Why the montessori method of education?

Have you ever thought what the buzz is about or what exactly the Montessori Method of education is? It seems to be growing more popular day by day, almost to say if your child is not attending a Montessori school you’re not cool for school.

The Montessori education is an educational approach developed by Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori. This method of education is characterized by emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child’s natural psychological, physical, and social development.

The Montessori education believes that it is necessary for the teacher to guide the child without letting him/ her feel their presence too much. This method is necessary in order for the teacher to provide required support but without taking away the learning experience from the child. The Montessori teacher demonstrates key behaviors to implement this childcentered approach by:

• Making the child the center of learning because, as Montessori said, “The teacher’s task is not to talk, but to prepare and arrange a series of motives for cultural activity in a special environment made for the child”.

• Encouraging the children to learn by providing freedom for them in the prepared learning environment.

• Observing the child so as to prepare the best possible environment, recognizing sensitive periods and diverting inappropriate behavior to meaningful tasks.

• Preparing the learning environment by ensuring that learning materials are provided in an orderly format and the materials provide appropriate learning experiences for all the children.

• Introduce learning materials, demonstrate learning materials to support children’s learning. The teachers should introduce these learning materials after observing each child.

Maria Montessori’s system of education rallied for free learning activity within a “prepared environment”, meaning an educational environment personalized to the specific characteristics and to the individual personalities of each child. The purpose of this type of atmosphere is to help and allow the child to grow independently in all areas according to his or her inner psychological directives.

Although the Montessori curriculum originated in the late 19th century, so many people see it as a modern approach to education. With this system of education each child has a personalized plan for their education, which means they learn at their own pace. Considering that the children are given choices in their education, they learn to pursue their own interests, they learn because they want to learn, they find their own order, and learn to respect their surroundings.

Maria Montessori initiated several models to explain her work and they are the absorbent mind, sensitive periods, and normalization stage.

Absorbent mind: This stage describes a child’s behavior to effortlessly assimilate activities form his or her environment such as languages, behavioral patterns and culture. She believed that this is a behavior unique to the first plane, and that it fades as the child gets older.

Sensitive periods: for this stage Montessori observed and discovered that this period is very sensitive hence the name. In the sensitive period the classroom environment has to respond every child by providing appropriate materials and activities for each individual child. She identified the following periods and their durations:

• Acquisition of language— from birth to around 6 years old

• Interest in small objects— from around 18 months to 3 years old

• Order—from around 1 to 3 years old

• Sensory refinement— from birth to around 4 years old

• Social behavior—from around 2½ to 4 years old

Normalization: in this phase, Montessori observed that children in different age range acted and developed in different ways. For instance children ages three to six years old pass through normalization phase which arises from concentration and focus on activity, and then from around six years to twelve years they go through physical and psychological changes. From ages twelve to around eighteen years of age, which is the adolescence stage they go through obvious physical and psychological changes. And finally ages eighteen to around twentyfour where Montessori wrote comparatively little about this period and did not develop an educational program for the age.

With the Montessori Method of education the system will help develop your child, they would understand their schoolwork and learn not be focused on memorization. They would also learn through hands-on experience and become actively engaged in their studies, rather than passively waiting to be spoon-fed. In their work environment working together in teams would be easy and they would learn to strive for their personal best.

Shola Okpodu popularly called “shola the school hunter” is the Group Managing Director of School Hunters Integrated Education Marketing Communications Agency.