Montessori Approach & Components Of Montessori Schools
Observation of Developmentally Appropriate Practice occurred in a Montessori Style classroom with preschool to kindergarten level students. Maria Montessori developed this style of teaching so that children of mixed ages were able to engage in different activities at the same time, while the teacher observes and aids children in their activities. The Montessori method focuses on child-led learning, where the children are able to pursue lessons that interest them. This approach to teaching allows the whole child to be considered physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively. Upon entering Maitland Montessori there are three early childhood classrooms called the Yellow, Red, and Blue rooms. Each classroom has a Teacher-Student Ratio of 1:10 or 2:20.
Every classroom consists of a mixed age group varying from preschool level to kindergarten level students. In the Yellow room, the youngest child is two and a half years old, and the oldest child is six years old. The most interesting aspect of a Montessori style classroom is that all of the children are mixed-ages, therefore they are all at different learning levels in each core area. Because of this approach, younger children learn from older children and older children are able to reinforce the younger children's skills. Children develop at varying rates, so this variety of ages allows differentiation to occur on a grand scheme in the classroom.
Another major component of Montessori school’s is long un-interrupted work cycles. In the yellow room, the children are working toward a 3-hour work cycle, where they are allowed to move from lesson to lesson freely. There is no time limit restriction on how long the child can stay at a lesson. The only catch is that a child must choose a lesson they have worked on or learned already in class or the teacher will re-direct them. In the Montessori approach, this method is called ‘freedom within limits’. They are free to choose the materials they please but within a limited structured selection of activities.
When talking to the director of the school, Dr.Owens, she provided me with an example of ‘freedom within limits’, where a child can choose a lesson and complete it at their own pace but as soon as the child uses the materials to start building a castle or something other than what it is intended for they are re-directed back to the purpose of the lesson. Dr. Owens stated, “We have legos for building creatively, we do not use our lessons for that.” Furthermore, the room is broken up into 5 core areas: mathematics, language, cultural, practical life, and sensorial. The children carry their lesson on trays and complete them on a table or mini rug. Another ‘free’ aspect of the approach is that the lesson can be completed in whichever seat the child wants. While all lessons are to be completed individually, the children are able to sit near friends and socialize briefly along the way.
The yellow room is comprised of twenty students all working graciously toward a lengthy work cycle floating from lesson to lesson, and hitting developmental milestones along the way. In observing classroom management, I noticed that the two teachers, Mrs. Barre, and Mrs. Bertizlian float around the classroom constantly. The teachers are able to pull a child to a certain area and encourage them to work on the developmental goal they need to meet. For instance, within the first thirty minutes of the observation, I noticed Mrs. Barre sitting in the mathematics area. There were three students at the table. Two children choose to work independently on graphing numbers 1-10 with counters and recognizing numbers, while Mrs. Barre worked one on one with a young girl on language skills.
Mrs. Barre would say a letter sounds, and the young girl would repeat it. As the child correctly repeated the sound and recognized it Mrs. Barre would make a mark on a clipboard. In this instance, Mrs. Barre was able to help the young girl develop the skill necessary while keeping an eye on the other children at the table who may have needed help with math-related questions. I also observed that the teachers talk in a polite and calm tone, to encourage a quiet work environment. If the children began to get too noisy or distracted one of the teachers would ring a bell to get their attention and explain to them they need to be focused and keep their voices down. Since the children are not quite at the 3-hour cycle mark, the teachers use this bell method to keep the children on track about every 30-45 minutes.
The goal by the end of the year is to eliminate the re-directing and have the children work consistently for the allotted time period without stopping early. One of the most interesting observations I noted was the students use of touch to get the teacher or another peers attention. A gentle touch on the shoulder or arm of an individual alerts them that you need their assistance or would like to talk. For example, Mrs. Barre was helping a student set up a lesson on sight words. While the teacher was helping her pick the objects she would soon spell out, and a young boy walked up to the teacher and touched her arm. He did not say a word, he simply waited patiently for her to acknowledge him. The slight touch lets her know that he has a question without interrupting the flow of the lesson. This is a great way to encourage children to be patient, un-disruptive, and wait their turn.
In accordance with learning styles observed in the classroom, there were a variety of lessons available for the children to explore. These included tasks such as visualizing numbers, counting, addition, subtraction, carrying over, visualizing letters, sounding out letters/words, spelling, matching, sorting, creating push pin shapes, setting the kitchen table, working play-dough, developing the solar system, and recognizing animals. By allowing a variety of lessons in every area the children are introduced to multiple skills at once. Some of the skills that were seen throughout the observation were social, cognitive, literacy, fine-motor, and hand-eye coordination. In addition to learning styles, Gardners Multiple Intelligences were examined in the classroom.
There are seven proposed intelligences depicted by Gardner, and more than half of them were revealed in the yellow room. The three bits of intelligence that were not found during this time frame were bodily-kinesthetic, musical, and interpersonal skills. During the children’s work cycle they are focused on the skills in the core areas only. They are not encouraged to imagine or be creative during this time. Throughout other parts of the day, the children sing songs, play outside, and interact with each other. Ultimately, not every child is strong in all seven areas of intelligence. Often, people excel more in one or two of the areas, but this does not mean schools should not implement all of them throughout their curriculum.
The biggest question I had with the Montessori approach was “How do the teachers keep track of every student progress throughout the year when so much is happening all at once?” I was able to observe the classroom for about thirty minutes from two tinted observation windows outside in the hallway. Upon entering the classroom, it was very overwhelming that so many things were going on, and another major question arose “where are the toys and books?”. At first glance, there are about ten books in a tiny basket and no dolls or cars. There is no bookshelf full of colored literature, no children playing dress up, or cooking in a play kitchen. A concern for appropriate standards being used to drive the curriculum had to be addressed. After talking with Mrs.Owens and Mrs. Barre, I was better able to understand how a Montessori based curriculum works. Since every child is at a different level, the teachers use a color coated folder system and a clipboard to keep track of important developmental milestones. The color system allows the students, teachers, and parents to be aware of where their child falls on the curriculum spectrum.
The curriculum consists of 4-5 reading schemes, maths schemes and so forth. After the child masters a skill they move up the color scheme and begin working on more complex lessons. While I had a difficult time grasping the no toys concept, I noticed children still being able to count to 10,000 and read books. I wondered how. Mrs. Barre furthered explained that within each color scheme of the language area there are hundreds of books the children read. Each book is specific toward the number of letters each word has, and the types of letter sounds (-io, -oo, -ae) created throughout the story. Each lesson is designed in the same way. For instance, Sofia is at the beginning language stage where she is learning to visualize phonemes and hear the sounds that letters make. Audra, another student, is one step above where she is able to use objects to find starting letters and spell out what the object is. Audra is using three letter words, while children above her are using four and five letter words. The oldest child in the class, Nora, is able to lay out pictures and match whole sentences to their appropriate images to create a storyline. Nora has the highest reading level in the class.
In an effort to encourage the children to recall certain information the teachers would ask questions. Unfortunately, not many of these were higher order thinking questions. Higher-order questions promote critical thinking and require students to apply, analyze, interpret, and evaluate information. They are typically knowledge-based questions that require memory and application. Some examples of questions asked in the yellow room consisted of “What sound does letter A make?” and “Where is the letter A?”. These types of question require memory, but higher-order questions are not based entirely on recall. They should encourage students to think beyond the literal questions and explain, summarize or evaluate in some type of way.
Besides the lack of use in higher order thinking questions, there were a ton of other developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) examined. At Maitland Montessori, all of the furniture is small in the preschool classrooms. Montessori schools were the first to implement and inspire child-size furniture. They do not have rows of tables with desks, but instead tiny tables and tiny chairs scattered amongst the lessons. This is because there are not typically a teacher standing in front of the class giving a lesson or lecture. During group activities, the children sit on a large rug on the ground. Along with that, the walls are clutter free and the shelves are accessible. If anything is hung on the walls it must be at the children’s eye level.
Another key component of a Montessori classroom is natural lighting with low windows. The yellow room recently had construction it insert a large window with a view of the playground to let in natural light. Having natural light in a classroom allows the students to stay alert and awake. One of the Montessori school's main DAP’s is to implement the ‘prepared environment’ for every child. This allows children to enter a safe space to develop self-regulation, routines, and challenge themselves daily. One aspect of DAP that Montessori schools do not incorporate is free play. Not allowing children to engage in free form play they are not being exposed to opportunities to develop their creativity and imagination, as well as makes sense of the world around them. Children need play and schools need to encourage it.
Giving a child the freedom to choose lessons does not replace allowing the child to freely play. While I do not agree with the fact that no play occurs in Montessori classrooms, I do believe they allow children to develop at their own pace. It is important that educators do not pressure children to do something they are not capable of or ready to do. Children need to be able to develop naturally and in ways that make learning enjoyable. They will get there when they are ready. As Maria Montesorri would say “follow the child but follow the child as his leader.”
