Montessori Philosophy

Excerpt from Montessori Made Easy: THE BASICS by S.V. Wilhelmi:

The Montessori Method facilitates learning by discovery rather than by mere instruction. With instruction, a child must react by listening to something that is spoken or by reading something that is written by someone other than himself. The result of instruction is information - the facts of what is being taught. Discovery promotes a deeper level of learning from the very beginning of the process. In discovery a child responds to what is natural, or of the world. Learning is processed through the senses and the imagination. the senses perceive "concrete" concepts through material that can be observed directly. The imagination helps the child to progress to levels of "abstraction" where concepts that cannot be observed directly must be constructed. The result of discovery is a self-directed process that leads to a new and deeper understanding of the concepts. More simply put, discovery is the process of learning something without being taught.

Maria Montessori believed that education, rather than being a rote transfer of information, must seek to serve the "whole child" and to nurture the human potential of each individual. A child naturally learns to walk and talk, and Montessori found that within the child is the same type of ability to naturally acquire skills for reading, writing and mathematics. In the Montessori environment the material are designed to be self-correcting, which allows the child to learn in an atmosphere of success and positive reinforcement. The child corrects his own errors as he works towards mastery of concepts, through repetition of manipulations with the material. His motivation is not for external reward but for internal fulfillment.

The educational philosophy and methodology of Montessori is not just another educational theory. It is the "scientific method" of education. Montessori employed the scientific method in her observations of the child and applied her knowledge of medicine to create a new model of the human stages of development. She found a progression of four Planes of Development in which there are Sensitive Periods where development occurs most naturally and quickly.

"To follow the child" and to meet his needs, is the basic philosophy of Montessori. This is achieved through the pyramid of Montessori principles: Individualized Liberty of the Child, Observation of the Directress, Preparation of the Environment.

Excerpt from Maria Montessori, Her Life and Work by E. M. Standing

To take one or two of her principles - as many persons have done - and attempt to put them into practice without regarding their relationship to the whole, is bound to result in something bizarre and lopsided. Such fragmentary applications of Montessori's ideas exemplify the old motto: 'Corruptio optimi pessima.' (the corruption of the best is the worst of all).

To remain on the level of practice, without a grasp of her principles, is to be in constant danger of floundering from one error to another.

As E. M. Standing expressed further, it is difficult to know where to begin when giving an account of the Montessori system of education. The principles of Montessori need to be understood as interrelated parts of a whole, each as essential organs to the living system. It takes about a year of studying Montessori principles before one can reach a level of fundamental understanding.

The Four Planes of Development

Maria Montessori, based on her scientific observations of children, developed Four Planes of developmental growth for the child. She concluded that a child's growth is more like that of a butterfly, with a number of critical transformations in the first six years, followed by a period of uniform growth while the mind is "being organized" in the intermediate stage of childhood, ages 6-12, and followed by another period of transformation during the ages of 12-18.

Each formative Plane lays the foundation for the next successive Plane.

Age of Prudence: (0-6yo)

	Construction of the Physical
	Concrete Plane
	Learns with Absorbent Mind (0-3yo unconscious learning,  3-6yo conscious learning)
	Sensitive periods where learning is easier/faster
	Fundamental for the formation and character of the individual
	Basis for other virtues helps us to accomplish good in the practical order

Age of Temperance:  (6-12yo)

	Construction of the Intelligence
	Cosmic Plane
	Learns through reasoning, with imagination and logic
	"The Bridge" to Abstraction - intellectual mind is organized
	Want to learn about the Universe and its Creation/start Great Lessons/unit studies
	This virtue develops a sense of moderation and appreciation of the world s gifts

Age of Justice:  (12-18yo)

	Construction of the Social/Moral
	Cultural Plane
	Social find place in society typical 12 year old will have a High School education
	Creation of the adult
	Erdkinder: Children of the Land - board at farm/own community work the farm/store/hotel - compare to apprenticeship/family business
	Virtue that forms the consciousness of fairness and honesty to do right

Age of Fortitude: (18-24yo)

	Construction of the Spiritual
	Conscience & Discernment Plane
	Spiritual emergence to adulthood - to find one s place and function in the world
	Virtue that enables one to stand up for and do what s good and true

Sensitive Periods

Maria Montessori discovered that the unrealized potential of the child's mind is one of the greatest secrets of childhood. When the proper materials are made available in a prepared environment, children spontaneously acquire knowledge beyond what is generally thought to be possible for their age.

She also found that all children, around the world, experience Sensitive Periods in certain areas of their development during the first six years of their life. It is during a Sensitive Period that a child will exhibit a concentrated attraction to certain elements in the environment. During these appropriate stages of development a child will learn more quickly and with less effort than at any other time in his life.

For example, if you look at the Sensitive Period for Reading you might note that most children do not start 1st Grade until they are 6 years old. By that time the Sensitive Period for Reading is already past.

The Five Areas of Montessori Education

Below is an outlined summary of the five areas of Montessori education:

Prepared Paths to Culture

In this flow chart adapted from Maria Montessori, Her Life and Work by E. M. Standing, Maria illustrates how every educational subject has a foundation in the senses. Each of the Montessori Sensorial exercises makes use of materials that are designed with a specific order inherent within. The gradations are very precise and very balanced. As the child works with the materials he becomes absorbed in the order of the relationships of the parts to the whole. As the child moves on to the more advanced Montessori didactic (or teaching) materials he naturally radiates out from the purely Sensorial activities to more abstract levels.

For example, when you teach the MM (Montessori Method) Math operations with the Bank Game using the Golden Beads material you are teaching the operations of addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division with CONCRETE "solid" 3-dimensional materials. When the Bank Game is mastered the next step is to teach the Stamp Game, which uses "surface" 2-dimensional materials (flat tiles)  to teach the same concept. The final act of ABSTRACTION is to write the problem down on paper with the 1-dimensional "point" of a pencil, without the physical helps from the "hands-on" manipulatives.