FAQs

A.

Montessori is a method that arises from Dr. Montessori's discovery of what she referred to as "the child's true normal nature”. According to the Montessori method, when we give freedom to children in an environment prepared with materials designed for their self-directed learning activity, it sustains and supports their true natural way of being. It is an approach to educating children based on scientific research and experiences.

The teacher's role is very different than a traditional school; in this method, the teacher observes the children occupied in activities that follow their own natural interests. This indirect teaching controls the environment, not the child. The teacher's role includes experimental interactions with children, referred to as "lessons”. This method is mainly practical with young children, between the ages of 18 months to 6 years.

Angeline Stoll Lillard scientifically displayed in her book “Montessori: The Science behind the Genius” how modern science now has just caught up with Maria Montessori’s insight. She revealed that all children have innate inner directives from nature that guides their true normal development. And as the Montessori method respects individual choices of children to select their own activity, this allows children to follow their inner direction for self-directed learning.

Montessori's dynamic theories included such revolutionary premises as:

1. Children are to be respected as different from adults and as individuals who are different from one another.
2. Children create themselves through purposeful activity.
3. The most important years for learning are from birth to age six.
4. Children possess unusual sensitivity and mental powers for absorbing and learning from their environment, which includes people as well as materials.

A.

Each Montessori class operates on the principle of freedom within limits. Children are free to work at their own pace with materials they have chosen, either alone or with others. The teacher relies on his or her observations of the children to determine which new activities and materials he may introduce to an individual child or to a small or large group. The aim is to encourage active, self-directed learning and to strike a balance of individual mastery with small group collaboration within the whole group community. Montessori is a philosophy with the fundamental tenet that a child learns best within a social environment, which supports each individual's unique development.

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Creativity flourishes in an atmosphere of acceptance and trust. Montessorians recognize that each child, from toddler to teenager, learns and expresses himself in a very individual way.

Music, art, storytelling, movement, and drama are part of every American Montessori program, but there are other things particular to the Montessori environment which encourage creative development: many materials which stimulate interest and involvement; and emphasis on the sensory aspect of experience; and the opportunity for both verbal and non-verbal modes of learning.

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An authentic Montessori classroom must have these basic characteristics at all levels:

Teachers educated in the Montessori philosophy and methodology for the age level they are teaching, who have the ability and dedication to put the key concepts into practice.

A partnership established with the family. The family is considered an integral part of the individual's total development.

A multi-aged, multi-graded heterogeneous grouping of students

A diverse set of Montessori materials, activities and experiences, which are designed to foster physical, intellectual, creative, and social independence.

A schedule, which allows large blocks of time to problem solve, to see connections in knowledge and to create new ideas

A.

Montessori children are unusually adaptable. They have learned to work independently and in groups. Since they've been encouraged to make decisions from an early age, these children are problem solvers who can make choices and manage their time well.

They have also been encouraged to exchange ideas and to discuss their work freely with others and good communication skills ease the way in new settings.

Research has shown that the best predictor of future success is a sense of self-esteem. Montessori programs, based on self-directed, non-competitive activities, help children develop good self-images and the confidence to face challenges and change with optimism.