Montessori Schools

An education from a Montessori School emphases independence and freedom within limits which is designed to respect the child’s natural development.  In a Montessori school the child is free to choose the path that his or her education takes.  A variety of curriculum could exist under the “Montessori” designation, you should review the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) and the American Montessori Society (AMS) for accredited schools.  These accrediting bodies cite the following elements as essential ingredients to a Montessori school’s curriculum:

  • Mixed age classrooms (younger children learning from the older kids in the room)
  • Students choose the classroom activity from within a prescribed range of options
  • Uninterrupted blocks of work time
  • A hands-on, constructive or “discovery” model, where students learn concepts from working directly with materials, rather than by direct instruction
  • Specialized educational materials developed by Montessori and her collaborators

Many Montessori schools design their programs with reference to Dr. Maria Montessori’s lifelong work, the Italian physician and educator is recognizing as the founder of the Montessori discipline. This type of schooling is hinged upon sensory stages that define how children learn and how they advance through the curriculum. The instructor’s materials should be geared toward each stage of child development.

  1. STAGE 1 – From birth to six years old children are consumers of knowledge, constructing their intelligence by absorbing the environment, language and culture around them.
  2. STAGE 2 – From age 6 to 12, children become conceptual explorers. They develop their powers of abstraction and imagination, and apply their knowledge to discover and expand their worlds further.
  3. STAGE 3 – From age 12 to 18 children become humanistic explorers, seeking to understand their place in society and their opportunity to contribute to it.
  4. STAGE 4 – From age 18 to 24 the young adults become specialized explorers, seeking a niche from which to contribute to universal dialogue.