The Montessori Classroom
Walk into any Montessori classroom in the world and you will likely find many similarities. The classroom will be setup into different areas: language, math, science, sensorial and practical life. There will be a few large and small tables, several rugs in a stand, a large ellipse taped or painted on the floor, and many shelves containing “work” for the children. The children will be found working together or independently on various activities within the areas of the classroom. You will hear a level of noise that seems unordinary for a classroom, but with observation you see that the children are working and making great discoveries. Perhaps a four year old has completed a puzzle of the African countries and is sharing her accomplishment with a few nearby friends. Maybe one of the kindergartners is giving a three year old a lesson with the sandpaper numbers. You are likely to see that the children are working freely within limits. This type of education is what Dr. Montessori believed was necessary for the child in the preprimary years. She defined this time as the absorbent mind by revealing that the child from three to six is taking in their environment not only mentally, but with their entire being. Standing (1998) beautifully defines Montessori’s theory by writing, “We adults acquire knowledge with our intelligence, whilst the child absorbs with his whole psychic life…the impressions not only penetrate into his mind, they form it. They become incarnate” (p. 264).
Montessori discovered that young children are capable of remarkable learning if they are given the proper environment. She believed that a child’s education has three equally important components: the teacher, the student, and the environment. The environment (i.e. the classroom) is what makes Montessori unique. E.M. Standing (1998) writes, “What Montessori has done is this: realizing the peculiarly absorbent nature of the child’s mind,...