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Montessori is a world-renowned theory of educational approach that supports and guide our students to make the most of their physical, spiritual and intellectual growth by encouraging them to educate themselves. The setting is created with an orderly selection of sequential learning materials to guide the child through self-directed, hands-on sensory experiences. Materials involve manipulation through the use of hands to build the mind. Montessori's concepts and principles are clear but powerful.
Approach to the "whole child." The key aim of the Montessori nursery is to help every child achieve maximum potential in all areas of life. Activities facilitate the development of social skills, emotional growth and physical coordination, as well as cognitive development. The holistic programme, under the guidance of a specially prepared teacher, enables the child to feel the excitement of learning, the time to enjoy the process and to ensure the growth of self-esteem, and the experiences on which the children build their knowledge.
The "Prepared Environment." For self-guided learning to take place, the entire learning environment – space, resources, and social ambience – must be supportive of the learner. The teacher offers the required support, including opportunities for children to work in a healthy and supportive environment.
The teacher thus gains children's interest, encouraging them to try new things and develop self-confidence and self-esteem.
The tools of the Montessori. Dr Montessori's scientific studies of the children led her to design a variety of multi-sensory, sequential and self-correcting products. They promote learning that develops their expertise from the concrete to the abstract.
The mixed age group environment provides an atmosphere where children learn to support and help other children because they communicate regularly with children of different ages and abilities. Children gain respect for their success and the accomplishments of others and are inevitably challenged by the accomplishments of others.
Older children learn to be patient and tolerant and act as role models and teachers for younger children. When an older child teaches a younger child, it strengthens previously learned concepts and aids in the full mastery of concepts. Younger children learn about courtesy, etiquette, and dispute resolution by watching older children in the classroom.
Since teachers do not have to set the training pace for a whole community, each child has the freedom to learn at his or her own pace.
By remaining in the classroom for three years, children develop a good sense of community and continuity, with 2/3 of the class returning each year. This culture helps students develop as role models for each other. Being in the same classroom year after year helps a teacher to learn and child's learning skills, style, and level of growth to help set the learning agenda as well as build on strengths and focus on weaknesses.
Many nurseries have a structured day on which children engage in a range of activities organised by their main staff. Sometimes for individual play will also be encouraged, but the day is very much planned and coordinated by adults. In the Montessori setting, the focus is very much on children learning about the world in their chosen way. Dr Montessori claimed that children learn most between the ages of 0-6 and learn best when they can do so at their rate, making independent decisions about what they want and when.
The existence of schedules, assessments and other demands, it is assumed, acts against the best interests of the child and can lead to unhappiness, frustration, and other negative behaviour. Key staff will be present in the room, but they will guide the children rather than direct them in their play.
The rooms reflect this concept, with resources that are freely accessible for children to use and explore as and when they want to. There are six key fields in which education is focused – practical life, sensory life, language, mathematics, cultural and creative activities, and this offers a wider curriculum than can be found in most state-run nurseries and primary schools.
Research by the University of London showed that children – five years of age – who attended the Montessori nursery had higher levels of academic achievement than the national norm, as well as a high degree of social and behavioural patterns.
The Montessori approach aims to promote discipline and self-discipline at a very young age since children can choose their activities.
Every child in the Montessori classroom can grow and progress at his or her own pace in his or her own time. This is one of the concepts deep within the Montessori approach that is fundamental to philosophy.
If Montessori children appear to be more advanced than conventional age standards, it is not because of pressured teaching or competition. Rather, it represents the immense ability and potential that children hold inside them when they are enabled to learn at their speed and explore what is important to them during their sensitive periods of learning in a specially prepared environment.
The aim is to initiate processes of critical thinking and exploration internally.
The child of Montessori is encouraged to pursue what concerns him most. The child is free to work and learn in the classroom at his own pace and his or her level of comprehension without interference. This is what makes Montessori a non-competitive classroom. Educational materials have a varied rate of development that accommodates all levels of intellectual capability in the classroom. As a result, quick learners are not held back, and slow learners are not required to keep up. In this specific approach, the classroom is capable of meeting the individual needs of each child. The growth and success of each child are evaluated against their strengths and advancements, which are not compared to those of other children.
There are over 500 self-correcting, sensory manipulative materials that make learning a lot more enjoyable. Inviting objects, a beautiful variety of coloured beads, jigsaw maps with knobs, and solid geometric shapes, a vibrant set of special rods and blocks, cylinders and cubes, coloured tablets, sound boxes, all of which insulate a different idea.
Qualities such as scale, form, colour, texture, sound can be easily explored and discovered. Thus, they begin to heed these characteristics, plus weight, smell, taste, and dimension, all by sensory integration. Another distinctive advantage of the materials is that the error control is built right in. The child can easily notice the mistake and then correct it on its own without the assistance of the instructor. The child will begin to solve problems independently in this way. The concrete learning apparatus is designed to intrigue the boy, to stimulate his mind through abstract cycles of thinking and exploration.
They move the child from simple concrete concepts to abstract ones. When each job becomes mastered, they become more self-confident and self-confident. They acquire the knowledge and skills needed to make their decisions and meet their needs.
Montessori is based on a deep respect for the personality of each child. Children make choices as to what they will study, choosing from the activities offered by the Director. Children are given a significant measure of liberty, which in turn forms the basis of self-discipline. When children advance at their own pace and complete self-correcting tasks, they gain trust in their ability to understand what they are learning.
Montessori provides the children with countless opportunities for mutual support, which is joyfully offered and joyfully received. Co-operative social contact between children of different ages gives rise to feelings of friendship, respect for the rights of others, and self-confidence.
This approach helps remove the need for manipulation, which also triggers children's feelings of inferiority complex and tension.
Montessori sets out the patterns of concentration, perseverance and thoroughness in early years, which in turn creates a capable and enthusiastic learner in later years. Armed with these characteristics, the Montessori child makes it easier for conventional schools to adapt comfortably and efficiently to their new schedule.
By the age of five, Montessori children are typically interested, self-confident learners who look forward to learning. They are generally active, enthusiastic learners who genuinely want to learn and ask excellent questions. They have been handled with integrity and consideration. Although there were clear standards and ground rules, their views and concerns were taken very seriously within that context.
There is nothing inherent in Montessori that causes children to have a rough time when they are moved to conventional schools. But most of them adapt reasonably easily to their new surroundings, make new friends, and succeed in defining the success of their new school.
Study findings have shown that Montessori children are well prepared for later life academically, socially and emotionally.
In addition to scoring well on standardised tests, Montessori children are graded above average on the following criteria; turning to work on time, listening attentively, using basic skills, showing responsibility, asking provocative questions, showing passion for learning and adjusting to new circumstances.
The Montessori method has been successfully used for children of all socio-economic backgrounds, representing children in daily classes as well as gifted children, children for developmental disorders and children with emotional and physical disabilities. No school is perfect for all children, though there are children who can do better in a smaller classroom environment with a more teacher-led curriculum that provides fewer options and a more stable external framework.
Children who are easily over-stimulated, or who appear to be excessively aggressive, may be examples of children who may not respond as easily to the Montessori programme. Each case is different, and it's best to work with the schools in your area to see if a specific child and school will seem to be a good match.
Great teachers enable learners to reach the stage that their minds and hearts are free, making them ready to learn. In successful schools, students are not as inspired by good grades as they are by a simple love of learning.
As parents know their own children's learning styles and temperaments, teachers, too, build this understanding of the individuality of each child by spending several years with students and their parents.
Dr Montessori believed that teachers should concentrate on the child as an individual, not the regular lesson plan. Montessori teachers guide kids to ask questions, think for themselves, explore, inquire, and discover. Their ultimate aim is to help their students learn individually and maintain the enthusiasm, imagination and intellect with which they were born.
Montessori Schools agree that discipline is something that can come from inside rather than something that is always enforced by others. They do not depend on incentives or therapies or punishments.
To be free in the world, within limits, and to learn to love and care about others. The child gains confidence and influence over his behaviour.
So Montessori teachers just move in when the action of the child is disturbing or disruptive to others.
Both children are playing! They playfully try new stuff. They are watching something of interest with a new, open mind. They enjoy the company of respected adults and other children. They're making up myths. They're dreaming. They imagine that. This impression comes from parents who don't know what to do with the incredible focus, order, and self-discipline that we typically see in Montessori children.
Montessori students often seem to take very seriously the activities they do at school. It's normal for them to say, "This is my job," when adults ask what they're doing. They work hard and expect their parents to treat them and their work respectfully. But it's joyful, playful, and it's anything but drudgery.
MMI Teacher's Training affiliated to MMI London assumes special significance in the field of pre-school education; In the context of a new education policy in India. A young child with multiple intelligence needs manifold exposures to acquire knowledge and experience. No child is second to his peer. Every child is unique in one form or other. The primary duty of the pre-school teacher is to identify the hidden qualities of her pupils and nurture their capabilities. The Montessori school lays the foundation stone in promoting qualities of every individual.