Tim Seldin &Paul Epstein Ph.D.

The Montessori Way

An Education for Life

he Montessori Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of Montes-sori education around the world. Its mission is to nur-

ture, inspire, and support the development of strong, successfulMontessori schools throughout North America. The Foundation is committed to promoting Dr. Montessoris dream of a world-wide community of children and adults working together toteach peace and global understanding, cooperation rather thanconflict, and to celebrate the universal values of kindness, com-passion, and nonviolence.

The Montessori Foundation works with the internationalMontessori community, pro-viding programs, services,

resources, and lines of communications among parents, educa-tors, and schools who are interested in learning more about theinsights, research, and approach pioneeered by Dr.MariaMontessori.

The Montessori Foundations programs include:

Tomorrows Child magazine, an international journal enjoyedby Montessori parents and educators around the world.

The Foundations Publication Center offers hundreds of diffi-cult-to-find books and other resources of interest to Montessoriteachers, parents, and heads of schools.

The Montessori Leadership Institute offers a broad program ofin-depth and practical courses in Montessori leadership on awide range of topics from school design to fundraising,recruitment, internal communications, and curriculum develop-ment.

The Montessori Academy for Peace and its program of retreats,workshops,and symposia on issues specifically connected to thedevelopment of Peaceful Children, Peaceful Families, andPeaceful School Communities.

The Foundations Montessori School Consultation Service pro-vides a wealth of knowledge and experience when schools needmore intensive on-site counsel. We work with boards, Heads ofSchools, and faculties for Montessori programs, fundraising, capi-tal campaigns, the search for corporate and foundation support,public relations and recruitment, and assistance in program andcurriculum development.

The Montessori Foundation inspired the development of theInternational Montessori Council, a membership organizationfor Montessori schools, parents, and educators around the world.The Council was formed to offer accreditation to Montessorischools, programs in professional development, school self-assessment and improvement, parenting centers, and to assistwith the development of Montessori Councils at the state/provin-cial and grassroots level. The Council publishes MontessoriLeadership, a magazine written specifically for heads of schools,educational coordinators, key parent leaders, and trustees.

The Montessori Way

is a publication of

The Montessori Foundation1001 Bern Creek LoopSarasota, Florida 34240

Phone: 941-379-6626/800-655-5843Fax: 941-379-6671www.montessri.org

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2003 All rights reserved. Printed in the United States

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Reproduction of any part of this publication in any manner is strictly

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ISBN: ########

The Montessori Way 1st ed

Cover Photo by Larry CannerTaken at the Oneness Family School,

Bethesda, MD

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The Montessori Foundation

T

Tim SeldinPaul Epstein, Ph.D.

TheMontessoriFoundationPress

TheMontessori Way

ver since we first estab-lished The Montessori Founda-

tion, we have said to one another thatone day we would write a book thatintroduced Montessori as clearly as thearticles in our magazine, TomorrowsChild.

Thanks to an extraordinarily generouscontribution by Tony Low-Beer, a won-derful man who has become very sup-portive of our work at the Foundation,this book has been made possible. Theauthors wish to express their deepestappreciation to Mr. Low-Beer and hisfamily. We also wish to extend our com-mitment to the role that TheMontessori Foundation continues toplay around the world in helping tospread the insights and approach toeducating the worlds children that wasdeveloped by Dr. Maria Montessori.

The authors have contributed all rightsto this book to The Montessori Founda-tion. We hope that, in addition to help-ing to spread the word of theMontessori approach to parents andeducators around the world, the proceeds from the sales of The Monte-sori Way will help to ensure theFoundations future.

AcknowledgmentsIn addition, we would like to express our deepappreciation to everyone who helped to bringthis book to life. This loyal band of colleaguesand friends includes: Dr. Ann Epstein for herexcellent chapter on Children with Excep-tionalities; David Kahn of the North American Montessori Teachers Association(NAMTA) for his description of the HersheyMontessori Farm School and his essay on therole of imagination in Montessori Elementaryeducation; Marta Donahoe of the ClarkMontessori High School for contributingdescriptions of their Secondary Programs;Susan Tracy for her assistance in preparingthe chapter on Infants and Toddlers; MelodyMosby of the Athens Montessori School for her description of their MontessoriMiddle School; and Eileen Roper Ast of theAmerican Montessori Society for her helpproofreading this publication.

We also want to thank the teachers and children of A Love of Learning MontessoriSchool (Columbia, MD); Athens MontessoriSchool (Athens, GA); Montessori School ofAnderson (Anderson, SC); Lake NormanCountry Day School (Huntersville, NC);Oneness Family School (Chevy Chase, MD); Chiaravalle Montessori School(Evanston, IL); Henson Valley MontessoriSchool (Camp Springs, MD); MontessoriSchool of Raleigh (Raleigh, NC); New GateSchool (Sarasota, FL); Montessori ChildrensCenter at Burke (White Plains, NY); Mater

E Amoris School (Ashton, MD);Montessori Educational Center(Alexandria, LA); Raritan ValleyMontessori School (Bridgewater, NJ);Montessori Childrens House (Dunedin,New Zealand); Westwood MontessoriSchools (Dallas, TX); WashingtonMontessori Charter Public Schools(Washington, NC); Century HouseMontessori School (Tortola, BVI); andRenaissance School (Oakland, CA) forallowing us to capture the magic of theirclassrooms on film.

We owe special thanks to Larry Cannerfor his excellent photography and toMargot Garfield-Anderson, JoannaVoultsides, and Chelsea Howe, staffmembers of The Montessori Founda-tion, for their tireless work every step ofthe way. In addition, many thanks toRodney Lackey, who gave us shelter fromthe storm when Hurricane Isabelle tookdown power lines at the worst possiblemoment! And finally, we want to thankTims lovely and multi-talented wife,Joyce St. Giermaine, Executive Directorof The Montessori Foundation, who, aseditor and designer, brought TheMontessori Way to life.

Paul Epstein Tim SeldinEvanston, IL Sarasota, FL

Dedicationy involvement with The Montessori Foundation and The Montessori Way project stems from

two sources. Looking back, it is clear that my children, Susanna and Nick A., could have bene-fited greatly from a Montessori education; because of my ignorance and stubbornness when they wereyoung, I regrettably did not provide them with the opportunity. It took my wonderful friend and businesspartner, Dominique Lahaussois, and her son, Pierre Alexander, as well as two other dear friends, PeterCherneff and Rachel Lorentzen, to open my eyes. It is to these four people I love so dearly, that this bookis dedicated.

Tony Low-Beer

M

October, 2003

Forewordhat is education for? How we answer this question is critical for the future of our children,

our nation, and our world. Yet all too often it gets lost in debates about standards, testing, andother procedural reforms that treat education as something to be done to children rather thanfor and with them.

The Montessori Way shows that we can, and must, go back to basics to the real purpose of education asdrawing forth from each one of us our full human potential. It is a highly practical book. But it is much morethan that. It describes a way of life a way of thinking about the nature of intelligence, talent, and the poten-tial for goodness and greatness among all people, a way to nurture and inspire the creativity, curiosity, lead-ership, love, and imagination that lies within us all. It reminds us that the child is the mother/father of the woman/man she or he will one day become, and that the most important human taskis to nurture and educate children.

Based on the pioneering work of Maria Montessori, as well as more recent knowledge about how childrendevelop, learn, and access their full humanity, The Montessori Way embodies what I call partnership education. It is designed not only to help young people better navigate through our difficult times, but also tohelp them create a more peaceful, equitable, and sustainable future.

Rather than relying on a paradigm of domination and submission, of winning and losing, of externalrewards and punishments, of top-down rankings, fear, manipulation, indoctrination, and pressure to conform, The Montessori Way presents an education that focuses on partnership, independence, mutualtrust, and respect, on both individual achievement and collaboration, while developing our minds and hearts.

Explicitly or implicitly, education gives young people a mental map of what it means to be human. Muchof what young people worldwide learn through both their formal and informal education holds up a distorted mirror of themselves. When their vision of the future comes out of this limited world view, they can-not develop their full humanity or meet the unprecedented challenges they face.

In The Montessori Way, Tim Seldin and Paul Epstein offer sound guidelines, practical tools, and inspiring real-life stories of how, working together teachers, children, parents, and others can create learning communities where everyone can feel safe and seen for who we truly are, where our essentialhumanity and that of others shines through, lifting our hearts and spirits, empowering us to realize our high-est intellectual, emotional, and spiritual potentials.

In her unshakable faith in the human spirit and her fearless challenge to traditions of domination, MariaMontessori is one of my role models. Her legacy, as expanded and enriched by countless others, is the gift ofthis wonderful book.

Riane Eisler is author of Tomorrows Children: A Blueprint for Partnership Education in the 21st Century, The Power of Partnership, and The Chalice and The Blade.

W

1SECTION

THE MONTESSORI WAY

Introduction 8A Typical Montessori Day 11

The Montessori Way 16

History of the Montessori Movement 18The San Lorenzo Discoveries 21

Montessoris Legacy 25

Montessoris Philosophy 30Core Values 30

Intrinsic Motivation 31Independence and Movement: Acquiring Self-Discipline 31Respectful Communities of

Mixed-Age Groups 32The Prepared Environment 33

The Control of Error 36The Three-Period Lesson 36

Certified Montessori Teachers 38

CONTENTS

2SECTION

3SECTION

4SECTION

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

CLOSING THOUGHTS

APPENDIXES

The Planes of Development 42

Sensitive Periods 46

The Method of Observation 51

The Normalized Child 53

A Guided Tour of theMontessori Classrooms 55

Montessori for the Kindergarten Year 109

Elementary Programs 115

Secondary Programs 147

Infant-Toddler Programs 175

Montessori in the Home for Young Children 191

Montessori for Learners withExceptionalities 199

Preparing Children for the Real World: Reflections on a Montessori

Education 213

The Montessori Way 221

Brief Answers to QuestionsParents Often Ask 228

Finding the Right School 237

Standards 243

Bibliography 260

Resources 266

Index 270

1SECTION

THE MONTESSORIWAYINTRODUCTION

HISTORY OF THE MONTESSORI MOVEMENTMONTESSORIS PHILOSOPHY

CERTIFIED MONTESSORI TEACHERS

8THE MONTESSORI WAY

IntroductionIn 1907, an Italian physician was invited to open a child-carefacility for fifty preschool-aged children in a section of Romethat was avoided and neglected because of its oppressivepoverty and crime. The childrens parents worked sixteen or

more hours a day. In the absence of adult supervision, these childrenwere vandalizing recently renovated housing. Years later, Dr. MariaMontessori recalled her experience of personal transformation in which she discovered something previously unknown about children:*

What happened will always remain a mystery to me. I have tried since then to under-stand what took place in those children.Certainly there was nothing of what is to befound now in any House of Children. Therewere only rough large tables.

I brought them some of the materials whichhad been used for our work in experimentalpsychology, the items which we use today assensorial material and materials for the exer-cises of practical life. I merely wanted to studythe childrens reactions. I asked the woman incharge not to interfere with them in any way,as otherwise I would not be able to observethem. Someone brought them paper and col-ored pencils, but, in itself, this was not theexplanation of the further events. There was noone who loved them. I myself only visited themonce a week, and during the day, the childrenhad no communication with their parents.

The children were quiet; they had no interfer-ence either from the teacher or from the par-ents, but their environment contrasted vividlyfrom that which they had been used to; com-pared to that of their previous life, it seemedfantastically beautiful. The walls were white,there was a green plot of grass outside, though

no one had yet thought to plant flowers in it, butmost beautiful of all was the fact that they hadinteresting occupations in which no one, no one atall, interfered. They were left alone, and little by lit-tle, the children began to work with concentration,and the transformation they underwent wasnoticeable. From timid and wild as they werebefore, the children became sociable and commu-nicative. They showed a different relationship witheach other, of which I have written in my books.Their personalities grew and, strange though itmay seem, they showed extraordinary understand-ing, activity, vivacity and confidence. They werehappy and joyous.

This fact was noticed after a while by the motherswho came to tell us about it. As the children hadhad no one to teach them or interfere with theiractions, they acted spontaneously; their mannerswere natural.

But the most outstanding thing about these strangechildren of the St. Lorenz Quarter was their obviousgratitude. I was as much surprised by this as every-one else. When I entered the room, all the childrensprang to greet me and cried their welcome.Nobody had taught them any manner of goodbehavior. And the strangest thing of all was that although nobody had cared for them

I

* Maria Montessori (1942), How It All Happened; http://www.montessori-ami.org/ami.htm (January 4, 2003)

(Above) Dr. Maria Montessori, c. 1934.

9physically, they flourished in health, as if theyhad been secretly fed on some nourishing food.And so they had, but in their spirit. These children began to notice things in their homes: aspot of dirt on their mothers dress, untidiness in the room. They told their mothers not to hangthe washing in the windows but to put flowersthere instead. Their influence spread into thehomes, so that after a while these also becametransformed.

Six months after the inauguration of the House ofChildren, some of the mothers came to me andpleaded that as I had already done so much fortheir children and they themselves could do noth-ing about it because they were illiterate, would Inot teach their children to read and write?

At first I did not want to, being as prejudiced aseveryone else that the children were far tooyoung for it. But I gave them the alphabet in theway I have told you. As then it was somethingnew for me also. I analyzed the words for themand showed that each sound of the words had asymbol by which it could be materialized. It wasthen that the explosion into writing occurred.

The news spread, and the whole world becameinterested in this phenomenal activity of the writ-ing of these children who were so young andwhom nobody had taught. The people realizedthat they were confronted by a phenomenon thatcould not be explained. For besides writing, thesechildren worked all the time without being forcedby anyone to do so.

This was a great revelation, but it was not theonly contribution of the children. It was also theywho created the lesson of silence. They seemed tobe a new type of children. Their fame spread and,in consequence, all kinds of people visited theHouse of Children, including state ministers andtheir wives, with whom the children behaved gra-ciously and beautifully, without anyone urgingthem. Even the newspapers in Italy and abroadbecame excited. So the news spread, until finallyalso the Queen became interested. She came to

that Quarter, so ill famed that it was consideredhells doors, to see for herself the children aboutwhom she had heard wonders.

What was the wonder due to? No one could state itclearly. But it conquered me forever, because it pen-etrated my heart as a new light. One day I looked atthem with eyes which saw them differently, and Iasked myself: Who are you? Are you the same chil-dren you were before? And I said within myself:Perhaps you are those children of whom it was saidthat they would come to save humanity. If so, I shallfollow you. Since then, I am she who tries to grasptheir message to follow them.

And in order to follow them, I changed my wholelife. I was nearly forty. I had in front of me a doc-tors career and a professorship at the University.But I left it all, because I felt compelled to followthem and to find others who could follow them, forI saw that in them lay the secret of the soul.

You must realize that what happened was some-thing so great and so stirring that its importancecould never be sufficiently recognized. That it willnever be sufficiently studied is certain, for it is thesecret of life itself. We cannot fully know its causes.It is not possible that it came because of my method,for at the time my method did not yet exist. This isthe clearest proof that it was a revelation thatemanated from the children themselves.

INTRODUCTION

(Below) A meal at the Montessori School in the Convent of theFranciscan Nuns, Rome, c. 1912.

THE MONTESSORI WAY

10

My educational method has grown from these,as well as from many other revelations, given bythe children. You know, from what I have toldyou, that all the details included in the methodhave come from the efforts to follow the child.The new path has been shown us. No one knowsexactly how it arose; it just came into being andshowed us the new way.

It has nothing to do with any educationalmethod of the past nor with any educationalmethod of the future. It stands alone as the contribution of the child himself. Perhaps it is thefirst of its kind, which has been built by him, stepby step.

It cannot have come from an adult person; thethought, the very principle that the adult shouldstand aside to make room for the child, couldnever have come from the adult.

Anyone who wants to follow my method mustunderstand that he should not honor me, but fol-low the child as his leader.

Maria Montessori discovered that whenyoung children concentrate and investigate aset of purposefully designed activities, theytend to develop self-control; their move-ments become ordered, and they appearpeaceful. Their demeanor towards othersbecomes kind and gentle.

These characteristics and other discoveriesmade with the children of San Lorenzo in1907 were quickly replicated, as newMontessori schools opened throughoutEurope and around the world. Children inElementary and Secondary Montessorischools displayed tremendous enthusiasm asthey explored and studied topics in greatdetail. Their learning achievements were pro-found. The overall Montessori experience,however, is deeper than an academic courseof study. Because the Montessori process fullyengages childrens natural learning poten-tials, Montessori students learn about them-selves, develop self-confidence, communicateeffectively, and work well in groups.

Todays Montessori schools incorporate thediscoveries of Maria Montessori as well asrecent understandings of how learning anddevelopment take place. Montessori schoolsare now found in private, public, and home-school settings in the United States andabroad. The educational programs located inthese schools range from infant care to high school students.

Many of these schools are affiliates of, or are accredited by, one of a dozen nationaland/or international Montessori organiza-tions. Teachers receive Montessori teacher cer-tification after completing rigorous courses ofstudy. Many teachers describe their own expe-riences of personal transformation as they,too, witness in children astounding capabili-ties. From a familys perspective, becomingpart of a Montessori school could be thoughtof as adopting a natural lifestyle we call TheMontessori Way.

(Below) Students at the Montessori School in the Convent ofthe Franciscan Nuns, Rome, c. 1912.

A TYPICAL MONTESSORI DAY

11

A Typical Montessori Day

t is dark at 7:45 A.M.on this mid-wintersmorning when Jeanne

Saunders pulls up to thedrop-off circle at the Mon-tessori school her threechildren have attendedsince they were two yearsold.

Jeanne has made this tripso often over the years thatthe school feels like hersecond home. Jeanneworks in town and typicallycannot leave work untilafter 5:00 P.M. Her husband,Bill, teaches in the localpublic school and is offmuch earlier. He will pickup the children from theafter-school program at4:30 P.M., but if hes late, heknows that theyll be fineuntil he arrives. The schoolprides itself on being family friendly. Workingfamilies appreciate itsextended-day and summer-camp programs.

Imani, Justin, and Madi-son definitely think of theirMontessori school as theirsecond family. Madison isone of those children who,after eleven years in Mon-tessori, speaks about theschool with affection andconviction. Visitors oftenfind her coming up withouta moments hesitation togreet them and offer thema cup of coffee before theystart the campus tour.When people ask if shelikes it in Montessori, shesmiles and says, Sure!How could anyone not loveit here? Your teachers areyour best friends, the workis really interesting, and theother kids are my friends,too. You feel really close toeveryone.

II

THE MONTESSORI WAY

12

Madison walks her five-year-old sister, Imani, to her morning supervi-sion room. Seven-year-old Justin goesahead on his own. After dropping offImani, Madison walks into the middleschool wing, where she is a seventhgrader. She joins two of her friends inthe Commons, and they sit and talkquietly, waiting for class to start at 8:30A.M.

Imanis morning supervision takesplace in her regular classroom. Afterhanging up her coat, she walks over toJudy, the staff member in charge of herroom, and asks if she can help. Judyasks Imani to look over the breakfasttable and provide any missing napkinsand spoons. Imani does this, and whenthe table is finally ready, she makesherself a bowl of cereal. Imani addsmilk and walks to a breakfast table toeat. Children and their parents driftinto the room every so often; gradual-ly the number of children in the early-morning program grows to aboutfifteen.

After eating her breakfast, Imanibrings her bowl and spoon to a dish-washing table. Bowls and spoons arestacked in a bin. Later in the morn-ing, several children will choose thedish-washing activity. All items will becompletely cleaned and sterilizedafterwards by the dishwasher locatedin the classroom.

Next, Imani walks to the easel andbegins to paint with Teresa, a little girlof just three, who has only joined the

class over the last few weeks. Theypaint quietly, talking back and forthabout nothing in particular.

Eventually, Imani tires of paintingand cleans up. For a moment, she istempted to walk away and leave theeasel messy; instead, she carefullycleans up and puts the materials away,as she has learned from more than twoyears in Montessori.

At 8:30 A.M., Imanis full-day teacherand her assistant arrive, along with several more children.Other children follow overthe next few minutes untilall twenty-four students andthe two adults quietly moveabout the room. During thenext several hours, Imaniand her classmates willchoose learning activitiesand will involve themselvesindividually, as well as insmall groups. They will have a variety of lessonsfrom their teachers. Someare demonstrations, duringwhich their teachers showthem how to use the learn-

ing materials. Other lessons are in theform of direct instruction on, for exam-ple, the phonetic sounds of letters oron names for numerals, geometricshapes, and geographic terms for land-forms, continents, and nations.

In another part of the school, Justinand his classmates begin their lower-elementary day (for children betweenthe ages of six and nine) with a writingprompt: Wisdom is ... As each childcompletes the writing prompt, the

(Above) Montessori empowers children to take care of their basic needs.

(Right) Most Montessori schools haveart materials in the classroom for

use throughout the day. Someschools have art specialists whoinstruct the children as part of

their weekly curriculum or extended-day program.

A TYPICAL MONTESSORI DAY

13

teachers meet with students to reviewthe progress of their work plans. Thismorning, Justin will join a small groupfor an introductory lesson on how to usethe science discovery boxes. The focusof the lesson will involve asking inves-tigative questions.

The middle school students start theirday with sharing, one of several com-ponents of their morning meeting. Byspeaking about something that hastaken place during the past twenty-fourhours, students come to know oneanother better and build trust.

Afterwards, they will break into mathgroups. Madison, along with two of herclassmates, will present a lesson demon-strating the predictive power of a linearequation. Following math, the studentswill regroup into smaller teams. Eachteam is completing research for multi-media presentations based on severaltopics from their global studies.

Imani, with one of her friends, is alsoworking to construct and solve a mathe-matical problem: 2,346 + 1,421. Thisactivity reflects their learning accom-plishments during the past two years.Each child has used other materials tobuild an understanding of number andplace value. Today, they use a set ofnumeral cards to make the first addend:2,346. The cards showing the units 1 to9 are printed in green. The cards show-ing the tens numerals from 10 to 90are printed in blue. The hundredsfrom 100 to 900 are printed in red, andthe cards showing 1,000 to 9,000 areprinted in green again, because they rep-resent units of thousands.

Imani and her friend look through thecards and find a green 6, a blue 40, a red300, and a green 2,000. They place thesenumeral cards across the top of a wood-en tray and carry it to the bank, a cen-tral collection of golden bead materials.They place their tray on the floor, andthey gather 6 unit beads.

Next, they count out 4 bars of tenbeads, which will represent 40. Thisprocess is repeated until their tray is

filled with the correct number of hun-dred squares, and thousand cubes.They walk back to their work spaceand unroll a rug on the floor. The twogirls then place their numeral cardsacross the top of the rug. They placethe unit beads under the green 6card; 4 bars of ten beads each underthe blue 40 card; 3 squares of hun-dred beads each under the red 300card; and 2 cubes of thousand beadseach under the green 2,000 card. Thegirls now fill their empty tray withcards to form the numeral 1,421.Walking to the bank, they againselect the correct quantity of beadmaterials and return to their work rug.They build 1,421 under the 2,346.

The two addends are combined inan addition process: the unit beadsare combined and placed in the lower-right corner of the rug. The bars often are combined and placed to theleft of the units. This process contin-ues for the hundred squares andthousand cubes. Their movementsmimic the pencil and paper process.Beginning with the units, the chil-dren count the combined quantities todetermine the result of adding the twotogether. In this example, the result is7 unit beads. They find a green 7 cardto represent this partial sum. If theiraddition resulted in a quantity of tenbeads or more, the children wouldstop at the count of 10 and carry the 10unit beads to the bank, where theywould exchange the 10 unit beadsfor 1 ten bar: 10 units equals 1 unitof ten. This process of counting andlabeling quantities is repeated for thetens, hundreds, and thousands.

To complete this activity, Imani andher friend collect pieces of math paper,and green, blue, and red pencils. Theycopy their problem on their papers:2,346 + 1,421 = 3,767. They put theirpapers in their cubbies and they returnthe pencils, numeral cards, bead mate-rials, and tray to their proper places.Finally, they roll up their work rug and

The Stamp Game is not really a game at all it is a set of concrete materials thatallows young children to solve four-digitmath problems; it is a next step on the road to abstraction in the Montessori Mathcurriculum.

(Above) The Stamp Game

THE MONTESSORI WAY

14

return it to the rug holder. This is, asthe children proudly say, a big work.

It is now almost 10:00 A.M. andImani is hungry. She moves to thesnack table and prepares severalpieces of celery stuffed with peanutbutter. She pours a cup of apple juice,using a little pitcher that is just theright size for her hands. When she isfinished, Imani takes the cup to thedish-washing table and wipes theplace mat. As with the breakfast dish-es, dish washing is a real-life activity;the children will wash their own dish-es and learn to take care of their ownneeds. (Dishes and utensils will gothrough the dishwasher before thenext morning.)

Montessori children are usuallyenergized by big work. Cleaning upfrom her snack has put Imani in themood to really clean something.Younger children will direct theirenergies into a table-washing activity.

Five-year-old Imani has anotherplan. She finds her friend Chelsea, andthe two girls begin talking about apuppy named Sam. They begin tolaugh as their story becomes increas-ingly elaborate. Their teacher, Ann,acknowledges their creativity and sug-gests they write a story. This lessoninvolves a work rug, a box of woodenletters called the Moveable Alphabet,pencils, paper, and writing tables. Likethe earlier math work, it reflects enor-mous achievements in language learn-ing. They have already learned thephonetic sounds of letters and howto blend sounds together to write andread words. This activity also reflectsenormous achievements in develop-ing focus or concentration and self-dis-cipline. Imani and Chelsea use thealphabet to compose a story about adog named Sam.

Throughout the morning, Imanisclassmates have completed learning

activities involving sorting andsequencing objects, identifyingnames for nations, arranging geomet-ric shapes, and exploring scientific properties.

In a very real sense, Imani and her classmates are responsible for the care of this child-sized environ-ment. Older children show younger children how to use the materials.When the children are hungry, theyprepare their own snacks by cuttingraw fruits and vegetables. They go tothe bathroom without assistance.When something spills, they helpeach other clean up. They also enjoysweeping, dusting, and washing windows. They set tables, tie theirown shoes, polish silver, and steadily grow in their self-confidence andindependence. Noticing that theplants need water, Imani carries thewatering can from plant to plant,barely spilling a drop.

A TYPICAL MONTESSORI DAY

15

Children move freely around theclass, selecting activities that capturetheir interests. Imani and her class-mates have demonstrated self-suffi-ciency. They are developing an innersense of order, a greater sense of independence, and a higher ability toconcentrate and follow a complexsequence of steps.

Imanis day continues and she eatsher lunch with the class at 11:45 A.M.,after which she goes outside with herfriends to play. After lunch, the Spanishteacher comes into the room andbegins to work with small groups ofstudents.

Throughout their day, Imani and herclassmates make responsible choicesregarding which learning activities todo next. Each activity engages the children in a number of movementpatterns that form a foundation forneurological development. The hands-on learning materials are also concretemodels for thinking processes andabstract concepts.

Young children are also comparativethinkers. They learn things are bigwhen something else is small; thingsare loud when something else is soft.Young children are problem solvers.They can group objects together thatare congruent; other objects arearranged sequentially by one or moreproperties of size and color. Repeateduse of the materials allow young stu-dents to build a clear inner image of,for example, place value: How big is athousand as compared with hun-dreds, tens, and units?

The design of the learning materials their sizes, shapes, colors, textures,and weights holds the interest andattention of Imani and her classmatesfor long periods of time. Concen-tration is normal; these young childrenexplore and discover differences andsimilarities between the objects.

As these children engage in longperiods of concentration with thelearning materials, they also develop

and display self-discipline. Theirmovements are orderly. Childrenact with grace andcourtesy; they areconsiderate andrespectful towardsone another. At the same time,children are ener-gized by their discoveries and in-vestigations. Self-discipline involveslearning to chan-nel their energiesby choosing newactivities.

During the af-ternoon Imani be-comes occupiedwith an art activity,listens to selec-tions from a re-cording of theNutcracker ballet,writes the namesof shapes takenfrom the geomet-ric cabinet, andcompletes a puz-zle map of theUnited States.

When the dayis over, Imaniwill have com-pleted ten to fif-teen different activities, most repre-senting curriculum content quiteadvanced for someone who, afterall, just turned five two months ago.But when her dad picks her up at4:50 P.M., her response to the usualquestion of, What did you do inschool today? is no different frommany children: Stuff. I did a mapand, oh, I dont know. Madison andJustin will furnish similar responses,focusing instead on what might hap-pen during the evening at home.

The Saunders explain a typicalschool day in this way: Our chil-dren are very happy in Montessori.They are excited about coming, andthey cant wait to get here. Theirteachers genuinely care for our chil-dren; more than that, they knowour kids. When we describe whatour kids are learning, our friendsand family are amazed. Our neigh-bors tell us their children are notlearning anything like what our kidsdo here.

The design of the learning materials their sizes, shapes, colors, textures, and weights holds the interest and attention ofMontessori students. Above is a set of the Metal Insets, one of thematerials children use to develop eye-hand coordination.

MONTESSORIS LEGACY

25

Montessoris Legacy

It was January 6th (1907), when the first school was opened for small, nor-mal children of between three and sixyears of age. I cannot say on my meth-ods, for these did not yet exist. But in theschool that was opened my method wasshortly to come into being. On that daythere was nothing to be seen but aboutfifty wretchedly poor children, rough andshy in manner, many of them crying,almost all the children of illiterate par-ents, who had been entrusted to my care.

They were tearful, frightened children, soshy that it was impossible to get them tospeak; their faces were expressionless,with bewildered eyes as though they hadnever seen anything in their lives.

It would be interesting to know the origi-nal circumstances that enabled thesechildren to undergo such an extraordi-nary transformation, or rather, thatbrought about the appearance of newchildren, whose souls revealed them-selves with such radiance as to spread alight through the whole world.

Dr. Maria Montessori

ithin the next year, news of Dr. Montessoris workstirred interest around the

world. Literally hundreds of peoplebegan to travel to Rome to see for themselves the school in whichyoung children children of thedeepest poverty and ignorance taught themselves how to read, write,do mathematics, and run their ownschoolhouse with little or no adultsupervision.

In her book about educationalreform, The Schoolhome (HarvardUniversity Press, 1992), Dr. JudithRowland Martin writes that she was notvery impressed when she first encoun-tered Montessori education.

I understood that Montessori schoolsplaced children in multi-age classroomsand used manipulative learning materials, which may have been unusual during Dr. Montessoris lifetime

but has long since been incorporated intomost early childhood and many elemen-tary classrooms thanks to the OpenClassroom movement of the 1960s.

However, Dr. Rowland Martinsunderstanding of the value of theMontessori approach was profoundlyshaken when she came across a state-ment in one of the very first bookswritten about Dr. Montessoris work inthe United States (A MontessoriMother, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher,Henry Holt and Company, New York,1913). The phrase, Casa dei Bambini,is being translated everywhere nowa-days by English-speaking people asThe Childrens House; however, itscorrect meaning, both linguistic andspiritual is The Childrens Home (orChildrens Community, ed.). CanfieldFisher insisted upon this rendering,which she felt of-fered a much moreaccurate and com-plete insight in-to the character of the Montessoriclassroom.

Rowland Martinreflected:

This misreading ofthe Italian wordcasa as house haseffectively cut offtwo generations ofAmerican educa-tors from a new andintriguing vision ofwhat school canand should be. Ifyou translate theword casa as house,your attention willbe drawn to the

child-sized furniture, the Montessorimaterials, the exercises in Practical Life,the principal of self-education.

But if you translate the word casa ashome, you will begin to perceive a moraland social dimension that transformsyour understanding of Montessoris ideaof a school. Once I realized that Dr.Montessori thought of school on themodel of a home, the elements of her sys-tem took on a different configuration.Where before I had seen small childrenmanipulating concrete learning materi-als, I now recognized a domestic scenewith its own special form of social lifeand education.

Rowland Martin realized that whatMontessori had established was notsimply a classroom in which childrenwould be taught to read and write. TheCasa dei Bambini represented a socialand emotional environment, where

WW

(Right) Students workingin the garden of the

Montessori School in theConvent of the Franciscan

Nuns, Rome, c. 1912.

41

2SECTION

MONTESSORIPROGRAMS

THE PLANES OF DEVELOPMENTSENSITIVE PERIODS

THE METHOD OF OBSERVATIONTHE NORMALIZED CHILD

A GUIDED TOUR OF EARLY CHILDHOOD & ELEMENTARY MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS

MONTESSORI FOR THE KINDERGARTEN YEARELEMENTARY PROGRAMS

MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMSINFANT-TODDLER PROGRAMS

MONTESSORI IN THE HOME FOR THE YOUNG CHILDLEARNERS WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

42

Montessori Programsuring a typical Montes-sori school day, chil-drens developmentalneeds and learning

characteristics are met while theyengage in their learning activities.Montessori noted through herresearch that childrens needs, inter-ests, and abilities group into specificplanes of development.

A plane of development is a specif-ic growth phase. Montessori taughtteachers to design school classroomsto meet the needs and interests ofchildren in each growth phase.Montessori also taught teachers tofollow the child through carefulobservation. Through observation,teachers attend to each childs learn-ing approaches, strengths and weak-

DDBecause the specific characteris-

tics of each plane is different fromthe others, Montessori referred to achilds development as a series ofrebirths, and she believed thatschools should not be divided bygrades (kindergarten, first, second,and so on) but according to eachplane. For this reason, Montessorischools consist of mixed-age groupings divided into early child-hood, elementary, and secondaryprograms.

Dr. Montessoris study of chil-dren led her to conclude that childdevelopment is not linear. Childrendo not, in other words, develop in a

The Planes of Development

A plane of development is a specificphase of growth. Montessori educatorstypically talk about the first, second and third planes of development, cor-responding to the ages birth to six; six to twelve; and twelve to eighteen. Afourth plane of development, from age eighteen to twenty-four years of age,is not of direct concern to this book but comprises the last stage of the journey from birth to adult maturity.

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

nesses, and interests and anxieties. Theteacher next uses this information toprepare learning environments andlearning activities that facilitate thedevelopment of each childs potential.

(Below) An Early Childhood Montessoriclassroom.

43

continual progression; instead,there are predominant years ofattainment (as indicated by the ris-ing line on the diagram) followed bypredominant years of refinement(indicated by the falling line) withina period of approximately six years.However, the diagram should notbe interpreted to mean that chil-dren do not attain new understand-ings and capabilities during periodsof refinement. Instead, Montessoriproposed that there is an overalltendency for attainment during thefirst three years followed by a ten-dency for refinement during thesecond three years.

Montessori educators teach inpartnership with children. It is apartnership based on a guidingtrust a trust that each child willshow us when she or he is ready to

PLANES OF DEVELOPMENT

learn the next skill or concept. The factthat children are only ready when theyare ready is well known by parents.Unless there is a developmental chal-lenge, parents are usually not con-cerned with the particular day their sonsor daughters first learned to walk andtalk. If walking happened on a Monday,instead of a Wednesday, during the ninthmonth, rather than the tenth, parentsmay be proud.

Learning to read, however, can be adifferent matter. Parents may have anexpectation for their children to beginreading before they turn five. It would bemuch simpler to educate children iflearning to read, write, and computearithmetic took place according to aspecific schedule such as in kinder-garten, in first grade, and so on.Children do, however, follow their ownschedule. Despite national, state, and

local performance standards andrequirements for teacher accounta-bility, learning to read, write, andcompute arithmetic will occur onlywhen the child is ready. Learning tobalance and ride a two-wheelbicycle will only occur when thechild is ready.

A fundamental Montessori princi-ple is to respect each child as a realperson. Respect includes expressingregard and esteem. Respect alsoinvolves honoring each childsreadiness for learning. Children donot usually tell us when they are ready; instead, children respondto specially prepared learning environments. Montessori teachersare trained to prepare these environments and to observe for developmental signals that indicatereadiness.

The First Three Planes of Development

Birth

Age 3

Age 6

Age 9

Age 12

Age 15

Age 18

Independence

Coordination

Concentration

Order

Imagination

Socialization

Moral Justice

Trust

Self-Expression

Analytical Thought

Commitment &

Responsibility

IIIII

I

50

Montessori teachers workwith three powerful tools:

The first is their knowl-edge of child developmentand the sensitive periods.

The second is knowinghow to prepare the class-room environment so that each sensitive period is satisfied.

The third is knowing how to observe.

Montessori Teachers Use Several Principles toPrepare a Classroom Environment ...

The Principle of Freedom: Children freely choose their own work learningactivities based on their currently active inner sensitive period. But freedom isnot a free-for-all. Instead, the principle here is that of freedom within limits. TheMontessori teacher understands that for young children, freedom is an accom-plishment of the development of inner self-discipline. Self-discipline is understoodto be a result of succeeding independently of others. In other words, adults mustnever do for the child anything that the child can learn to perform for him or her-self. Instead, the adult must protect each childs choice by ensuring that the childwill be able to work with the chosen learning materials without interruption orinterference from other children.

Beauty: Each learning activity is complete; everything needed is present and ingood repair. Objects placed in the classroom are attractive and elegant, designed toattract the childs interest and attention.

Contact with Nature and Reality: The classroom objects also represent reality andnature. Children use real sinks and refrigerators instead of play ones. Because inreal life everyone does not have the same thing at the same time, there is only onepiece of material instead of multiple sets. Dr. Montessori taught that a childs directcontact with nature results with understanding and appreciating order and harmo-ny. The Montessori classroom environment is a place of life. Children learn to takecare of plants, animals, and fish. Magnifying glasses, microscopes, and simpleexperiments are available for children to observe and learn from nature.

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

54

plined inner city children of her firstChildrens House began to respond tothe new environment.

What followed seemed incredible evento Dr. Montessori, for the deprived chil-dren blossomed under this freedom,and the possibility of doing work suitedto their needs. They revealed to her notonly their enormous capacity for intel-lectual accomplishment but a strangecharacter of sweetness and serenity.

They displayed a truly uncorruptedspirit, scorning rewards and punish-ment, and finding their joy in theprodigious work which involved them.They came from these labors refreshed,as from a creative experience, and asthey worked, they grew in inner disci-pline and peace.

The sight of these children, who displayed the truly normal character-istics of childhood, was the force whichmotivated Montessori for the remain-der of her life. This secret of childhoodshe pursued with all the vitality of thegenius who found her raison detre, andfrom her tireless observations andefforts, evolved her perception of thechilds psychic personality.

As she traveled from country to coun-try, lecturing, training teachers, help-ing to establish school after school, thissame phenomenon was observed wher-ever conditions promoting its growthwere perfectly realized.

This normalized child is the imagewhich Montessori teachers keep upper-most in their minds. This is what weare striving for, what we hope toachieve. However, this child will appearonly if we conscientiously prepare our-selves and our classrooms and if wecan build on the proper preparation in the childs home.

55

A GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS

A Guided Tour of Early Childhood & Elementary Montessori Classrooms

ogether we are

going to go on

a tour of sever-

al Montessori classes.

Along the way, well

stop and take a look at

children doing all sorts

of things. We are going

to focus most of our

visit on classrooms of

children age three

through six; what Mon-

tessori schools com-

monly call the Primary

or Childrens House

level (in Canada it is

commonly called the

casa level). However,

we will also look in on

the elementary classes

to get a sense of how

the Montessori curricu-

lum extends upward at

the higher level.

We wish to extend a

very special thank you

to the many Montessori

schools that have pro-

vided us access to their

classrooms over the

years. Without their

help, we would never

have been able to com-

pile the many excellent

photos in this section.

TT

56

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

Practical Life

57

uccess in school is directly tied to the degree to which

children believe they are capable and independent

human beings.

As we allow students to develop a meaningful degree of

independence and self-discipline, we also set a pattern for a life-

time of good work habits and a sense of responsibility. In

Montessori, students are taught to take pride in their work.

Independence does not come automatically as we grow older;

it must be learned. In Montessori, even very small children can

learn how to tie their own shoes and pour their own milk. At first,

shoe laces turn into knots, and milk ends up on the floor.

However, with practice, skills are mastered and the young child

beams with pride. To experience this kind of success at such an

early age is to build up a self-image as a successful person and

leads the child to approach the next task with confidence.

SS

The hand movements needed to transfer liquids with a baster helps prepare the child for a wide range of later tasks.

(Above and below) Transferring Materials

(Far right) Many activities isolate oneparticular skill, allowing the young

child to master it one step at a time.This young student is using a little

spoon to transfer beads carefully fromone bowl to another.

The childrenlearn to pourfrom one container toanother with-out spilling asingle drop.

Pouring

(Right) This three-year-old is learningto transfer dried peas from one bowl to

another with a large spoon.

More Transferring Exercises ...

A GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS PRACTICAL LIFE

CHAPTER NAME

58

The essence of independence

is to be able to do something for

ones self. Montessori

(Background) The abilityto control ones body andmove carefully and grace-fully around the room,often carrying things thatmust not be dropped, is animportant aspect of thePractical Life lessons.

The children walk along aline on the floor, heel totoe, carefully balancingwhile carrying small flags,cups, or Montessori materials.

(Above) Children love to polishbrass and silver, moving on tolearning how to polish their own shoes.

(Above) In a very real sense,Montessori children are responsi-ble for the care of this child-sized environment, which is why Dr.Montessori called it a childrenshouse or community.

(Above) They sweep, dust, andwash mirrors and windows.

59

(Above) Young children work with theDressing Frames to master the dressingskills that classically challenge them as theybegin to take their first steps toward independence: buttoning their clothes,working on a zipper, tying their shoe laces,and so on.

(Left) To wash this table,these young studentsmethodically gather thebucket, little pitcher, sponges,scrub brushes, towels, andsoap and proceed to scrub asmall table slowly andmethodically. When they arefinished, they will returneverything to its storageplace.

These lessons in PracticalLife skills do much morethan help children learn towash tables. The processhelps them develop an innersense of order, a greatersense of independence, anda higher ability to concen-trate and follow a complexsequence of steps.

First steps towards independence ...

Table washing ...

Cleaning up ...

A GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS PRACTICAL LIFE

60

Children learn to wash small polishing cloths and napkins. Once the cloths are dry, they learnto iron and fold them using a special low-temperature childrens iron. Think of the pride thatthese young children take in doing real things, rather than pretending to help around thehouse.

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

(Above) Washing and Ironing

(Left) Food Preparation

Eating together ...Eating together ...

When the children are hungry, they prepare their own snacks. They pour themselves a drinkfrom a little pitcher that is just right for their small hands. When finished they clean up andwash their dishes. When something spills, they help each other carefully clean up. In Montessoriclassrooms, you will find small children cutting raw fruit and vegetables.

Older Montessori students learn all sorts of everyday living skills, from cooking to balancing acheckbook. They plan parties, learn how to decorate a room, arrange flowers, garden, and do simple household repairs. Montessori builds many opportunities into the curriculum for students to learn from hands-on experiences. They learn to cook, set tables, eat together in apeaceful atmosphere, and steadily grow in their self-confidence and independence.

61

A GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS PRACTICAL LIFE

Adults work to finish a task, but the child works in order to grow and is working to create the adult,

the person that is to be. Montessori

By learning how to sew, children not only learn a Practical Life skill,they also develop fine-motor skills.

Children learn to care for the small animals being raised in or out-side the classroom.

(Above) Sewing

(Above and right) Gardening in and outside the Montessori classroom

(Above) Animals in the Montessori environment

A sense of beauty is a key element of Montessori. This young student, picturedabove, is planting flowers in the class garden, which will later be cut to place in the bud vases on each table in her classroom. The boy to the right is helping to care for the plants in his indoor environment.

62

Lessons in Grace, Courtesy, & Community Service

earning

how to work and

play together with

others in a peace-

ful and caring

community is

perhaps the most

critical life skill

that Montessori

teaches.

The Silence Game helps children develop a much higher level of self-discipline along with a greater aware-ness of the sounds around us that most people take forgranted. In this group activity, the teacher will get the childrens attention either by ringing a small bell or byhanging up a sign with the command Silence. The chil-dren stop where they are or gather on the line, close theireyes, and try to remain perfectly still. The children sit stillwith their eyes shut and wait to hear the teacher whispertheir name. When they hear it ever so softly spoken, theysilently rise and join the teacher.

Sometimes the teachers will vary the Silence Game bychallenging the children to carry bells across the room without allowing them to ring, or they may use the calmatmosphere to introduce the children to guided visualiza-tion. At first, the younger children may not be able to holdthe silence for more than twenty or thirty seconds, but grad-ually their ability to relax, listen, and appreciate the perfect-ly calm environment increases. In many classes, the SilenceGame is an important daily ritual. Montessori schools arealmost always close-knit communities of people living andlearning together in an atmosphere of warmth, safety, kindness, and mutual respect. Teachers become mentorsand friends. Students learn to value the different back-grounds and interests of their classmates.

(Above) The Silence Game(Right)Community

Service

Community

service is an

important

element in most

Elementary and

Secondary

Montessori

programs. These

girls, along with

their teachers,

spend part of

their week

delivering food to

older people, who

dearly appreciate

not only the meal

but the warmth of

their company.

LL

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

A GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS LESSONS IN GRACE, COURTESY & COMMUNITY SERVICE

63

(Right) Teaching Peace

The Peace Table plays animportant role in Montessoriclassrooms. Two children having a disagreement willnormally decide to retreat tothe Peace Table to solve theirproblem. Sometimes, childrenmay not remember, and thesuggestion might come from theteacher. When classmatesobserve an ongoing disagree-ment, somebody might bringthem a peace rose with thereminder to solve their problemat the Peace Table.

Once arrived at the table, thechild who feels wronged placesher hand on the table, indicat-ing that she wants to have hersay without interruption. Theother hand she places on herheart, indicating that she speaks the truth, from the heart. She thenlooks the other in the eye, speaks her name, Lisa, and proceeds tostate how she feels, Lisa, I feel very angry ... and continues to statewhy she feels that way, ... because you didnt let me play with youand Lily! She states how she wants to resolve the conflict: And I dontwant you to do that ever again if you want to be my friend! Now thatshe has stated her case and opened the door for further discussion, shewithdraws her hand from the table and from her heart and gives Lisaa chance to respond.

Lisa proceeds that same way. She places her hands on the table andher heart, looks Eleanor in the eye, and responds:

Eleanor, I feel unhappy that you are angry, I did not mean to hurtyour feelings. However, Lily is a good friend of mine also, and thegame we played can be played by only two participants. Had I beenplaying it with you, nobody else could have joined us either. So, yousee, its just one of those things. I want to remain your friend.

With that, Lisa is finished and withdraws her hands. Now it isEleanors turn to agree or disagree. In any case, they continue the dia-logue until they reach some kind of agreement, even if that means thatthey disagree. At least they are talking, without yelling, screaming, andblaming. They want to solve the problem. When they have reached anagreement, they ring the bell to let the others know. In case they can-not come to a positive conclusion, they may ask for a mediator. This

may be one of the older children, who has been trained to beimpartial and to listen well.

However, if the problem or conflict is too involved, then one ofthem may ask for a pow-wow. During a pow-wow, the entireclass, or a large part of the class sits in a circle, listens to firstone, then the other persons side of the story. The class memberscontribute what they can, either as facts of what they have seenor heard, as ethics (right and wrong), or in perspective to classrules upon which all have agreed previously. It is wise for theteacher to observe and monitor the entire process from the side-lines.

The core experi-ence the studentsgain from theseprocedures is thatit is necessary tosolve disturbanceshonestly and withgood will tomaintain a har-monious andcooperativeatmosphere in the community.

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

64

(Left) Teaching Courtesy

Learning how to greet someone graciously isone of the first acts of courtesy learned in theMontessori classroom.

Everyday kindness and courtesy are vitalpractical life skills. Even the youngest child istreated by her teachers and classmates withdignity and respect.

Montessori students come to understand andaccept that we all have responsibilities toother people.

These children learn how to handle new situations that they will face as they becomeincreasingly independent.

They develop a clear sense of values andsocial conscience and absorb everyday ethicsand interpersonal skills from the earliestyears.

When we say that Montessori is not only afine preparation for college but for life, wearent exaggerating. Many Montessorischools teach elementary children how tocare for infants, and some even train thosewho are interested to assist in the schoolsinfant and toddler environments. The lessons of the heart that these children learn lasts a lifetime.

(Above) Learning to Care for Others

Helen Keller, inspired by Montessori, wrote:

I believe that every child has hidden away somewhere in hisbeing noble capacities which may be quickened and developedif we go about it in the right way, but we shall never properlydevelop the higher nature of our little ones while we continueto fill their minds with the so-called basics. Mathematics willnever make them loving, nor will accurate knowledge of thesize and shape of the world help them to appreciate its beau-ties. Let us lead them during the first years to find their great-est pleasure in nature. Let them run in the fields, learn aboutanimals, and observe real things. Children will educate them-selves under the right conditions. They require guidance andsympathy far more than instruction.

Montessori proposed that we could accomplish world peace byhealing the wounds of the human heart and by producing a childwho is independent, at peace with herself, and secure. Montessorienvisioned her educational reforms as essentially leading to a recon-struction of society. Montessori schools are different but notbecause of the materials that are used in the classrooms. Lookbeyond the maps, science charts, and geometry materials. Eachclassroom is a place where children really want to be because it feelsa lot like home. Montessori schools give children the sense ofbelonging to a family and help children learn how to live with otherhuman beings.

65

Whats inside?Children use theMystery Box tohelp develop theirsense of touch.

child interacts with thephysical world through hersenses. From birth, she will

look, listen, touch, taste, pick up,manipulate, and smell almost any-thing that comes into her grasp. Atfirst, everything goes into themouth. Gradually she begins toexplore each objects weight, texture, and temperature. She maywatch something that catches herattention, such as a butterfly, withinfinite patience. The sensorial cur-riculum is designed to help thechild focus her attention morecarefully on the physical world,exploring with each of her sensesthe subtle variations in the proper-ties of objects.

At first, the child may simply beasked to sort among a preparedseries of objects that vary by onlyone aspect, such as height, length,

AA

The Sensorial ExercisesA GUIDED TOUR OF THE MONTESSORI CLASSROOM SENSORIAL

or width. Other exercises challengeher to find identical pairs or focuson very different physical proper-ties, such as aroma, taste, weight,shades of color, temperature, orsound. These exercises are essen-tially puzzles, and they tend to fas-cinate the children because theyare just difficult enough to repre-sent a meaningful challenge. Eachhas a built-in control of error thatallows the child who is observantto check her own work.

The Sensorial exercises includelessons in vocabulary, as the chil-dren master the names of every-thing from sophisticated plane andsolid geometric figures to the partsof familiar plants and animals. As the Inuits demonstrate to uswith their many different words forsnow, we observe that as the chil-dren learn the correct names for

things, the objects themselves takeon meaning and reality as the childlearns to recognize and namethem.

Why is it so important to edu-cate the young childs senses? We certainly dont believe that wecan improve a childs hearing orsight through training. However,we can help children to pay atten-tion, to focus their awareness, and to learn how to observe andconsider what comes into theirexperience. In a way, the Sensorialcurriculum accomplishes some-thing like a course in wine tastingor music appreciation; one learns to taste, smell, or hear what is ex-perienced with a much deeperawareness and appreciation. These exercises can help children under-stand and appreciate their worldmore fully.

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

66

Working with theGeometric Solids

67

A GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS SENSORIAL EXERCISES

Some people have heard that in Montessori, children are taught that there is only one way to work with each material. In truth, the childrenexplore and discover all sorts of creative ways to work with them. For example, students will construct the Tower horizontally, or line up twoedges to create a vertical stairway. The children will also build the Pink Tower in various combinations with the Brown Stair (described on page 68), along with some of the other Sensorial materials.

The Pink Tower is one of the Sensorial materialsthat children enjoy working with early in theirMontessori experience. The Pink Tower, orTower of Cubes, is composed of a graduatedseries of ten wooden cubes. The largest cubehas a square section of 10 centimeters per sideand is 10 centimeters high. Thus, it measures10 x 10 x 10 centimeters. The square sectionand height of each of the succeeding cubesdecreases by 1 centimeter down to the smallestcube which measures 1 x 1 x 1 centimeter.

Children carefully carry the Tower, cube bycube, to the little rug that defines their workarea. They carry each cube comfortably at waistheight as they take the cubes and place them inrandom order upon the carpet.

As they manipulate the cubes and carrythem across the room, the children get a verystrong impression of size and weight. When allthe cubes have been carried to the rug, thechild looks for the largest one and begins tobuild the Tower, one cube at a time. At eachstep, he looks through the cubes that have notyet been added to the Tower to find the largest.As each is placed on the Tower, the child con-trols his movements to place the cube gentlydown right in the center of the larger cube onwhich it is rested. Once the Tower has beenconstructed, the child carefully takes it downand either begins again or returns the cubes,one by one, to their proper place on the shelf.

(Above and right) The Pink Tower

91

History, Geography, & International Culture

(Right) The Big Bang

Here is one students artistic interpretation of the Big Bang.

e are all members of thehuman family. Our rootslie in the distant past,

and history is the story of our com-mon heritage. Without a strongsense of history, we cannot beginto know who we are as individualstoday. Our goal is to develop aglobal perspective, and the study ofhistory and world cultures formsthe cornerstone of the Montessoricurriculum.

With this goal in mind, Montes-sori teaches history and world cultures starting as early as agethree. The youngest students workwith specially designed maps andbegin to learn the names of theworlds continents and countries.

WW Physical geography beginsin the first grade with astudy of the formation ofthe Earth, the emergenceof the oceans and atmos-phere, and the evolutionof life. Students learnabout the worlds rivers,lakes, deserts, mountainranges, and natural re-sources.

Elementary students be-gin to study world culturesin greater depth: the cus-

Montessoris integrated thematiccurriculum allows a broad scopeof study in the areas of history,geography, and international culture.

GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, & INTERNATIONAL CULTURE

92

toms, housing, diet, govern-ment, industry, the arts, his-tory, and dress. They learn totreasure the richness of theirown cultural heritage andthose of their friends.

The children also studythe emergence of humanbeings during the old andnew stone ages, the develop-ment of the first civilizations,and the universal needs com-mon to all humanity. Forolder elementary students,the focus is respectively onearly man, ancient civiliza-tions, and early-American history.

Montessori tries to pres-ent a sense of living history at every level through directhands-on experience. Stu-dents build models ofancient tools and structures,prepare their own manu-scripts, make ceremonialmasks, and re-create all sortsof artifacts of the everydaylife of historical eras. Experi-ences such as these make itmuch easier for Montessorichildren to appreciate histo-ry as it is taught throughbooks.

While Montessori schools are communities apart fromthe outside world, in whichchildren can first begin todevelop their unique talents,they are also consciouslyconnected to the local,national, and global commu-nities. The goal is to leadeach student to explore,understand, and grow intofull and active membershipin the adult world.

Field trips provide oppor-tunities to explore the world outside the classroom.

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

Younger elementary children often use simplified research card material and charts in their studies.

The Imaginary Island Puzzle introduces students in elementaryclasses to thirty-eight land andwater forms. They study vocabularyand definitions of such words asisthmus, butte, tributary, archipelago,bight, lagoon, and more.

Children also learn to plot longi-tude and latitude and analyze theflora and fauna of a region. Withthe use of eighty-four puzzle pieces,students are able to create an infinite variety of islands of theirown design, modifying them at will,and reinforcing vocabulary words during the process.

(Left) The Imaginary Island Puzzle

(Above) Research Card Materials

93

ForeignLanguages

As part of the International

Studies program, most

Montessori schools

introduce a second

language to even their

youngest children. The

primary goal in a Foreign

Language program is to

develop conversational

skills along with a

deepening appreciation

for the culture of the

second language.

(Right) International studiescontinue at every age level

in Montessori education.The curriculum integrates

art, music, dance, cooking,geography, literature, andscience. Children learn toprepare and enjoy dishes

from all over the world.They learn traditional folk

songs and dances in musicand explore folk crafts in

art. In Language Arts, theyread the traditional folk tales

and research and preparereports about the countriesthey are studying that year.

Units of study often culminate in marvelous

international holidays and festivals that serve

as the high points of theschool year.

The student pictured here is researching colonial America.

GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, & INTERNATIONAL CULTURE

94

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

This student is working with the Land and Water Forms, a set of three-dimensional modelsthat represent, in very simple terms, the nature of basic geographic features. This is also a pouring exercise, as the child adds water to the tray to create a higher level of sensoryimpression. Here she explores the idea that an island is a body of land surrounded by water,while a lake is a body of water surrounded on all sides by land.

The children learn to name each form, match the model with a photo of a real lake or island,place the correct printed label underneath each form, then prepare their own labels. They alsolearn the definitions of each form, continue to learn about the largest lakes or islands in theworld, and research facts about specific places.

The first set includes such geographic forms as an isthmus, peninsula, cape, bay, and strait.Advanced exercises introduce more complex geographic features, such as mountains, mountainranges, volcanoes, archipelagos, foothills, cliffs, mesas, prairies, river valleys, and river deltas.

Before a child can begin to understand history, she needs to begin to grasp the concepts of time. This child is learning to tell time, along with the other concepts of thepassage of time, such as: How long is aminute, an hour, a day, a year? How old are the people that I know?

(Above) The Land and Water Forms

(Above) The Teaching Clock

A lower-elementary student at work with theTime Line of Life on the Earth.

A set of clay cuneiform tablets made by a class of elementary students who arestudying ancient history.

(Above) Cuneiform Tablets

(Left) Time Lines

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A GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, & INTERNATIONAL CULTURE

Working with asection of theTime Line of Lifeon the Earth

96

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

97

(Below) Puzzle Map of the Continents & Continent Globe

(Above and below) Puzzle Maps

(Left) Pin Maps

Primary children love to work with Puzzle Maps. At the beginning, they dont understand them to bemaps of the Earths surface; they are simply lovelypuzzles. Gradually the children are taught thenames of each continent and can identify a greatmany countries, states, and provinces. As theylearn to read, they begin to label each piece.

The student above is using a Puzzle Map to draw amap of North America.

The Pin Maps challenge the upperelementary children to master thenames of the countries, capitalcities, and flags of the countries ofseveral continents. Each label isprinted on a card attached to a pin,which is placed in the appropriatehole on the map. A set of controlcharts allows these elementary children to check their own work.

These children are beginning to grasp that flatmaps, such as the Puzzle Map of the Continents, represent geographical features on a world that is asphere. They note that the same color coding is usedto show the continents on the Continent Globe andthe Puzzle Map.

Montessori Maps & Globes

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Hands-On Science the Montessori Way

The elementary students shown above are working with the Clock of Eras.This more advanced exercise presents the great geological eras of the Earthshistory as a pie graph or clock face. The children label each geological era,from the formation of the Earth to the present day. In earlier exercises, theyvebegun to study what was happening on the Earths surface during each era.

cience is an integral element of theMontessori curriculum. Amongother things, it represents a way of

life: a clear thinking approach to gather-ing information and problem solving.The scope of the Montessori Science cur-riculum includes a sound introduction tobotany, zoology, chemistry, physics, geol-ogy, and astronomy.

Montessori does not separate sciencefrom the big picture of the formation ofour world. Students consider the forma-tion of the universe, development of the planet Earth, the delicate relationsbetween living things and their physicalenvironment, and the balance within theweb of life. These great lessons integrateastronomy, the earth sciences, and biology with history and geography.

The Montessori approach to sciencecultivates childrens fascination with theuniverse and helps them develop a life-long interest in observing nature and discovering more about the world inwhich they live. Children are encouragedto observe, analyze, measure, classify,experiment, and predict and to do so with a sense of eager curiosity andwonder.

In Montessori, science lessons incor-porate a balanced, hands-on approach.With encouragement and a solid founda-tion, even very young children are readyand anxious to investigate their world, towonder at the interdependence of livingthings, to explore the ways in which the physical universe works, and to project how it all may have come to be.

For example, in many Montessorischools, children in the early elementarygrades explore basic atomic theory andthe process by which the heavier ele-ments are fused out of hydrogen in thestars. Other students study advancedconcepts in biology, including the sys-tems by which scientists classify plantsand animals. Some elementary classesbuild scale models of the solar systemthat stretch out over two miles!

SS

(Above) The Clock of Eras

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A GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS SCIENCE

This eight-year-old is workingwith a model that depicts the lifecycle of a star. This material is actually an introduction to thestudy of the chemical elementsand how the more complex elements are cooked up in thenuclear furnace of the starsatomic fusion.

(Above) The Life Cycle of a Star

Using this simplemoving model,

elementary studentsstudy the orbital

relationships of the planets

as they revolvearound the sun.

The secret of good teaching is to regard the childsintelligence as a fertile field in which seeds may besown to grow under the heat of flaming imagina-tion. Our aim is not only to make the child under-stand, and still less to force him to memorize, butso to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to hisinnermost core. We do not want complacent pupilsbut eager ones. We seek to sow life in the childrather than theories, to help him in his growth,mental and emotional as well as physical, and forthat we must offer grand and lofty ideas to thehuman mind. If the idea of the universe is present-ed to the child in the right way, it will do more forhim than just arouse his interest; it will create inhim admiration and wonder, a feeling loftier thanany interest and more satisfying.

Maria Montessori

(Right) Model of the Solar System

100

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

These two elementary students are constructing models of common molecules,using wooden spheres to represent different elements.

Working with this unique teaching version of MendelevsPeriodic Table of the Elements, elementary childrenbegin to learn about the more complex elements, their symbols, and how various elements are grouped togetheraccording to their properties. At the same time, childrenare looking for examples of common elements in theirdaily environment and beginning to research informationabout the characteristics and uses of the elements.

(Above) Constructing Molecules

(Above) Mendelevs Periodic Table of the Elements

This elementary student is exploring

the elements. He is constructing

models of the atomic structureof one element,

placing protons and neutrons in the

nucleus and electrons in the

outer shells.

(Right) Exploring theElements

115

Joyful Scholars: Montessori for the Elementary Years

s children near the end of their kindergarten year in Montessori, manyparents struggle with the question of whether or not to keep their children in Montessori for the elementary program. On the one hand, the

typical Montessori five-year-olds self-confidence and love of learning makes manyfamilies ask: Why tamper with something that is clearly working? On the otherhand, since the children will be moving on to another class one way or the other,many parents feel that the first grade seems to be the logical time to make thetransition from Montessori.

For many families, a major consideration will be the ability to save thousands ofdollars a year by taking advantage of the local public schools. Others wonder if amore highly structured and competitive independent school would give theirchild a better preparation for college.

Although each family will analyze the issues in their own way, the familys finaldecision will involve an investment in their childrens future. All of us want thebest for our children, and the often unspoken concern of many parents is: WillMontessori prepare my child for the real world?

The answer, by the way, is yes! Montessori works! It has worked for years inthousands of Montessori schools around the world. Montessori has enjoyed thesupport of some of the leading personalities of our time, including PresidentWoodrow Wilson, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, MahatmaGandhi, Helen Keller, Sigmund Freud, Buckminster Fuller, Bertram Russell, JeanPiaget, Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, Anne Frank (who was a Montessori student),and David Elkind, just to name a few. One elementary teacher responded to herparents fears by describing the Montessori Way as follows:

Many parents express the concern that Montessori at the elementary level may not preparethem for the real world. Im not exactly sure what that means. Is it that their PrimaryMontessori experience was too secure, too child-centered, too accepting? Surely, those qual-ities cannot be seen as negatives. Is it that there is a sneaking suspicion that all thisMontessori stuff is fine up to kindergarten, but now its time to face math tests and text

AA

uring the early childhood yearsin Montessori classrooms, par-ents watch as their young

children learn to read, write, and explorethe world around them. The learningprocess seems painless and incrediblyeffective. It is both. What it is not is simple.The Montessori Method has been perfectedover many decades, and it takes many yearsof dedication to become a Montessoriteacher.

Montessori parents who are thrilled withtheir young childrens progress often urgeMontessori schools to expand their pro-gram to include the elementary years.

The Elementary Montessori program hasalso been proven to be painless and effec-tive. Establishing a new elementary pro-gram, however, is not simple. It is notmerely an extension of what came before. Itis exciting, complex, and different!

Elementary Montessori teachers becomecertified after a rigorous course of studylasting a full year or longer. QualifiedMontessori teachers at this level are in greatdemand and are often hard to find. Olderstudents are also physically larger, requir-ing more classroom space. In addition tothe Montessori materials that students atthis level will continue to use, new researchand teaching materials, such as encyclope-dias, computers, and microscopes becomeexciting, necessary, and expensive educa-tional tools.

Then theres the issue of accountability.This is the level when parents become in-creasingly focused on how their childrencompare to other students of the same agewho have experienced a non-Montessorieducation. Issues of grading, test scores,and homework are raised much moreoften.

While these challenges should be carefullyconsidered before expanding an existingprogram to include the elementary years, itis important to remember that Montessoriat the elementary level works! It is theimportant next step in the lives of therenaissance adults we hope our childrenwill someday become, and it is well worththe effort that it takes to produce a qualityprogram.

MONTESSORI FOR THE ELEMENTARY YEARS

DD

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

116

books, standardized curricula and a real school? I suppose it is aquestion of examining ones own values regarding education. Theobservable fact is that the majority of children in ElementaryMontessori programs achieve high-level academic standardsbecause they are highly motivated and have been exposed to anextremely broad and integrated curriculum.

They may not have a weekly math test on which their grade is based,but they can prove to you that the answer in division is what oneunit gets. No, they wont have a multiple-choice quiz on Chapter 2of their science or geography textbook. Rather, they can independ-ently research topics using an encyclopedia, atlas, reference books,maps, microscopes, or magnifying glasses. Real school shouldengender a love of learning and an acceptance of personal respon-sibility for intellectual growth as well as social interaction. Realschool attempts to shape long-term attitudes and concrete skills nec-essary not just to move up to the next grade, but to move up to asuccessful and happy life.

Elementary children face new developmental challenges. Aspecially prepared learning environment is just as importantnow as it was before during the early childhood years if chil-dren are to fulfill their complete learning potential. More thanschool achievement test scores are at stake. Learning to iden-tify, pursue, and communicate deep interests in the worldleads children to self-mastery and to habits of lifelong learn-ing.

Elementary Montessori students themselves are often themost compelling argument for the value of an ElementaryMontessori education!

What makes Elementary Montessori different?

When you observe an Elementary Montessori class at work,you may find it difficult to get a sense of the big picture. Overhere some students are working on math, some are reading,while others are working on science. In the corner, a teacheris giving a lesson to a small group of children, while occa-sionally glancing up to keep an eye on the rest of the class.The elementary classroom may appear to be unstructured,but these seemingly random, yet obviously purposeful activi-ties, are basic to the independent learning and self-directedactivity of the Montessori approach.

While there is a vast range in the level of curriculum onwhich the children are engaged, each child is considered asan individual. Montessori teachers strive to challenge eachaccording to his or her developmental needs and abilities.

Authors Note: For this chapter, we have drawntogether some of Dr. Maria Montessoristhoughts about the foundation of education atthe elementary years from three of her books, ToEducate the Human Potential, From Childhoodto Adolescence, and Spontaneous Activity inEducation. In a few places, we have taken someliberty with the original translation for the pur-pose of clarity.

The passage to the second level of education is the pas-sage from the sensorial, material level to the abstract.The need for abstraction and intellectual activitymakes itself felt around the seventh year.

Before age seven, the child focuses himself on a sensor-ial exploration and classification of the relationshipsamong concrete objects not exploration on the intel-lectual plane. The three- to seven-year-old generally iscontent to know what something is, along with a simplistic explanation of its function. The older child is oriented toward intellectual discovery andinvestigation.

In the second period, the child needs wider boundariesfor his social experiences. He needs to establish socialrelationships in a larger society and the traditionalschools, as they have been conceived for so long, can nolonger be sufficient for him. He feels the closed envi-ronment as a constraint, which is why children of thisage may no longer go to school enthusiastically. Heprefers to catch frogs or play with his friends withoutadult supervision. An education that suppresses thetrue nature of the child is an education that leads to thedevelopment of unhappy and socially immature adults.

It is at age seven that one can note the beginning of anorientation toward the judgement of acts as right orwrong, fair or unfair ... This preoccupation belongs to avery special interior sensitivity the conscience. Theseven-to-twelve-y