Maria Montessori honestly believed that the most critical time in a person’s life happens between the time they’re born and turn 6-years-old. This is because it’s during this time that your intelligence and all your psychological “powers” are being formed. She believed that children don’t ever need as much help and freedom being creative as they do during this time.
Characteristics of Early Montessori Education
With this philosophy in mind, Maria Montessori went on to create her early Montessori educational system. There are 7 key characteristics of this system. They include:
- Children of the same ages are included within the same classroom so younger children can emulate older children and older children can practice their leadership skills.
- Responsibility and self-discipline are emphasized as children discover their own path to learning and teachers act as guides. Since children want to feel that they belong, have friends, and are succeeding academically individual responsibility is emphasized in which children can take ownership of these things.
- The curriculum emphasizes independence instead of mandating that children do what they’re told as soon as they’re told to do it. In a Montessori classroom, children are free to choose the activities that interest them most and they’ll then derive the most learning from them.
- While many people think of Montessori education as chaotic and confusing, quite the opposite is true: Classrooms are kept in an orderly fashion with many well-prepared workstations.
- Teachers act as guides instead of telling children what they must do, how they must do it, and when it must be done by.
- Parents have a thorough understanding of what’s involved in this learning process and how it works. This is important because it enables them to be more supportive and involved when it comes to their child’s education.
- The classroom atmosphere is based on the concept of mutual respect. Teachers truly believe that each child has an innate desire to learn, they simply need to be presented with the opportunity in which to do so.
All these things will truly benefit your child, helping them grow into a strong, smart, independent learner who really enjoys learning throughout the rest of their lives. For these reasons, you may want to check out a Montessori education for your own child. If you live in Mansfield, Texas you can do this at The Children’s Academy. Over the years, we have had many children successfully graduate from our program and yours should be next.
