Doctor Maria Montessori was born in 1870 and died in 1952. During her adult life she reached employment positions where women were very rarely welcomed in the male dominated world of that day. She was a doctor of medicine and a scientific educationalist at the University of Rome. Doctor Montessori first became an assistant doctor in a psychiatric clinic and then director of the state orthophrenic school. She then studied the practical way to educate children with intellectual impairment in London and Paris.During this phase of her work, Doctor Montessori developed and used her equipment to teach her students. These children then sat a public examination and passed. Finally Doctor Montessori became a registered student of philosophy, psychology and anthropology.

The most important fact to know about Maria Montessori is that she perfected her teaching method by observing for 10 years. The children used her specially designed equipment and each piece was perfected in small ways to capture the children's attention.
The equipment we use to teach your children is designed to assist them at different stages of their development. The materials are explained to parents who participate in the “journey and discovery” workshops. During this workshop parents are encouraged to use the equipment; and on numerous occasions I have heard parents say, “ If only I had learnt maths or language in this way”.

You may be thinking, “ The children Doctor Montessori worked with were from a different era”. I do agree; but children are still the same the world over and they develop the same way. We have so many more privileges today; but I have witnessed a group of three children sitting without speaking, watching a teacher demonstrate a piece of equipment and then these children were eager to ‘do it themselves’. Many times I have thought to myself “ Doctor Montessori said this would happen when….”

Doctor Montessori established that the ages of 0 to 6 were the most important years of learning.Our educationalists are just now stating this fact, which Doctor Montessori discovered in the early 1900s.

To begin with, a baby is not taught words. They listen to voices in their environment and the words eventually form sentences. Where a child is fortunate enough to hear two or more languages, they will become fluent in both.

To sum up briefly, Doctor Montessori was ahead of her time and when you consider that she became a doctor in spite of the fact that she wasn’t allowed to attend autopsies with the male students; but had to work in the morgue on her own; I believe Doctor Montessori was a very brave woman.    

Practical Life Exercises

These involve the physical care of him or herself and their environment. The young child has observed adults perform these tasks in their home environment and they therefore wish to imitate. Adults can aid their child’s learning of these skills by reducing the speed at which they complete the home duties. The aim is not to master the tasks but rather to aid the inner construction of discipline,organization, independence and self - esteem through concentration and precise and complete cycle of activity. These exercises aid the child to develop the control of movement and hand-eye coordination, which will aid their writing.

Sensorial Exercises

Aristotlestates,” Nothing exists in the intellect which does not first exist in the senses”.

Sensorial education is occurring from birth. The hand operating with the brain creates the child’s intellect. Doctor Montessori called the hand the “instrument of intelligence”. Sensorial materials are designed specifically to develop and refine each sense.

Special Characteristics Of The Materials

• Isolation of a quality
• Possibility for repetition of use
• Exactness correlation
• Possibility for activity Control of error
• Possibility for acquisition of correct vocabulary

Sight  -        size, shape, colour ( Chromatic )   

Hearing  -   tone, pitch

Touch  -     texture, weight, temperature

Taste  -      sweet, sour, salty, better, spicy

Smell  -    Kitchen, bedroom & liquid

Reading, Writing And Spelling

Doctor Robert Blodget states, “ Most people think the basics are reading, writing and arithmetic.However, more and more, we hear of teachers having difficulty teaching children who can’t read…. They have reversal problems…. The children claim the letters look the same. So, is reading the first basic? Or, is the ability to distinguish line and shape more basic? Obviously, our ability to receive information through our senses and interpret it, will have great influence on our intelligence and our ability to read, write or do anything. Without our senses, our mind would not have any way to receive any information at all. Our potential for development is tied to our perceptual development. Our ability to use our senses is related to our early experience. Lack of proper early experience limits future possibilities”.

Doctor Montessori stresses again and again, in her teachings that academic materials should not be introduced until all practical life exercises and sensorial equipment has been totally absorbed by the child.. The sensorial exercises make it possible for the child to distinguish and to classify.

The child between 4 and 6 years of age is in the sensitive period in which they will learn to read. First the child must master his spoken language before attempting the reading process. During this time the child must see adults reading in their environment. They must see books, magazines, newspapers, periodicals and manuals and other reading matter in the environment. A baby of  3 months has already learnt to speak. The child of 6 years of age is beginning to learn to read and write; but real proficiency in these subjects must be attained in the primary school. In Montessori schools reading is done silently – always with the motive of understanding something. It is introduced early through the “Secret Word Box ‘.However, any child who is beginning to read is delighted if the teacher will sit by them and listen to their reading. Most of the reading practice, however,comes from the work with charts, reading booklets, matching pictures and words and so on. For older children who are behind in reading, it is often through their interest in the more advanced subjects such as geography, history or nature, that they can be helped. For children who have learnt to read in the Children’s House, the best material for further development is the Montessori material for grammar. While they study the grammar, they are also perfecting their knowledge of written language.    

Mathematics

The mathematic equipment is introduced after the child has completed all sensorial equipment. Because our numeral system is based upon the decimal system, sensorial equipment is made in sets of 10.

While the child is using the equipment he learns that large maths problems are not difficult because the same 9 figures are employed in all the hierarchies, so that operating with millions cannot be very different from operating with units.

Each piece of mathematical equipment lays a foundation for the next piece of equipment that will be introduced by the teacher. While working with the Golden Beads, a child will truly understand what happens when they complete a problem in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The child physically adds and takes away amounts of beads, thus giving an understanding of what is happening when they add and subtract etc.

Compiled by Robyn Carpenter.