MONTESSORI EDUCATION: THE METHOD AND THE TOOLS
Montessori education is a METHOD, which is ever continuing and developing. It consists of three main agents:
1. The Prepared Environment.
2. Means of Development.
3. Directress.(The Teacher)
THE PREPARED ENVIRONMENT
It is a real home like environment where the children live part of their day. It has to be hygienic, clean, quiet, and safe. It is planned so that it combines beauty and utility. It should give the children a feeling that it is prepared for them and that it is there for them to handle.
MEANS OF DEVELOPMENT
Means of development are The Montessori Materials and The Materials prepared by the Directress for all the developmental activities like exercises of practical life, sensorial activities, arithmetic, language, cultural activities and arts. These activities give children opportunity to apply the knowledge which has been acquired.
THE DIRECTRESS
The Directress should prepare herself at three levels:
1. Spiritual level: To be a better human being.
2. Intellectual level: Fill herself with the new knowledge with regards to the children, which can never come to an end and knowledge of what is happening around the world.
3. Technical level: Acquire technical knowledge to help the child practice with the development tools.
The Montessori TOOLS or developmental tools are as follows:
EXERCISES OF PRACTICAL LIFE
The child is very attracted to these activities because they are simple, concrete and the results are noticeable. The child can understand them as he sees them done daily, sometimes repeated by same person with the same tools in the same manner. They help the children to use their independence, will and movement in unity as they grow in independence while adapting to the environment. The Exercises of Practical Life are as follows:
1. Care of Self.
2. Care of environment.
3. Grace and courtesy.
4. Elementary activities.
5. Walking on line. (Helps to coordinate movements.)
6. Silent activity. (Child learns to control his whole body and achieves self-control).
SENSORIAL
They refine the child’s senses. Helps child to classify, put in order, categorize and become aware of the wealth of impressions that the child has in his possession. The tools of sensorial materialize the physical property of matter. Each set of tool materializes one physical property.
Colors, shapes and dimensions help to refine the Visual Sense.
Sounds and noises help to refine the Auditory Sense.
Surface texture helps to refine the Tactile Sense.
Smells help to refine his Olfactory Sense.
Weights help to refine his Baric Sense.
Feeling the forms help to refine his Stereo Gnostic Sense.
Different tools refine each sense. Children after working with the sensorial tools are able to move from concrete to abstract. They see the object, feel it, the image is then taken in and the idea is then abstracted.
LANGUAGE
Language is the most powerful instrument of the human progress.
The language in Montessori Schools is enriched in various ways through stories, poems, songs, I spy games.
The three stages in reading are Mechanical Reading, Interpretive Reading and Appreciative Reading.
Children are first made aware of individual sounds in spoken language.
Then the symbol for the sound is given.
The children also use their hands.
Three senses hearing, seeing and feeling are used for one activity.
First the vowels are taught a e i o u followed by prolongables f l m n s z r v h y, hard explosives p t k c j q x soft explosives d g b w and then the phonograms.
Small letters are given first.
Children are also taught Function of words and Reading analysis.
MATH
All the activities of Math can be divided into five groups.
1. Understand quantity and symbol of numbers 0 to 10.
2. Overall picture of Decimal System of Numeration. We first introduce the quantity then the symbols followed by functions of the Decimal System where quantity and the symbol are combined through games and activities for the four processes of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
3. Linear Counting, Skip counting and traditional names.
4. Memorizing the basic tables in each operation of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
5. Passage into abstraction.
One difficulty is dealt at a time. First the concrete is presented then the idea and a lot of experience is provided to the child. The linear aspect, numerical aspect, geometrical aspect and the algebraic aspects are presented to the child.
CULTURE
Following cultural activities are presented to the child.
1. The world.
2. The world of plants.
3. The world of animals.
4. The world of science.
5. The world of man.