Montessori

Montessori is a philosophy or method of education that
recognizes in children a natural curiosity and desire to
learn. Certified Montessori directresses and special
Montessori teaching materials encourage this curiosity
into a learning experience. Dr. Montessori perceived the
years from birth to six years as a period when a human
being showed the greatest potential towards learning.
For this "sensitive period" in a child's life Dr. Montessori
designed the "prepared environment" where, "...the child,
set free from undue adult intervention, can live its life
according to the laws of its development." The
Montessori directress, the Montessori equipment, and
the prepared environment all stimulate and encourage the
child to learn. Children enjoy using Montessori materials
as they learn not just by memorizing, but by associating
an abstract concept with a concrete sensorial experience.

The prepared environment of the Montessori classroom
is supplied with didactic (self-teaching) materials which
can be manipulated by the children. The materials are
designed to foster independence, develop a healthy
self-concept, encourage thinking and give an
appreciation of nature and the world. The prepared
environment includes the following five areas: Practical
Life, Sensorial, Language, Math and Cultural.

The Sensorial exercises are comprised of a series of
objects which are grouped together because they share
a physical, palpable quality such as size, shape, sound
or color. Each piece of sensorial material is designed to
emphasize one salient quality but in different degrees
which are perceptually observable. Learning to perceive
minute differences between objects is an important
byplay of the sensorial apparatus. To train a child's senses
is to create an astute observer. Practice at judging,
classifying and discriminating gives a perceptual
"alphabet" with which a child can organize their mind and
world. Montessori sensorial materials offer a wealth of
concrete objects to manipulate which sequentially lead to
abstract concepts. This is a long process but the sensorial
equipment provides "materialized abstractions" that are
the ground work for the concepts of number and numeral.
The sensorial area gives the child a perceptual idea of
basic mathematics. It is indirect preparation for the
mathematics area, language area (sound discrimination,
visual perception,eye-hand coordination) and the cultural
area (awareness of classification).

The Canadian Council of Montessori Administrators http://www.ccma.ca/montessori.html North American Montessori Teacher's Association http://www.montessori-namta.org/NAMTA/geninfo/whatismont.html The Montessori Foundation http://www.montessori.org/story.php?id=307 (Youtube Story) Montessori - The International Montessori Index www.montessori.edu