Mont

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ori
Montessori

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Contents
Section 1: Dr. Maria Montessori 4
Section 2: An Education for Life 7
Section 3: The Stages of Development 8
Section 4: The Absorbent Mind and the Sensitive Periods 10
Section 5: The Imagination 12
Section 6: Montessori Schools - The Prepared Environment 13
Section 7: Respect for the Child 15
Section 8: Independence 17
Section 9: Movement and Activity 18
Section 10: Freedom and Discipline 19
Section 11: Normalisation and Deviations 21
Section 12: The Montessori Materials 22
Section 13: The Montessori Teacher 24
Section 14: Montessori Today 26

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Section 1: Dr. Maria Montessori
Dr. Maria Montessori was born in Ancona, Italy in 1870. When she
was twelve, the family moved to Rome. She grew up under the
influence of a traditional father and an ambitious, strong-minded
mother. She wanted to be an engineer but found that being a woman
was an obstacle. However, she entered university and qualified as
the first female medical doctor in Italy. Her years of study taught her
to survive under difficult circumstances. The ethics of the time did
not allow for male and female students to work on human bodies at
the same time, so Maria had to return to the morgue alone at night
to do her research. When she qualified she worked for some time
caring for the poor in Rome. She was always interested in children,
their health and the living conditions which contributed to this.
Around this time, she was also involved in the emerging movement
for women's rights.

Dr. Montessori had a son in 1898, but the social structure at the time
did not allow her to keep him with her as she was unmarried. Instead
he was fostered by a family in the countryside and visited by his
mother regularly. Dr. Montessori got a job working with children in
an asylum for mentally "retarded" children. With her keen
observational powers and her ever curious mind, she became
interested in their education as well as their health. She studied the
works of Itard and Séguin, who in turn were influenced by Rousseau
and Froebel. In order to understand these works fully she spent many
long nights translating them from French into Italian! But her study
was not in vain. She adapted and devised several educational
materials which she used with great success with the children under

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her care. When they passed examinations, Dr. Montessori asked
herself why the children in the regular schools could not reach much
higher levels with good educational stimulation.

On 6th January 1907 Dr. Montessori opened her first Casa dei
Bambini (Children's House) in Rome. The owners of a large tenement
building were concerned about children running wild while their
parents worked so they invited Dr. Montessori to carry out an
experiment with a day nursery for children ranging from 3 to 7 years.
She set up a simple room and put in many of the educational
materials which she had devised or adapted from others over the
previous years. She employed the caretaker's daughter to take care
of the children and instructed her not to teach them anything, but
rather to allow them to use the materials. She herself observed for
long periods and added or took away materials according to how the
children were attracted to them. The children were shown how to
use the materials and as long as they did not abuse them, were free
to use them when they wished.

Within months wonderful things were happening. Children were

starting to write their names, to talk about mathematical shapes, to
behave very politely and all sorts of other exciting things. People
heard about Casa dei Bambini and came to see the children. In a
world where children were considered noisy and troublesome, these
productive well-behaved little people were seen as a miracle. A
second nursery was opened by Dr. Montessori the following year.
Within a short time, she was becoming well known throughout most
countries in Europe. In 1912 she published her first of many books,
"The Montessori Method". In 1913 she was invited to the USA where

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she travelled widely, taking her now fifteen-year-old son, Mario, with
her. There she was welcomed enthusiastically and set up many
'Montessori' classrooms.

In the meantime, she was training teachers to carry on her method

but at all times she was reluctant to allow this training to pass out of
her personal control. She believed that her method was not easy to
adopt correctly because it involved a basic shift in attitude towards
children. Her observations were continually leading her to adapt and
develop new materials. She started to work on the method for older
children (6-12 years) as far back as 1912 but believed that it was too
big a task for one person. With the help of various interested people,
the 'Advanced Montessori Method' was developed over a period of
many years. Dr. Montessori was also interested in the next level (12-
18 years) but she did not have time in her busy life to explore this
fully. However, it has been developed since her death, particularly in
the USA and Holland.

She worked for some years in Spain and spent all of World War II in
India. She finally settled in Holland and there, with the help of her
son Mario and his wife, set up a centre for developing the Montessori
method. Then in the latter part of her life, Dr. Montessori went back
again to the infant and further developed her ideas on the first years
of life. She published "The Absorbent Mind", the book many consider
to be her best, in 1949, just a few years before her death, in 1952.

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Section 2: An Education for Life
Dr. Montessori considered that her 'method' was not an invention
but rather a discovery. She had discovered the true nature of the
child. It was natural to learn with enthusiasm and to take in
knowledge and develop skills with ease. In her society, and to a lesser
extent to-day, the belief was that it had to be difficult to learn.
Observation of the child had shown Dr. Montessori that, given the
right conditions and the freedom to use them, happy learning and
the development of a strong healthy personality were the right of
every child.

Dr. Montessori was a strong advocate of world peace, but she

thought that peace must start from within. She saw that for many
adults this required too great a change to happen in one lifetime. We
must look to the children and create conditions which would allow
them to grow up with inner peace and wisdom. The method focussed
on educating children for life rather than for knowledge or
employment. The aim is to give children the opportunity to grow into
adults that love life and are at peace with themselves and others. The
only way to do this is to allow the true nature of the child to dictate
how he or she grows and learns, and that is the core of the
Montessori method.

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Section 3: The Stages of Development
One of the first observations which Dr. Montessori made was that
the years of childhood are divided into stages of development - 0-6
years, 6-12 years and 12-18 years. Montessori also refers to the
period 18-24 years, the time of becoming a fully mature adult. This
period was not studied in depth. These ages are reflected in the
educational systems in most countries and in many religious customs.
Dr. Montessori believed that these stages were radically different
from each other and that children go through a kind of
metamorphosis as they pass from one to the next.

The first period, 0-6 years, is characterised by an absorbent mind,

which makes learning apparently effortless. During this time the child
goes through much change and his or her development must be
protected in a partially closed environment. It is a self-focussed time
of life where the main task is to develop the personality. In the
protected world that we provide the child is learning more than in
any other period of life.

The second period, 6-12 years, is characterised by a highly creative

imagination and a great interest in the social group. It is a stable time
of growing and acquiring knowledge and skills. The child is now
interested in a much wider environment - in fact most eight-year-olds
would probably fancy a trip to Mars, if Mom or Dad would come
along!

The third period, 12-18 years, is again a time of much change. A

development of rational thinking is accompanied by huge physical,
hormonal and emotional changes. Dr. Montessori suggested that this

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time is for learning to be an independent adult and for getting plenty
of healthy food and fresh air. Children should not be overburdened
with academic bookwork in these years - it was much easier to do
that between 6 and 12 years.

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Section 4: The Absorbent Mind and the Sensitive
Periods
The absorbent mind was the centre of much of Dr. Montessori's
philosophy around the child in the first six years of life. The child
learns by absorbing knowledge effortlessly, like a sponge soaks up
water. He is driven to seek experiences in the world around by the
horme (an inner urge which precedes the will) and those experiences
enter his mind through the senses. These are not merely experiences
for the child, they create the basic fabric of his personality. Have you
ever seen a young child playing at the kitchen sink? She will pour
water again and again from the same cup, not noticing the water
pouring on the floor. No matter how many times we tell her to leave
it alone she will go back for more - until quite suddenly she is
satisfied just as though the absorbent mind were full for the time
being! All the time that water was being poured information was
being stored, not just about water and pouring, but about feelings of
satisfaction with work, being in control and concentrating deeply.
And remember these are not just experiences like we as adults get,
but they are actually creating the personality of the child.

Apart from the horme, mentioned above, the absorbent mind has
some other assistants in the task of creating the personality, an
important one being what Dr. Montessori called the sensitive
periods. These are periods in a child's life when he is particularly
drawn to certain stimuli or experiences. These help to create certain
functions or skills for the personality. It is important to note that a
sensitive period is always temporary and will fade away when no

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longer required. A good example is the sensitive period for language
which lasts up to 6 years of age. A child who learns a language before
6 years will not have difficulty speaking with the correct accent and
grammar, whilst those who attempt to learn a second language later
know how difficult it can be. The sensitive period has passed.
Another example worth noting is the sensitive period for order. Have
you ever seen a young child upset because you did not put something
in the right place or tell the story in the right sequence? Next time it
happens remember that the child is only following the very strong
instructions from her sensitive period for order.

There are many sensitive periods and it is important for parents and
teachers to look out for these so that they may understand what is
happening to the child and provide the right things in her
environment for that time. There are sensitive periods for language,
movement, order, culture and more. After the age of six we do not
notice sensitive period in the same manner, but you will still be able
to identify stages when certain activities are carried out with great
intensity.

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Section 5: The Imagination
The imagination is a powerful tool and children can use this from an
early age. We see it as early as when a child knows food coming
when he hears the rattle of the fridge door. And children of 4 years of
age can imagine places far away when they have seen some pictures
and a map. Dr. Montessori stressed that fantasy and imagination
were quite different from each other, and she did not encourage
fantasy, especially for children under 4 or 5 years. However, she did
encourage stimulating the imagination with interesting information
based on reality.

Then the real power of the imagination comes into force for the child
of 6 to 12 years. As the absorbent mind fades away the power of the
imagination takes over as the chief means of learning. It allows the
child to imagine things far away and long ago, in space and in the
future, in a jungle or inside a tiny seed. The fire of imagination drives
the child to seek knowledge with a huge thirst. Imagination is the tool
which moves the mind from the concrete to the abstract, allowing
the child to form ideas about how the world works. It is an important
part of the Montessori method for this age group to present the
imagination with exciting facts. Learning should never be boring with
such an active imagination.

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Section 6: Montessori Schools - The Prepared
Environment
Montessori schools are places of learning where the Montessori
principles and educational activities are used. They usually have an
age ranges as follows:

0-1.5 years Infants

1.5-3 years Toddlers

3-6 years Pre-school

6-9 years Lower elementary

9-12 years Middle school / Upper Elementary

12-15 years Junior upper school

15-18 years Senior upper school

In these places there will be a "Prepared Environment" - a place

which is carefully prepared based on observation of the children's
needs. With the guidance of the teacher, the activities and materials
available in this prepared environment will help the child to teach
herself and to become more independent.

This environment takes much work and preparation by the teacher.

He will observe the children every day and change the environment if
that is required. The teacher will keep everything in perfect

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condition, knowing that it is the key to the child's independence and
learning.

The outdoor environment must also be prepared according to the

same principles. There must be a wide range of activities so that
children can work towards independence. The home environment
may also be prepared according to the same principles.

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Section 7: Respect for the Child
Respect for others and for the environment is a rule for children in a
Montessori class. Likewise, the teacher is obliged to respect the child.
This respect must be absolute. It requires quite a shift from
traditional norms to achieve this.

• The Montessori teacher or parent must respect the child's

right to choose, even when it is obviously the wrong choice from an
adult point of view. Can you wait while a ten-year-old searches for
concert tickets, even though you know it is highly unlikely there will
be any left?

• Respect includes allowing the child to make their own

mistakes without being corrected. So, if your three-year-old daughter
is putting her coat on the wrong way can you wait until she finds out
herself or do you find yourself driven to jump up and help?

• Respect means being willing to create a place and time where

the child's needs come before the adult's. When the children arrive in
the morning do you greet the child and then start discussing the
weather with the parent over his head?

• One of the most difficult for us as adults to accept is that

respect means waiting to be asked before offering praise. How many
times are you tempted to say, "Oh! How lovely my pet!" just when
she is deeply engrossed in her painting?

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(Note: an adult will of course interfere if the child is in danger of
being actually harmed).

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Section 8: Independence
The child has rights to grow and become independent and it is part of
the Montessori philosophy that we stand back and allow this to
happen. We will offer guidance and help but wherever possible we
will make it possible for the child to do it himself. Thus, we preserve
his dignity, which is the core of his personality. So, from letting the
nine-month-old feed herself, through teaching the three-year-old to
blow his own nose, to showing the nine-year-old how to iron her own
blouse, we devise means of making the child independent of us.

Responsibility always goes hand in hand with independence. We as

Montessori teachers or parents will always need to give some good
example, about being responsible 'citizens', picking up litter, clearing
our own plate after meals and so on. But responsibility goes even
deeper than that. We must allow a child to feel that his life is his own
responsibility. If the teacher makes all the decisions, the child knows
that it is the teacher's fault if something goes wrong. The child must
make decisions, bigger decisions as she grows older, and must take
responsibility for these. If a six-year-old spends all his money that his
uncle gave him in the first shop, we must not replace that money
because we feel sorry that he has no money left while his brother
does. Nor should we give lectures about spending - the incident is
self-correcting, like many Montessori materials which you will hear
about later.

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Section 9: Movement and Activity
Freedom of movement is essential for learning, according to Dr.
Montessori. In the first three years of life she believed that more
learning took place through movement than in any other way.
Montessori prepared environments for the children under three are
centred around the need for movement - both gross and fine motor
movement.

In Montessori classes for all ages children can work on the floor or at
tables, moving arms or legs as they need to. All Montessori materials
are designed to involve activity even when learning advanced
concepts of grammar and compound multiplication. And many
activities, especially in the pre-school class for 3-6 years, are designed
to refine movement. You will see children carefully pouring water
from one jug to another, concentrating deeply so that they will not
spill a drop.

One area of movement which got particular attention from Dr.

Montessori was the movement of the hand. She believed that the
refinement of movement of the hand was central to the
development of the brain. She referred to it as the instrument of the
brain. Montessori activities for all ages involve precision of hand
movement, from sewing to placing pegs in pegboards, there are
many opportunities to refine hand movements. This is always
inherently connected with concentration. When the hand is actively
involved the child concentrates and learns more easily.

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Section 10: Freedom and Discipline
We have mentioned freedom of choice and freedom of movement,
yet you will remember that one of the characteristics of the children
in the first Children's House was good behaviour and politeness.

If children are bored or frustrated from having their inner needs

rejected, they will behave restlessly, and their energy will be used for
destructive activities. Dr. Montessori found that if children were
offered an environment with many opportunities to satisfy their
spontaneous needs AND they were offered the freedom to choose to
use these opportunities as they needed to, then they were able to
direct their energies in a calm constructive manner.

Freedom and discipline are 'two sides of the one medal'. When
children are given freedom to choose they have opportunities to
practise making choices. This develops their will and so they develop
inner self-discipline. Self-discipline is far more effective than
discipline imposed by an adult.

We have seen how freedom develops discipline but let us now look
at how discipline supports freedom. Firstly, we will have rules in a
Montessori class which prohibit interfering with others, damaging the
materials and so on. But we try to make it possible for the child to
control himself when he breaks rules. The teacher only interferes
when the child is out of control or simply does not understand the
rule.

The Montessori method works from the basis that a child will not
behave badly on purpose if her other needs are being satisfied.

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However, she will make mistakes. Dr Montessori said that we should
develop a 'friendly attitude towards error'. We must allow the
environment to give feedback. A Montessori environment is carefully
structured in an orderly manner so that it is clear where the
boundaries are. The Montessori materials have an inbuilt 'control of
error’, which is central to their design. It is easy for the child to see
what he ought to do and to see his mistakes. His natural reaction is
always to do it right next time.

Dr. Montessori disapproved of rewards and punishments. They make

the child work for somebody else's motivation. Montessori believed
that the joy and satisfaction of work was sufficient for the child to
become self-motivated. But if we force the child to focus on a reward
or a punishment we will divert that motivation. What will happen
when we remove the rewards and punishments?

Montessori adults are trained to show children how to do things

correctly the first time and then to interfere as little as possible. By
observing the children carefully, adults will know when it is necessary
to offer help or to occasionally impose discipline. Not only do we
manage to have a room of quite well-behaved children by using this
system, but more importantly the children preserve their self-esteem
and develop an inner discipline. These are character traits which will
last them throughout their lives and so we can say we offered a true
'education for life'.

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Section 11: Normalisation and Deviations
Dr. Montessori believed that children are by nature happy and
sociable. They are not destructive and noisy unless their basic needs
are not being met. Children want to behave well and want to learn if
they are allowed to. She referred to the natural state of the child as
'normalised'. She did not mean that there had to be a 'norm' that
children must conform to but rather that each child will find his own
level of personality, which will fit into society if provided with the
right conditions.

Children have a very strong drive to do certain things, especially in

the first three years. If we block this drive the child becomes
frustrated and the energy she had to carry out the activity is used to
do something else - maybe something noisy and destructive. Or
maybe she becomes very quiet and withdrawn. Dr. Montessori called
these ‘deviations’. She said most 'bad behaviour' from children was
the result of deviations and that we, the adults, had caused these by
blocking the child's needs and not removing obstacles from their
environment.

However, Dr. Montessori said that deviations could be cured,

especially before the age of 6. If a child is allowed to work,
uninterrupted, with things that grab his attention and which he has
freely chosen, he will start to concentrate. Then he will become
normalised and the deviations disappear. It sounds easy and it is - but
it requires a great deal of preparation and change of attitude on the
part of the adult. Dr. Montessori suggests that we owe this to the
child. It is his right.

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Section 12: The Montessori Materials
We mentioned previously that the Montessori materials contained
an inbuilt control of error and also that they encouraged refinement
of hand movement. You will probably have begun to realise that
these materials are designed to support the Montessori principles in
action. Montessori materials are designed to develop independence
and to provoke activity. They are made simply and beautifully,
attracting children to work with them, and they are orderly and
precise, developing both logical thinking and creativity.

Not every Montessori activity is a standardised material, as ordered

from a catalogue. These beautiful items are of great importance, but
Montessori lessons are on a much wider range of activities. Shaking
hands and making a telephone call can be Montessori lessons. We
can turn sweeping the floor into a Montessori material by designing
the activity so that it supports the Montessori principles. Although it
is always possible to improvise and make our own materials where
circumstances demand that, we must never make the mistake of
thinking we do not need materials.

The Montessori materials are the tools by which we allow the child to
become independent of adults. We put the focus on the materials
and not on the teacher. The teacher is the link with these activities,
but the child teaches himself by working with them. Ask a Montessori
child who taught her to read and she will usually answer that she
taught herself. From this she has learned to be independent and that
she is responsible for her own learning. Her self-esteem has been left
intact. These are not only important factors in the development of

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personality, they are also strong motivations to go on learning. We
have what is popularly called a "win-win" situation.

However, like we already mentioned earlier about the prepared

environment, these materials take much careful preparation on the
part of the teacher. The teacher gives attention to making these
suitable for the child's needs according to Montessori principles and
then his/her job in 'teaching' the children is made much easier.

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Section 13: The Montessori Teacher
By now you have discovered that it is hard work to be a Montessori
teacher. Environments and materials must be prepared and kept in
perfect condition. Teachers must learn to stand back and not
interfere, yet they must observe what is going on. If you are a parent
or a teacher you will know that, even though that sounds like having
a restful time, it is actually quite difficult to do. Let us look briefly at
the work a Montessori teacher must do, outer and inner.

The teacher, as we said, gives much attention to preparing and

maintaining the environment. This includes the room, the materials
and the teacher himself. The teacher obviously must learn and know
the exercises very well because he must give lessons all the time. He
is the dynamic link between the child and the environment. He
spends time observing the children and taking action according to
this. It may involve changing the environment, giving lessons to
certain children or dealing with a conflict between children which
they have not been able to solve themselves.

Then the teacher has an even bigger task in his/her own inner or
spiritual preparation, as Dr. Montessori called it. She must examine
her basic attitudes to children and to many things in life and change
these. Deep respect for the children involves not interfering, sitting
still and observing for long periods, moving quietly and unobtrusively
about the room, not dominating the class, being willing to hand over
control and admitting one's own mistakes. All of these involve quite
radical changes in attitude for most of us. At least one area will cause
each of us a problem. We may know in our minds that these

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principles make sense, but we have been conditioned by our society
and our reactions to situations may not be what we planned. Inner
spiritual preparation is just as important as learning about the
Montessori materials when you are training to be a Montessori
teacher. Dr. Montessori believed that becoming a Montessori
teacher was actually more difficult for those that were already
trained as traditional teachers than it was for those trained in, for
instance, science or engineering! Can you imagine why she thought
that?

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Section 14: Montessori Today
Dr. Montessori died in 1952 but her philosophy is ever more relevant.
The world is changing rapidly, people's lives are changing rapidly and
what is needed from education is a format for helping people to cope
with all this change. Research is moving forward so fast that it is
impossible for any individual to keep up to date except in a very
specialised area. What children need to take from their education is
the skill to learn all the time, an interest in learning and the self-
confidence and self-discipline to manage this learning. The
Montessori method has offered one of the means of filling this need
and that explains the upsurge in popularity for Montessori education
in the last few decades.

Dr. Montessori established AMI (Association Montessori

Internationale) in The Netherlands but there were several other
centres, including St. Nicholas in London, delivering training for
Montessori teachers even at the time of her death. Since that time
many other Montessori organisations have sprung up. The largest of
these is AMS (American Montessori Society) in the USA. In 1998 St.
Nicholas and London Montessori Centre amalgamated to become the
Montessori Centre International (MCI). Having been active in Norway
since 1991 under the auspices of St. Nicholas, Waterpark Montessori
was established in 1999. Waterpark Montessori is now an accrediting
body awarding Montessori diplomas in many countries worldwide.
Waterpark is also a leader in the field of the pedagogical and
technical sides of online reflective learning and communication, using
its developed online learning environment, Flex Learn.

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There are many Montessori training centres worldwide, and no doubt
there will be many more. Some centres have an excellent standard,
and some are not so good. Courses vary between full-time, part-time,
Internet training, correspondence, holiday workshops and a cross-
section of these such as is being used on your training course. It is not
possible anymore to establish which courses are of quality and which
are not. Established centres with a good reputation will offer good
training but no course offers everything. One will always find strong
and weak points in any course. Students, just like the Montessori
children, must make their own enquiries and their own judgements.

The Montessori curriculum is constantly being changed and adapted

to suit local/cultural needs and the needs of the children, but it is
only in marginal items that changes are made. The original
philosophy and materials are still intact and taught by most courses.
Teachers will need to have a deep understanding of both the
philosophy and the materials so that they can interpret them
correctly as they use them with the children in their care, whether
they are from the north of Norway or the heart of Africa. In this way
the true Montessori method can be carried throughout the world and
adapted to every culture without losing any of its original
advantages.

Modern Research & Montessori

In 2005 Angeline Stoll Lillard, (Professor of Psychology and daughter

of the well-known Montessori author, Paula Polk Lillard) published a
ground-breaking book explaining Montessori education in the light of

27
modern research. She identifies eight principles of Montessori
education and then analyses each in the light of current research.
Montessori education scores very well in this analysis, showing how
children’s development benefits throughout childhood when
educated in a well-prepared Montessori environment. (Lillard, A,
2005) Lillard, in further research, also identifies the importance of
Montessori schools following what she refers to as “classic
Montessori”. In “classic Montessori” there are no additional
materials, no additional adults, a very structured environment,
objective demonstrations and freedom of choice. This is something
we all need to keep in mind as we develop the Montessori method
for modern times.

Bibliography: Lillard, Angeline Stoll, 2005 - Montessori, the Science

Behind the Genius, Oxford University Press, New York.

ISBN 978-0-19-536936-6

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