Lakewood Montessori

Studies have shown that the most proliferate learning period for a human is from age 0 through 6.  And we know that the mind of a child processes things differently than the mind of an adult.        

Montessori educators believe that education is child centered rather than teacher centered and that each child is truly an individual with individual needs, differences and gifts.  One child will learn things at a different pace and at a different time than another child of the same age.   

The Montessori teacher knows that a child needs to be nurtured and taught in many different areas in order to be all that he/she is capable of being.  This includes the intellectual, physical, social and spiritual soul inside each and every child.  A child in a Montessori environment, then, receives guidance in more than just academic areas. Your child’s teacher believes that education should respond to meet the specific need and sensitivities of each age and each individual child.  This is why you do not see all of the children doing the exact same work at the exact same time.

A normal Montessori classroom will be filled with students who are working at their own pace, within their own interests, gently guided by their directress/teacher in an open and free flowing environment.  The structure and discipline can’t easily be seen for it is a discipline that has been internalized by each individual child.  It is a peaceful freedom within learned and disciplined limits.  

The environment in a Montessori classroom is specially prepared for your child to develop and grow to become capable, successful, independent thinkers.  The classrooms, and work within, are intended to be beautiful and peaceful.  The furniture and the materials are more child-sized and made for the child’s comfort and benefit.  The shelves are set up for the children to easily access materials and put them back with ease.  The layout of the classroom is such that a student can flow from one area of learning to another with ease and purpose.  You may have noticed that it is set up in specific and different subject areas: practical life, sensorial, mathematics, language, cultural, biology and botany. Everything in the Montessori classroom environment has a purpose.  It is an environment of whole learning and order.
 
Anita Murnighan
Lakewood Montessori, Boise, Idaho

•    If you leave a small pitcher of juice in the fridge (of a full flip-n-sip for younger ones), I can pour myself drinks.

•    If you put low hooks on the wall and create a place for my boots, I can get ready for going outside.

•    If you take away all of my toys but my favorite few, I can look after them and keep them neat (and then swap other ones in from time to time to keep it interesting)

•    If you put a stool in the bathroom, I can get on and off the toilet and brush my teeth and hair in the mirror.

•    If you give me chores to do, such as setting the table or filling and starting the dishwasher or folding clothes, I can help with housekeeping.

•    If you give me shoes, shirt, pants, and jackets that fasten easily, I can dress myself.

•    If you give me a dustpan, brush, and sponge, I can clean up my messes and other people’s too.

•    If you give me simple math problems while cooking, shopping, traveling, and any other time, I can practice my adding and subtracting.

•    If you sound out words and writing with me, I can practice my own reading and speaking.

•    If you use grown-up words for objects such as bathroom instead of potty or appaloosa instead of horsie), I can learn them just easily as the baby ones.

Help me do it myself, and I will be a happier, more competent, and more dignified young person. (And it will make your job easier too!)

Julie Webster in the Co-Director of the Misty Mountain Montessori School in Mount Airy, MD. This piece was published in the Winter 2004/2005 issue of Tomorrow’s Child Magazine.

Lakewood Montessori, Boise, Idaho

Maria Montessori observed that there are certain times in a child’s life when it is very easy to learn a skill. Her observations are now substantiated by modern brain research, and are commonly referred to as critical periods.

As an example, when a child is in the sensitive period for language he can learn to speak and understand easily, with no formal instruction. Don’t we all wish we had learned a second language as a young child?

Montessori teachers are trained to carefully observe for signs of sensitive periods, and then answer by presenting work that will meet the needs of the sensitive period.

0-3 Years           The Absorbent Mind Period - Sensory Experience

0-6 Years           Language Development

1.5-3 Years        Coordination and Muscle Development - Interest in Small Objects

2-4 Years           Refinement of Movement  Concerns with Truth & Reality -
                        Aware of Order of Sequence

2.5-6  Years       Sensory Refinement

3-6 Years           Susceptibility to  Adult Influence

3.5-6  Years       Writing

4-4.5 Years        Tactile Sense

4.5-5.5 Years     Reading

Karen Dugmore and Mary Clements
Lakewood Montessori, Boise, Idaho

The sandpaper letters assist children in learning sounds that letters make. Children are first introduced to rough and smooth tablets in the sensorial area. Working with the rough and smooth tablets (there are several lessons) prepares the child for feeling the difference in texture.

At this time the child's hand is being prepared and trained to write. Next, the child is introduced to metal insets. "Metal insets teach the child how to organize the movement of writing, which brings him to the management of the pen" (Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook, p 146).

In practicing the small motor coordination the child gains confidence with small motor skills. As the child's interest in language progresses, the child begins work on sandpaper letters. A child is shown a letter, the letter is traced for the child, and the letter name is spoken. The child then repeats what has been shown.

The child is introduced to two different letter sounds each lesson. The teacher works with the child to learn the sounds. When a child returns for another lesson, they will review the sounds already taught. The child can be successful because they have preparation through prior experiences (sandpaper tablets, metal insets).

Dr. Montessori on sandpaper letters: “This process forms the first preparation, not only for writing, but also for reading, because it is evident that when the child touches the letters he performs movement corresponding to the writing of them, and, at the same time, when he recognizes them by sight he is reading the alphabet.” (Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook, p 152)

Karen Dugmore
Lakewood Montessori, Boise, Idaho