The following is the text from this section of the 2009-2010 edition of Child of the World, Montessori from Three to Twelve Years
To see other sections of this publication return to: http://www.michaelolaf.com/CWcontents.html
Every unnecessary help is really a hindrance to development.
- Montessori
I
never teach my pupils;
I only attempt to provide the conditions in which
they can learn.
- Einstein
INTRODUCTION
At all ages the favorite quote
of Dr. Montessori is appropriate:
PLEASE HELP ME DO IT MYSELF!
Parenting / Teaching
Through our children, we parents and teachers are the architects of the
future of humanity. As we go about our daily lives in the presence
of children we are constantly teaching by our own words, thoughts, and
behavior. Education is often narrowly defined as the teaching of math,
language, sciences and the arts, but the most important subjects to be
mastered are: how to be happy, to be a good friend, to express care through
thoughtfulness and good manners, to identify a problem and work hard to
solve it. More than facts, we must help our children develop a love of
learning, an ability to make intelligent and responsible choices, to concentrate
and focus, and to do one's best to complete a task to the satisfaction
of oneself rather than to please someone else.
Concentration and Contemplation
It was the great discovery of Dr. Montessori that after completing a prolonged
period of deep concentration and contemplation, a child often expressed
a great joy and a desire to help others. Perhaps this is what adults who
daily make time for prayer or meditation feel, and why we think of them
as happier, more peaceful, and in some ways better human beings than those
of us who just rush from one task to the next. Lessons on morality, books
on morality, these exterior inducements to happiness and goodness are
never as successful as a good night’s sleep or a long period of concentrated
work or contemplation during which the mind can process the day’s
input, solve problems at a deep level, and come out happy.
The most important advice on parenting and teaching is to constantly watch
for periods of concentration and contemplation in our children and protect
these moments from interruption whenever we can.
Mixed Age Grouping
How old are your best friends? What are their capabilities? I’ll
bet that they were not in your class at school, and that they are not
at the same level as you in all the areas of accomplishments. It is the
same with children. They need the opportunity to explore a wide range
of abilities in their daily contact with others—and to be able to
help and teach others, and to be helped and taught by other children.
This is the beauty of Montessori education. The wider the age range in
a class, and in a circle of friends, the greater is the possibility for
growth, learning, and the opportunity of helping and being helped by others.
Individual Lessons
A few years ago I reread all of Dr. Montessori’s books searching
for information on teaching individually or in groups. The only references
to teaching in groups was as examples of how NOT to teach. The traditional
method of giving lessons in a Montessori class is to one child at time,
yet I was seeing more and more group lessons in schools. It is especially
tempting when the age range is only one or two years span. This is another
reason why the multi-age span is so important.
Whenever the subject matter becomes more important than the child (a temptation
in the elementary class where there are many wonderful Montessori lessons
and state requirements) teachers begin to teach to groups rather than
to individuals. Yet it is only when the child is free to work on self-chosen
work for long periods of time without interruption of required groups
lessons or assignments, that the amazing great abilities of the child
are revealed.
The Inner Guide
Each of us was born with an inner guide, and all the tools to use whatever
is found in the environment to create a self-fulfilled individual. Although
our own schooling may not have been based on a respect for this guide,
we can provide it in the education of our children. We can create a marvelous
environment, learn to observe and interpret our child’s behavior
to discover his or her needs, and get out of the way! This is no easy
task, but it is possible.
A Fresh Look
One of the most important attitudes to nurture is to see each child as
a new being each day, forgetting the past and seeing only the potential
for greatness. This is also the best way to look at ourselves. It is a
lot to ask of the adult to provide everything a child needs, and we believe
that some time should be allotted, perhaps at the beginning of each day,
to getting mentally prepared for the task by praying, meditating, taking
a walk. Then one is better able to take a deep breath and face the day
with a feeling of being new and in the present moment. If we can balance
ourselves, our interactions with our children will be more enjoyable.
We are parents, grandparents, teachers, friends or advocates of children,
because we care about others. No matter how much we try to be perfect
we must learn to be easy on ourselves, not to waste time wishing we “had
only known earlier,” but must learn to laugh, to pick up the pieces,
and to begin again. We hope you continue to learn, to enjoy your roles
as parents and teachers, and to share your wisdom and experience with
others. In this publication, we try to pass on what we have learned and
are continuing to learn about children, families, teaching, and learning.
I had always understood that Madame
Montessori dispensed with discipline and I wondered how she managed a
room full of children . . . On sending my little boy of three to spend
his mornings in a Montessori school, I found that he quickly became a
more disciplined human being . . . The pedagogical discoveries involved
have required genius but the teachers who are to apply them do not require
genius. They require only the right sort of training, together with a
degree of sympathy and patience, which is by no means unusual. The fundamental
idea is simple: that the right discipline consists not in external compulsion,
but in habits of mind, which lead spontaneously to desirable rather than
undesirable activities. What is astonishing is the great success in finding
technical methods of embodying this idea in education. For this, Madame
Montessori deserves the highest praise. —Bertrand
Russell, from "ON EDUCATION"
AGE 0-6+
At this age children literally absorb, the world
around them. We can never be too kind, polite, respectful, to be their
role models. When they are being cared for by others we must have the
highest standard of expectation for these influential adults.
The 3-6 environment is called a Casa dei Bambini, or House of Children
because it is very different from the traditional preschool. To imagine
the difference think of how you act when welcoming friends into your own
inviting, comfortable, enjoyable home. Would you have everyone sit still
on a line and put their hands in their lap and close their mouths? Or
would you have specially prepared interesting activities, perhaps some
food, and welcome each person with a personal greeting, inviting her to
make herself at home? Would you line up chairs and tables, labeling where
your guests were to sit? Or would you arrange the home with paintings,
comfortable chairs, plants, and soft music? If a guest in your home appeared
at loose ends would you tell him to get to work, or would you have a private
conversation with him and offer some interesting activity? When your guests
were all settled in and having a lovely time would you interrupt them
and tell them to come and sit in a circle because what you have to show
them is more important than anything they might be doing? What if a guest
were tired or hungry?
In the 3-6 class, the Casa dei Bambini, each child and teacher greet each
other with a “good morning” and a handshake, then the child
finds something interesting to do. He is treated with respect, and not
coerced. A Montessori 3-6 environment is called a house of children or
casa dei bambini because children are free to choose their tasks, ideally
both inside and outside in the fresh air. They have been shown where to
rest or sleep when they are tired, and how to set the table and prepare
a snack, cleaning up after themselves, when they are hungry.
They are invited, but never required, to carry out certain tasks. The
adult observes and strives to meet the child’s physical, mental,
and emotional needs. Once a child has been attracted to, and has begun
to concentrate upon a bit of work, the adult respects this choice and
concentration and does not interrupt. Children are taught, through fun
playacting lessons, not to interrupt a child who is concentrating.
At this age we give the child, who is voraciously devouring experiences,
the basic elements of all future studies—biology, art, geography,
geometry, math, music, and language.
AGE 6-12:
This is a very stable and a more intellectual
age. The 6-12 children are interested in the ways in which society functions,
how it came into being. They want to explore the past and the farthest
reaches of the universe with the imagination, to see and understand the
universe and the development of humanity. These children make incredible
advances in intellectual work as they go out into society and learn to
function independently, in and outside school.
In recent years this age group has sometimes been divided into 6-9 (lower
elementary) and 9-12 (upper elementary), but this is a mistake in my opinion
and in the opinion of others who have taught the 6-12 age span, where
there is much more independent work, more teaching from child to child,
and a much higher level of accomplishment. I have taught Montessori elementary
in six different schools and age groupings, and I urge any teachers who
have not tried the whole age span to do so. The work is much easier for
the teacher, and far more exciting for the children.
AGE 12-18:
There are several Montessori middle and high schools
developing today and this is a very experimental process. The focus must
continue to be on the needs and tendencies of the young person, NOT on
the academic requirements of today. The world is changing far too rapidly
for us to assume to know what children will need to know in even ten years.
But we do know that he will need to know how to be happy, to be kind,
to enjoy doing a good job in all kinds of work.
A child who experiences independence—going to the grocery store on
his own, finding books in a public library, interacting with people outside
the school and family—by the end of the stable age of six to twelve—will
have a better chance of experiencing a happy transition from adolescence
to adult life: going to college, or moving out into the adult world, and
earning a living.
FOR EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON
It is not good for children when we, parents and
teachers, push them into stages that they are not ready for. But neither
is it good for us to hold children back when they are ready to operate
independently. Every unnecessary help is really a hindrance to development.
This is true at any age, from a child who is ready to wean himself from
nursing, the young child who wants to pick out her own clothing in the
morning, and the teenager who decides to study the electric guitar instead
of the viola.
The primary danger of the television
screen lies not so much in the behavior it produces as the behavior it
prevents... Turning on the television set can turn off the process that
transforms children into adults. —Urie
Bronfenbrenner, Cornell |