The Montessori Method is based on the belief that cognitive development is the product of the interaction between the individual and the environment. The system promotes education and learning through the use of all of the child's five senses and does not rely upon simply listening or watching an instructor.  The child is viewed as an active learner whose drive for self-development is aided by an orderly but stimulating environment.  Implicit within the method is the belief that children are naturally motivated to interact with objects in a constructive way and subsequently external reinforcement of learning is not necessary.  Thus children in the Montessori classes learn at their own pace.  As a result, learning becomes an exciting process of discovery for the child. 

In the Montessori classroom, children are encouraged to select their own activities from an environment that contains a variety of self-teaching toys and materials.  Within this "prepared environment," children are free to do what they want, within limits, and are encouraged to exercise self-discipline.  The teacher observes the children and assists them when they need help.  The materials, which children can work with and master at their own rate, are designed to promote motor, sensory, and language development, which are viewed as prerequisites to academic learning and achievement.  Montessori classes place children in three year age groups thus forming communities in which older children can share their knowledge with some of the younger children.  Additionally, the child needs adults to expose him/her to the possibilities of his/her life but the child himself/herself must direct his/her response to those possibilities. Premises of Montessori education are:
•Children are to be respected as different from adults, and as individuals who differ from each other.
•The child possesses unusual sensitivity for absorbing and learning from his/her environment that are unlike those of the adult both in quality and capacity.
•The most important years of growth are the first six years of life when unconscious learning is gradually brought to the conscious level.

IS IT FOR ALL CHILDREN? The Montessori system has been used successfully with children from infancy to eighteen from all socioeconomic levels, representing those in regular classes as well as gifted, developmentally delayed, special needs, and physically handicapped.  Because of its individual approach, it is uniquely suited to public education, where children of many backgrounds are grouped together.  It is also appropriate for classes in which the student teacher ratio is high because children learn at an early age to work independently.

IS THE CHILD FREE TO DO WHAT HE/SHE CHOOSES IN THE CLASSROOM? The child is free to move about the classroom at will, to talk to other children, to work with any equipment whose purpose he/she understands, or to ask the teacher to introduce new material to him/her.  He/she is not free to disturb other children at work or to abuse the equipment that is so important to his/her development.

WHAT DOES THE DIRECTRESS DO?  The directress works with individual children, introduces materials, and gives guidance where needed.  One of her primary tasks is careful observation of each child in order to determine his/her needs and to gain the knowledge she needs in preparing the environment to aid his/her growth.

WHAT DOES IT DO FOR THE CHILD? The goal of Montessori for children is several: it encourages self-discipline, self-knowledge, and independence, as well as enthusiasm for learning, an organized approach to problem solving and academic skills.






*Excerpt from: Montessori – A Modern Approach by Paula Lillard