Thursday, August 19, 2010

Montessori Method

I have to admit that one of the styles of learning that I like is the Montessori method of learning. I heard of this method before but had never really looked at it until I started my early education classes at MCC.  The more I study it the more I like it!  The definition according to Wikipedia is this:

The Montessori method is an approach to educating children based on the research and experiences of Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori (1870–1952). It arose essentially from Dr. Montessori's discovery of what she referred to as "the child's true normal nature" in 1907,[1] which happened in the process of her experimental observation of young children given freedom in an environment prepared with materials designed for their self-directed learning activity.[2] The method itself aims to duplicate this experimental observation of children to bring about, sustain and support their true natural way of being.[3]
Applying this method involves the teacher in viewing the child as having an inner natural guidance for his or her own perfect self-directed development.[4] The role of the teacher (sometimes called director, directress, or guide) is therefore to watch over the environment to remove any obstacles that would interfere with this natural development. The teacher's role of observation sometimes includes experimental interactions with children, commonly referred to as "lessons," to resolve misbehavior or to show how to use the various self-teaching materials that are provided in the environment for the children's free use.[5]
The method is primarily applied with young children (2–6), due to the young child's unique instincts and sensitivity to conditions in the environment.[6] However, it is sometimes conducted with elementary age (6–12) children and occasionally with infants and toddlers, as well as at the middle and high school level.[ 

 The thing that I must caution about, according to my instructors at MCC, is that everything labeled "Montessori" isn't  Montessori.  I did find a wonderful channel on Youtube that demonstrates some of the Montessori learning methods. You might just find some ideas that you can use! ENJOY

http://www.youtube.com/user/InfoMontessori#p/u/3/H80D65Dy-UM 

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