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The Montessori Method |
The basic idea in the Montessori philosophy of education is that every child carries unseen within them the person they will become. In order for them to fully develop physically, intellectually and spiritually, they must have freedom. This freedom is to be achieved through order and self- discipline. Dr. Maria Montessori developed what she called the "prepared environment" which already possesses a certain order and allows the child to move at his own speed, according to their own capacities, and in a non-competitive atmosphere.
Dr. Montessori has recognized that the only valid impulse to learning is the self-motivation of the child. Children move themselves toward learning. The teacher prepares the environment, and guides the activities, but it is the child who learns. He is motivated by the work itself (not solely by the teachers’ personality) to persist in a given task. The Montessori child is free to learn, because they have acquired an inner discipline from their exposure to both physical and mental order. This is the core of Dr. Montessori’s philosophy. Patterns of concentration, persistence and thoroughness, established in early childhood, produce a confidant and competent learner in later years.
