The Philosophy

There were few things Maria Montessori saw that she thought were vital for a child’s innate development.

Natural Spirituality

Montessori discovered that kids held something astonishing within them, something so great that it could be capable of changing the world. She found out that they were naturally good and that, if they are permitted to develop fully, they can connect with almost anything and are also usually caring for one another including the world around them.  As she kept working with the children the she got more convinced that they had exact inner guides and that the job of the adults were to help them becoming what they are meant to be. She also felt that it was the spiritual nature of children that has been ignored and denied. She presumes the children could enhance the adults in discovering how to regenerate the divine way of living.

The Philosophy

Children survive based on order and structure. Order plays a very vital role in the growth and development of young children. It recognizes the position of each object about its environment and in remembrance of where each thing should be. Such knowledge is essential for a child to feel secure about its environment and build on experiences that already exist. If there’s order in the environment, it makes children feel safe, and they would know how things should be done. Due to this, emphases are being laid on order within the Montessori classroom. Children can be given maximum freedom to develop if the environment is designed in a very accessible way.

Children move through sensitive periods

Montessori found out that there were distinct periods of particular feeling that kept occurring in children. At these points, children could learn things that they are focused on very quickly. They added a sensitive feeling for order, modification of the senses, walking and movement, language acquisition, small objects and participation in social life. It became apparent that at those points, it was as if there was a spotlight placed on a particular activity that caught the child’s attention entirely. If the child is left to follow this natural attraction, the child could attain a height that nobody would expect at that point in the child’s life. Montessori teachers watch out for these very creative moments and ensure that the children are free to follow their interests.

Children learn through their senses

Montessori found out that kids built on their physical knowledge of the world through their senses and by designing lively materials carefully which the children were told to experiment with, she could help them expand this understanding. She accomplished this by each of the senses, one after another and developing resources that secluded some aspects out that would then be explored quickly by he children. She also found out that children love to play with beautiful objects. So all the materials were organized with total care. Instead of proving to be old in the modern age, these items that were beautifully designed were already showing how right her observations were. A lot of those items are already being produced in different types of schools all over the world.

Children need freedom

She saw that freedom was a great way to allow children develop as creative, natural individuals. Montessori saw the essence of education as providing an atmosphere in which children could be free to go after their usual impulses to become a great and natural students that they were initially meant to be.

Children absorb their culture

Montessori kept saying students should be left alone to develop focus, but she did not say that social development was underestimated. Rather, her observation was that it was because children were permitted to work in such liberty that they were able to show much love to others. She saw that children had the ability to absorb the world around them and that honesty, harmony, and discipline was a thing that came from within and was not something that we could actually enforce.

Big Teachers

Her teachers were called Directresses because she thought that they practically guided them instead of controlling the activities of the children. She requested them to be more of psychologists than teachers and considered that success lay in the continuing temperament in the teacher’s own private development in addition to the sensitivity of the observations of each child. Finally, she saw that their job as not so much to educate the kids as control their God-given energies they saw emerging.

Little Teachers

As she observed the kids actively engaging in their work, she noted that it was very natural and better for younger children to gain knowledge just by listening and watching the older ones.  As a matter of fact, she saw that this was one of the best ways for children to learn fast. And that something impressive happened when a society of children could support and help each other actively. As a result of this, Montessori schools encourage children of all ages to work together as a group and do not usually differentiate children by age or sex.

Children are natural learners

She saw that children went through supernatural transformations in overall happiness, self-discipline and self-confidence when they try to go with their physical needs. She gathered that the work of an adult is quite different from that of a child. Furthermore, the child worked for the fun of the moment and not for the end result. Also, that the kid has the tendency to engage in a particular activity over and over again until he/she is satisfied. And that the child was happy and eager doing the work rather than be compelled or weighed down by it. She noticed that children only cease to learn when their natural impulses are avoided and they are forced to do something else..

Processes not Results

These Montessori schools believe that children are happier when they are involved in the processes. Children (if left with their instincts) would want to explore the entire world because they are natural learners. Most times, what stops children from enjoying this innate curiosity is only external demands that aren’t on the same path of their needs. The only result that children need is the one that makes them feel good about themselves and their potentials. When learning, if there are undesirable effects that make them feel displeased about themselves, they tend to be scared of the processes. Such fear could prevent them from enjoying learning forever.

Therefore, Montessori schools believe that is best for a child to work at a speed that is right for him or her because they are individuals and their preferences varies. There should be no grades or examinations. Children are not in a competitive race with themselves. And the schools continue to fight to protect the rights of each kid to be shielded from unnecessary pressure.

Learning should be FUN!

Use of Montessori terminology

In the year 1967, the so-called US Patent Trademark Trial and Appeal Board stated that the word “Montessori” has an imaginative and a genetic impact. Therefore, in the US and everywhere else, the term can also be used without allocating any warranty of how carefully a program relates to Montessori work. This statement has caused an incredible disparity in schools that claim to use Maria Montessori’s methods.