Montessori education owes its name to the famous Italian physician Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952), who received her doctorate in July 1896 and thus became the first female doctor in Italy. She first worked as a surgeon and then dealt with pedagogy and psychiatry. In doing so, she developed learning methods for mentally handicapped children that also worked excellently for normally gifted children. What the method is, we explain to you here.
What is learned?
Montessori pedagogy mainly wants to take into account the needs of children and perceive them as full-fledged people. who owns foodsaver the child should develop his will and make decisions himself. It is supported by the teachers to act and think independently. In this way, it should also be able to overcome difficulties instead of avoiding them.
In the overall concept, it is particularly important that the children are allowed to decide FOR THEmselves WHEN and WHAT they learn.
Classification of Montessori material into learning areas
The learning material that is used should be child-friendly. Your child is allowed to practice the so-called “free work” and choose in which work rhythm he takes on which topics and materials.
The material is intended to teach the children the following learning areas:
Mathematics
Language
Cosmic education (chemistry, physics, biology, geology, astronomy)
In addition, there is the development of senses and motor skills, especially for small children, as well as exercises of daily life.
Which devices are used?
All teaching aids, i.e. the so-called material, are limited to a single learning content. They are sturdy, preferably made of wood, and look appealing to the children. This also includes a kind of error control, so that the child can correct his mistakes all by himself without having to use help.
This also includes the furniture in the schools, which is precisely adapted to the child’s size. In addition, it is important that all materials are neatly and clearly tidy.
Preferably on shelves that are built according to the typesetting box principle or in sturdy storage boxes. The entire learning environment should have such an aesthetic effect on the children that they want to work enthusiastically with the high-quality learning material.
The tools for math are particularly extensive
In order to learn the numbers and the basics, there are especially many materials, especially for learning the basic arithmetic such as addition and subtraction.
For example, the following tools are used:
Calculation board (multiplication board or division board) or hundred-board
Calculation frames, slide rules, calculators or calculation game
Fracture circles
Number tiles
Similar means are also available for reading and writing
To learn to read and write, the children need the right pens to practice the right pen posture and to be able to do swing exercises.
Grippy fountain pens, crayons, or craft equipment, as well as good wooden toys, help to promote graphomotor skills.
As part of the language lessons, the children get to know the letters of the alphabet with the help of color charts or control boards.
For support, there are also templates such as the word type template as well as word type symbols.
What distinguishes it from normal learning content?
The Montessori schools do not want to convey rigid learning content in order not to overwhelm the children, but to promote the individual learning interest of the children. It is particularly important that the children learn with all their senses, i.e. preferably in the concrete work with the materials.
Therefore, there are no frontal lessons in the Montessori schools. Instead, each child can look for their own occupation during free work. For example, one child may have a lot of desire for math right now, while another prefers to learn languages. Both can pursue this impulse during free work and are thus promoted. In a regular school, best food vacuum sealer on the other hand, the prescribed timetable is worked through, which the children follow unmotivated and unfocused.
In the Montessori schools, the children also learn in mixed groups that combine first to fourth graders. In this way, the children should learn cooperation and social interaction.
The Montessori concept does not work with grades but assesses the children’s performance at the end of the school year with a performance report.
