Once she opened her first school in the San Lorenzo district of Rome in 1907, Maria Montessori, a physician by training, used a scientific approach and the power of careful observation to develop a system of education that aligned with the unique developmental period of early childhood. Over the subsequent several decades, she continued to develop and refine her approach. Since that time, bodies of scientific evidence have been established that support the fact that many different aspects of the Montessori Method align with learning and development. (Read more about what the science says regarding the Montessori Method in these two articles from Learning and the Brain.)

The Montessori Method takes a whole-child approach—it focuses on all of the developmental needs of the child, not just the academic. Different aspects of the Method target the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive needs of developing children. This is all done in a way that is developmentally appropriate.

The Montessori Method is also a student-centered pedagogy. It taps into and fosters children’s innate curiosity and desire to learn, sparking and then fueling their interest in the world around them. The Method has a very carefully and purposefully prepared environment, one which is orderly and invites exploration, and allows children to develop their ability to focus and to derive joy from their work. Students construct their own knowledge as they become active participants in their own learning. Rather than being told what to learn and when to learn it, as in a traditional classroom, children have control over what material they choose or what lesson they receive at a given moment. This gives them a tremendous sense of control over their learning.

Further, students move through the curriculum at their own pace. A child receives a lesson only when he is ready for it. Students that gain understanding faster are able to advance faster. At the same time, if a student needs more work with a given concept, or if a student needs extra help on a particular topic, the guides are able to provide that. As all people learn differently, guides go so far as to design materials that convey a specific concept for a specific student.

Importantly, Maria Montessori also believed that the way to peace was through education. Creating an environment of safety, respect, and understanding of both oneself and others would enable harmony and connection within a community.

• One-On-One Lessons

  • Lessons are given from the guide (a.k.a., the teacher) to students in a one-on-one manner. This helps to ensure that each student is receiving a lesson only when they are ready for it, developmentally, conceptually, or otherwise. The guide is able to instantaneously gauge student understanding during the lesson and alter it as necessary.

• Prepared Environment

  • The environment is designed to be an additional guide. Guides very purposefully and very meticulously set up the layout of their classrooms, plan materials, and coordinate the timing as to when the materials will be available for children on the shelves. The prepared environment allows children to have complete functional independence, which begets more independence and builds student confidence.

• Child-Directed Work

  • Guides support students in choosing their own work, which they find meaningful and challenging, and which captures their interest. Allowing students to decide how they spent their time leads to increased levels engagement, focused attention, intrinsic motivation, and responsibility.

• Freedom Within Limits

  • The m.o. of a Montessori classroom is freedom within limits, so long as behavior is safe and respectful. All of the materials that are placed out are available to the children. The guide places activities that benefit the children in some way, and they are free to choose among them. Giving children the freedom to choose what they want to do creates a sense of autonomy and independence, and creates an environment where they are in control of their learning.

• Design of Materials

  • Materials in a Montessori classroom are designed to be simple and beautiful, to call children’s interest and to convey their value and thus how they ought to be cared for. Most often made out of wood, aesthetically attractive materials draw them in and help to encourage them to stay focused for an extended period of time, stretching their ability to concentrate. Exploration with these simple materials also challenges children’s creativity.

  • Additionally, materials are designed with a control of error, i.e., they are self-correcting. A student who uses a material will know whether or not they have completed it correctly because some aspect of the material will make it apparent; maybe the Knobbed Cylinders don’t all fit back into the block because one is in the wrong place, or the Tower of Cubes are clearly not stacked in descending order, for example. This in part establishes the environment as a guide.

• Peer Conflict Resolution

  • Guides encourage children to solve their own problems. Younger students often need to be given the words to solve a problem, but they are ultimately coached on how to handle social transgressions themselves. At the very least, this builds their vocabulary, and at the most, they are learning to advocate for themselves while creating a community of mutual respect.

• Uninterrupted Work Period

  • Work periods consist of long stretches of time, uninterrupted by mandated periods of specific group activities. During this time, children are free to choose from the materials that are placed out in the room. Being uninterrupted allows children to work through activities at their own pace, and for as long as they wish. The uninterrupted work period facilitates the development of coordination, concentration, and independence.

• Mixed-Age Classrooms

  • Starting at the Primary level (which comprises two years of preschool and kindergarten), children are in mixed-age classrooms for 3-year cycles (in this case, when children are 3-, 4-, and 5-years-old). Staying in a classroom for three years allows guides to gain a deep understanding of students’ strengths and weaknesses, to then better cater the environment to meet their needs. It also allows peers to develop deeper bonds with one another, it allows younger students to learn from older students, and it allows older students to step into positions of leadership, going so far as to teach lessons to younger students. Older students are also able to recognize the materials and activities with which they once struggled, and this provides them confidence to move forward and take on more challenges.

• Sensitive Periods

  • Young children pass through periods of heightened interest and sensitivity to stimuli in a variety of domains which Maria Montessori referred to as sensitive periods. Guides have learned to notice such periods, during which point they provide children the materials and activities they seek. Children go through sensitive periods in, for example, order, movement, interest in small objects, writing, reading, mathematics, and music, to name a few.

• Development of Sub-Skills

  • The Montessori curriculum breaks down complex skills into its supporting sub-skills, and teaches those individually to children, strengthening the child’s ability to then learn that more difficult skill. Take reading, for example. A child first improves their ability to sit and concentrate from other activities. When a child is ready, they receive lessons on letter sounds. After they have mastered many letter sounds, they do work with a manipulative alphabet, reinforcing their ability to recall the sounds of the letters, and then also blending them together to create words. From there, they receive a lesson on reading words, with the help of objects to clue them in as to what the word is. Next they practice reading more phonetic words, at first 3 letters long only, then 4, and perhaps 5. After that, they begin reading sentences and short books. They are introduced to the concepts of sight words, digraphs and diphthongs, and so on and so forth. Step by step, they build the skills they need.

• One of Any Activity

  • There exists on the shelves only one of any given activity. If a child wants to use a material that another child is using, they must wait. This is a means to build children’s ability to delay gratification. Additionally, this instills a sense of community and responsibility—materials must be cared for because everyone shares the same one.

Living Montessori:
The Parent Perspective

American Montessori Society