Music should be a daily experience and enjoyed numerous times throughout the day. In traditional schools settings music is usually limited to a special class taught once or twice a week. To develop an appreciation of music and to truly enjoy it, the adults in the child’s environment must realize the value of music. It is truly a joyful experience that can encourage a shy child to “come out of his or her shell” and the aggressive child to become more cooperative and calm.
In the Montessori classroom handwriting skills do not begin with the use of a pencil and paper, but with the many Practical Life and Sensorial exercises. Children should be introduced and allowed to practice exercises using the three finger pincer grasp, such as, fingertip grasping, spooning, using tweezers, knobbed cylinders, etc. These exercise involve the use of the thumb, index and middle finger, which are the fingers needed to use a writing instrument! “In our system little children acquire a hand which is practiced and ready to write.” (Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child, p.205)
The Practical Life exercises are truly the foundation of the Montessori method. As the children enter our prepared environment they are first introduced to the practical life lessons. These lessons are simple yet engaging. It is these lessons on which all the other areas of the classroom are built upon. It is in the practice of these lessons that the child begins to develop concentration, hand-and-eye coordination, order, as well as, physical and mental independence.
As I have studied the Montessori method of education, I have seen my own view of myself, as well as my role in the process of assisting the child take on a whole new attitude. I no longer see myself as the person in control of everything. Through many years of reading Montessori’s books, and closely observing and interacting with children, I have found these 5 things to be true…
It is that time of the year again where Montessori educators are preparing the children’s learning environment for a new school year. Whether you are a Montessori directress in a Montessori school or a home schooling parent, the preparation of the learning environment is crucial! First things first….Order is important. When the child comes to school (about the age of two and a half to three) the observance of the first law in a Montessori classroom is, “A place for everything and everything in its place.” (Maria Montessori, Her Life and Work, E.M. Standing p. 270)
The Montessori golden beads are absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Now you may think that is a ridiculous adjective to describe a learning material. It is not just the aesthetics of these materials that make them attractive but the child’s reaction to them. These materials allow the child to experience concretely our mathematical system. It is exciting to watch a child pick up the golden bead cube in their small hands and say, “This is a thousand cube, it has 1000 beads!!”
In all my years of being a Montessori directress and Head of School, I have never met a child who did not truly enjoy the Montessori pouring exercises. What is unique in our Montessori programs is that children are not playing or pretending to pour tea or water, but they are actually pouring real water in pitchers that are just right for their small hands. They pour their own water and juice for snack and lunch, and if they do happen to spill…well, it is a lesson in cleaning up! These are real world lessons that build their hand-and-eye coordination as well as attention span. It is a wonderful lesson in independence and taking care of themselves; such simple experiences with such large gains.
In the summer, I like to do a little more with water, especially since we live in Texas, where it is extremely hot! So, I am sharing one of my favorite indoor water experiences…making Cube Bubbles.
Early childhood science experiences are more than experiments! Our goal is to help build and foster a scientific mind. What is a scientific mind? It is a mind that wants to explore, it is an inquisitive mind. As adults in the child’s environment we want to expose children to all areas of science through hands-on materials and experiments. We can integrate science topics with vocabulary building exercises (nomenclature), examining things in nature, and in literature and songs.
Spring time can be an exciting time in a Montessori classroom! This is the season we can combine the beautiful botany and zoology materials with real samples from the outdoor environment. The early spring months bring gorgeous budding flowers and trees as well as various crawling insects that fascinate young children. This is a season that can help you bring your classroom lessons to life! It is important to provide nature activities that promote a love and basic understanding of the world of nature.
We can understand Montessori’s view on nature and the young child when we read The Secret of Childhood:
“A part of the normalizing process is to help the child understand and be comfortable with the things of nature. Working with growing things--planting bulbs, collecting and identifying leaves…..is an important part of the extended Montessori environment, (The Secret of Childhood, p. 99)
Every child should experience the joy of planting a small seed, watering it and observing its growth. Each spring I read books on plant growth, the spring season and of course insects! The reading of non-fiction books can enlarge the child’s scientific and nature vocabulary. In addition to reading non-fiction books I give lessons on the growth of a plant, dissecting a seed, dissecting a flower, leaf rubbings, and magnifying glass observations.
Maria Montessori felt very strongly that children should plant and nurture living plants. Many Montessori schools have beautiful gardening areas but that is not always possible.
“..what most develops a feeling of nature is the cultivation of living things,…it will always be possible to find a few square yards of land that may be cultivated, even a pot of flowers at a window, can if necessary, fulfill the purpose.” Maria Montessori, The Montessori Method. pages 160-161
For as long as I can remember teaching, children in my classes have experienced planting a tiny seed, watering it, and watching it grow. You can begin your gardening in almost any container…a glass jar, cup, or egg carton! We have planted sunflowers, tomatoes, and watermelon outside which over took our first playground! It was fun to watch those sunflowers grow taller than the children, and to harvest some very tasty tomatoes.
Each year I introduce the magnifying glass to the children with a shelf work and small book that teaches them how to use a magnifying glass. I encourage the children to practice observation skills and compare, describe, and explain what they see on our nature tray. Demonstrate to the children how to look through the magnifier up close and then move it further away. Encourage them to look at objects from a variety of angles. Try creating a nature table or tray with objects they can touch and view. The nature area is a wonderful way to bring the outside world inside!
A favorite activity for all the children is a simple nature walk. Each child is given a little brown paper bag in hand to pick up and store all of their little goodies that they find along the way! The nature walk is followed up with a sharing time when the children are allowed to share what they found. We discuss and name the items then place them on our nature tray or table with a magnifying glass. This is a GREAT VOCABULARY BUILDING EXERCISE. A few of the items we have collected are: twigs, pieces of bark, leaves, acorns, rocks, blades of grass, flower petals that have fallen, gravel, an old bird’s nest, a bird’s feather, a snail’s shell, and many different types of leaves.
Another spring time experience is the viewing of butterflies that fly around flowering plants. We have often purchased the butterfly garden and watched the metamorphosis from a caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly. Just last year, I was with my grandson and he saw a small caterpillar crawling on the drive way. We quickly ran inside and retrieved a small glass jar. We gently picked up the caterpillar with a twig and placed him in the jar with the twig, leaves and a little cap of water. In a few days the caterpillar began the process of spinning his cocoon. Then in about a week, the beautiful butterfly emerged. It was quite an exciting experience for the adults and my grandson!
Placing a bird feeder outside a classroom window or just outside of the playground fence is another great opportunity for children to view nature up close! These simple experiences such as planting seeds, nature walks, a nature table with magnifying glass, the butterfly garden and bird feeder are concrete learning experiences that bring a deeper understanding to our Montessori Botany and Zoology lessons. The possibilities of studies on nature are endless! I hope you enjoy spring time learning with the children in your life.
The Montessori journey began for our family in the fall of 1987, right before my daughter turned three years old. A few years later we had twin boys who also experienced the Montessori method. That was thirty-one years ago and we are still on that journey, but now experiencing it with our grandchildren! During this journey we have had the true blessing of having our children experience a Montessori education through sixth grade. To give our children the education we wanted, we started our own Montessori school that grew to approximately 200 students with 32 teachers on staff and offered a Montessori education for children 2 years through 6th grade. I look back on that time and realize how very blessed we were to have so many wonderful teachers who truly loved children and the method.
When we discuss aiding the child to become a confident, kind, loving individual, we are discussing the child’s inner character traits, in other words, the qualities or virtues that the child possesses. The terminology that is popular today for this growth in children is Character Education. All of us enjoy being around children who are loving, kind hearted, polite, obedient, joyful, confident, patient, friendly, respectful, responsible, etc. This long list of characteristics sounds like the perfect individual! No one is perfect, children or adults. Our goal should be to try to present our best selves to everyone. To treat others like we would want to be treated. Just imagine a world, where everyone treated each other with respect and love for one another. Montessori believed that we could change the world through educating the children to be peaceful, loving individuals.
