Recently the pastor at my church invited me to come see the Montessori school that is run within the building. He knows I am an education major and thought the experience would interest me. I had heard of Montessori schools before but knew little about them. Plus, I was skeptical of a system that I assumed had religious leanings. But surprisingly, at the moment he invited me and I accepted (intending maybe, one day in the future, to go – if I had the time), the head of the school showed up and my moment to investigate had arrived. Thus began my tour.
First the woman, Dora, took me to the toddler room. Odd things filled it – shallow dishes of dry lentils, miniature mops, brooms, and dustpans, a child-sized old fashioned sink with a removable basin, and various other items you wouldn’t expect to see in a classroom, especially one designed for two year olds.
Then we went onto the lower elementary classroom. I had never heard of such a thing. There were only two elementary classes – lower and upper. The children worked together in three year age groups. In the lower elementary classroom, there were some typical items – a bookshelf, small tables and chairs, pictures (all famous and classical though), and a plant or two. Then there were stacks of pink blocks, rows of red and blue wooden rods, more bean dishes, tiny pitchers for pouring water back and forth, and boxes and boxes of game pieces for various subject activities. In the upper classroom was more of the same, only at an advanced level. My mind was being blown. Dora narrated the trip with anecdotes praising the children’s focus, their work ethic, and their joy in learning. She told me that they all pursued projects of their choosing with minimal guidance and that there were few discipline problems even though they could converse freely with their classmates. I started wondering how it all worked, and I still don’t fully understand the method.
Next she took me outside. There I discovered that the children tend to rabbits, chickens, and a pet parakeet. They do community service projects, such as painting chairs for the church’s silent auction (although the school is definitely not run by the church – they teach the children the Big Bang theory), and they learn to grow plants, among other things. The children are also allowed to climb trees in the woods nearby, and they have an old fashioned wooden play set – not one of these new “safe” plastic ones.
Through further study, and by asking Dora many questions, I found out that the Montessori method’s success lies in several factors. One is minimal lecture time. An observer will rarely find a teacher speaking endlessly to the whole class, or even to one student. Students receive lessons about how to properly use the materials, and then they guide their own work and a pace they can handle. The teacher is more of a guide who is there when the child seeks him or her out. Another reason it’s successful (and that the teachers are able to produce such impressive and well behaved students) is that starting from a young age (preferably around 18 months), children are given repetitive tasks that challenge them at a level they can handle. This develops the child’s focus as well as skills (fine and gross motor, critical thinking, etc.) and work ethic. The children learn to enjoy performing tasks and will seek out new and more challenging ones on their own.
My favorite thing about Montessori is that it nurtures the development of the whole child. This system doesn’t just produce students who can read, write, and do math. These kids learn social skills, how to interact peacefully with his or her peers, how to serve the community, how to take care of him or herself and be independent, how to care for animals…I could go on and on.
I was surprised and disappointed to discover that my textbook does not mention Montessori at all, not even in the section about learner-centered instruction. It continues to baffle me that a system that has time and time again proved its efficacy is overlooked by so many. It scares me that most of those people seem to be in the teaching profession.
