Make Your Kid A Genius!
How to Awaken Your Child's Innate Intelligence
| June 2002 |
Issue
#6
|
Irene Helen Zundel, Editor, artwhiz@greenepa.net
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IN THIS ISSUE
The Montessori Method
Book Review: Montessori, Her Method and Her Movement
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The Montessori Method
by Irene Helen Zundel
Scientific observation has established that education is not what the teacher gives: education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words but by experiences upon the environment. The task of a teacher becomes that of preparing a series of motives of cultural activity, spread over a specially prepared environment, and then refraining from intrusive interference. Human teachers can only help the great work that is being done, as servants help the master. ( Maria Montessori, Education for a New World ) .
Those are the sage words of a woman, who in my opinion, was ahead of her time! Maria Montessori, born in 1870, was the first woman in Italy to earn a medical degree. She worked in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, and education, and revolutionized the way the world thought about how children learn. Today, her theories and methods are embraced by parents and educators worldwide.
Here are some of her ideas:
Children are not born as blank slates waiting to be written on. They are individuals with a unique and tremendous potential waiting to be revealed.
A child is learning all of the time, from their environment and from the adults they encounter in it. It is best to enrich the environment and for adults to serve as role models, rather than try to impose learning from the outside.
Children learn what they love. Anything taught by coercion will be detested or forgotten.
The role of a parent/teacher is to continually enrich and adapt the environment to facilitate the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual growth of the child.
Follow the child's cues in education. If a child's choices are respected and facilitated, they are able to learn at a rate that is amazing to behold!
Does that sound pretty radical to you? Do you think it is odd to suggest that children should be allowed spontaneity and self-direction in learning?
Dr. Montessori was a keen, scientific observer of children. She noted two important characteristics that led her to believe that they were able to learn on their own:
Children master their native tongue without complex teaching methods being employed. Adults find acquisition of a new language difficult, and success at mastering another language is a feat that is generally lauded as a great accomplishment. If children can learn something so daunting on their own, they must have an innate ability to learn!
They have a remarkably absorbent mind. Children have an amazing ability to concentrate, and become immersed in the performance of a task. Left undisturbed, they can learn effectively, and derive great satisfaction from it.
She patterned her method of facilitating learning based on several tendencies that are innate in all humans: the tendencies to explore, move, share in a group, to be independent and make decisions, to create order, develop self-control, to abstract ideas from experience, to use the creative power of the imagination, to work hard, repeat, concentrate, and to perfect one's efforts and creations. The Montessori learning environment is structured to take advantage of these natural tendencies.
These are the general rules adopted in Montessori Schools, based on a recognition of a child's rights and responsibilities:
Children have a right to work with any material in the environment. They are entitled to work in an undisturbed and undistracted fashion. They may initiate, complete, or repeat a task as long as their interest is engaged. They have a right to work entirely alone, and are not to be forced to engage in any group activity. If they so desire, they may do nothing except observe, think, or relax.
Children have a responsibility to treat the materials, work environment, others and themselves with respect. They are required to clean up after a project and restore the environment to an orderly state. They are not allowed to be disruptive, nor may they interrupt another who is learning. They must share resources and wait their turn to use something.
Here are the general methods used:
Many lessons in Montessori programs are derived from having children participate in daily work routines. Children need a sense of belonging and being needed. They delight in being able to participate and do things on their own. Their self-esteem is reinforced when they are able to accomplish a task they see an adult do. Montessori schools provide children the opportunity to master these tasks, using furniture, toys, and materials that are scaled to their size.
In learning to care for their own bodies, each other, and their environment, children learn many important social and character building skills. By cooking, gardening, cleaning up, mastering personal grooming skills etc...they learn to work in community, to develop manners, to be orderly, and to care for themselves and the world around them.
Montessori schools emphasize the development of all intelligences in learning---musical, bodily/kinesthetic, spatial, intrapersonal, interpersonal, intuitive, and traditional linguistic and logical/mathematical. Learning tends to be experience based and the use of "manipulatives" is stressed ( materials that you act upon, touch, move, and use to model real life ).
Well selected toys are used to help a child grow socially, mentally, emotionally, physically, and creatively. Here are some great toys for pre-schoolers and children in the early years of education:
riding toys with and without pedals, wagons, low climbers, dolls, talking telephones, balls of various sizes, simple puzzles, blocks, housekeeping toys, water toys, art supplies (modeling clay, scissors, paint, glue, crayons and the like) musical instruments, puppets, good books and music, building toys ( Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, Duplo and Lego come to mind ) science activities ( growing a plant, having an ant farm, taking care of fish or birds, building a squirrel feeder, a magnifying glass, bug collecting kit, magnets etc...) and small scale animals, buildings, vehicles and people that mirror real life.
These methods are easily adaptable to your home environment, and are effectively used by parents who homeschool. I used these concepts and methods in educating my own son in his early years, and I think they had a very positive effect on him.
I would recommend that you visit the following websites and/or read any books you can find by Maria Montessori, or those explaining her philosophy and methods. I have listed a few sources below to point your nose in the right direction!
Montessori Websites:
http://members.aol.com/amonco/amonco.html
American Montessori Consulting
The website features an online bookstore, educational supplies, a newsletter archive, chat and message boards, lesson ideas and homeschooling links.
Michael Olaf Montessori Company
a source for Montessori educational materials and the place where you can download for free two E-books describing Dr. Montessori's methods of teaching youngsters from birth through age 12.
a well organized and informative website that contains FAQs, a list of schools, info about conferences and teacher training courses, where to buy Montessori materials, and an explanation of Dr. Montessori's work and educational methods.
Helpful Books:
Basic Montessori: Learning Activities for Under- Fives ( David Gettman, St. Martins Press, 1987 )
Montessori: Her Method and the Movement, What You Need to Know (Edited by R.C. Orem, Capricorn Books, 1974)
BOOK REVIEW:
Montessori, Her Method and Her Movement: What You Need to Know
R.C. Orem, Editor
Capricorn Books, 1974
This book, though dated, is still very useful. It is a great overview of Dr. Montessori, her theories and methods, and their applications in education today, both in schools and at home.
Section one is comprised of a compendium of questions and answers about the general ideas and methods employed in Montessori educational settings. A few of the questions address the myths and misconceptions of Dr. Montessori and the schools that utilize her methods.
Section two details the Montessori learning environment. It covers the materials used as learning aids, how the environment is arranged, and how the teacher facilitates learning. It delineates sensitive periods in a child's development and tells how to utilize those to help children acquire important motor and language skills.
Section three address the relevance of the Montessori method in contemporary America. Home education, early training, the application and manner of discipline, and the importance of self-development are covered. The concept of writing before reading and the use of phonics in developing language and reading skills is also discussed.
Section four details the training program of Montessori educators and lists places where training can be obtained.
The chapters of the book are comprised of contributions from a variety of people such as school teachers, home educators and educational specialists and consultants. In my opinion, this increases the readability of the book. Each writer brings their unique expertise and personality to the subject they are addressing. The tone is informative but light.
The greatest plus about the book is that it gives parents a clear view of what materials are used and what daily routines are in place in Montessori schools. These things are easily adapted to the home environment. I would recommend that any parents of a pre-schooler or homeschooling parents read this book.
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Irene Helen Zundel
Freelance Writer
©2002 Irene Helen Zündel