4 minute read
Program Description— Montessori Method
from Parent Handbook
by Mymontessori
WHAT IS MONTESSORI?
Developed around the turn of the century by Maria Montessori, Italy’s first female physician, the Montessori Method consists of a specialized teaching style and expertly designed materials that combine to unlock each child’s natural motivation to learn.
Unlike most traditional classrooms, in which teachers impose lessons upon a group of children organized by age, Montessori creates an environment in which the teacher plays the role of facilitator as each child satisfies his or her own inherent urge to learn and develop.
Further, as Montessori does not segregate children by age, older children share their skills and knowledge with younger ones. This not only acts as an important motivator, as the youngest emulate their more advanced peers, it also serves to develop crucial social skills as well.
In short, Montessori teaches children how to learn. What is more, it does so at a critical age—two through six years—when their receptivity to new concepts is most keen and core aspects of their personalities are being formed. Through Montessori they discover that the will, ability and skills to learn are inside each of them…and not dependent upon external forces. Through Montessori they gain a foundation of self-confidence and esteem that can serve them for the rest of their lives.
Unfortunately, Dr. Montessori and her family did not trademark their name, and its use by schools and organizations not practicing in the manner prescribed by Dr. Montessori is widespread. In fact, among the countless schools that use the Montessori name, only about 4% offer teachers and classroom materials certified by the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), the organization founded by Dr. Montessori to ensure that the method is properly implemented.
The International Montessori Academy, as a fully recognized AMI school, is proud to offer both AMI-certified instruction and materials.
COVID NOTE: A great many elements of the Montessori method are incompatible with the many Covid-19 precautions we have put in place. For instance, a normalized Montessori classroom would typically consist of up to 24 children of mixed ages so that more advanced children might assist their less experienced peers with the Montessori materials. As our class sizes are limited to no more than 15 children and physical distancing is encouraged, this is one example of the many Montessori protocols that we have had to modify.
Our educational director, Yolanda Sollitto, has more than 30 years of experience as an AMI teacher, director and school owner. She has painstakingly reviewed the AMI curriculum and materials to determine the safest way to implement them in light of the current health emergency.
The Difference between AMI Montessori and Ordinary Montessori
A close look at an AMI school—compared to Montessori schools not practicing the method or using the materials as prescribed—reveals a marked contrast.
The materials found in our classrooms are the very ones designed by Dr. Montessori. Each has a specific purpose and objective with regards to the child’s educational development.
What might appear to the untrained eye, for instance, to be simply a miniature model of a farm is actually much more.
Dr. Montessori recognized the inherent truth that play is a child’s work. The model farm—which has a natural attraction to the children—is used in a carefully prescribed way to teach them the use of adjectives to accurately describe the world around them. Children fetch animals and other items pertaining to the farm according to a series of adjectives presented to them on slips of paper. What for the children is a game—and a very fun game at that—is simultaneously a lesson from which they learn valuable language concepts.
All of the materials you see in our school have a similar purpose and prescribed use. Little—with the exception of some of the playground toys—is present only for its play value. While the children engage our materials in fun play, each item actually contributes in a special way to the learning process as well.
Of the countless schools using the Montessori name, only a handful offer AMIcertified staff and materials.
The Difference between an AMI Montessori Teacher and other Teachers
One need only watch an AMI certified teacher conduct a classroom to appreciate the difference between Montessori learning as Dr. Montessori designed it and ordinary day care.
In a normalized* Montessori classroom, the teacher rarely lectures in front of the class, but rather, is often seated among the children, responding to their requests to work with a given lesson or material in a soft voice.
Why? First, in a normalized classroom, the teacher does not actually do all the teaching! Children who have already mastered certain lessons and activities—as a result of having seen the teacher perform them—instruct others who have not.
Further, a teacher’s soothing tone of voice acts as an automatic volume control for the class. As young children have an extraordinary capacity to imitate, if the teacher does not bark instructions in a loud voice, children will rarely speak in loud voices themselves.
Needless to say, the entire Montessori method cannot be described here. Association Montessori Internationale teachers spend a rigorous ten months—eight hours a day—earning their certificates. Clearly such a curriculum cannot be condensed to fit within these pages. Additional resource materials explaining the method can be found at www.amiusa.org.
Working under the direction of our educational director, our guides will continue to apply Montessori principals and methods within the parameters imposed by our Covid19 precautions.
