Montessori Method
Follow the Child Maria Montessori
Dr Maria Montessori was born in Italy 1870-1952. She was the first Italian woman to qualify as a Medical Doctor after appealing to the Pope to allow her to study medicine. Dr Montessori based her educational method on observation of children, which is grounded in a deep understanding of child development. She was a progressive woman who was ahead of her time and only now are we beginning to apply her methods in today's classrooms.
The Montessori method is more than an educational philosophy but a way of life. At the heart of it is the independence of the child, empowering the children with the skills to learn and to have a love of learning. The teachers role is to observe the child and as a custodian of the environment, to prepare to best meet the needs of each individual child.
The Montessori method is most famous for its unique materials with their isolated point of learning and control of error, however the materials are the tools of the method not the method.
As part of the Montessori method and developing the holistic child we include in the curriculum French, cooking, dance, yoga, creativity and gardening.
At Children's House Montessori we are an accredited setting who care for the whole child, their physical, intellectual, linguistic, emotional and social needs are met in a safe and loving environment. We are reflective practitioners always seeking ways to do things better for the benefit of the children we care for.
A Montessori teacher wants her students to be successful, yet she knows that for this to happen she must follow their lead and not make them follow her Maria Montessori
Learning Together, what Montessori can offer your family by Kathi Huges ISBN: 978-0-9571704-0-7
Teach me to do it myself Maria Montessori
Montessori Curriculum
Montessori materials are designed to expose the child's hands to abstract concepts which are then gradually revealed to the mind Lilliard, 2007
Maslow's hierarchy of needs which talks about the whole child. The whole child needs to be met in order for self actualization/ open to learning and development to occur. In our school we nurture the whole child.
Learning about odd and even numbers.
“Areas of Everyday Living, is the bridge between home and the Montessori school. It is everything they see in the adult world and now have the independence an opportunity to do it. Here our child is enjoying preparing morning snack for the school.”
“Sensorial, children learn through using their hands. Here our children are learning, order, concentration and fine motor skills while enhancing the tripod grip preparing the child for writing.”
Literacy, "Through phonetics and sandpaper letters children are taught to read, once accomplished they go onto word building with the large movable alphabet. Once this is achieved there comes what Montessori called an explosion in writing".
Mathematics, "Here our child has worked with the concrete material that represents numbers and associates the symbols. he has mastered one to one correspondence and sits back taking in his accomplishment."
Knowledge and Understanding of the World, "Here the children are learning about the world we live in and our place in it."
Creativity, "Our child is in the mud kitchen in are garden".
Our Art studio allows the children the opportunity to communicate complex emotions as their verbal communications at this age is limited. Even when learning to talk children learn quickly to self-censor as part of the socialization process.
Art helps us understand the true emotions as it by-passes verbal language censorship. We have already seen the tremendous and beneficial impact this has had on the children wellbeing and engagement. As part of our Free flow (where the child chooses their learning environment) they are choosing to spend their time in the Art studio. We have seen children use Art to self soothe when upset. Evidence demonstrates the many benefits of the exploration of children's creative skills and abilities through Art, to help build their confidence and understanding in the world around them. This has been particularly important following the impact of the global pandemic.
Recently identified in the SEBDA national conference, Dr Tina Rae commented saying "it's not catch up, catch up, catch up, but repair, repair, repair that children need in education". All educational establishments need to focus on repair, having an Art Studio enables us to extend our abilities to do this.
