Children making snowflakes, Christmas activity for children

Basic tenets or principles of the Olivia Montessori methodology of early education.

  1. It was created by observing children. Observation is crucial to understanding the current development of the child and the needs of the child to develop further.
  2. From birth till the age of 6, children’s minds are like sponges (absorbent minds) – they absorb everything without effort. Thus, you will notice that by the age of 3, children have already picked up a huge vocabulary and are learning to construct simple sentences. 
  3. Respect for the child and freedom within limits. As adults, we cannot impose what we think is good or right for the child. Instead, we respect the child’s independence and freedom in choosing work or activities.
  4. Closely tied in to the absorbent mind is the concept of sensitive periods which are stages in their growing years when they are receptive to and literally have an inner compulsion to learning multiple things like
    1. Movement
    2. Order
    3. Language
    4. Grace and Courtesy
    5. Mathematics etc.
  5. The environment is a carefully prepared one. This means that
    1. The order, cleanliness and arrangement of the materials in the environment need to “call” the child to work. Unnecessary clutter needs to be removed. There is a place for everything and everything needs to be in place.
    2. Accessibility – Everything including the furniture and materials are child sized. 
    3. Materials are displayed in a structured and sequential way – for example, materials used in practical life activities are
      1. Placed in a specific sequence to allow for development of motor skills
      2. Grouped together as per the functionality
      3. Complete and no missing parts/pieces
  6. In the Montessori primary school, children between the ages of 2.5 to 6 years are working in the same environment – there are no classrooms and age differentiation. This stems from helping the child to develop socially and providing the opportunity to socialize. An example – younger children learn to socialize with older children, the older children provide help to younger children etc.
  7. Each child is working at his/her pace and the teacher is observing each child’s progress and making daily notes so that they know where the child needs to pick up things the next working day, week, and so forth.
  8. What exactly does the 2.5 year child go through and perfect when starting off in the Montessori world?
    1. Motor skills – gross and fine. Gross – navigating steps or walking. Fine – washing hands, turning doorknobs, keys, opening a lunchbox.
    2. Grace & Courtesy – to others in the environment as well as following instructions like picking up things and returning them to where they belong.
    3. Caring for oneself – become independent by working with buttons, buckles, washing hands, brushing hair etc.
    4. Caring for the environment – keep things in order and clean by sweeping, dusting, washing dishes etc.
    5. Sorting, grading, pairing. Example – dark, darker, darkest. This helps in making decisions.
    6. Comparatives, superlative vocabulary is also picked up.
    7. Language begins with rich conversations initiated by the teachers, rhymes and stories, classified cards, and phonetic sound activity (I spy).
    8. Speaking four-word sentences.
    9. Tracing sandpaper letters – thus establishing the relationship between sound and symbol
    10. Getting the hand and fingers ready for writing with materials like drawing metal insets.
    11. Putting words together from sounds with movable alphabets – the preparation for reading begins.
    12. Botany
    13. Geography maps
    14. Geometric shapes
    15. Concept of numbers and their symbols (number rods and the symbols)

Thus, the child progresses to grammar, writing and reading, and further operations in Mathematics including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. All learnt conceptually with hands on materials.

Similar Posts