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The intense individuality of Maria Montessori was evident at an early age, and she grew up in a world in which every aspect of living was viewed as part of the ‘whole’. As we look back over her life and work, it seems remarkable how she was able to capture and to then retain for posterity, that singular innocence and clarity of vision that we all experienced when young, but which for most of us, becomes an early casualty of ‘growing up’.

Maria Montessori was born in 1870, in a small village in Italy. When she was 5 her family moved to Rome where she discovered another world of libraries, museums and galleries. Uncommonly, when she was 13 she decided to continue her schooling and enrolled in a technical school to study engineering.

After school she attended the University of Rome, where she studied to become a doctor, graduating in 1896 as the first female doctor in Italy.

In 1907, she opened the first “Casa dei Bambini” or “childrens house”. Here she built her teaching skills, scientifically observing children’s abilities to absorb their surroundings and easily use and understand materials put in front of them. Everything that Maria Montessori used in her classroom-exercises, materials, equipment and methods was based on carefully observing children and what they did ‘naturally’ unassisted by adults.

Her work here resulted in her being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize on three separate occasions.

Understanding the necessity for acquisition of a basic skill before using it in learning situations is imperative. “Never let a child risk failure, until he or she has a reasonable chance of success”. Through exposure to physical and mental order, children acquire the inner discipline necessary for them to be able to persist in their chosen tasks.

In this environment each individual child works to the best of their ability, seldom comparing themselves. Children learn and progress at their own pace so that fast learners are not held back, and slower learners are not frustrated by their inability to keep up.

In this philosophy, the Montessori Method introduces children to the joy of learning, wherein they move themselves through their learning, with confidence and success.

Maria Montessori spent the remainder of her life in the Netherlands and died in 1952 at the age of 82. Her methods and observations have been used and carried out around the world and continue to do so today.

"It is the child who makes the man, and no man exists who was not made by the child he once was"

Maria Montessori

The Curriculum

In the Montessori preschool environment, five distinct areas constitute the prepared environment

Practical Life

The purpose and aim of Practical Life is to help the child gain control in the coordination of his movement, and help the child to gain independence and adapt to his society. Practical Life Exercises also aid the growth and development of the child’s intellect and concentration and will in turn also help the child develop an orderly way of thinking. Practical Life enhances the development of task organization and cognitive order through care of self, care of the environment and exercises of grace and courtesy. Practical Life Exercises also helps to aid the child to develop his balance and his gracefulness in his environment as well as his need to develop the power of being silent. At Sandton Montessori Pre School we encourage each learner to focus their attention, and perfect the skills of daily living. Through this experience, they learn to complete a task and gain a sense of achievement.

Sensorial

Young children are vividly aware of the world around them, taking in impressions through their senses. The sensorial materials were created to help children in the process of creating and organizing their intelligence. It also enables the child to order, classify, and describe sensory impressions in relation to colour, size, shape composition, texture, loudness or softness, matching, weight, temperature, volume, length, width and mass. Each of the different materials is used to stimulate and refine one of the ten sensory areas and each will be presented to the child to be used in an exact way to aid his development. The sensorial materials also prepare the child for reading and writing. What could not be explained by words, the child learns by experience working with the sensorial materials. The purpose and aim of Sensorial work is for the child to acquire clear, conscious information and to be able to then make classifications in his environment.

Mathematics

Learners do not immediately begin working with the math materials in the Montessori environment. Instead, the child is indirectly prepared for later mathematical works through the Montessori Practical Life and Sensorial activities where they develop the fundamental abilities necessary for higher level mathematical concepts of discrimination, recognizing similarities and differences, constructing and comparing a pattern or series, finding relationships, and understanding terminology. Mathematical and number concepts are an essential part of everyday life. Young children are exposed to numbers and mathematical concepts daily (e.g. sorting, counting, estimating quantity, measuring) The Montessori environment is full of materials and lessons which inspire students to fully develop their mathematical minds. Concepts are internalized, not merely memorized. Children understand and master concepts before moving ahead in the Montessori curriculum. They are allowed the opportunity to fully explore and understand. The concept of quantity, symbol (number) recognition, counting, the hierarchical properties of the decimal system, impressions of squaring and cubing, operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and fractions—are developed through extensive work with concrete materials.

Language

The Montessori environment provides rich and precise language development through the use of hands on manipulatives that encourage the development of early reading and writing skills. Children should never be forced to read and write at a young age. But the tools to do so, when offered and their use shown, prepare and inspire many to read. This is the sensitive period in a child's life for knowing the names of everything, including the sounds of letters, and for touching and feeling. So we offer letters made of sandpaper to trace with their fingers while saying the sound. From the very first days in the Montessori classroom, children are given the opportunity to listen to true stories about known subjects, told with great expression. Songs, poems and rhymes are a part of the daily life of the class. Looking at beautiful books with lovely, realistic pictures are also a part of language appreciation. Language includes oral language development, written expression, reading, the study of grammar, creative dramatics, and children's literature. Basic skills in writing and reading are developed through the use of alphabet cut-outs, and various presentations allowing children to link sounds and letter symbols effortlessly and to express their thoughts through writing.

Cultural

Maria Montessori designed the curriculum of the cultural subjects as an interdisciplinary study of the life of man on earth throughout time and in all geographic regions. It includes the study of geography, science, history, music, art, botany, zoology. It encompasses all cultural subjects as part of a meaningful whole. Maria Montessori's primary goal was for education to help the child become a fully developed individual adapted to his time and place and culture; to be a citizen of tomorrow; a participant in a harmoniously functioning society. The child gains an understanding of unity, of variety and of the inter-relatedness of all things; both living and non-living. The cultural subjects are taught in a very specific order, and integrated into the curriculum. Eventually, after the foundation of each of the individual cultural areas is set, the study of the individual areas are then integrated into each other as well as the core curriculum, creating a deeper understanding of the world and the interconnectedness of everything in it.