Topi

c:

Di
ff
erencebet
weenEar
lyChi
l
dhood,
Speci
alEducat
ionandMont
essor
iEducat
ion

I
.Lear
ningObj
ect
ives:

a. Def
inetheconceptofEar
lyChi
l
dhood,
Speci
alEducat
ionandMont
essor
i
Educati
on

b. Det
ermi
net
hedi
ff
erencebet
weenEar
lyChi
l
dhoodandSpeci
alEducat
ion,
and

c.Under
standt
hei
mpor
tanceoft
heseki
ndofeducat
ion.

I
I.Cont
ent

Whati
sEar
lyChi
ldhoodEducat
ion
Earl
ychi l
dhoodrefer
st otheperi
odbet weenbir
thand8y earsofage,wherei
na
chi
ld’
s brai
ni s highl
y sensit
ivetot he envir
onmentaround them.Thi sti
me of
“r
emarkable growth”requi
res a special
i
zed educat
ionalapproach t
o ensurethat
chi
ldr
enlearnkeyskil
lsandfoundat
ionalconceptst
oprepar
ethem forl
aterl
i
fe.

Earlychildhoodeducat ioni sfocusedont hecr it

icaldevelopment almi lestones,
ski
ll
s,andconcept sthatchi l
dr enattai
ndur ingt hisper i
odoft heirli
ves,from soci al-
emot ionalskill
st othebegi nningsofnumer acy,li
teracy,andcrit
icalthi
nking.Inaddi ti
on
toprepar i
ngchi l
dr enforfutureacademi csuccess, thedev el
opmentofhi gh-qual i
tyearly
chi
ldhoodcar eandeducat ionisconsi deredbyt heOECDt obeakeyeconomi cindicator
whenassessi ngt hehealthandf ut
ureposi t
ioningofanat i
on.Furthermor e,UNESCO
suppor tshigh-qual i
tyear
lychi ldhoodeducat ionasoneofi tssustai
nabledev elopment
goals.Thi sf oundat i
onalaspectofeducat iondi rectl
ycont ri
butest obet t
erl ivesf or
chi
ldren,whi chr esoundst hroughnat ionalimprov ementst oprosperity
,socialinclusion,
andeconomi cdev el
opment .

TheBenef
it
sofEar
lyChi
ldhoodEducat
ion
A high-
qual
it
year l
ychi
ldhoodeducat
ionoff
erschil
drennumerousacademi
cand
soci
al-emoti
onalbenefi
tst
hatechothr
oughthechi
ld’
sli
fefordecadest
ocome.When
selecti
nganEar l
yChildhoodEducat i
onPr ogr
am f ory
ourchild,lookforprogramsthat
focusoncr eati
ngasuppor t
ive,engagingenv ir
onmentinwhi chst udentscandevelop
essentialcompet enci
es,expl
or e,
create,andexpr esst
hemselv es,whil
elear
ningtotake
healthyr i
sks,and dev el
oping the fr
amewor ks foressent
ialsoci al
,emot i
onal
,and
academi cskill
s.

Apr ogr
am t hati
scapableofreachingtheseposi
ti
ve,devel
opmentgoalswillhavean
essenti
alunderstandi
ngofear
lychi
ldhooddevel
opment,theenormouspotent
iali
nearl
y
yearslearners,aswel lasthe ri
sksand benefi
tsassociated wi
th ear
lychil
dhood
educati
on.

Achi l
d’scerebraldevel
opmentbegi nsinutero,andtheirdevel
opmenti
nt hefir
steight
yearsofl i
feest abli
shesthef oundati
onf orfutur
eheal thandwell-
being.Ther apid
cerebralgr
owt handdev el
opmentinchildhoodisparti
all
ydriv
enbyachild's“
acquisit
ion
and integr
ation ofskill
s acr
oss manydev el
opmentaldomai ns”and a responsi
v e,
engaging,andsuppor t
iveenvi
ronmentinwhi chthechil
dcanliveandl
earn.

Althougheducat ionatal lst

agesofdev elopmentisenhancedbyast rongschool -
fami l
y
partner shi
p,t hisi s especi all
yt rue ofear l
y childhood learning and ear l
yy ears
dev elopment .Theenv ironmenti sakeycomponentofear lychi l
dhoodeducat ion,and
creatinga“ consistent,responsi vecaregivi
ngrelati
onshipsandsuppor ti
v ecommuni ty
”
candr asti
callyli
mi tthepot ent i
alfordetri
mentalfactorsli
kenegl ectandchr oni
cst ress
whi chcanhi nderachi ldi nreachingtheirful
lpotenti
al.I
tiscri
ticaltodev elopalearning
env ir
onmentwher est udent si ntheear l
yy ear
sar esuppor t
ed,car edf or,encouraged,
andnur tur
edast heyexpl oret hewor l
daroundthem.

Hi
gh-
Qual
it
yEar
lyChi
ldhoodEducat
ionPr
ogr
ams
Whensearchingforanearl
ychil
dhoodeducati
onprogram thatisr
ightfory
ourfamily
,it
i
simportantt oconsiderthegoal
sofanECEpr ogram ont wof r
onts:how anECE
pr
ogram i
sdesignedtomeetachi l
d’sdev
elopment
al needs,andhowt hepr
ogram f
lows
i
ntotheupperel ementaryyear
sandbey ondinordertocementandmai nt
ainearly
l
earni
ngachievements.
The goal
s ofan ear
lychi
l
dhood educat
ion pr
ogr
am can be spl
i
tint
ofourmai
n
dev
elopmentt
hemes:

Soci
al

Emot
ional

Phy
sical

I
ntel
lect
ualandAcademi
c

Soci
alDev
elopment

Consideredt obe“ t
hecr adleofsoci alcohesi on,
”anear l
ychi ldhoodeducat i
on
program wi l
lst
rivetosuppor tachi l
d’sunder standingofthemsel vesasi ndivi
dualswho
l
iveinr elati
onshipt oot hers.Inaddi ti
ont odel i
veringwhatmanypar entsconsider
foundati
onalskill
sl i
keshar i
ng,usingr espectfullanguagelike,“
please”and“ t
hanky ou,”
and contributi
ng to shared ef f
ortslikecl eaning up and f ol
lowi ng directions,earl
y
chil
dhoodeducat i
onpr ogramshav et hepot entialtohelpchi l
drenseet hemsel v
esas
l
eader sforabet terfuture.Anear l
ychi ldhoodeducat i
onpr ogram t hatf ocuseson
i
nstil
li
ngt heat ti
tudesandv al
uesofequal it
y ,peace,andcol labor at
ionengender sin
chil
drenthebel i
efthattheycanmakeaposi t
ivedi f
ferenceinthelivesofot hers.

Emot
ionalDev
elopment

Int he earlyy ears,chil

dren dev elop essent ialemot i
onalskill
sl i
ke self
-
confidence,self
-regulati
onoft hei
remot i
ons, sel
f-
expr ession, self
-respect
,andposit
ive
self
-beli
ef.Theseski l
lsareessentialf
orlateract i
vit
iesl i
kepr oblem- sol
vi
ngandhealthy
ri
sk-taki
ng.Smal lclasssi zesandl ot
soft eacheri nteractiont imehel pchil
drenlearn
theseski l
l
si nanenv ironmenti nwhicht heyar eknown,car edf or,andencouragedt o
practicetheseski l
ls.Byest abli
shingast rongemot ionalf oundat i
onwher echi
ldren
under st
and thei
rv alue as fri
ends,l ear
ner s,and i ndividuals,and wher etheyhav e
confidenceinthemsel vesandt heirabil
it
yt oexpr esst heirideas,emot i
ons,andneeds,
chil
dren ar e pr
epar ed for increasi
ngly compl ex soci al-emot i
onaland academi c
chall
enges.
Phy
sicalDev
elopment

Anearl
ychil
dhoodeducationprogr
am overl
apswithachil
d’sdevelopmentofgr ossand
fi
nemotorskil
ls,
phy
sicalcoordi
nati
on(hand-ey
ecoordi
nation,bi
king,r
unning,
et c.
),and
thei
runder
standi
ngofheal t
hyskil
lsli
kehand-washi
ng,regularexerci
se,andbal anced
eati
ng.

Anear l
ychi l
dhoodeducati
onpr ogram shoul
ddevel optheseskil
lsthroughf r
eeand
pl
anned pl ay
,engaging acti
vi
ti
es l i
ke sensor
yt ables,buil
ding,painti
ng,pl ay
ing
i
nstrument s,etc.
,and coordi
nated gameswher e chil
dren pr
acticerunning,pull
ing,
pushing,hopping,andworki
ngtogetherwhil
ehavi
ngf un!

Theseacti
vi
ti
esshouldbuil
doneachot herthrougheachyearoft
heECEprogr
am,f
rom
i
mpr ov
ingfi
nemot orcontr
oltosupporttheirwrit
ingdevel
opment,t
ochi
l
drengai
ning
moreindependenceinacti
v i
ti
eslikeputt
ingont heircoat
sandshoes,movingf
rom
vel
crostr
aptolacedshoes,packi
ngthei
rlunchbagsandbackpacks.

I
ntel
lect
ualandAcademi
cDev
elopment

Whileanearlychi
l
dhoodeducat ionprogr
am shoul
dhavecaref
ull
yresear
chedgoal
sfor
l
iter
acyandnumer acy,thefoundat
ionsofacademicsuccessareonlyonepartofa
chil
d’si
ntel
l
ectualdevelopmentduri
ngtheearl
yyear
s.

Iti
sessenti
alt
hatachil
dseest hemselfasacapabl el
earner,whocangrappl
ewithnew
topi
csthatmayseem tri
ckyatf i
rst
,andresistgi
vingupwhenat opi
cortaskbecomes
dif
fi
cult
.Here,achil
d’sintel
lect
ualdevelopmentextendsf arbeyondtheclassroom;
support
edbyanear l
ychildhoodeducationprogram,studentscomet oseethewhol e
worldasanopport
uni
tyforlearni
ng.

Earl
yy earsprogramst hatpromoteastrongintel
lectualcuri
osi
tyandl eadchildrentoa
l
ife ofobser vi
ng,wonder ing,quest
ioning,and discov er
y of
ten include play-based
l
earningorout doorlearni
ng,andaf ocusonsel f
-dir
ectedlearni
ngandr esponsive
curr
iculum.These aspect s ofan ear l
y chil
dhood educat i
on pr ogram al l
ow t he
cl
assroom env ironmentt oengagewi thandi ncorporateachi l
d’si nt
erest
si ntot he
l
earningjourney.
Whati
sSpeci
alEducat
ion?
Speci
aleducati
onrefer
stoar angeofser
vicesthatcanbepr
ovi
dedi
ndiffer
entways
andindif
ferentset
ti
ngs.Ther
e’sno“ onesi
zefitsal
l”appr
oacht
ospeci
aleducati
on.I
t’
s
tai
l
oredtomeett heneedsofstudentswit
hdisabil
it
ies.

Specialeducat
ionf ocusesonhel pi
ngki dswithdisabi
l
iti
eslearn.Buti
tdoesn’
tmean
pl
acingkidsinaspeci alclassroom al
ldaylong.Infact
,federall
awsaysthatki
dswho
getspecialeducati
onser vicesshouldlearni
nt hesamecl assroomsasotherki
dsas
muchaspossi ble.Thisisknownast heleastr
estri
cti
veenvir
onment(orLRE).

Theser
vicesandsupport
sf oronestudentmaybever
ydi
fferentfrom t
hoseofanot
her
st
udent
.It’
sallabouttheindiv
idualchi
ldandgi
vi
ngthem ther esour
cestheyneedto
makeprogressi
nschool.

Forexampl e,some studentsmayspend mostoft hedayi n a gener

aleducat
ion
classroom.Ot her
smayspendj ustanhourort woi
nar esour
ceroom wor ki
ngwit
ha
speciali
st.And othersmi ghtneed t o at
tend adi
ff
erentschoolthatspecial
i
zesin
teachingkidswithlear
ningdisabil
it
ies.

Kidswhoqual i
fyforspecialeducati
onhaveanIndi
vi
duali
zedEducati
onPr ogram (
IEP).
Theygeti ndi
vidual
ized teachi
ng and ot
herresour
cesatno costt ot heirfamil
ies.
Speci
ali
stswor kwithkidsonst rengt
hsaswellaschallenges.Andfamili
esar ekey
member softheteam thatdecideswhatki
dsneedtothr
iveinschool
.

Adapt
ati
onsandModi
fi
cat
ions

Theindi
vidual
i
zati
onofinstr
uct
ioni
sanimpor t
antpartofspeci
aleducati
on.Inst
ruct
ion
andschoolworkar
etai
loredtot
heneedsofthechild.Someti
mesast udentmayneedt o
havechangesmadeinclassworkorrout
inesbecauseofhisorherdi
sabili
ty.

Modi
fi
cat
ionscanbemadet
o:

whatachi
l
dist
aught
,and/
or

howachi
l
dwor
ksatschool
.

Somet i
mespeopl
egetconfusedaboutwhatitmeanstohaveamodifi
cat
ionandwhati
t
meanst ohaveanaccommodat i
on.Usual
lyamodi f
icat
ionmeansachangeinwhatis
beingtaughtt
oorexpectedf r
om t hest
udent.Makinganassignmenteasi
ersothe
studentisnotdoi
ngthesamel evelofworkasot herstudent
sisanexampleofa
modifi
cati
on.Anaccommodat i
onisachanget hathelpsastudentov ercomeorwor k
aroundthedisabi
l
ity
.All
owingastudentwhohast roublewri
ti
ngt ogi vehisanswers
oral
lyi
sanexampl eofanaccommodat i
on.Thisstudentisst
il
lexpect edt oknow t
he
samemat eri
alandanswerthesamequest i
onsasf ul
lyastheot herst udent
s,buthe
doesn’
thavetowrit
ehisanswer
stoshowt hatheknowstheinf
ormat i
on.

Whati
smosti
mpor
tanttoknowaboutmodif
icat
ionsandaccommodat
ionsi
sthatbot
h
ar
emeantt
ohel
pachil
dtolear
n.Forexampl
e:

Jackisan8t hgradestudentwhohasl ear

ningdi
sabil
it
iesi
nreadingandwr it
ing.Heisi
n
ar egul
ar8thgr adeclasst hatisteam-t
aughtbyagener aleducat i
onteacheranda
special
educati
ont eacher
.Modi fi
cat
ionsandaccommodat i
onsprov i
dedforJack’sdai
l
y
schoolrout
ine(andwhenhet akesstat
eordist
ri
ct-
widetest
s)includethefol
lowing:

Jackwi
l
lhav
eshor
terr
eadi
ngandwr
it
ingassi
gnment
s.

Jack’
stext
bookswil
lbebasedupont
he8t
hgr
adecur
ri
cul
um butathi
sindependent
readi
ngl
evel(
4thgr
ade)
.

Jackwi
l
lhav
etestquest
ionsr
ead/
expl
ainedt
ohi
m,whenheasks.

Modi
fi
cat
ionsoraccommodat
ionsar
emostof
tenmadei
nthef
oll
owi
ngar
eas:

Schedul
ing.Forexampl
e:

gi
vi
ngt
hest
udentext
rat
imet
ocompl
eteassi
gnment
sort
est
s

br
eaki
ngupt
est
ingov
ersev
eral
day
s

Set
ti
ng.Forexampl
e:

wor
kingi
nasmal
lgr
oup

wor
kingone-
on-
onewi
tht
het
eacher

Mat
eri
als.Forexampl
e:

pr
ovi
dingaudi
otapedl
ect
uresorbooks

gi
vi
ngcopi
esoft
eacher
’sl
ect
urenot
es

usi
ngl
argepr
intbooks,
Brai
l
le,
orbooksonCD(
digi
tal
text
)
I
nst
ruct
ion.Forexampl
e:

r
educi
ngt
hedi
ff
icul
tyofassi
gnment
s

r
educi
ngt
her
eadi
ngl
evel

usi
ngast
udent
/peert
utor

St
udentResponse.Forexampl
e:

al
l
owi
nganswer
stobegi
venor
all
yordi
ctat
ed

usi
ngawor
dpr
ocessorf
orwr
it
tenwor
k

usi
ngsignl
anguage,acommuni
cat
iondev
ice,Br
ail
l
e,ornat
ivel
anguagei
fiti
snot
Engl
ish.

I
mpor
tanceofSpeci
alEducat
ion
Ever
ychi l
dhast heri
ghttothesameoppor tuni
tiesasot her
s,regar
dlessof
thediffi
cul
tiestheyf ace.Speci
aleducati
onisofgr eatimpor tanceforchil
drenwith
l
earningdisabil
it
ies,becauseitgiv
esthem theopportunit
yt ogetqualit
yeducat i
onin
l
inewi t
htheiruni
queneeds.Specialeducat
ionenabl
esev erystudenttogai
nahi ghlev
el
ofindependenceandr eachthei
rful
lpotent
ial
.

Accordi
ngt oUNICEF,about93mi l
li
onchi l
drenaroundt hewor l
dhav ebeen
diagnosedwi thsomef orm ofdisabil
i
ty.Ov er50%oft hatnumberdonotat t
endschool
atall,whichrobst hem oft herighttoabet terli
fe.Awar eofthei mport
anceofspeci al
education,count r
iesar ound thewor ld havedev eloped di
fferentsystemsai med at
i
mpr ovingchildcar e,educati
on,andt hequal i
tyofli
fei ngeneral.Toachievet hatgoal,
vari
ousl awshav ebeenpassedt o adequatelyaddressandsol vethepr oblemsof
chil
drenwi thspecialneeds.

I
nt he Uni ted Stat
es,t he signi
fi
cance ofspeci aleducation i
s primar il
y
defi
ned by the f oll
owi ng l
aws:I ndiv
iduals wit
h Di sabil
it
ies Education Act( IDEA) ,
Americanswi t
hDi sabili
ti
esActof1990andRehabi l
itat
ionActof1973( specificall
y
Secti
on504) .Thesel awsdef inether ightsofindiv
idualswi t
hdi sabi
l
iti
es,protecting
them fr
om discriminationinev er
ydayl i
fe.Inaddit
ion,thesedocument sguar ant
eet he
humanr ight
sofi ndividualswithdisabil
iti
es,andmodi fytheeducat i
onsystem inor der
toensureequal opportuniti
esforeducationandabet terlif
eforal l
.
Thisi
spri
mar i
l
ypossiblethankst oIDEAwhi ch,asaf ederall
aw,definesway
sinwhi ch
thest
atefi
nancesspecialneedseducat ion.Thankst oI DEA,parent
scanapplyforhelp
andaskforspeci
aleducationalcondit
ionsf ortheirchil
dren,r
egardl
essofwhetherthey
haveadevel
opmental,ment al
,emotional
, orphy si
caldisabi
li
ty.

Fr
eeandappr
opr
iat
epubl
iceducat
ion

The laws mentioned abov e provi

de students with disabil
it
ies access to
educationalser vi
cesthatal low them toenj oythesamer ightsasst udentswi t
hout
disabil
i
ties,setti
ngfort
haf ramewor kdescri
bingthati
nstruct
ionshoul dbepr ovi
dedina
regularcl assr
oom,a cl assroom speci allymodi f
ied t
o meett he specialneeds of
students,orunderspeci alcondi ti
ons( i
ndivi
dual
izededucationori nstr
ucti
oni nsmall
groupsi naspeci al-
needscl assroom).Itisalsoimpor t
anttonot et hatpublicschools
areobligatedtopr ov
idespeci aleducati
onalcondi
t i
onsatnoaddi ti
onal cost
.

I
nor dert
omeetspeci f
icstudentneedsanI ndiv
iduali
zedEducat i
onalPlan(IEP)
i
scr eatedf oreachchildwithl earni
ngdisabil
iti
es.Thisway ,theschooldesi gnsan
educationalplantheyneedtoi mplementbasedont heidenti
fieddisabi
li
ty.TheI EPi s
desi
gnedbyat eam compri
singt eacher
s,special
ists(e.g.specialeducat
ionteacher s)
andfami ly.Theroleofpar
entsiscr uci
alinthi
spr ocess,becauset heyknowt heirchild
best,andcanpr ovi
dealotofv al
uableinfor
mation.

Thegoalistoprovi
dethechildwit
ht henecessarysupportsot
hatt
heycan
advanceandgetaqual i
tyeducat
ion.ThankstotheI EPprogram,manyspeci
al-
needs
student
sachi
everesul
tsonparwiththeresul
tsofregularst
udents.

Whati
sMont
essor
iEducat
ion?
Mont essorii
schil
d-cent
rededucat
iondesignedtohel pallchi
ldr
enreachtheirf
ull
est
potenti
al–att hei
rownpace.I tsreal-
worl
dappr oachinspi
resaloveoflearni
ngand
readi
esst udent
stostudy,wor
kandl i
vesuccessf
ullyi
nthe21stcentur
y.

TheMont essoriappr
oachtoeducati
onisbasedont hewor kandresear
chofDr.Mari
a
Montessori
.Itprovi
desstudent
sacareful
l
yplanned,
stimulati
ngenvi
ronmentt
hathel
ps
them dev
elopanexcellentf
oundat
ionforl
ear
ningandleadershi
p.

TheMontessorimethoddoesn’
ttr
ytoputsquarepegsi
ntoroundhol
es;i
nst
eadit’
s
del
i
ber
atel
yf l
exibl
etoworkwi t
hthechi
l
d’sdevel
opment
alneedsandchar
act
eri
sti
cs
rat
hert
hant
ryi
ngt
ofi
tthechi
l
dtot
heneedsandchar
act
eri
sti
csoft
het
eacherort
he
syst
em.

Montessorisupport
sthedev el
opmentofski
ll
st hatarepartoft
hel ear
ningprocess.
Unli
ke conventi
onaleducati
on,itdoesn’
trely on the memori
zati
on off act
s,but
masteri
ngthelearni
ngprocessforusei
nal
lareasofstudyandofl
ife.Chi
ldrenl
earn“at
thei
rownpace.”

Someoft
hehal
l
mar
ksoft
radi
ti
onal
Mont
essor
ieducat
ioni
ncl
ude:

THEWHOLECHI
LDAPPROACH

Mont essor
ipr omot
est hedevel
opmentofsoci alskil
ls,emoti
onalgrowthand
physicalcoor di
nati
on as wellas cogniti
ve prepar
ati
on f orfutur
e academics.The
curri
culum all
owst hechildt
oexper i
encethejoyoflear
ningandgi vesthechil
dtimeto
enjoythepr ocess.Thisjoyoflearni
ngenhancest hedevelopmentofself-
esteem,and
provi
dest heexper iencesfr
om whi chstudentscreatetheirknowledgethroughself
-
dir
ectedlearning.

THE“
PREPAREDENVI
RONMENT”

Theenv i
ronmentsoftheMont essoriclassroom areli
kenot hingel
seyouseein
school s.Forsel f
-dir
ect
edl ear
ningt otakepl ace,t hewhol elearningenvir
onment–
classroom,mat er
ialsandsocialsetti
ng/at mospher e–mustsuppor tthechil
d.The
teacherpr ov
ides the necessar
yr esources,including oppor t
unit
ies forchil
dren t
o
functioni nasaf eandposi ti
veenv i
ronment .Toget her
,thet eacherandchi l
dforma
relati
onshipbasedont rustandr espectthatfost ersself
-confi
denceandenabl esthe
childr
ent oexploreanddiscover.

THEMONTESSORIMATERI
ALS

Dr.Mont essor
iobserv
edthekindsofacti
vit
iesthatchi
ldr
enenjoyandr et
urn
torepeat
edl
y ,whichledhertodesignanumberofmul ti
-sensor
y,sequent
ialandself
-
cor
recti
ngmat eri
als.Themat er
ialf
aci
l
itat
eslear
ning,whichbuildsfrom t
heconcrete
andsensori
al t
otheabstract
.
THETEACHER

TheMont essor iteacherf

unct i
onsasadesi gneroft heenv i
ronment,r
esource
person,role model,demonst r
ator
,r ecord-keeperand met iculousobser verofeach
chil
d’s behavi
ourand gr owth.Extensivet rai
ning i
sr equir
ed f ora f ul
lMont essor
i
credenti
al.I
tincl
udescl assr oom pr
act i
cet eachingthat’
sspeci al
izedfortheagegr oup
theteacherwillworkwi th,suchasi nfantandt oddl
er;3-
6y earol ds;6-9yearol
ds;9-12
yearolds;andadolescent s.

WHATMAKESMONTESSORISOSPECI
AL?

Wher edowebegi n?SomuchaboutMont essoriisdiff

erentfrom whatyouseei na
conventionalcl
assroom.From theMont essorimaterial
,tothelayoutoftheclassroom
thatencour ages mov ement
,expl orati
on and col labor
ation,tot he t
hree-
yearage
groupingthatencouragepeer-
to-peerlearning,connecti
on,andleadershi
p–i t
’sallver
y
special.

Thev al
ueofaMont essorieducati
onsomet i
mesisn’
timmediatel
yrecognizedbythe
student
s,butitdoesbecomeev i
dentlaterinli
fe.OneMontessoriAcademyal umna
notedearl
yinherfi
rstyearofuniver
sitythatsheseemedtobestruggl
inglesswit
hreal
-
l
if
eski l
l
s–andanabi li
tytoproblem-solv
e–t hanheruni
ver
sit
yclassmates:

“Asmyfr
iendsandIsettl
eintoourhomesandr outi
nes, wear ebusyandt r
yingtofigure
outhowtocareforourenvi
ronmentandourselves.Forsomeofmyf ri
endsl i
tt
lethings
suchasl
aundryandfoodplanni
ngar ebi
g,menacingt asksthattheyareafr
aidof.These
event
swhichseem l
it
tl
eandef f
ort
lesstomearedi f
ficult,
all
-daytasksfort
hem…

“…I
feveryeducati
onalsy
stem hadsomeel ementofpracti
call
if
et herewouldmuchless
str
essforthem.I ,ofcoursesti
llrunintopr obl
ems,butIf eelt hatbecauseofthe
confi
denceinsti
l
ledinmebypr acti
calli
feIcanpr obl
em solv
et hingsIdon’tknow t
he
answerstofrom myknowledgeofothert
asks.”(G.Foul
on)

Lateri
nlif
eandintothei
rcareer
s,oural
umnicommentt
hatt
hei
rti
mei
nMont
essor
iisa
keysourceoft
heirconfi
denceandresil
i
ence

WHOWASDR.MARI
AMONTESSORI
?

Montessor
ieducat
ionwasfoundedbyDr.Mar
iaMontessoriasar
esul
tofhersci
enti
fi
c
obser
vati
onsofthebehavi
ourandneedsofyoungchi
ldren.Thef
ir
stwomanphysici
an
to gr
aduat
efrom theUni
versi
tyofRome,Mar i
aMontessor
ibecameinv
olv
edwi
th
educati
onasadoct
ortr
eat
ingchil
drenl
abel
l
edasment
all
ychal
lenged.

In1907Mont essoriwasinvit
edtoopenacar ecentreforthechi l
drenofdesperately
poorfamil
iesintheSanLor enzoslumsofRome.Dr .Montessoricall
editacasadei
bambinior“Chil
dren’
sHouse”andbasedt heprogram onherobser vat
ionst
haty oung
chi
ldr
enlearnbesti nanurturi
ngenvi
ronment,fi
ll
edwithdevelopmentall
yappropri
ate
materi
alsthatpr ovi
de experi
ences cont
ri
buti
ng tot he growth ofself-
motivated,
i
ndependentlear
ners.

AmongMont
essor
i’
srev
olut
ionar
ytheor
ies:

Chi
ldr
enar eto berespect
ed asdi
ff
erentf
rom adul
tsand asi
ndi
vi
dual
swho ar
e
di
ff
erentf
rom oneanot
her.

Chi
l
drencr
eat
ethemsel
vest
hroughpur
posef
ulact
ivi
ty.

Themosti
mpor
tanty
ear
sforl
ear
ningar
efr
om bi
rt
htoage6.

Chil
drenpossessunusualsensit
ivi
tyandmentalpower
sforabsorbi
ngandl
ear
ning
fr
om thei
renvi
ronment
,whichincl
udespeopl
easwellasmat
eri
als.

Fi
veBenef
it
sofMont
essor
iEducat
ion

1.KeyDev el
opment alStages-Mont essoriisasci enti
fi
cmet hodofeducat i
ont hati s
focusedont hekeydev el
opment alstagesthatallchil
drenmov ethroughont heirwayt o
adul t
hood.I neachoft hesest ages,childrenar einasensi t
iveper i
odf orl earni
ng
dif
f er
entski ll
s and act ivi
ti
es thatwi llhelpt hem r each theirnextdev el
opment al
milestone.Doct orMar i
aMont essoribel i
evedt hatifchildrenwer epr ovidedwi tht he
oppor tunit
ies t
o expl ore and pract
ice these skil
ls,theywoul d make ext raordinar y
progress.Thi siswhyt heMont essorimet hodofeducat ionhasbeendesi gnedar ound
theuni quedev elopmentneedsoft hechi ld.TheMont essoricur r
iculum,cl assroom
structure,and lear ni
ng mat er
ial
shav e been tested,refined,evaluated,and pr oven
across age gr oups,count ri
es,and cul tures to suppor t and nur t
uret he f ull
dev el
opment alpot enti
alofthechild.

2.SocialDevel
opmentandCol l
aborat
ion-InaMont essor
iclassr
oom,chi
l
drenare
groupedwithdi
ffer
entagesandareencouragedtocoll
aborat
eandhelpeachother
.
Thisstruct
uret
ot helearni
ngenvi
ronmentencour
ageschildr
ent oshar
eandwor k
cooperati
vel
yt oexploredif
ferentareasoftheMont essoricurr
icul
um.Basedonthe
natureoftheclassroom envi
ronment,chi
ldr
enlear
ntor especteachother
,dev
elopt
he
ski
llsofcoll
aborat
iveprobl
em solvi
ng,andbuil
dasenseofcommuni t
y.

3.ChildCent red,TeacherGui ded-TheMont essoriclassroom isapr eparedl ear ning

envir
onmentwher e chil
dren ar ef ree to choose f rom a r ange ofdev el
opment all
y
appropriat
eact i
vit
ies.Teacher si ntheMont essoriclassroom ar etheretogui deand
faci
li
tatethelearni
ngexper ience.Theyt akethel eadf r
om thechi l
drenintheclassr oom,
ensurethegroundr ulesaref ol
lowed, andencour agechi l
drentowor kindependent l
yand
attheirownpace.Al lowi
ngchi ldrentodi r
ecttheirownl earningenablesthem tol ear nin
anenj oyabl
ewayanddev elopanent husiasm f orlearni
ng,alongwi thself-
discipl i
ne,
i
ndependenceandposi ti
vesel f-
esteem.

4.Self-AssessmentandI ntr
insi
cMot ivati
on-Self-corr
ectionandsel f-
assessmentar e
anintegralpartoft heMont essor
ilear
ningexper i
ence.Aschi ldr
enpr ogr essthroughthe
educationpr ogram, theylearntolookcr i
ti
call
yatt heirwork, r
ecogni seandcor r
ecttheir
mistakes,andl earnfr om t
heirerr
ors.Bypr ovi
dingchildrenwi ththef reedom toquestion,
probedeepl y,andmakeconnect i
ons,Mont essoristudentsl earntobecomeconf i
dent,
self
-mot i
vatedl earnersthathav eani ntri
nsicloveofl earning.Int hisway ,Mont essori
educationcul ti
vatesengagedl earner
swi thaposi ti
veandconf i
dentappr oachtol i
fe-
l
ongl earni
ng.

5.Lear ni
ngf orLife -Resear chconduct edbyagr oupofPsy chologistsint heUS,
publ i
shedi nthe2006j our
nalSci ence,exami nedt heabi li
ti
esofchi ldrentaughtata
Mont essor ischoolcompar ed to asy stemi cschool .Ther esearchdet ermined t hat
childrenwhoat t
endedMont essorischoolswer emor ecr eati
ve,sociall
yadjust ed,and
hadt heabi li
tytoadaptt ochangingandcompl expr oblems,whi chhav ebeenseenas
predict orsoffutureschoolandl i
fesuccess.I naddit i
on, theresearchdeterminedt hat5-
year -
ol dMont essorist
udentswer ebet terpr eparedf orr eadi
ngandmat h,andt hat12-
year -
ol ds’wrote‘si
gnif
icant
lymor ecreativeessay s’usi ngmor e‘sophisti
catedsent ence
struct ures’
.Mont essor
ichil
drenalsodi splayedagr eat ersenseof‘ j
usti
ceandf airness’
,
i
nter act edinan‘emot i
onall
yposi t
iveway ’
, andwer el essl i
kelytoengagei n‘roughpl ay
’
duringbr eaktimes.
Ref
erence:
htt
ps:/
/www.aspari
s.or
g/bl
og/
det
ail
s/~boar
d/academi
cs/
post
/what
-i
s-ear
ly-
chi
l
dhood-
educati
on-
1596020598964

ht
tps:
//www.
under
stood.
org/
en/
art
icl
es/
under
standi
ng-
speci
al-
educat
ion

ht
tps:
//www.
par
ent
cent
erhub.
org/
iep-
speci
aleducat
ion/

https:
//www.al
l
isonacademy
.com/
student
s/l
ear
ning/
lear
ning-
disabi
l
iti
es/
impor
tance-
of
-speci
al-
educat
ion/

ht
tps:
//mont
essor
i.
on.
ca/
resour
ces/
what
-i
s-mont
essor
i/

ht
tps:
//mont
essor
iacademy
.com.
au/
top-
fi
ve-
benef
it
s-mont
essor
i-
educat
ion/

I
II
.Act
ivi
ti
es

Act
ivi
ty1

Di
rect
ion:
Readt
hef
oll
owi
ngquest
ionsandansweri
tin2-
3sent
ences.

1.Whati
sEar
lyChi
l
dhoodEducat
ion,
iny
ourownwor
ds?

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__

2.Whati
sSpeci
alEducat
ion,
iny
ourownwor
ds?

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3.Whati
sMont
essor
iEducat
ion,
iny
ourownwor
ds?

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4.Whatrol
edoEarlyChil
dhoodEducat
ion,
Speci
alEducat
ion,
andMont
essor
iEducat
ion
pl
ayinthel
ivesofal
lstudent
s?

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__

5.Whyisitnecessaryf
ort
histypeofeducat
ion,
speci
fical
l
yEar
lychil
dhoodeducat
ion,
Speci
aleducat
ion,andMont
essori
educat
ion,
tobeintr
oducedi
nallcount
ri
es?

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Act
ivi
ty2

Const r
uctanessaywithamaxi mum of200wor dsabout :"Whatarethe
advantages of Earl
y Chi l
dhood Educati
on, Special Educat
ion and
Mont essor
iEducat
ion in speci
alinst
it
uti
on oflearnerand the wayit
i
nfluencesy ouasafutur
eeducat ori
fyoumaydeal ,oneofthesekindof
education?
"

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