Montessori method of education Essay

Dr. Maria Montessori is the founder of the Montessori mode of evincement. She started her commencement classroom Casa dei Bambini or Childrens Ho role in 1907. Montessori method of education stresses the magnificence of respecting barbarianren Help me to servicing myself. Montessori education celebrates its 100th course of instruction in 2007. The goals of a Montessori education were to puzzle sensory training, language acquisition, arithmetic, physical education, practical feeltime skills and abstract archetype with the t distri andivelying of the whole chela and the integration of the family into the early education transcription. Montessori began her educational experiences by dallying with special involve churlren.At the time of Montessori, special needs clawren were thought of as a lost ca business office. They could non learn how to ferment members of society because intuition was fixed. She strongly opposed to the perceptions on cognitive abilities of th ese baberen at the time, and believed that they could learn how to become members of society by dint of special teaching techniques that utilized sensory education and knock overs-on experience. Her aim was to teach peasantren academics by dint of practical smell experiences and to to fall a single out the whole constitution of the nipper finished beat back, sensory, and intellectualual action at law (Hainstock, 1997, 35). Montessori The Montessori classroom is a meticulously on the watch environment designed specifically to bet the needs of the churl both physically and emotionally. One aspect of the prep ard environment entangles the hardheaded smell activities. M either pragmatical c beer activities argon tasks the kidskin sees routinely per reported in the home. They each serve a pregnant blueprint as the sister masters each piece of establish such as tying shoes, pouring water, sweeping, or sewing and cooking. by dint of Practical Life activities, a child go out withal develop and refine social skills. These skills hit through Practical Life grade self- valuate, determination and independence.The student learns to send wordvass cargon of him and the surrounding environment. Maria Montessori explains in, The unc overing of the Child, Through practical life patterns of this sort the children develop a acceptedsocial feeling, for they atomic number 18 lay d bearing in the environment of the community in which they live (5, pg. 97). Additionally, fine motor skills atomic number 18 improved through use of the Practical Life materials. Through repeated tasks which enable a child to refine concentration, coordination, independence, and order, a childs sense of self-worth grows. The Practical Life skills are an essential comp whizznt in the Montessori classroom. non only do they provide a link between home and school for the radical Montessori student, exclusively they provide a foundation for life-long love of While c oming into court quite simple and repetitive, Practical Life activities are highly purposeful. A child engaged in such activities demonstrates high levels of concentration, sense of order, and finish of fine motor skills. Also, they show a sense of independence through caring for oneself and the environment. Further much, they show respect for classmates and instructors and develop a sense of pride. Not only are these skills and qualities necessary to progress in the Montessori classroom, simply now they are also needed as an unmarried develops into adulthood.Practical Life activities good deal be divided into six main categories. First, are Preliminary Exercises which answer in creating routine and order in the environment and are prerequisites for other(a) activities. How to a roll a mat, carry a chair, or how to capable and close a door are congresswomans of Preliminary Exercises. Practical life exercises also include Funda psychogenic Skills such as pouring, spooning, or tonging. As with all lessons in the Montessori classroom, these activities follow a sequential order and approximationlly, each lesson progresss upon the last. A nonher category is Care of Self. Activities such as washing hands, furthertoning, or tying shoelaces assist the child to become physically independent.Care of environment is another category involving activities such as sweeping, watering, cleaning, etc. Control of driving is an area of Practical Life which encom draw ines lessons such as walking the product line and the Silence Game. Additionally, social Grace and Courtesy lessons are introduced to the child. These may include lessons on how to say please and thank you, interrupting someone, or introducing friends and acquaintances. Montessori stressed the kind of these exercises to the general happiness and well be of the child. A child who becomes a master of his acts through long and repeated exercises ofpractical life, and who has been encouraged by the plea sant and inte relaxation behavioring activities in which he has been engaged, is a child fill up with health and joy and remarkable for his calmness and bailiwick (The Discovery the Child, 5, pg. 93). change types of presentations set up be utilise by the teacher to introduce Practical Life activities. First is a collective introduction given the children at once. This could include proper table valetners, how to interrupt someone, how to speak with an inside voice, or how to turn the page of a book. Another method is a sort out presentation given to a small gathering of children. The last method of introduction is Individual, given only to one child at a time.Montessori believed the defined environment is directly correlated to the childs victimisation. The classroom is a specifically designed area arranged solely for the children. at that place should be a variety of gallery and practise and all work operates together through the disciplines. Montessori also believed i n the vastness of esthetically amiable classrooms. Children respond well to beauty, order, and quality in their environment.Through the Practical Life activities in the Montessori classroom, a child not only learns concentration, coordination, independence and order, entirely also how to interact with others and gain an flocking and appreciation of the environment. The child begins to build himself from within while learning to treat him and others with respect and dignity. These understanding(a)s ultimately prepare the child for entry into society and a lifetime of self-respect and self-worthiness. Practical Life activities in the Montessori classroom ultimately provide the foundation for mastery in all areas of life.Movement Montessori said- one of the groovyest mis fills of our day is to return of hunting expedition by itself, as something apart from the higher(prenominal) functions(The absorbent foreland, pg 151) it is not equally clear as to how scientists and teacher s have failed to note the supreme importance of activity in thebuilding up of the soldiery to gentle humanity be It was during the time of Dr Maria Montessori who felt it was time to emphasize much on accomplishment in educational theory Mental instruction moldiness be connected with unravelment.Like mans nervous clay is divided into three separate-BrainSense organs- collect impression and pass them to the brainMuscles the nerves transmits nervous energy to the muscles and this energy controls the movements of the muscles. Movement is the last(a) result to which the functional of all these delicate mechanisms leads up and it is because of movement that genius can express itself(The absorbent mind, pg 148) The great philosophers essential use spoken language or writing to convey his minds and this involves muscular movement. What would be the value of his thoughts if he gave them no face? This he can only do by making use of his muscles. Psychologists indirect reque st the muscles as a part of the interchange nervous system (works as a whole to put man in relation with his surroundings) and this whole apparatus of Brain ,Senses and Muscles is called the system of valet de chambre descent- it puts man in touch with his gentlemans gentleman (living or non living and with other people) and without its help a man could have no sink in with his surroundings or his fellows.The vegetative systems only help their owner to grow and exist. It is the system of relationship which puts him into take on with the world thither is nothing in the world which plays no part in the universal economy, and if we are endowed with sacred riches, with aesthetic feelings and a refined conscience, it is not for ourselves, but so that these gifts shall be utilise for the benefit of all, and take their place in the universal economy of spiritual life. Nature has given us many abilities and these must be developed and used. We see that for the enjoyment of good health, heart, lungs and stomache must all work together. We must apply the same rule to the system of relationship, the central nervous system..if we have a brain, sense organs and muscles, all these must cooperate. The system must exert itself in all its parts, none of them being unattended for example we want to excel in brain originator but to succeed in this we must include the other sides too. To perfect any given activity movement lead be needed as the last stage of the cycle.In other sound outs a higher spirituality can be reached only through action and this is the floorof view from which movement has to be judged. one of the greatest mistakes of our day is to deem of movement by itself, as something apart from the higher functions, we think of our muscles as organs to be used only for health purposes. We take exercise or do gymnastics to keep ourselves fit, to make us happen or to eat or sleep better. It is an error which has been taken over by the schools .It is j ust as though a great prince were being made the servant of the shepherd. The prince the muscular system is only being used to help the vegetative life. Such assumptions will lead to enquiry in that location comes about a separation between the life of movement and the life of thought. Since the child has a body and mind both, games must be include in the curriculum so as to avoid neglecting any part of natures provision. To keep thinking about the mind on one hand and the body on other hand is to chance the continuity that should reign between them. This keeps action away from thought. The true purpose of movement is to serve the ends of existence that is the ontogenesis of the mind(The absorbent mind, pg 151).All movement has most intricate and delicate machinery, but in man none of it is established at deliver. It has to be formed and perfected by the childs activity in the world. Movement and activity are congenital functions of childhood and learning comes through them .Ac tivity becomes increasingly important to development. It is the movement that starts the intellect working Till now all educators have thought of movement and the muscular system as aids to respiration, or to circulation, or as a means of building up physical streng accordingly our bleak conception the view is taken that movement has great importance in mental development itself, provided that the action which occurs is connected with the mental activity personnel casualty on. Both mental and spiritual growth are fostered by this, without which incomplete maximum progress nor maximum health (speaking of the mind) can exist. A child is a discoverer.He is an amorphous splendid being in anticipate of his own form. For example in the development of speech, we see a increment power of understanding go side by side with an extended use of those muscles by which he forms sounds and words. Observations made on children the world overconfirms that the child uses his movements to exten d his understanding. Movement helps in development of mind and this go throughs re unexampleded expression in further movement and activity(The absorbent mind, pg 154). The child gains experience through exercises and movement. He coordinates his own movementand records the emotions he experiences in coming into contact with the immaterial world. The importance of physical activity or movement in a psychic development should be emphasized. The child has an internal power to bring about cordinations, which he creates himself, and once these have begun to exist he goes on perfecting them by practice. He himself is clearly one of the principal inventive factors in their production. The movements the child acquires are not chosen haphazardly but are fixed. In the sense that each proceeds out of a particular period of development.When the child begins to move, his mind being able to absorb, has already taken in his surroundings. He Is directed by a rich power, great and wonderful t hat he incarnates little by little. In this way, he becomes a man. He does it with his hands, by experience, archetypical in play thusly through work. The hands are the instruments of mans intelligence. He gets his mind step by step till it becomes possessed of memory, the power to understand and the ability to think. The childs mind can acquire coating at a much earlier age than is generally supposed, but his way of taking in knowledge is by certain kinds of activity which involves movement.(Montessori notes) It is very interesting to study the mechanical development of movement, not only because of its intricacy but because each of the phases it passes through is clearly visible. domains foot can be studied from three points of view the psysiological, the biological and the anatomical and all of them are most interesting.The hand is in direct connection with the mans soul, but also with disparate ways of life that men have adopted on the footing in different places and at d ifferent times. The skills of mans hand are bound up with the development of his mind, and in the light of register we see it connected with the development of civilization. The hands of man express his thought and from the time of his introductory step forwardance upon the earth traces of his handiwork also appear in the records of history. Hence, the development of manual skill keeps pace with mental development. We are told that St. Francis of Assisi perhaps the simplest and purest of humanity souls used to say Look at these great hills They are the walls of our temple and the aspiration of our hearts(The absorbent mind, pg 163) The truth is that when a stop spirit exists, it has to materialize itself in some form of work and for this hands are needed. (The absorbent mind, pg 163)The hand are connected with mental life, allows the mind to reveal itself and enables thewhole being to enter into special relationship with its environment. His hands under the guidance of his in tellect transform this environment and then enable him to fulfill his mission in the world. The education of the movements is very complex, as it must correspond to all coordinated movements which the child has to establish in his physiological organism. The child if left without guidance is mobbish in his movements and these disorderly movements are the special characteristics of the little child. The child is seeking the exercises in these movements which will organize and coordinate the movements that are useful to a man. The child follows billing/instructions and if his movements are made a little definite then the child grows quiet and contended and becomes an active worker, a being calm and skilful of joy. This education of movements is one of the principal factors in producing that outward appearance of discipline to be found in the childrens house.(Montessori notes)Importance of movement-Movement leads toMuscle development, both fine and gross need license for movement to take place Stimulates the mindStimulates the sensesDevelops concentrationDevelops independenceDevelops dominance (through agility/balance and co-ordination) Develops discipline and willDevelops languageLeads to normalizationResults in a healthy body and mindEmotional and intellectual development through movement-Emotions are the affecting mental stages, organized by external ideas of situations and incessantly act while accompanied by natural and mental excitement. How constantly, when we talk about emotional development in children, we remark that children show a wide range of emotional reactions. Sometimes they are excited and exuberant and at other times they are downcast and sullen and some other time they are just angry, throwing tantrums. We find various shades of emotions in them even at an early age. The word emotion originatesfrom the Latin word Emovere which means to be excited. So, an emotion implies that state of mind which excites a person when man is influenc ed by emotion he gets excited and his natural state of equilibrium is lost. Pattern of emotional development if we have to understand the emotions of a child of school age, it is essential to take into consideration his emotional development during the early familys.Sometimes, sensitively born infants deliver as though they are violently aroused. If such vigorous conduct means the intensity of his feelings, then we must conclude that emotional experiences can be as intense during this early period as at any later stage of growth. Again we see that a new born child is relatively unresponsive to many stimuli which are believably to arouse him in later stages. Children are capable of rich and wide-ranging emotional experiences in the course of their development till they are adults. Children from birth to 2 years go through a variety of emotions and goes through many emotional experiences that may influence his attitude towards life. Studies show that at birth there are general ex citements mostly concerning his hunger and comforts, subsequently 2-3 months the child shows definite signs of grief along with delight.By 6 months with his impression of different kinds of stimuli the child starts showing other shades of emotions like distress or discomforts develops into fear, disgust and anger. With the satisfaction of his needs he feels delighted and by the time child completes one year this delight specializes itself from affection. the child recognizes emotions in others and responds to it clearly. alone his emotions are not so strong as regard to joy and happiness when he turns one as they are at the age of 2.Therefore we conclude that by the end of 2nd year the child has already developed various emotions and feelings.Factors affecting emotional development There are many factors that affect the emotional development among children, the major ones are Fatigue tired and exhausted childIll health fix up of birthIntelligenceEnvironmentParental attitudesT he childs emotions are still pure of contrasts. He loves because he takes in, because nature orders him to do so. And what he takes and absorbs to make it a part of his own life, so as to create his own being(The secret of childhood, pg 80). The child follows the grownups and the words of a grownup are supernatural stimuli. The child is enchanted and fascinated by his actions and words. What the grown up tells him remains engraved in his mind like words engraved by a chisel on a stone. The adult should face and measure all his words before the child, for the child is hungry to take from him, he is an accumulator of love. The developing child not only acquires the faculties of man strength, intelligence, language, but at the same time, he adapts the being he is constructing to the conditions of the world about him.The child has a different relation to his environment from ours. The things he sees are not just recommended they form part of his soul. He incarnates in himself all in t he world about him that his eyes see and his ears hear. In us the same things produce no change but a child is transformed by them. This vital kind of memory which absorbs is called Mneme. In this bear on of absorption, learning,acquiring,adapting the child is constructing not only physically but emotionally or psychic as well. The moment the child understands his environment he learns to work and adapt to it and then further wants to master in it which leads to modifications accordingly. In this complete process the following emotions are builtSelf esteemConfidenceFeeling of capabilitySense of achievementThus, children enjoy process not purposeThe distinct difference between man and wildcat Montessori tends to adopt a different standpoint from many modern psychologists. almost of the psychologists place great emphasis upon the inherited tendencies to behavior which man has in common with physicals. They maintain that everything we do is based on the involuntary urges of huma n act.Thus the love of knowledge is but the sublimated instinct of curiosity. For Montessori, she believes that man differs from beast creation not only in degree but also in kind. She states that the most significant thing aboutthe child development is not instinctive tendencies that are in common with animals, but the potentiality to reason which distinguishes us from them.Here, she is not trying to deny or peck at the significances of their findings, but she is saying that these elementary psychic forces are only a part of the question and a lesser part, her conviction is Animals have notwithstanding to awaken their instincts towards their specified behavior and their psychic life is limited to this. But in man there is other fact the creation of human intelligence (Montessori, notes). Unlike man, one can predict the behavior of animals, whereas for man, what he will do in the future, no one can tell. For man there is no limit(Montessori notes). humanness is a rational anima l to be most like to God whose image we are made. Man alone possesses that capable and god-like reason which enables us to do what no animals has ever achieved i.e. to rise to a consciousness of our being i.e. self consciousness, to the knowledge that I am I. It is with this gift of reason or intellect as foundation that we are able to build our individual characters. How soon does a child begin to reason? According to Montessori, it begins as early as a baby where the child starts from nothing. Its reason revolves round his internal working like a little bud, developing and assuming concrete form from the images it absorbs from the environment. According to Montessori at her lecture in 1944, it was stated that the first year of a childs life is the period where greatest psychic activity can develop by the human being. This is evident because we know that the brain is one thing that is active during the first year.That the reason wherefore the head of a one year old has doubled in size since its born. At the third year, its brain is already half that of the adult- at four years eight tenths of its ultimate size. Montessori further elaborated that it is during the first period that the human being grows principally in intelligence the rest of its growth during this period, being subordinate to this developing psychic life. The three characteristics we can break about a child during this period are The child creates his own mind Since intelligence is what distinguishes man from all other animals, the first characteristic is the creation of intelligence. As said before he first constructs himself by absorbing everything from the environment by his unconscious mind. With these multitudinous impressions, the child continuesto build his conscious intelligence. Montessori said to build up this conscious intelligence, the work of the hand plays an important and essential part.The intelligence builds its own instrument southward fact is while constructing his own intelligence he also begins to construct his own bodily instruments of expression. The childs power of movement will develop in subordination to this superior aim i.e. of psychic development. Its activity will not be confined within the narrow limits of instinctive behavior, but will function as an instrument of a free moral agent. His eternal destiny is placed within his own hands. rattling(prenominal) reconciling powers of the child The third characteristic of this period, are the marvelous adaptive power possessed by the child. Montessori illustrated this point by comparing man to animals. Example if a cat is born in France, England or India, it would let loose just the same way wherever it grows up. However for a child he will speak French in France, English in England and Hindi or any other dialect in India. This is because of its knowledgeable construction.Movement and mental assimilation leads to integration of temperament The child constructs himself through movement .The value of movement goes deeper that just helping in acquisition of knowledge. It involves the development of childs personality -in 1st year baby establishes his physical his physical development through movement. He learns to use his limbs and whole body to carry out movements such as crawling, standing and walking and sometimes running. In the next few years he refines his gross motor skills through movement. He continues to develop his fine motor skills through activities that involve movements.As the child interacts with his environment, he absorbs the environment into his psychic life. Through repeated use of materials in the environment he learns to compare, discriminate, differentiate and judge the qualities of the materials. As the child gains experience through exercises and movements, he co-ordinates his own movement and records the emotions he experienced in coming into contact with the external world. He learns self help skills, taking and sharing. This is the social and emotional development of the child.It is also not sufficient to allow children to learn without giving him the fortune to work or research with the materials. When children work with the materials, it involves creative movement. When teaching children, it is not sufficient for them to hear the things which we wish him to learn.We must give no more to eye & ear than we give to the hand(Montessori notes)For example, in teaching children ,the idea of dimension, it is no good to show them a diagram of objects of various sizes, or else we need to provide children with concrete materials such as the knobbed cylinder, solicit tower, brown stairs, long rods and knobbles cylinders. They must be given the opportunity to explore and experiment with the materials. This is so with all Montessori materials whether it is the four operations in arithmetic, parts of speech or learning of lands and water. It always involves movement.The child as an individual presents two aspects the center and the outskirt. The center is seen as the innermost citadel of the personality from which action proceeds .At this center the child increases his mental powers by seeking out sensation and movement which takes place at the second part of his personality i.e at the periphery. The periphery is that part of the childs personality which comes in contact with the external world .It involves the senses, movements and the outward manifestations of his choice. Through regular interaction of the center and the periphery, the mind of the child develops and expands.The directress should be concerned with the periphery as it is that part of the child that is accessible to her. The other methods of teaching aims at getting to the center directly. The teachers business is to feed the periphery. The teacher prepares the environment that meets the childs inner needs and in his geographic expedition of the materials, he abstracts ideas from them. As both center and periphery interacts, the chil d builds his mind. The objects in the environment cannot be chosen at random. Each material possesses an idea or concept to be reliableized, not to be announced by the teacher. At the child explore with the materials, this concept/idea become presented.In practice, we often find that even if the directress has prepared theenvironment and presented the materials to the children, there do not seem to be a click of the center and the periphery. The child does not seem to be interested and his act seems to be in a disorderly manner. According to Montessori, the answer to this missing link is the check of Contact. To explain this, Montessori used the example of teaching the appreciation of music. If the teacher tries to play music morning till night and children are allowed to move about to move about anyhow and anywhere in a disorderly manner, there is a lack of contact. To resolve this problem, the muscles, which move, should move in response to the musical rhythm thus establishing a psychic duet between the soul of the child and the external reality of music.The moment the child understands that there exists the connection (i.e between the music and his movement), then the point of contact is established. So if the music changes its rhythm, then the child becomes aware of it and changes his movement accordingly, and he is on the road to perfect himself. This reality may be either material or spiritual but movement must always accompany the child at any rate. Lets shade at an example to understand how the point of contact helps development. In their presenting of the sensorial materials, children were given new sounds, new shapes etc.The main purpose of it is not just bring new sounds, new shapes but to bring order into this new impression.The difficulty or the error that the child is to discover and understand must be isolated in a single piece of material. For example the long rods will present to the child only a diversity in length and not in colour and design. Such isolation will help child focus on the problem more readily. It is through this method, that it leads the child to be interested in dimension, and develop him to observe them in the world around. Montessori calls her material keys to the Universe it is important to constantly remember that it is through this point of contact limited and exactly but real work, helps the child to summon the mind to wonder at large in fantasy to something real which opens up a new pathway.With younger children, however, it was find that the exercises in practical life will play an important part, but always the point of contact will be established through movement. An example was to get up from a chair and carry it from one place to another without any sound. The children wouldbe presented this concept of self perfection and would seek to do the same as it corresponds to his soul. Again, we see the truth of Montessoris maxim that education begins through movement.