Parents and teachers who are considering the best ways to educate young people have many options at their fingertips. A Montessori school is one of these. Before anyone can make an informed decision, they need to understand what this type of education refers to.
Montessori school focuses more on the child rather than a set of curriculum standards. It allows the educator to observe and then support a child’s natural development. It uses a multi-age classroom and allows children to make individual choices about what they are going to learn. A child who loves math can spend much of the day working at math centers, while an artistic child can spend time practicing art.
This more open approach to learning has caused some to wonder whether or not the children in a Montessori school learn everything they need. The truth is, most children are naturally curious and interested in most of the topics they need to know in order to succeed as adults. The teacher aids in this by offering a prepared environment in which the important topics are presented in an inviting way that encourages the child’s exploration of the topic. Children learn from their environment and the other children, not directly from the teacher, and the teacher is free to work one-on-one with the children or in small groups, facilitating their learning about the items they are interested in.
These types of learning environments focus on meeting the physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional needs of the children, so they can then absorb the information they are being taught more readily. It also promotes positive social interactions, a skill often lacking in traditional educational settings.