Name Ayesha Mahadi

Roll no D16613
Assignment Module 1
(Introduction to Montessori)

Contents
1 Question no 1 3

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2 Question no 2 7
3 Question no 3 11
4 Question no 4 15
5 References 23

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 Question no 1

1. Discuss the life and works of Dr. Maria Montessori

and why is she referred to as a lady much ahead of her
time?

 Intro of Maria Montessori

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Dr. Maria Montessori known as the founder of Montessori and the pioneers in the
development of early childhood education. She highlights the integral components of
education.

 Birth of Maria Montessori

She was born on 31st August 1870 to an educated middle class family in Ancona, Italy. Her
father was a conservative military man and her mother was liberal lady who always encouraged
her daughter to pursuit her education. Maria Montessori, an only child, she was a vivacious,
strong-willed girl.

 EDUCATION
Maria’s early education was in Florence and then Rome. At the age of thirteen, she went to
secondary, technical school. In those days Europe was very conservation in its attitude
toward and treatment of women, but Montessori pursed medical and scientific education.
She graduated with highest honors from medical school of the University of Rome. She
became the first lady doctor in the history of Italy in 1896.

 Professional life of Montessori

 Inspiration from Itard and Seguin: Maria was so much inspired by the work of two
French doctors who had also worked with children who had some physical and
mental disorders. They attempted basic skills in their work for example reading,
writing or alternative methods which were helped full for children. Dr. Maria
Montessori taught at the medical school of the University of Rome. She started
working with these mentally disabled children. She discovered that her children
need purposeful activities to do in order to get sense and mind and she
successfully achieved her goals. Maria had keenly observed their methodology and
figure out that children could learn the same things as the normal children. After
the success, she started working with normal children.

 Casa dei Bambini: Montessori started her

first school with normal children named
Casa dei Bambini (the house of children)
which was inaugurated in 1907. At the
beginning of the school, there were only
fifty students and one untrained teacher.

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 In her school, she introduced exercises of practical day living for example cleaning,
dressing; gardening etc. she noticed that children took great interest in doing these
kinds of activities. These kinds of activities made the independent and more
efficient. When she found out that the job of the teacher is to serve the children,
she believed that the urges of the children are universal and that is in the nature of
the child to perform such activities. The children of the school of Casa dei Bambini
had showed outstanding progress in their academic and practical work. They learnt
a lot of activities related to writing and reading etc. her school became famous due
to the progress of these young angel whom people consider they can’t do anything
until they sent to public schools.

 WORLDWIDE RESPONSE: Her school became famous all over the world in a very
short time. People from all over the world visited her and appreciated her effort
and discoveries. Her methodology was started to practice all over the world.

 HIGHEST RECOGNITION AND AWARDS: She became

so much successful as she was nominated for Nobel
Peace Prize thrice. She was even pictured on the
Italian 200 lire coins and through 1990s on the 1000
lire bills.

 DEATH
Montessori died on 1952 in the Netherlands. Her name would
always alive because of her extraordinary contribution in the field
of education.

 LADY A HEAD

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 Montessori is referred to lady a head because her discoveries are being practiced all over the
world. She is immortal through her methods which are still being practiced now and will in
future also. She lived in old days but was definitely “A woman much Ahead of her time”.

Question no 2
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2. Which are the main requirements to be considered to start a House of
Children? How to you implement them?
The natural urges during childhood are universal and every child experiences them. However
the behavioral experiences children undergo during sensitive periods may vary from child to
child. Homes are designed according to the adult’s needs, so they cannot fulfill the natural
urges of children as the children are being restricted and forbidden by elders to meet their
natural urges. Children cannot access anything freely and comfortably.

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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 following 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.

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.

Implementation
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:

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  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

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.

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 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.

Question no 3

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3 . What are the discoveries made by Dr. Maria Montessori by observing the
child?

Maria Montessori's discoveries

Maria Montessori made a lot of discoveries by observing the children. She is a founder of
Montessori education. She conducted a lot of experiments and observed children by spending a
lot of time with them. She discovered several aspects of children. She has specified some of the
discoveries she had made during her work. If the children have found a suitable setting, they
have manifested their true characteristics.

 Repeat of the Exercise

 Respect for Order
 Free Choice
 Incentives and Punishment
 Silence Exercise
 The Sense of Dignity
 Spontaneous Discipline

Repeat of the Exercise

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The first finding made by Montessori was that children were capable of repetition. Once a boy
about three years old was practicing Cylinder Blocks. She placed all the cylinders into their
sockets and immediately removed them from the sockets with the same value. She managed to
perform the top of the tubes, adding them many times.

Respect for Order

Children are generally referred to as disorderly. Order and discipline are enforced on children
with extreme punishment and compensation at school. Montessori has learned that children
enjoy order.

Free Choice

In Casa dei Bambini, the toys were placed in the locked

cupboard and the caretaker would bring the key with her. The
caretaker would open the cupboard every day when she
entered and give the children the equipment to play. One day,
the caregiver failed to lock the cupboard. Not only did she
forget to lock the cupboard she was late for classes. She was
concerned that the children would break down the machinery. At school, the caregiver was
surprised to see that the children not only took the equipment by themselves and carefully
kept it back in their place of storage.

Incentives and Punishment

Montessori has found that incentives and punishments do not have the desired effect on
children. Once, Montessori saw a child sitting in the middle of the room doing nothing with the
pompous decoration that is normally offered to the teacher as a reward for good conduct. The
teacher said the child was being punished, but she had given that pompous decoration to
another child for a few minutes. The child passed on the pompous decoration to this child as if
it were useless. The guilty child gazed at the decoration indifferently, not thinking about his
punishment.

Silence Exercise

One day, a mother brought her four-month-old baby to Maria Montessori. Montessori took the
child to the classroom to show the students. She said (1914:388), "I brought you a visitor; see

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how still it is; I'm sure you couldn't hold it that way." Montessori said it was a joke, she didn't
expect the children to stay without shifting. Then she said, "If only you could breathe as softly
as he breathes." Now she wanted them to chuckle, but they started to breathe deeper. She
gave the baby back to the mother. The children were still sitting in a serene meditative way,
regulating their breathing. In this silence, even the slightest sounds could be heard as a drop of
water dropping in the distance, far away from a bird's tweet, and so on. The silence-activity
thus begun is still part of Montessori's classrooms all over the world.

The Sense of Dignity

Montessori once taught us how to blow the nose. She showed how to use a handkerchief to
blow the nose, how to blow the nose without making a lot of noise, and how to fold the napkin
and keep it in the pocket. Children watched all this with great interest. There was silence for a
while, and then a burst of applause. The children had always been scolded for running a nose,
and they had never been shown how to blow their nose. Montessori's teaching has rescued
them, and she has discovered that children have a deep sense of personal integrity, and that
their souls can remain injured, ulcerated, oppressed in adulthood.

Spontaneous Discipline

Children have / have freedom of expression, voice and presentation in the Montessori
classroom. They offer an impression of extraordinary discipline, given this independence. They
work softly on a piece of material selected by themselves, move softly without upsetting
anyone to put back the finished material and select a new one. They went out and looked at
what was going on outside, then they came back. This order and discipline was spontaneous
and the product of independence in the Montessori Children's Houses (Montessori 1986:139)

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 Question no 4

4. What does “PILES” stands for when we talk of human development? Discuss
the physical, lingual and intellectual development taking the place during 3 to 6
years of age?"

When we talk of human development “PILES” stand for:

P = Physical

I = Intellectual

L = Language

E = Emotional

S = Social

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 Development in 3 to 6 years is a sub-phase of a first stage of development of children. In this
phase child bring his learned, observed and watched activities into practical format. He wants a
freedom to practice them all by himself. Adults/teachers over helped or prohibition are a great
hindrance for his development at this time. Research shows that at the end of 6 years child’s
personality completely developed.

 Physical Development

At this stage child is very active, energetic and

imaginative. The value of physical development
and the role they play in a child's entire life is
very important. A young child's physical growth
first begins as muscles gain strength with use
and children gradually develop coordination.

The development of muscular control is the first step in this process. It also involves activities
such as:

·           Running around outside

·           Jumping on the bed

·           Grasping a parent's finger

·           Balance on one foot for sometime

·           Washes and dries hand with assistance

·           Is able to use spoon without spilling

·           Can torn pages in a book one by one

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·           Kick, bounce and throw ball

·           Can put on and take off coat

·           Jump from low steps

·           Pedal and steer a tricycle

·           Walk and run forward

·           Walk on tiptoe

·           Move large toys easily

·           Go upstairs like adults, but still placed both feet on coming down

·           Able to sit crossed legs

·           Dance on music

·           Touch toes while legs straight

·           Full of energy

·           Love for outdoor games

Lingual Development
Language skills also continue to improve during early
childhood. Language is an outgrowth of a child's ability
to use symbols. The more words a child uses in
sentences, the more sophisticated the child's language
development. Language develops in sequential form,
phrases with inflections, simple sentences, and
complex sentences. Children learn many new words all
the time. Parents, siblings, peers, teachers, and the
media provide opportunities for children to increase
their vocabulary. Parents are children's very first
teachers and when it comes to language development,
parents who actively engage their babies and children

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 in conversation can have a great impact on the child's ability to communicate verbally. Talking
to babies is a wonderful way for them to begin understanding the rhythm of speech, laying the
groundwork for later verbalization. Reading to babies and children, as well as enjoying music
with them are other ways that young kids can internalize speech patterns, tone, and inflection,
paving the way for them to become expert speakers. Most important lingual skills learn at this
stage are:

·         Tell name, age, address and sex

·         Love sing rhymes and songs

·         Reading stories again and again

·         Sentence structure improved rapidly

·         Grammar also improves continuously

·         Happy to engage in conversations

·         Understand nouns and plurals

·         Always in a questioning mode

·         Able to start counting, and know the alphabets, numbers, shapes and colors

·         Feeling happy after listening humorous stories

·         Have some difficulty in pronunciation of v, r or th.

·         Vocabulary increases

·         Speak native language correctly, sometime more than one languages

Intellectual Development
Children change more quickly than elder’s. It seems
that you can blink your eyes and your child has grown
and developed. At one moment they are throwing balls
in the box the next moment they are flipping the pages
of a story book. Then they start reading of their own
choices story books. Different activities and games can
enhance their intellectual development.

·         May blow bubbles in drinks

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·         Know colors and different shapes

·         Use children’s scissors

·         Interested in playing with peers, understand rules and roles

·         Count objects and recognize them

·         Matches shapes, colors, alphabets and numbers

·         Solve puzzles

·         Hold pencil properly

·         Draw shape (circle etc), alphabets and features (head, face, legs, arms ) very brilliantly

·         Likes to paint and colors

·         Can build a high brick tower and bridges

·         Knows primary colors

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 Question no 5

5 . Write a comprehensive note on the role of teacher in a Montessori

classroom?

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In the early 20th century, an education method that involved learning through independent
exercises with sensory objects and activities was developed. Maria Montessori, a psychologist
and educator developed this method for educating children. Now known as the Montessori
method, it uses building blocks, bells, colors and other sensory items as teaching tools. The
Montessori method requires training and certification to teach the Montessori method in
public schools, private or independent Montessori schools.

Role of Montessori Teacher

The role of a Montessori teacher is different from the role played by traditional teachers.
Traditional teachers present a lesson to large group of students who are expected to listen
and absorb the information provided. Montessori teachers work with only one or two
students at a time providing learning material for the needs and interests of each child in the
class. The teachers advise, present a lesson or observe children quietly while they work. In
this way, children work at their own pace in a peaceful environment.

Developmentally Appropriate Learning

The Montessori method embraces developmentally appropriate learning. In other words, the
method recognizes that children learn when they are ready. For instance, the teacher
associates an object with its name, such as "book," and asks the child to identify the word. If
the child points to the object, the association has been made. If not, the teacher doesn't
correct the child but revisits the lesson another day. The Montessori system gives the child
time to clear the consciousness to be ready to make the association another day. The
Montessori system believes that by pushing a child, they will continue to get the association
wrong.

Education Requirements

You can take the training programs

through private organizations.

Qualities of a Montessori Teacher

 Observation skills: for

understanding each student’s
interests, learning style and
temperament. 
 Creativity: for finding different
ways to facilitate learning and
acting as a resource for children. 

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  Patience and a positive attitude: for offering encouragement and support them in
children's accomplishments to inspire advancement through the curriculum and learn
new skills. 
 Empathy: for developing an environment that nurtures qualities that help children
develop logical thinking, social understanding and problem-solving skills to become
good citizens of the world.

Quality Teachers

The first essential component of the Montessori educational system is Montessori teachers.
These teachers must be properly trained and must possess the required certifications. The
teachers must be able to understand the importance of the natural development of a child. A
good Montessori teacher must be able to observe every single child in the classroom. Based on
this observation, the teacher comes up with the learning material which is relevant for children
of a particular age group. The learning material is based upon the developmental abilities and
interests of a child. In a Montessori system, the teacher serves more as a guide as opposed to
merely being an information provider. A good Montessori teacher is not only well versed in
Montessori philosophy and theory but at the same time professional enough to know how to
utilize the Montessori material accurately

References

 Introduction to Montessori (Module 1)

 www.blogspot.com
 www.atheneumglobal.education
 www.chron.com
 www.amonco.org

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