Who is Maria Montessori? The Montessori Method in Education

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Maria Montessori's philosophy and developments have been over a hundred years old, but the method of her work does not lose its relevance to this day. The effectiveness of the pedagogical system is confirmed by the results of scientific research. Gardens and schools that work according to this system can be found all over the world. Pupils of institutions surprise with their intellectual and creative abilities, as well as good manners.

Montessori Pedagogy is a method of raising children based on trust, freedom and the opportunity to express yourself. The key message of the pedagogical system is: “Help me do it myself.”

First always and everywhere

Maria Montessori was born on August 31, 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy. In the family, she was the only and dearly beloved child. Maria's father, Alessandro Montessori, came from a family of Italian nobility. Mother's name was Renilda. As a girl, she bore the surname Stoppani - an ancient family, whose representatives were very educated people. Mother's brother, AntonioStopani, for his great contribution to science, was awarded a monument in Milan. At that time, Renilda was a fairly educated lady, but, unfortunately, she was destined for the fate of the keeper of the hearth and no more. All her life she helped her daughter as much as she could, tried to invest in her love of knowledge and independence.

When Mary was 12 years old, her family moved to Rome so that the girl would have the opportunity to get a better education. She was especially good at natural sciences and mathematics. Despite all the obstacles, the purposeful girl entered the technical school for boys, and later - the medical faculty of the University of Rome. After graduation, she becomes the first female internist and surgeon in Italy.

Clever, activist and simply beautiful

In her student years, Maria actively fought for women's rights. She was chosen as a delegate to the International Women's Congress, which was held in Berlin. The girl knew how to make people listen and hear, she was excellent at oratory. Despite all this, she always looked great, and she had a lot of fans.

Personal tragedy

In 1896, she began working as an assistant in the University Hospital of Rome under the auspices of Santi de Santes. There she met her lover Giuseppe Montesano. The personal life of the Italian did not work out. She had to make a difficult choice between feelings and science. She chose the second. When I realized that I was pregnant, then, frightened by the condemnation of the Catholic environment, I decided immediately after giving birth to send the child with a nanny to the villagenear Rome. There is a myth that Maria left her son to take care of other people's children, but in fact this is not so.

Most of the children at that time were brought up by tutors, and the Italian did nothing that went against tradition. The only difference was that the baby lived with the host family. Maria spent more time with her son on the weekends than the average mother of that time. Montessori introduced her son to society only when he was 15 years old. Mario helped and supported his mother all his life, became her successor, and after her death made a huge contribution to the pedagogical method of M. Montessori.

Working with children

In the clinic, her first meeting with the kids who had disabilities. At that time, such children were not treated and were not taught anything, they were simply considered idiots and they tried to protect society from them. After eating, the children crawled on the bare floor and collected bread crumbs, and then spit balls from it. The situation in which sick children were around the clock did not contribute to development and did not encourage them to useful activities. Maria watched them for a long time and drew conclusions, which became the starting point for the emergence of the pedagogical system created by Montessori.

The essence of the method was to provide children, both sick and he althy, with a developing environment. The crumbs need to be given a space in which all the world's knowledge is concentrated. For clarity, they are presented through the standards of the main achievements of mankind. Every kidmust go the way to the civilized world at preschool age. The Montessori pedagogical system is built depending on the needs (sensitive periods) in the development of the child.

Sensitive periods

Child development according to the Montessori method occurs in accordance with the time intervals in which children simply and naturally comprehend certain skills and knowledge. This is the essence of the sensitive period. Its peculiarity is that it happens once in a lifetime and passes irrevocably, regardless of whether the child had time to use it or not. For example, between the ages of 0 and 6, sensory development and speech formation occur. Social skills arise and are fixed in the period from 2 to 6 years. It is necessary to accustom the baby to cleanliness and order up to 3 years.

Other sensitive periods can be found in the writings of the Italian teacher-innovator. Parents and teachers cannot influence the occurrence and duration of such periods. However, they must create an environment of didactic materials for the child, or the so-called zone of proximal development.

The world of adults is the country of giants for children

Montessori educator first introduced the theory that children are uncomfortable living in the world of adults. Every kid feels like a midget in the country of Gulliver. Our world is a complete chaos for a child, where a small person has no rights and personal comfortable space. Adult giants are often cruel, unfair, and impatient. Punishment can follow a simple oversight, such as a broken vase, but the kid is just studyingthe world around and has the right to make mistakes.

The teacher wanted to convey to parents and teachers that children are not toys in their hands. Their interests and needs must be taken into account. To raise a baby, you need to know him, and to understand the baby, you should observe him. And this is possible only with the child who was given freedom. Having seated a child at a desk, you will not see anything but a quick loss of interest. It is possible to observe how a personality manifests itself only when the baby is truly passionate about something.

Discipline and freedom at the same time

Under the concept of freedom in the works of the Italian teacher, one should understand not permissiveness, but the independence of the child from the will of the adult. And this can be achieved by teaching kids to serve themselves and learn new things without the help of elders.

Maria Montessori Method briefly:

• Each kid chooses his own activity. The child learns to listen to his inner "I", to understand what is interesting to him at this very moment.
• Minimizing adult assistance. She should be present only in cases where the baby himself asks for it. Independence makes a child more confident in his abilities, teaches him to adequately evaluate personal achievements.
• Children grow up and learn in a specially organized environment. Didactic material should be freely available to every child. There are rules that everyone must follow.
• Teaching children of different ages in the same group. It's good for both older kids andfor the younger ones. The little ones follow the older ones, and the big kids help the little ones.
• The teaching material is designed so that the child can find and correct his own mistakes.
• There are no best and worst students. A child's achievements can only be compared with previous results.

Whether the Montessori method is used at home or in educational institutions, the rules are the same everywhere:

• Have worked - clean up after yourself.
• Working with the material takes place on an individual mat.
• You can't make noise in the classroom, we move quietly. Children are immediately taught to move chairs silently.
• The rule of respectful coexistence: your freedom ends where the privacy of another begins.

Cons of the system

Followers of the pedagogical system noted the great benefits that the Montessori method brings. Reviews about pitfalls can be found much less frequently.

Childhood without a fairy tale. Dr. Montessori believed that fairy tales distort the idea of reality. After all, Kolobok cannot run away, and animals cannot speak human language. The system, on the other hand, focuses on logic and rationality, develops the left hemisphere so that the child can draw conclusions, make decisions and take responsibility for actions. The technique does not prohibit reading books, but it advises giving preference to stories with real plots.

No prohibitions. Education according to the Montessori method does not provide for prohibitions and punishments. In a kindergarten or school, a child may not listen to the teacher, eat from other people's plates, walk around the office during class, run along the corridor. The teacher does not have the right to make comments to him, because the child himself must understand that the mess is bad, that you can’t offend other children. The teacher can only observe what is happening. Domestic psychologists do not recommend using the Montessori method before school. Preschool education in our country should include the concept of obedience. After graduating from kindergarten, according to an innovative program, children are reluctantly taken to a school with a classical education system. Future schoolchildren are advised to “re-educate” in a regular kindergarten, because a student may simply not sit through the lesson. He does not suspect that he needs to listen to the teacher.

Space zoning

Dr. Montessori made a great contribution to the upbringing of children. The method she developed involves dividing the space where the children are engaged into zones. There are only five of them. The kid independently chooses a zone for classes and spends as much time as he likes in it.

• Practical activity area. Here are household items that adults deal with every day. A kid under the supervision of a teacher can water the flowers, wash, iron with a real iron, sew. Education according to the Montessori method provides for self-service. The wards take turns setting the table, cleaning up after dinner, washing and wiping the dishes.
• Sensory area. Here is material that teaches you to identifyitem characteristics: color, shape, size, weight.
• Language zone. Here is a didactic material for teaching writing and reading.
• Mathematics zone. Here the kid studies numbers, the number of objects, counting, mathematical examples. Work is underway with the "golden material".
• Space zone. Here are maps, globes, material for studying weather phenomena and everything that introduces children to the world around them.

Classes for preschoolers using the Montessori method consist of working with certain materials. Let's take a look at them.

Sensory Development:

• Frame with clasps. It has hooks, buttons, zippers, laces. With the help of such a simulator, the child learns to dress independently.
• Brown stairs. Helps kids define big-small, fat-thin.
• Pink tower. Reminds me of a children's pyramid. Teaches how to compare objects by size.
• Red bars. The child gets acquainted with the concepts of "longer", "shorter".

Develop speech:

• Letters made of paper with velvet effect or decorative sand.
• Metal tabs in the form of various geometric shapes are used to prepare the hand for writing.

Math ability:

• Red-blue rods. Includes 10 rods. By manipulating them, the child learns elementary counting and mathematical operations.
• Box of spindles.
• Geometric bodies.

Homeschool

Recommendations for parents who want to use the Montessori method at home:

• Create a comfortable living environment for your son or daughter. The child should be able to get in and out of bed on his own, wash himself without help, hang his things in the closet or on hooks that are suitable for his height.
• Give your child the opportunity to help adults with the housework. Teach them how to wash cups, buy a small scoop and a broom, let them water the flowers. The kid should know that he has household chores. Dr. Montessori clearly spelled this out in her program.
• The method is based on freedom of action. Don't disturb the child.
• Divide the children's room into zones according to the methodology. Provide your child with learning materials. They are quite expensive, so parents should think about what they can do with their own hands. To date, you can find a lot of ideas and master classes for the production of educational materials.

The system does not offer template activities for children, but simply pushes the child to action and provides a large selection of materials.

Conclusion

An educational institution using the pedagogical method of Maria Montessori can be compared to a small separate planet of children, where there are established procedures and there is no place for permissiveness. But at the same time, kids learn to understand their emotions and feelings, acquire skills of independence andsolutions to domestic issues. No one and nothing interferes with the development of the abilities of a small person. The system does not offer templated activities for children, but simply pushes the child to action and provides a large selection of materials.