Brief Biography of Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori was an Italian physician, educator, and innovator. She was acclaimed for her educational method that builds on how children naturally learn.
She was among Italy's first female physicians when she graduated from medical school in 1896. Maria's early medical practice focused on psychiatry, and she later developed an interest in education, attending classes on pedagogy and immersing herself in educational theory. She opened the first Montessori school—the Casa dei Bambini, or Children's House—in Rome on January 6, 1907.
Subsequently, she traveled the world and wrote extensively about her approach to education, attracting many devotees. More than 22,000 Montessori schools are now in at least 110 countries worldwide.
The Montessori Approach
The Montessori Method is a child-centered educational approach based on scientific observations of children from birth to adulthood. It has been tested, with over 100 years of success in diverse cultures worldwide.
In this method, the child is seen as naturally eager for knowledge and capable of initiating learning in a supportive, thoughtfully prepared learning environment. It is an approach that values the human spirit and the whole child's physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development.
The Montessori materials in the prepared environment help the children associate the abstract concept with the concrete sensorial experience.
Using all senses during the learning process allows children to actually learn instead of just memorizing.
Children learn at their own pace, and they all feel successful at their stage of the learning process.
The Montessori Environment
The Montessori classroom offers unique self-teaching materials. Children develop coordination skills, fine and gross motor skills, attention to detail and working habits using these materials. The materials are self correcting which makes the children learn on their own under the guidance of the teachers, encouraging self confidence and independence.
The Montessori education starts from the toddler years and extends to high school in some schools. The classrooms bring together children from three different ages ( 3-6, 7-9 and 9 to 12 etc) The advantage of mixed aged classrooms is that children remain with a big percentage of the same classmates every year, and the same teachers, offering consistency and security. The younger children learn from older children and older children reinforce their learning by teaching concepts they have already mastered . This arrangement also mirrors the real world, where individuals work and socialize with people of all ages and dispositions.
Autana School offers Toddler and Primary Level, which combines children from 18 months to 36 months old and 3 to 6 years of age. The Kindergarten level of traditional schools is included in the Primary Level of a Montessori classroom.
The Montessori Teacher, Environment & Child Interaction
The teacher, child, and environment create a learning triangle.The “educational triangle” mentioned by Maria Montessori, corresponds to that dynamic interaction between the teacher, the child and the environment united in a whole, which parts are inseparable and are in a continuous process of development.
The teacher prepares the classroom with dedication, attention to detail, and making sure that the activities are specifically designed for the children and their needs. The teachers observe the child and prepare the environment according to those observations. The activities encourage independence, freedom within limits, and a sense of order.
Through individual choice, the child uses what the environment offers to interact with the teacher when support and guidance are needed. The teacher knows when to provide guidance and challenge a student with the next step in a learning sequence. The teacher knows each student's progress as the child works toward mastering the particular concept or skill.
The teachers in Autana receive periodic training for their spiritual preparation. This preparation is the key to keeping this dynamic interaction healthy and strong.
The Bilingual Method
Studies show that being bilingual has many cognitive benefits. According to research, speaking a second language can mean you have a better attention span and multitask better than monolinguals. This is because being bilingual means constantly switching from one language to another. Children as young as seven months exposed to more than one language tend to adjust better to environmental changes.
Besides all the cognitive benefits, being bilingual can open many doors in the future.
How do we teach the second language?
Most of our classrooms have one English and one Spanish speaker teacher. Two bilingual (Spanish/English) teachers are sometimes in one classroom.
The Spanish-speaking teacher speaks the Spanish language at all times. When a child needs assistance in conflict resolution with a peer or specific instruction, the assistant or teacher will talk to that child in their native language to help him. The academic lessons are given to the child in his native language first and then are taught in the second language. For example, a Spanish-speaking child will learn the sounds of the letters in Spanish, and after he has known them well, he will learn the sounds of the letters in English. If the child is an English native speaker, she will learn the sounds of the letters in English and later in Spanish. The math, geography, and science lessons will be taught similarly.
Group lessons, science experiments, and story time will be offered in both languages at different times. The teachers alternate reading books in Spanish and English during the day.
Circle time is given in Spanish every day in each classroom. The teacher uses corporal language and an appropriate tone to make circle time fun and interactive. During circle time, the children learn lots of new vocabulary and songs, listen to stories, and play games in Spanish.
The Peace Curriculum
Maria Montessori believed that children are the peacemakers of the future and that education was how children could be raised as world citizens who would find ways to live in social, cultural, and environmental harmony.
Peace education is an integral part of Montessori; for this reason, at Autana, we model peace through different activities in the classroom.
Mindfulness practices are part of daily routine and storytelling with peaceful messages of tolerance, cultural awareness, compassion, and respect.
Children also learn to use different strategies for conflict resolution amongst themselves.
Outdoor Education
Practical life is an area in the Montessori classroom that provides practical motor skills to the children’s everyday life, like cleaning, caring for the environment, and preparing food.
Montessori practical life activities early in life allow children to believe in themselves and develop the self-discipline needed for success in the future.
At Autana, we have a practical life area indoors and outdoors to teach children about the importance of caring for Mother Earth and the environment.
Our daily curriculum also complements this area with field trips and other gross motor activities.