?
Teachers' most important role is to carefully create a prepared environment, which allows children to act independently, freely, in accordance with the sensitive period of their lives. The Montessori environment serves as one of the primary educators of the child, along with the materials contained within. The guide creates this balanced environment by preparing it with the help of appropriate furniture and toys, so that it serves the needs of the children: small furniture, beauty and cleanliness, variety of natural textures in furnishings and materials, low shelving. The environment should be responsive, stimulating, well organised and inviting.
What is the importance of the Montessori method in early childhood education?
Young children:
- develop an inner guide directing their development,
- learn the basic tools to develop creativity,
- learn to be independent,
- focus on the aspects of their environment,
- easily absorb their environment
The early years are also the time to help children understand how to live cooperatively and positively in a world full of other people.
How did Montessori get started?
Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was an Italian physician and educator. She went to her first work as a surgical assistant at Santo Spirito Hospital. As part of her work she would visit Rome’s asylums for the children with mental disorders seeking patients for treatment: training children in physical activities such as walking and the use of a spoon, training their senses by exposure to sights, smells, and tactile experiences. Then she started her research in elementary schools as "scientific pedagogy", a concept current in the study of education at the time, which allowed to put her ideas into practice. She immersed herself in her own studies of educational philosophy. She called for not just observation and measurement of students, but for the development of new methods which would transform them. Further, education itself should be transformed by science. Over the course of her lifetime, Montessori developed pedagogical methods and materials.
Why is Montessori education successful?
Before her death Maria created over 4,000 Montessori classrooms across Europe and the U.S. and her books were translated into many different languages for the purpose of training new educators. Her methods have been installed in thousands of public and private nurseries, kindergartens and schools across the world.
Bibliography:
Honegger Fresco Grazia "Maria Montessori. Historia aktualna" 2020, Mamania
Isabel Sanchez Vegara "Maria Montessori" 2019, Frances Lincoln Publishers Ltd