What is Montessori Education? Everything you need to know

Over the years, there has been a lot of research in “early childhood education”. It’s understood nowadays that not every child is the same and they learn at a different pace and in different ways. Which lead to a lot of different theories and methodologies for teaching.

One of these methodologies that is also quite common nowadays is the “Montessori Method”. The Montessori Method was developed by Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian physician and Educator, in 1907. The main concept here is self-directed activity and hands-on learning. In Montessori Classrooms, there are a lot of children of different ages and instead of one main task at hand, there are a lot of different tasks being performed in groups and children can choose what move from group to group.

Before just admitting your kid to the local Montessori school Ashburn VA or wherever you’re based off of. You need to know that Montessori education might be the perfect choice for you or might not be something you want for your kid. To know exactly what you want for your children and to determine what educational philosophy to go with, can be quite difficult. To do that you need to focus on every detail and consider all factors. Looking at the pros and cons can be the perfect thing to start with.

Montessori education: What is it?

According to Dr. Montessori, children learn best when they get to choose what to learn. And that is something you can still see in Montessori classrooms today. Here are a few things that you will find different in a Montessori classroom.

·         Instead of one main activity, there are several small activity stations that children can choose from.

·         Children of different ages interacting.

·         Teachers moving from group to group to make sure that kids are learning and to aid them, instead of standing in front of the class.

·         A different way of grading students.

Advantages of Montessori Education

Hands-on learning

Montessori classrooms are specifically designed to boost creativity in the students and to promote self-learning. There is a lot of space for the students to move around and a lot of natural light. Special equipment, lessons, and activities enable kids to learn abstract ideas, vocabulary and help in their brain development.

Think of this as a giant playroom-workshop. With different activity areas and groups of students working on different activities with specially designed toys and equipment. Sandpaper letters, geometric toys, etc.

Enhanced Social interaction

Now the next thing that comes to mind is that most of that can be recreated in a home setting too. With a lot of learning-centered toys in the market. But the other key factor here is Social interaction. We humans are social animals and the way your kids learn by looking at other kids do things and the motivation to do tasks just to show other children is something that really can’t be recreated at your home.

Independence

The next big thing to focus here is that unlike traditional classrooms, where kids are somewhat forced to act in a disciplined manner and to do what everyone’s doing. Montessori schools allow students to make choices and do what they feel like. Promoting behavior and thinking of an entrepreneur. This is one of the key difference I found between a traditional school and a Montessori school near me.

Cons

Expensive

As these schools need a wide variety of equipment and large spaces and non-traditional teachers, they might end up being more expensive than traditional schools.  

Independence can be bad

As we mentioned before, independence can encourage an entrepreneurial mindset. And that’s exactly where the problem is. Not every student out there is going to be an entrepreneur and the ones that won’t be one, after such training might find it hard to work in teams and under authority. Most employment situations aren’t like that.

A comparatively simple curriculum

Most traditional schools nowadays have planned curriculum nowadays, pushing each and every student to perform their best. While in most Montessori schools, the idea is to follow the child. The curriculum is a bit simple, one top of that depending on your child. He/she might not even learn that as the environment is really independent.