| Stage 1: |
Introduction to a concept by means of a lecture, lesson, something read in a book, etc.
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| Stage 2: |
Processing the information, developing an understanding of the concept through work, experimentation, and creation.
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| Stage 3: |
Knowing or to possess an understanding of academic concepts demonstrated by the ability to pass a test with confidence, to teach another, or to express themselves with ease. |
Stage 2 is the most important and the longest with its emphasis on developing, working, experimenting, creating and transforming. This enables the child to really learn and remember what she/he has learned.
The Montessori Method: Some Details
The Prepared Environment Since information passes from the environment directly to the child, not through the teacher, the preparation of this environment is vital. It is the role of the teacher to prepare and continue to adapt to the environment, to link the child to it through well thought out lessons, and to facilitate the child's exploration and creativity.
Work Centers The environment is arranged according to subject area, and children are always free to move around the room and to continue to work on a piece of material with no time limit.
Teaching Method "Teach by Observation and Guidance" The child's effort and work is respected and the teacher, through extensive observation and record-keeping, plans individual projects to enable each child to learn what s/he needs in order to improve. The child is given his lessons in each of the subjects and is guided by the teacher in his research and exploration. The teacher capitalizes on his interest in and excitement about a subject. The teacher does not dictate what to study or read, nor does she set a limit as to how far a child follows an interest. Large groups occur only in the beginning of a new class, or in the beginning of the school year, and are phased out as the children gain independence.
Observation Observations of the child's development are constantly carried out and recorded by the teacher. These observations are made on the level of concentration of each child, the introduction to and mastery of each piece of material, the social development, physical health, etc.
Class Size The most successful mixed age elementary classes are of 30-35 children with two teachers, where the class size is reached gradually over 1-3 years. This provides the most variety of personalities, learning styles, and work being done at one time. This class size is possible because the children stay with the same teacher for three to six years.
Basic Lessons A well-trained Montessori teacher spends a lot of time during teacher training practicing the many basic lessons with materials in all areas. She must pass a written and oral exam on these lessons in order to be certified. She is trained to recognize a child's readiness - according to age, ability, and interest - for a specific lesson, and is prepared to guide individual progress. Although the teacher plans lessons for each child for each day, she will bow to the interests of a child following a passion.
Areas of Study are Interwoven All subjects are interwoven. For example, history, art, music, math, astronomy, biology, geology, physics, and chemistry are not isolated from each other and a child studies them in any order he chooses, moving through all in a unique way for each child. At any one time in a day all subjects - math, language, science, history, geography, art, music, etc. - will be being studied at all levels.
The Schedule There is at least one 3-hour period of uninterrupted work time each day, not broken up by required group lessons or lessons by specialists. Adults and children respect concentration and do not interrupt someone who is busy at a task. Groups form spontaneously but not on a predictable schedule. Specialists are available at times but no child is asked to interrupt a self-initiated project to attend these lessons.
Assessment There are no grades given on classroom assignments in our lower elementary program. There are no other forms of reward or punishment, subtle or overt. Assessment is by portfolio and the teacher's observation and record keeping. The test of whether or not the system is working lies in the accomplishment and behaviour of the children, their happiness, maturity, kindness, love of learning, concentration and work. All required testing and assessments as mandated by the school administration and Alberta Learning is done.
Age Six to Twelve From age six to twelve, "the age of the imagination," the children produce so much -- charts, models, books, timelines, maps, books, plays, etc. -- that the environment must be continually pared down to the essentials so that the children continue to create. Sensorial-manipulative materials such as multiplication bead frames can also be used for older children, but should be left behind as soon as the child is ready to work in the abstract. The work of the 6-12 class includes subjects usually not introduced until high school.
Learning and Assessment
The American Montessori Society (AMS) believes that the following principles are validated by an extensive amount of educational research. AMS advocates that they become the foundation of efforts to develop educational curricula and testing/assessment procedures.
The human brain learns by wrestling with ambiguity, solving problems, questioning, and discovering patterns, not by memorizing isolated information. It constantly works to place new information and events into a framework of experiences that are already understood and used regularly. Information is not truly learned or usable by a person until this occurs.
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Assimilating new information happens most effectively when that information comes by way of challenging, complex, interactive experiences. It happens best when the new information has meaning and relevance, is seen as useful, and is important to a person. If a person cannot put new information into a meaningful context or cannot sense its usefulness, it may become "surface knowledge" that is memorized and remembered for a short time but fails to become part of a person's permanent store of knowledge.
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As each new experience is encountered, questioned, analysed, and assimilated into existing frameworks, the actual physical structure of a person's brain changes. New connections are formed which weren't there before. At the same time, the exact way each person constructs meaning, interrelates ideas, and learns, is individual and unique to that person. The net result is that over the many years each child spends in school, he will develop a unique and personalized style of learning that may be very different from that of other children.
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Similarly, children can be intelligent in many different ways - more than just verbally or mathematically.
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The neocortex, that part of the brain in which information is processed and stored, functions best in a relaxed but challenging atmosphere. In situations perceived as stressful of threatening, it may "shut down" and cease to function. In such situations a person is less able to access what he or she already knows and falls back on responses that may be limited, lacking in creativity, and not indicative of what that person really knows.
Recommendations
For the reasons above, the American Montessori Society advocates a vigorous, unified effort to ensure the following:
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The education in classrooms involves children in activities designed to help them interrelate and critically analyse ideas, form questions about these ideas as a spur to further study, and generally engage in meaningful mental exercise instead of concentrating on isolated facts and surface knowledge.
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The climate in all classrooms is one of emotional support and intellectual stimulation and not one of threat or fear.
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Assessment procedures used move away from a reliance on written tests as the only format for indicating educational achievement, and toward formats (portfolios, presentations, and multi-media projects) that more authentically gauge the ability to interrelate ideas, think critically, and use information meaningfully.
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Source: American Montessori Society |
