A century ago Dr. Montessori studied how children develop and through her observations came to the conclusion that children learn through concrete experiences. Modern science supports these age-old observations and millions of children have retained their inherent love of learning. Montessori education is both a psychology and a learning guide for child development. The “prepared environment” facilitates optimal learning by encouraging children to exercise his/her curiosity through exploration. This structured approach allows for children to recognize his/her social and academic accomplishments which in turn lead to high levels of self-esteem. Dr. Montessori also discovered that children learn best when given the opportunity to use all their senses therefore designed manipulative sensorial materials. These sensorial materials cultivate the intellect in a manner conducive to the individual learning styles of a child.
In the first stage of child development– birth to age one, a large number of synapses develop; however, in the second stage– one year to adolescence, the density of synapses in the brain actually declines. A synaptic cutback occurs due to a delicate use of pathways that cement the synapses. The brain develops in a use it or lose it manner thus creating a limited window of opportunity.
Children are first “normalized” in the Montessori classroom. Normalization is the process in which a child moves from being undisciplined to self disciplined, from disordered to ordered, from distracted to focused. This “inner change” occurs through repetition of work that captivates the child’s attention. Its characteristics include sense of order, a love of work, profound focus, love of silence and working alone, sublimation of the possessive instinct, power to act from real choice, obedience, independence, initiative, and cooperative learning all in the context of freedom. The “normalization” process occurs in a series of steps, including (1) the child has the freedom to choose his/her own activities (2) the child concentrates deeply on the activity and (3) repeats that activity until he or she truly “has it.” This cognitive stimulation optimizes the formation of the brain and solidifies the child’s synapses.
”A child absorbs knowledge directly into his or her psychic life... Impressions don’t merely enter the mind, they form it.” – Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori proposed four levels of development:
1. Infancy. Birth – 6 years. Massive biological changes and active development of the brain occurs. This is an optimal time for sensorial exploration and is a sensitive period for language development. The child is driven to classify colors, shapes, sounds and pitch.
2. Childhood. 6 years – 12 years. This is the optimum time for learning. Acquisition of culture, grouping or herd instinct, morality and social conscience begin to form.
3. Adolescence. 12 years – 18 years. This is another time for massive biological change. This stage is about understanding social life and one’s place in it. It is a time of introspection. Children think about their long range contribution to the world. “Where the needs of the world and my talents touch, there lies my vocation.”
4. Maturity. 18 years – 24 years. This, again, should be a time full of acquisition of knowledge.
It is important to give children time to finish their intellectual planes of development. Adolescence is a fragile time and it becomes even more difficult if a child is forced into an adolescent world before he or she has completed the childhood stage. Maria Montessori believed the child constructs himself/herself by following laws of growth universal to mankind. Teachers are: “Witnesses to the development of the human soul.” Just as parents are “Collaborators in the building process.”
Children are capable to learn and grow and recognize their potential. Learning begins before birth; brain cells begin to form in the third week of prenatal development. The sense of hearing is evident by week ten and by week seventeen the fetus is sensitive to light. By the sixteenth week, a period of rapid brain development begins. The fetus shows evidence that information is being taken in through the stimulation of the senses of taste, touch, hearing and vision by the twenty-eighth week of prenatal development.
Children learn in the course of exploration with the senses. Research specifies that infants and children, who are given vibrant environments to explore, and the ability to discover with minimal intervention from others, will develop synapses (brain connections between related ideas) at a much greater rate than children who are not allowed the liberty of exploration. Children cannot stop learning, brain cells continue to take in whatever a child is exposed to, both positive and negative. Children have the ability to learn and pick up anything they hear or see. The brain connections are made stronger with repeated occurrences. Children older than three begin to organize the sufficient information they have already taken in, and also to extract mistaken connections they have made. Regular, consistent, repeated, multisensory learning experiences tend to strengthen connections, leading to better understanding and a better ability to recover the information in innovative situations. We all would like our children to be able to learn and grow to their fullest potential.
The Montessori environment enhances brain development. For example, the Montessori environment enhances language development by giving children particular names for things, and accurate descriptive language, while the child is actually holding and experiencing that which is being named or described. Sounds and symbols are integrated using the sense of touch along with the visual and auditory senses. Activities in a Montessori school have a precise order in which they are completed, and an order to the way they are set up on the shelf. Left to right order is emphasized, as well as simple to complex, top to bottom, and smaller to greater. This reinforcement strengthens connections that help the brain organize for reading and math operations.
The Montessori environment also encourages movement, but not just random movement. Children are encouraged to imitate the precise movement of the adults that emphasize the physical attributes of the activities they are involved in, whether moving a large or tiny cube, setting up the steps of a carrot peeling activity from left to right, or using a screwdriver. The act of using controlled movements to complete a task strengthens the brain synapses used to complete the task, as well. Concrete experiences in the Montessori environment reinforce learning by providing additional pathways for recall, making the retrieval of information more successful. This suggests that more connections are being made in the brain. It is evident that a Montessori education stimulates brain development.
Why do you think it is important to give children time to finish their intellectual planes of development?
