The Montessori method.

"I have studied the child. I have taken what the child has given me and expressed it and that is what is called the Montessori method." quote from Dr. Maria Montessori.

Dr.Maria Montessori worked at a Mental Asylum in Rome caring for children. Through watching the children playing with bread and manipulating the bread into what they wanted, Montessori thought that if she could get something the could play with and manipulate, thy might develop better skills. She was influenced by Edouard Seguin's work on sensory education and was the first to put his work into practice. She designed practical developmental materials for the children in the asylum and within these more complex materials were a series of tasks that Montessori believed helped the children control their own errors and understandings.

This is the idea of children working freely but with joy and responsibility, as individuals, in an environment where the children can be more active, using their hands and doing physical things. Its a more effective way for them to learn at their own pace. It is hands on, visual, practical learning!

The Montessori Method educates children on life skills and expects them to be able to help with the cooking, washing/cleaning at home, learning to dress/undress themselves. One of those learning blocks in education is learning how to get a long with different people of different ages. Throughout life you are surrounded by different people of all ages especially in higher education. Montessori believed that a classroom with a multi-age setting works best because it is similar to a family setting which makes individual learning comfortable.

The children perform self-directed learning where they make their own decisions such as how they spend their time, what they do in that time and what there are learning. This doesn't mean their free to waste time. The adults are in the classroom to make sure the child is using their time well and are working on things that they need to work on to progress throughout the different levels of the education system.

There are different activities that can be used in this method. The children freely play with the items placed around the classroom by the teacher and manipulate these items but are learning independently at the same time.

An example of a mathematical method is using a sequence of different diameter cylinders and slotting them in to the different sized spaces. Montessori believed that these kind of physical tasks educated the child's eye to recognise mathematical sequences. Children learn by doing.

The children are practising life skills at an early age meaning the children learn to be in charge of their own learning and this is something they can use for the rest of their lives. The result of the Montessori method is that the children leave school with skills such as calmer problem solving, solid social skills, solid academic skills and the eagerness to learn new things!