Maria Montessori observed that the child is highly motivated to learn certain things at certain times. These periods of great receptivity are identified as “sensitive periods.” There are periods of special sensitivity to order, the acquisition of language, mathematical concepts, and many other subject areas. The onset of these sensitive periods occurs prior to the age for regular schooling, and hence children must commence our programmes between two and a half and four to gain maximum benefit. Montessori felt that children learn from each other and from their own materials which have been carefully presented to each child by the Directress (with structure and discipline in place the child is permitted to choose from the self–correcting materials that have been shown). In an atmosphere of non–competition, the child's independence, self–motivation, and satisfaction increase dramatically from doing the work they do.
During the first years of life, the child possesses a unique aptitude for learning, which Dr. Montessori identified as the “absorbent mind.” This means that the child “absorbs” knowledge from the environment like a sponge, simply by living in it, seemingly without effort. The process is particularly evident in the way small children learn their native language, without formal instruction and without the conscious, tedious effort which an adult must make to master a foreign tongue. Acquiring information in this way is a natural and delightful activity for young children who employ all their senses to investigate their surroundings.
Since children retain this ability to learn by absorbing until they are almost seven years old, Dr. Montessori reasoned that their experience could be enriched by a classroom where they could handle materials which would demonstrate basic information to them. Over one hundred years of experience have proved her theory that young children can learn to read, write and calculate in the same spontaneous, natural way that they learn to walk and talk.
Dr. Montessori always emphasized that the hand is the instrument of intelligence. The mind and hand must work together. In order to learn there must be concentration, and the best way children can concentrate is by fixing their attention on some meaningful task they are performing with their hands. All the Montessori apparatus allow the children to reinforce their casual impressions by inviting them to use their hands for learning.
The youngest children begin with simple exercises which are based on those activities which all children naturally enjoy. The equipment which they use at three and four will help them to develop the concentration, co–ordination and working habits necessary for the more advanced exercises they will perform at five and six years of age. The entire programme of learning is purposefully structured. Therefore, optimum results cannot be expected either for a child who misses the early years of the cycle, or for one who is withdrawn before finishing the basic materials of the primary class.
A Montessori class is neither a day–care, a baby–sitting service, nor a nursery or play school. Rather, a Montessori class provides for a unique cycle of learning and is designed to take advantage of children’s sensitive years between two–and–a–half and six when they can absorb information from an enriched environment. Children who acquire the basic skills of reading and arithmetic in this natural way have the advantage of beginning their education without drudgery, boredom, or discouragement. By pursuing their individual interest in a Montessori classroom, they gain an early enthusiasm for learning.
Young children are attracted to activities that give them independence and control of their own lives. Special Montessori materials enable children to tie, button, snap and use many other fastening devices. The purpose of these exercises is to develop concentration and attention to detail as they follow a regular sequence of actions, finishing each task and putting away all materials before going on to another activity. Another important need of young children is to develop muscles and co–ordinate movements through such practical life exercises as sweeping, polishing, carrying water, pouring, and washing a table. These activities provide the very foundation on which children approach later, more academic, exercises.
Sensorial materials in the Montessori classroom are designed to sharpen the senses of young children and enable them to understand the many impressions they receive through them. Each of the sensorial materials isolates one defining quality such as colour, weight, shape, texture, size, sound and smell. Sound boxes, for example, are all the same size, shape, colour, and texture; they differ only in the sounds which are made when a child shakes them. Other sensorial materials include geometric solids, smelling cylinders, colour tablets, temperature bottles, sandpaper letters, cylinder blocks, etc.
The Montessori sensorial materials help children to distinguish, to categorize, and to relate new information to what they already know. Children find a sense of order in these materials and acquire a joy in learning that their environment has order. Their intellect is trained to make order out of a multitude of experiences, which is the learning process.
The materials for mathematics use a variety of specifically designed developmental educational materials designed by Maria Montessori. Children become familiar with the numbers of the decimal system. With these concrete materials they are able to work on operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. These exercises not only teach children to calculate, but they provide a deep understanding of how numbers function. They learn concrete mathematical concepts and the materials lead them to the abstract, so that their understanding has a firm foundation. Because of the concrete nature of the materials, children are able to work with the basic concepts of fractions, geometry, and algebra.
According to Dr. Montessori, the evolution of language begins with the infant's unique capacity to absorb fragments of language which serve as a basis for development. Children first discover that sounds have meaning, and then they isolate the parts of speech. Finally, they grasp the use of sentences. The child between two and a half and six is in a sensitive period for language, and hence the constant assimilation of language results in a sudden expansion of vocabulary. Generally speaking, the children in a Montessori Children’s House will begin writing with the use of a moveable alphabet before they read.
Children learn the oral language naturally: they automatically take it in from their environment. The work of parent and teacher is to expose them to the equivalent forms of written language, which they learn through the same general pattern of development.
Montessori children begin writing and reading when they are ready and proceed at their own pace. Their experiences in practical life and their sensorial education serve as a preparation for this. The sandpaper letters provide a phonetic basis for reading. Children’s desire and sensitivity to touch are utilized by these letters which are cut out of sandpaper and mounted for tracing. They not only hear the sound and see the shape, but train their muscles for when they begin writing.
Children build their own words with cut–out letters placed on a mat. The material frees them from the fatigue of their still developing writing skills and yet still provides them with the opportunity to pursue their interest in words. Children build up their store of words through story–telling, conversation and many other exercises. These activities serve as preparation for the time when children assimilate what they know and are then ready to explode into writing.
Montessori introduces grammar, geography, geology, biology, history, etc., to children between the ages of three and six. The reason is that at this age children can joyfully absorb many difficult concepts if they meet them in concrete form. The common stumbling blocks in the middle elementary grades can be exciting if they are presented to youngsters at an earlier age when they enjoy manipulating with their hands. In a Montessori classroom, a fraction is not simply a number on a paper: it is something which children can hold in their hands. A verb is not just a word on paper; it is something which they can act out. In similar fashion, they can pour water around an island or form a five squared with five rows of five beads each. The materials that make these concepts tangible for them will serve as touchstones in their memory for many years, to clarify the abstract terms when they meet them again and again in future learning situations.
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