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Montessori principles explained

There are many Montessori principles which at a first sight might sometimes seem difficult to understand. What does this principle actually mean? How do you apply that principle? How do you know that it works? The purpose of this article is to help you become more familiar with these principles and to have them explained in a simpler way.  

  • The purpose of education is to release the potential of a child for the betterment of humanity. 

 

Education should not be regarded as a preparation to thrive in a classroom environment, real education is much more than this, it is a preparation for life. In a Montessori classroom children grow respecting the others and understanding that each of them has unique passions, unique interests, that some are younger, while others are older, thus reflecting a real society. Children raised in such an environment will become responsible adults who will promote peace.

 

  • Education is a release from within, not a pouring in. 

 

The young children have the amazing ability to absorb everything from their environment, may it be good, or not that good, and here is where the great responsibility of the adults comes in. Young children need adults to treat them with love and to provide the best resources for them to reach their full potential, to feel safe, and to allow them to develop mostly in an independent way. 

Montessori principles explained
  • The Montessori guide is the dynamic link between the child and the prepared environment. 

 

It is the adult guide’s responsibility to make sure that the child is welcomed in a carefully prepared environment where the adult will show the child how to use the resources independently in the correct way, but it is the child who will decide for how long it will use each of them, and when he/she is ready to move to another one.

 

  • The child constructs himself from the prepared environment. 

 

The type of person the child will become depends on the environment that surrounds him/her, as the child becomes a reflection of it. You cannot expect a child to become a piano player if this child has no piano and no real instruction. Children will develop abilities and skills based on the resources provided by the adults. 

 

  • The role of the guide is to remove all obstacles in order to free the child to reach his/her greatest potential. 

 

In a Montessori environment the child has the active role, while the guide, may it be a caregiver or a teacher guide, has a seemingly passive one. The adult’s role is one of observance in order to identify and remove any obstacles (including the adult himself/herself) from the children’s way of reaching their full potential.

 

  • The prepared environment is materials driven, child initiated, and adult responsive. 

 

A prepared environment is an environment that invites the child to conduct the activities by himself/herself as all the activities are within reach. It is an environment that promotes freedom of movement as the child is not restricted to sit in a specific spot, and freedom of choice as it is the child the one who chooses whatever interests him/her the most from the surroundings, with an adult who will assist only when necessary, without interrupting the child.

 

  • Love is the key to self-transformation. 

 

The most important thing for a Montessori guide, may the guide be a parent, a family member, or a teacher is to genuinely love children and to be their role model, everything else will follow, but this is fundamental. Maria Montessori regarded values and morals as much more important than knowledge itself. You cannot hope to raise a happy child without making sure that you are the best version of yourself at all times.