Montessori Education |
Montessori education has had a large foothold in education worldwide for the last one hundred years. This growth and popularity has spread into the United States and helped begin a paradigm shift away from traditional education. Dr. Montessori took absolute advantage of a child’s innate desire to learn. Being a medical doctor and a scientist, Dr. Montessori’s method was based on her scientific observation of how children learn in different countries, cultures and life circumstances. The Montessori Method of education has been validated not only in the resulting success of the students but by modern brain research. The most recent brain research established Montessori’s scientific approach to learning coincides with the way the human brain learns. The brain learns from the intake of information from our senses, the experiences absorbed from repetition, discovery and then the understanding of the knowledge rather than just memorization of facts as is the traditional method of education, which has not changed or advanced since it’s first conception hundreds of years ago.
The establishment of Montessori education begins with the Montessori prepared classroom, designed to fit the global needs of the students from the size of the furniture to the provocative but simple materials on the work shelves. The educational materials are developed for learning through hands-on experience, investigation and research. Many of the materials have built-in "control of error", a feature which enables the child to self-correct with little adult intervention, fostering independence and self-confidence. The materials also allow for teaching the concrete to the abstract with expanded understanding with extension work. This style develops in students a sense of purpose, a desire to know and the need to master a skill.