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Montessori Primary Program
The Primary Montessori Philosophy
"Do not do for the child what the child
can do for himself." Dr. Maria Montessori
Multi-aged Children: For a Primary Montessori class,
children are grouped usually between the ages of 2.5 - 6 years
of age. A child needs to be completely potty trained to be in
a Primary Montessori classroom. The child has the same teacher
for this period encouraging a three-year educational cycle.
The first year, the child goes through an observing, exploring,
and discovering phase in which he/she is learning from the older
children in class. The second year the child usually goes through
an academic phase in which they show more interest in language,
math, and geography. The third year the child is the role model
for the younger children and the third year children usually
give the other children lessons; hence this is considered their
leadership year.
The Five Senses: The practical application of the Montessori
method is based on education through the five senses and human
tendencies- to explore, move, share with a group, to be independent
and make decisions, create order, develop self-control, abstract
ideas from experience, use the creative imagination, work hard,
repeat, concentrate, and perfect one's efforts.
Indirect Preparation: A child is always learning something that
is indirectly preparing him to learn something else, making
education a joyful discovery instead of drudgery. Even if the
child chooses to observe other children in the classroom, the
child is still learning through their absorbent mind.
The Prepared Environment (Classroom): Since the child
learns to glean information from many sources, instead of being
handed it by the teacher, it is the role of the teacher to prepare
and continue to adapt the environment, to link the child to
it through well-thought-out lessons, and to facilitate the child's
exploration and creativity. This is a child friendly environment
in which most if not all things in their classroom are child
sized.
Observation: The teacher constantly performs observations of
the child's development. These observations are made on the
level of concentration of each child, the introduction to and
mastery of each piece of material, the social development, physical
health, etc. The teacher usually schedules at least 20 minutes
a day observing the class.
Work Areas: The classroom is arranged according to subject
area, and children are always free to move around the room,
and to continue to work on a piece of material with no time
limit. The children are not allowed to play with the work; they
must work with the work. All materials in the classroom are
called: WORK. There are no toys to play with in the classroom
setting. All subjects are interwoven: history, art, music, math,
science, sensorial, language, and practical life. These subjects
are not isolated from each other and a child studies them in
any order he chooses, moving through all in a unique way for
each child. At any one time in a day all subjects-math, language,
science, history, geography, art, music, etc.-are being studied,
at all levels. The major work areas in the classroom are: Practical
Life, Sensorial, Math, Language, and Geography.
Style of Teaching: There are no textbooks, and seldom
will three or more children be studying the same thing at the
same time. Children learn directly from the environment, and
from other children-rather than from the teacher. The teacher
is trained to teach one child at a time, with a few small groups
and very few lessons are given to the whole class. She is facile
in the basic lessons of math, language, the arts and sciences,
and in guiding a child's research and exploration, capitalizing
on interests and excitement about a subject. Large groups occur
only in the beginning of a new class, or in the beginning of
the school year, and are phased out as the children gain independence.
The child is observed and the teacher studies those observations.
Children learn from what they are studying individually, but
also from the amazing variety of work that is going on around
them during the day.
Basic Lessons: A well-trained Montessori teacher spends a lot
of time during training practicing the many basic lessons with
materials in all areas. She must pass difficult written and
oral exams on these lessons in order to be certified. She is
trained to recognize a child's readiness-according to age, ability,
and interest-for a specific lesson, and is prepared to guide
individual progress.
Assessment: There are no grades, or other forms of reward or
punishment, subtle or overt. Assessment is by portfolio and
the teacher's observation and record keeping. The real test
of whether or not the system is working lies in the accomplishment
and behavior of the children. Their happiness, maturity, kindness,
concentration, respect, and love of learning all play a major
role in the assessment.
The Birthday Walk: On the child's birthday, they perform
a birthday walk. The continent globe, the sun, and a candle
are displayed on the rug. The child walks around the rug holding
the continent globe as the other children sing the birthday
walk song: The earth goes around the sun one time, sun one time,
sun one time. The earth goes around the sun one time, and then
(child's name) was one. The child walks around the rug the number
he/she is old. Usually the parents attend and bring a photo
poster time line of their child and a morning treat for the
children (munchkins, mini muffins, fruit salad). With the parent's
help, the child presents the poster to his/her classmates and
then the poster is hung for all to see for the week.
Character Education: Opportunities for the valorization
of the personality is considered as important as academic education.
Children are given the opportunity to take care of themselves,
each other, and their environment by treating others with respect,
moving gracefully, cleaning, gardening, cooking, and speaking
politely.
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