The Wonderful World of

Montessori

By: Xavier Roach, Candice Seawright,

and Marquetta Strait
Date: November 07, 2013
Mrs. Wright
Pop Quiz!!
1. Montessori teachers
do not teach (T or F)
2. Do Montessori
students take
standardized tests?
3. Are Montessori
schools religious?
4. Do the students do
more work than play?
5. Do teachers assign
grades?
Stepping Into a Montessori Classroom
 What is Montessori?
o Characterized by an emphasis on independence,
freedom within limits, and respect for a child’s
natural psychological, physical, and social
development.
 Common Misconceptions
• Chaotic classroom
• Students do not have to
take the standardized tests
• Teachers do not teach
• Montessori is only for the
gifted and talented
• Students do not know how to adapt to traditional
education
• Montessori is expensive
 Background on Maria
o Maria Montessori was born on August 31, 1870.
o She was born in Chiaravalle, Italy and raised in Rome.
o Raised in a family that valued education.
o Was a very ambitious and ambitious student during her childhood years.
o Entered in an all boys technical institute for engineering at the age of
thirteen.
o During this time she changed her mind to become doctor.
o Graduated from medical school in 1896, she graduated from medical
school and became one Italy’s first female physicians.

These words reveal the child’s inner needs: Help me to

do it alone.
-Maria Montessori
 Birth of a Movement

o In 1900, Maria was appointed to become the

co director of a new training institute for
special education teachers.
o This gave her an opportunity to observe each student carefully
and see which teaching method worked best.
o Each student in the program was successful.
 Grand Opening!
• The First Montessori school was opened in Rome on January 6, 1907.
• This school provided a quality learning environment for young children
in the low income district of Rome.
• These students worked with
puzzles, learned new math lessons
and absorbed knowledge from their
surrounding.
• Students learned better by teaching
themselves.
• Maria designed learning material and
a classroom environment that fostered
the children’s natural desire to learn.
 Montessori Curriculum
• Role of Teachers: Facilitators or Guides
• More motivated to learn when working on something of their own
choosing.
• Beginning at the elementary level, students typically set learning
goals and create personal work plans under their teacher’s guidance.
• Students’ self-pace
• The students learn to think critically.
• Work collaboratively
• Act boldly
• Self correction
• Self assessment
• The teachers set up the classroom environment where students
search for the answers to their own question.
How is it different than traditional
teaching?
Activities in a Montessori Classroom

Beads Number Rods

Geometric
Shapes Moveable
Alphabet
 More Activities Pink Tower
Puzzle for Asia

Trinomial Cube

Weaving Loom
Cylinder Blocks
 Is it effective?
o More than 4,000
Montessori schools
o Most are privately
owned, but some are in
public schools
 What is considered a high quality
Montessori school?
The American Montessori Society believes that certain
elements:
o mixed-aged classes, in which older children serve as role
models and helpers;
o a full array of developmentally appropriate Montessori
learning materials;
o teachers with credentials from a Montessori teacher
education program;
o adherence to the Montessori instructional approach, with
teachers serving as guides rather than givers of
information.
 How to become a Montessori
educator?
o Plan to take approximately 1,200 hours of instruction, divided up by units.
Lectures compromise most of the units.
o Demonstrate your ability to create Montessori materials for all subjects.
o Participate in classroom observations and supervised teaching.
o Complete a teaching practicum in the last semester.
o Earn your diploma only after completing both oral and written exams given
by your training center. The
exams will cover the training
education and prove that you
are competent in the
interdisciplinary methods of
Montessori teaching.
 Works Cited
• One Percent Matters Labs LLC. (n.d.). Montessori
research. Retrieved from
http://montessorihome.com/research/

• Montessori philosophy. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.childrensmontessori.org/philosophy.htm

• American Montessori Society. (n.d.). Faqs of

montessori education. Retrieved from
https://www.amshq.org/Montessori-
Education/FAQs.aspx
 POP POP QUIZ QUIZ!!!
1. Who created the
Montessori
curriculum?
2. Where did the first
school open?
3. What are some of the
characteristics?
4. Do the students do
more work than play?
5. Do teachers assign
grades?