Saba Abid Roll No.

DK1391

Module – I

Montessori Course

Q#01: Discuss the life and works of Dr. Maria Montessori and why is she
referred to as a lady of much ahead of her time?

LIFE AND WORKS OF DR. MARIA MONTESSORI

Dr. Maria Montessori is recognized as the founder of Montessori method

and one of the pioneers in the development of early childhood education. She is also
respected and reputed for promoting a substantial number of important educational
reforms.

Dr. Maria Montessori was born on 31st August 1870 to an educational

Middle class family in Ancona, Italy. She was the only child of her parents. Her
Father’s name was Alessandro Montessori and was a conservative military man. On
the other hand, her mother, Renidle Montessori, was a liberal lady and supported
Maria’s educational pursuit. Her father’s frequent transfers gave Maria a chance to
have education in big cities throughout Italy.

Almost whole of the Europe, in those days was very conservative in its
attitude toward and treatment of women. Italy was no exception but Montessori
pursued medical and scientific education. Despite many years of opposition from
her father, teachers, and male fellow students, she graduated with highest honors
from the Medical School of the University of Rome, becoming the first physician in
Italy in 1896. Thus Montessori holds the title of being the first lady doctor in the
history of Italy.

WORKS WITH SPECIAL CHILDERN

Montessori was always unwilling to enter education as a career as it was

one of the three traditional roles open to women at that time: Working with
children, home making or the convent. But the ironic thing is that she became best
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known for her contributions in education. As a physician, Montessori specialized in

pediatrics and the new field of Psychiatry.

In 1900, at the elapse of just a short span of four years her degree in
medicine, Montessori was appointed director of the new Orthophrenic School
attached to the University of Rome, it was the municipal asylum for “deficient and
insane” (special) children of the city. Most of whom would be diagnosed in the
twenty-first century as mentally disabled.

One day she inquired a nurse about their awful condition, she replied that
they fought for the food and the throw themselves on the floor to catch the food..
that was how they got dirty. Thus the children were kept in the prison like room
with less food and no hope for recovery. Montessori discovered that her young
patients needed purposeful activities, which could stimulate their senses and mind,
and add into their self-esteem, and the sense of achievement.

She also got inspired by the work of two almost forgotten French doctors of
the 18th and 19th centuries: Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard (1775-1838) and Edouard
Seguin(1812-1880). Itard was well known for his work with the “Wild Boy of
Aveyron”, a young boy who was found by some hunters wandering naked in the
forest.

Although Itard’s efforts to teach the wild boy were barely successful, his
work had two important implications;

1. If proper stimulation and experiences are not provided during sensitive

periods of development to a child, it may hinder or does not take place at
all.
2. Furtherance of handicapped children is possible.

Montessori drew further confirmation of Itard’s ideas from the work of

Edouard Seguin, a French psychologist who was a student of Itard and carried on
his research. His work, however, more specific and organized.
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The first day care center, named Casa Dei Bambini (House of children)
was inaugurated in 1907 and was located in the worst slum district of Rome, and
the conditions Montessori faced was horrendous.

THE DECLINE AND REVIVAL OF MONTESSORI EDUCATION

The number Montessori schools soared up to 1000 by1925 and many tens of
thousands more around the world. But things took a dramatic turn by 1940.
Montessori movement virtually disappeared from the American scene and declined
in many other countries. In America, only a few schools had the courage to
pronounce themselves Montessori school, although many continued to operate
without using the name. However, since 1960s, there is a surprising revival and
resurgence of Montessori movement in America.

The credit goes to Dr. Nancy McCormick Rambush who “Rediscovered”

and brought Montessori back to North America.

MONTETESSORI PRIME TIME

During her life time we may rank the period from the opening of the first
Children’s House in 1907 until the 1930s as her prime productive period. She
continued her study of children, and developed a vastly expanded curriculum and
methodology. She even gave up her medical practice and devoted herself to her
mission of
REGENERATING MANKIND

Her pictured was on the Italian 200lire coin and through the 1990s on the
1000 lire bill, by far the most common one, replacing Marco Polo, until adopted the
Euro. She was also nominated for Nobel Peace Prize thrice.

MARIA MONTESSORI’S DEATH

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Maria Montessori left the world in the Netherlands in 1952, but would
always stay alive as she lives as an immortal through her method, which has helped
and would continue to help children of all times to be better human beings. She
lived in old days but was definitely “A WOMAN MUCH AHEAD OF HER
TIME”.

Q#02: What are the main discoveries made by Dr. Maria Montessori by
observing the child?

After nearly twenty two years of such experimentation Dr. Montessori

could say that she had found a method of helping children in their educational
pursuits. This, later on, came to be known as the Montessori Method of education,
which is aimed at helping the child for life. It may be worthwhile to enumerate
some of the discoveries she had made during her work.

1. Child loves to work purposefully.

If it corresponded with the inner developmental needs, they worked

until they reached their goal. They work out of a natural drive, which makes
them select concentrate on tasks which are appropriate for development.
2. The inner drive is sufficient.

Total development is possible only when the child can work in various
fields of human activity as specific times, whose awareness and urge comes to
him naturally.

3. When something that answers the inner needs meets the child’s eyes
spontaneous INTREST is kindled.
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When the spontaneous Repetition of an activity is done with interest the

natural result is Concentration. But concentration is not the end product of
education, it is only the beginning.

True learning takes place with concentration.

4. Very young children need order for their development.

The child needs not practice in everyday life. The child gets
confused and this can create wrap in his development.

5. Normality depends on all the human powers working in unison, in

collaboration.

6. Activities involving sensorial concepts, language, arithmetic, art, culture

were found to be necessary for the child’s education.

Dr. Maria Montessori found out how the children needed to

perform these activities especially because they brought the intelligence, will
and voluntary movements of the personality to the child.

7. The children showed that they could assimilate the knowledge, normally
considered to be too complex for the child, if it is presented in rightful
conditions.

8. She discovered that real discipline comes through freedom.

This suggested that discipline must come from within and not imposed
from outside because true discipline is born in freedom. Freedom and discipline are
two faces of the same coin.

9. Real obedience is based on love, respect and faith.

10. Dr. Montessori discovered that children are often seen to behave in a
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certain manner.
In other words, the child is destructive, disorderly,
stubborn and disobedient if suitable condition are missing. She called it
deviation. However, under rightful circumstances the children behave
otherwise. She called this normality.

11. Most of the activities presented to the children in Montessori houses of

children are results of observing the child.

12. All the help we offer should lead the child to independence in his
individual and social life. “Help me Do it Myself” is what every child
wants to tells us. We just don’t listen to it.

13. Montessori discovered that the environment itself was all important in
obtaining the results that she had observed.

14. Montessori further studied the traffic pattern of the rooms.

15. Montessori carried this environmental engineering throughout the entire

school building and outside environment.
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Q#03: What does “PILES” stand for when we talk of human development?
Discuss the Physical, Lingual and Intellectual development taking place during
3 to 6 years of age?

PILES stands for :

 P = Physical
 I = Intellectual
 L = Lingual
 E = Emotional
 S = Social

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Physical development takes place during 3 to 6 years of age. The child

feels certain strong urges at specified time periods. Which lead him to development
as shown in the figure:

Age 0-6 years Strong natural urges

Development Experiences which satisfy the

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At the age of 3 years

 In this age a child can balance on one foot for a moment.

 He is dextrose on outdoor equipment.
 Steers and runs round obstructions with ease.
 Forcefully kicks ball walks in an adult fashion upstairs, even holding a big
toy.
 Still puts both feet on each step when coming downstairs. Likes to jump off
the last step.

At the age of 4 years

 Bends down to pick up toys with legs straight.

 Bounce with ball games. Can throw, catch and kick well and can now bounce
a ball.
 Runs about on tiptoe.
 Runs upstairs with total efficiency.
 Able to sit cross-legged. Hops around and balances on one foot for longer.

At the age of 5-6 years

 Can now play all sorts of ball games competently.

 Able to walk along a thin line.
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 More energetic and lively in general.

 Expert at all outdoor activities such as swimming, climbing and sliding.

INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT

The intellectual development grows in the child with the passage of time.
The child learns how to behave with the adults and how to cope up with the
awkward situations but its all depend on the proper environment and conditions
which we provide to them.

At the Age of 3 years

 A child can be able to thread big beads and built 9 blocks high towers and
small bridges and bricks.
 He can use children’s scissors.
 He can also holds a pencil properly.

At the age of 4 years

 A child is skilful at holding pencils.

 He is able to built 10 ricks high tower.
 He also knows primary colors.

At age of 5-6 years

 A child can draw more detailed drawings and painting including

surroundings.
 He can also count figures.
 Skilled at coloring and jigsaws.
 He can relate to the time of day corresponding to everyday activities.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
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Language development also improves through time to time and the child is able
communicate more clearly. Children learn from the environment and we should
make the environment suitable for the children.

At the age of 3 years

 In age of 3 a child can recite name, age and sex.

 Sentences are completely understandable but still sound childish.
 Wants to be read favorite stories again and again.
 Recites more rhymes and can sing some songs.

At the age of 4 years

 Always asking very inquisitive questions like “What does that mean?”
 He loves to have a joke.
 He will recall latest happenings in conversation with others.
 He can count 4 or 5 objects, and can recite up to 20.

At the age of 5-6 years

 He still asks the meaning of intangible words.

 He will now recite own name, address, age and sometimes knows birthday.
 He knows more rhymes and songs, and loves to sing them.
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Q#04: Write a comprehensive note on the role of teacher in a Montessori

classroom?

ROLE OF A MONTESSORI TEACHER

A Montessori teacher is a guide, a facilitator and does not consider herself to

be the primary cause of learning that occurs in her students. To understand the role
of a teacher better lets look at the types of arts. There are two types of arts namely,
Productive and cooperative.

PRODUCTIVE ARTS

This is the art in which the activity of the artist is the principal and the only
cause of production, such as shoemaker, carpenter, tailor, etc.

COOPERATIVE ARTS

To define the cooperative arts, we can say that in such arts the activity of
the artist is neither the principal, nor the only cause of production. There are three
very common cooperative arts, which includes:

Farming

 The art of raising plants and animals.

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Healing

 The art of curing. (This includes doctors, physicians, surgeons, nurses

etc)

Teaching

The third one is what we are concerned with.

A Montessori teacher’s normal classroom practices involves:

 Preparation of the environment

 Observing the children
 Giving lessons.
 Primary goal of the teacher.

PREPARATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Montessori teachers would prepare the environment for the children

which means to facilitate the children’s independence and ability to select the
material of their own choice and they will select the activities that will appeal their
interests and keeping the environment in perfect condition.

OBSERVING THE CHILDREN

Montessori teachers are carefully observes the children’s progress,

needs and their sensitive periods. They don’t just keep the track of all these
developments but act as an dynamic link between children and prepared
environment. They are constantly experimenting, modifying the environment to
meet their perceptions of each child’s needs and interests and then noting the
results.

GIVING LESSONS
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Montessori teachers keep their lessons as brief as possible. Their

goal is to bring the children in a state of mind, so they will come back on their own
for further work with the materials. These are some points which are necessary for
the teacher.

 Observing the child while he is exploring the materials on low shelves.

 Going to the child and taking consent to work with that material.
 Taking the material to the workplace with the help of a child, and specifying
its place.
 Telling ground rules for use.
 Giving the live demonstration of what can be done with it.
 Leaving the child to work himself with concentration and without
obstruction.

PRIMARY GOAL OF THE TEACHER

Montessori teachers are taught to nurture and inspire the human

potential, leading children to ask questions, think for themselves, explore,
investigate, and discover.

Help them to learn how to learn independently, retaining the curiosity, creativity
and intelligence with which they were born.

Montessori teachers do not simply present lessons; they are facilitators,

mentors, coaches, and guides.

ROLE OF A TEACHER

Anne Burke Neubert, in a Way Of Learning (1973), listed the following

elements in the special role of the Montessori teacher:

 Montessori teachers are the dynamic link between children and the Prepared
Environment.

 They systematically observe their students and interpret their needs.

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 They are constantly experimenting, modifying the environment to meet their

perceptions of each child’s needs and interests, and objectively noting the
results.

 They prepared a independent environment in which the children will able to

freely select their work of their choice.

 They carefully evaluate the effectiveness of their work and the design of the
environment everyday.

 They observe and evaluate each child’s individual progress.

 They respect and protect their students independence. They must know when
to step in and set the limits or lend a helping hand, and when it is in a child’s
best interests for them to step back and not interfere.

 They are supportive, offering warmth, security, stability, and non-judgmental

acceptance to each child.

 They facilitate communication among the children and help the children to
learn how to communicate their thoughts to adults.

 They interpret the children’s progress and their work in the classroom to
parents, the school staff, and the community.

 They present clear, interesting and relevant lessons to the children. They
attempt to engage the child’s interest and focus on the lessons and activities
in the environment.

 They model desirable behavior for the children, following the ground- rules,
of the class, exhibiting the sense of calm, consistency, grace and courtesy,
and demonstrating respect for every child.
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 They are peace educators, consistently working to teach courteous behaviors

and conflicts.

 They are diagnosticians who can interpret patterns of growth, development,

and behavior in order to better understand the children and make necessary
referrals and suggestions to parents.

Q#05: Which are the main requirements to be considered to start a House of

Children? How do you implement them?

Montessori is the place where children can do whatever they

want and meet their needs and interest. Therefore, one has to be very particular and
consider numerous things when start the house of children. It is the most difficult
task to start it. There are several requirements which one should be keeping in
mind.

1. Class room design is the most important place where children have to stay.
Montessori educational apparatus, tables and shelving, and related activities
equipment should be appropriate and several in number so that children could
approach them.

2. The number of students in the classroom should not be exceeding more than 30
students.

3. The size of the classroom should allow minimum of 20 square feet per students
at the early level, 30 squares for the elementary level and 40 squares would be
for secondary level.

4. Montessori house should be child-sized where he could enjoy his age. A child
sized kitchen, science lab, an art studio, bath rooms, hobby workshop,
everything should be according to the size of a child. They lead him to fulfill
his desires and enjoy his own world.
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5. A house should be design in such a way that the child could face outdoor
environment. There must be window through which the children could face
sunlight at a daytime and become a natural source of ventilation.

6. There must be the children garden where child can grow vegetables and fruits
of their choice. It leads them to close to their natural environment.

7. There should not be any prohibition of doing something which the student is
not allowed at his home. “Prohibition is sweet or bitter, prohibition is
prohibition.”

8. Children are usually not allowed to do by themselves what they want at their
home so Montessori room should provide them this opportunity.
These are some factors which should consider while starting any house of
children.

HOW TO IMPLEMENT

Considering requirements are very important but implementation is

more important than them because implementation is something which we have to
implement and how it works is based on it. There must be a lot of things which
should be implement those are:

 Respect for the children.

 Focus on individual child
 The prepared environment
 Polite behavior of the teacher
 Parent- teacher meeting.

RESPECT FOR THE CHILDREN

Respect is the basic thing which everybody requires. Every child

needs respect. Parents try to force them to follow the parents without regarding their
needs and interest. Therefore, first we should take great care of the respect of the
child.

FOCUS ON INDIVIDUAL CHILD

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Every child is different from one another. Teacher should focus on

individual child as his learning progress, growth and understanding is different from
other children.

THE PREPARED ENVIRONMENT

Prepared environment is very important. When they have prepared

environment, they are able to do what they want. The material is available for the
child which they can easily access and do whatever their interest.

POLITE BEHAVIOR OF THE TEACHER

The teacher is the role model for the student. Her behavior should be polite
towards students. As the teacher is the spiritual mother of the students, they learn a
lot from them after their mother. So, her behavior and attitude should be very good.

PARENT- TEACHER MEETING

There must be parent-teacher meeting as parents should know the

progress and development of their student and the most important about the attitude
and the nature of the student. Montessori teacher can guide them according to the
nature of their children.

CONCLUSION

To sum up, the house of the children is the place where children can meet
their needs and interests. So, these requirements should keep in mind when starting
the school.