Pleasant Valley Springs

 

‟A Solid Foundation for a Life of Learning”

 

About Montessori

 

The Montessori Method was developed by Dr. Maria Montessori of Italy in the early 1900s.  Dr. Montessori discovered that children thrive when they do meaningful work.  Between the ages of 0-6 is a crucial time for brain development.  Dr. Montessori described the child's mind between the time of birth and six years of age as the ‟absorbent mind.”  It is during this stage a child has a tremendous ability to learn and assimilate from the world around him, without conscious effort.  During this time, children are particularly receptive to certain external stimuli.  A Montessori teacher recognizes and takes advantage of these highly perceptive stages through the introduction of materials and activities specially designed to stimulate the intellect.

 

The Prepared Environment in the Montessori classroom is one where everything the child comes into contact with facilitates and maximizes independent learning and exploration.  The calm, well-ordered environment has a lot of movement and activity.  Children are free to choose and work on activities at their own pace.  Here, they experience a combination of freedom and self-discipline, as guided by the environment.

 

There are generally six aspects, or principles, to the Prepared Environment:

 

• Freedom

• Structure and Order

• Beauty

• Nature and Reality

• Social Environment

• Intellectual Environment

 

Teaching Method:  Children are always free to move around the room, and to continue to work on a piece of material with no time limit.  Seldom will two or more children be studying the same thing at the same time.

 

Children learn directly from the environment, other children, and clear presentations of individual activities by the teacher.  The child is scientifically observed and these observations are recorded and then studied by the teacher.  The teacher is adept at teaching one child at a time, with occasional small groups and almost no lessons given to the whole class. She is facile in the basic lessons of math, language, the arts and sciences, and in guiding a child’s subject.

 

Areas of Study Linked:  All subjects are interwoven; 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.) are being studied, at all levels.

 

Assessment:  There are no grades, or other forms of reward or punishment, subtle or overt.  Assessment is by portfolio and the teacher’s observation and record keeping.  The real test of whether or not the system is working lies in the accomplishment and behavior of the children.  Success is measured by seeing these qualities in the children:

 

• Happiness

• Maturity

• Kindness

• Love of learning

• Concentration

• Work Ethic

 

Learning Styles:  All intelligences and styles of learning (musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, intuitive, natural, and the traditional linguistic and logical-mathematical) are nurtured and respected.