PMCMODULE 1

Q1: Write a biographical note on Dr. Maria Montessori in your own

words.
Early Years of her life:

Dr. Maria Montessori was a feminist, pioneer and an icon. She was born on August 31, 1870 in
Chiaravalle, Italy. Her father, Alessandro Montessori, was 33 years old and worked as an accountant for
the Ministry of Finance. • Her mother, Renilde Stoppani, was 25 years old and was a well educated
woman as well.

In 1873, Montessori and her family moved to Florence and then to Rome in 1875 due to Alessandro’s
work. In 1876, Maria Montessori entered into a public elementary school on the Via di San Nicolo da
Tolentino Between 1876 and 1882 nothing “remarkable” happened in Maria’s life.

Education:

Maria was a sterling student, confident, ambitious, and unwilling to be limited by traditional expectations
for women. At age 13 she entered an all-boys technical institute to prepare for a career in engineering.
The Montessori family moved to Rome in late 1874, and in 1876 the young Maria enrolled in the local
state school on Via di San Nicolo da Tolentino. As her education progressed, she began to break through
the barriers which constrained women’s careers. From 1886 to 1890 she continued her studies at the
Regio Istituto Tecnico Leonardo da Vinci, which she entered with the intention of becoming an engineer.
This was unusual at the time as most girls who pursued secondary education studied the classics rather
than going to technical school.

Upon her graduation, Montessori’s parents encouraged her to take up a career in teaching, one of the few
occupations open to women at the time, but she was determined to enter medical school and become a
doctor. Her father opposed this course—medical school was then an all-male preserve—and initially
Maria was refused entry by the head of school. She was undeterred, apparently ending the unsuccessful
interview with the professor by saying, “I know I shall become a doctor”.

In 1890 Montessori enrolled at the University of Rome to study physics, mathematics and natural
sciences, receiving her diploma two years later. This enabled her to enter the Faculty of Medicine, as one
of the first women in Italy, and the first to study at the University of Rome. Montessori stood out not just
because of her gender, but because she was actually intent on mastering the subject matter. She won a
series of scholarships at medical school which, together with the money she earned through private
tuition, enabled her to pay for most of her medical education.

Facing prejudice and Racism

Her time at medical school was not easy. She faced prejudice from her male colleagues and had to work
alone on dissections since these were not allowed to be done in mixed classes. But she was a dedicated
student, and on 10 July 1896 became one of the first female doctors in Italy, and with this distinction also
became known across the country.

In September of the same year she was asked to represent Italy at the International Congress for Women
in Berlin, and in her speech to the Congress she developed a thesis for social reform, arguing that women
should be entitled to equal wages with men. A reporter covering the event asked her how her patients
responded to a female doctor. She replied, “… they know intuitively when someone really cares about
them.… It is only the upper classes that have a prejudice against women leading a useful existence.” [1]

Learning Methodology Development:

On her return to Rome, in November 1896, Montessori went to work as surgical assistant at Santo Spirito
Hospital in Rome. Much of her work there was with the poor, and particularly with their children. As a
doctor she was noted for the way in which she ‘tended’ her patients, making sure they were warm and
properly fed as well as diagnosing and treating their illnesses. In 1897 she volunteered to join a research
programme at the psychiatric clinic of the University of Rome, and it was here that she worked alongside
Giuseppe Montesano, with whom a romance was to develop.

As part of her work at the clinic she would visit Rome’s asylums for the children with mental disorders (as
they were called in those days), seeking patients for treatment at the clinic. She relates how, on one such
visit, the caretaker of a children’s asylum told her with disgust how the children grabbed crumbs off the
floor after their meal. Montessori realised that in such a bare, unfurnished room the children were
desperate for sensorial stimulation and activities for their hands, and that this deprivation was contributing
to their condition.

She began to read all she could on the subject of children with learning differences, and in particular she
studied the groundbreaking work of two early 19th century Frenchmen, Jean-Marc Itard, who had made
his name working with the ‘wild boy of Aveyron’, and Edouard Séguin, his student.

In 1897 Montessori’s work with the asylum children began to receive more prominence. The 28-year-old
Montessori was asked to address the National Medical Congress in Turin, where she advocated the
controversial theory that the lack of adequate provision for children with mental and emotional disorders
was a cause of their delinquency. Expanding on this, she addressed the National Pedagogical Congress
the following year, presenting a vision of social progress and political economy rooted in educational
measures. She asked for the foundation of medical-pedagogical institutes and a special training for
teachers working with special needs children. This notion of social reform through education was an idea
that was to develop and mature in Montessori’s thinking throughout her life.
In 1899 Montessori visited Bicêtre Hospital in Paris where Séguin had further developed Itard’s technique
of sensorial education in his schools for children with disabilities. Montessori was so keen to understand
his work properly that she translated his book Traitement moral, hygiène et education des idiotes (1846)
into Italian. Highly critical of the regimented schooling of the time, Séguin emphasised respect and
understanding for each individual child. He created practical apparatus and equipment to help develop the
sensory perceptions and motor skills of intellectually challenged children, which Montessori was later to
use in new ways.

Montessori’s involvement with the Lega nazionale per l’educazione dei fanciulli deficienti led to her
appointment as co-director, with Giuseppe Montesano, of a new institution called the Orthophrenic
School. The school took children with a broad spectrum of disorders and proved to be a turning point in
Montessori’s life, marking a shift in her professional identity from physician to educator. Until now her
ideas about the development of children were only theories, but the small school, set up along the lines of
a teaching hospital, allowed her to put these ideas into practice. Montessori spent two years working at
the Orthophrenic School, experimenting with and refining the materials devised by Itard and Séguin and
bringing a scientific, analytical attitude to the work; teaching and observing the children by day and writing
up her notes by night.

In time, however, she changed her mind, deciding to become a doctor instead. She applied to the
University of Rome’s medical program, but was rejected. Maria took additional courses to better prepare
her for entrance to the medical school and persevered. With great effort she gained admittance, opening
the door a bit wider for future women in the field.

When she graduated from medical school in 1896, Maria was among Italy’s first female physicians.
Though she was not the first female medical school graduate, as reported by many of her biographers, it
does not detract from her accomplishment. Defying conventions, norms, and expectations to successfully
make her way in this rigorous, male-dominated field required tremendous strength, dedication, and
perseverance.

Career Transition:

Maria Montessori: A Pioneer, Icon and Feminist

In the years following, and for the rest of her life, Maria dedicated herself to advancing her child-centered
approach to education. She lectured widely, wrote articles and books, and developed a program to
prepare teachers in the Montessori Method. Through her efforts and the work of her followers, Montessori
education was adopted worldwide.
As a public figure, Maria also campaigned vigorously on behalf of women’s rights. She wrote and spoke
frequently on the need for greater opportunities for women, and was recognized in Italy and beyond as a
leading feminist voice.

Maria Montessori pursued her ideals in turbulent times. Living through war and political upheaval inspired
her to add peace education to the Montessori curriculum. But she could do little to avoid being ensnared
in world events. Traveling in India in 1940, when hostilities between Italy and Great Britain broke out, she
was forced to live in exile for the remainder of the war. There she took the opportunity to train teachers in
her method. At war’s end she returned to Europe, spending her final years in Amsterdam. She died
peacefully, in a friend’s garden, on May 6, 1952.

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Q2: Write a note on the first Casa de Bambini. Also explain how the
methods developed there?

Montessori grasped the opportunity of working with typical children and, bringing
some of the educational materials she had developed at the Orthophrenic School,
she established her first Casa dei Bambini or ‘Children’s House’, which opened
on 6 January 1907. A small opening ceremony was organised, but few had any
expectations for the project. Montessori felt differently, “I had a strange feeling
which made me announce emphatically that here was the opening of an
undertaking of which the whole world would one day speak.”[3]

She put many different activities and other materials into the children’s
environment but kept only those that engaged them. What Montessori came to
realize was that children who were placed in an environment where activities
were designed to support their natural development had the power to educate
themselves. She was later to refer to this as auto-education. In 1914 she wrote, “I
did not invent a method of education, I simply gave some little children a chance
to live”.

First Casa de Bambini:

The children in the Casa dei Bambini made extraordinary progress, and soon
5-year-olds were writing and reading. By the autumn of 1908 there were five Case
dei Bambini operating, four in Rome and one in Milan. News of Montessori’s new
approach spread rapidly, and visitors arrived to see for themselves how she was
achieving such results. Within a year the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland
began transforming its kindergartens into Case dei Bambini, and the spread of
the new educational approach began.

In the summer of 1909 Maria Montessori gave the first training course in her
approach to around 100 students. Her notes from this period became her first
book, published that same year in Italy, which appeared in translation in the
United States in 1912 as The Montessori Method, reaching second place on the
U.S. nonfiction bestseller list. Soon afterwards it was translated into 20 different
languages. It has become a major influence in the field of education.

A period of great expansion in the Montessori approach now followed.

Montessori societies, training programmes and schools sprang to life all over the
world, and from then on Montessori’s life would be dedicated to spreading the
educational approach she had developed by delivering courses and giving
lectures in many countries. Before and during WWI she travelled three times to
America, where there was much interest for her original approach to education.
Her son Mario accompanied her during the last two journeys.

Some of the key observations that were developed in that era are as
follows:

Key of observation

Deep focus and accomplishment: Maria Montessori discovered

that children naturally concentrate on activities that capture their
interest. They then repeat the activities to achieve deeper
understanding and in doing so, they get a sense of
accomplishment.

Order & structure: She discovered that children loved and thrived
in organized environments, suggesting a preference for
predictability and a safe space for exploration.
Order & structure: She discovered that children loved and thrived
in organized environments, suggesting a preference for
predictability and a safe space for exploration.

Emergent self-discipline: Within a free-choice environment, Maria

Montessori observed that children demonstrate spontaneous
self-restraint, indicating their capability for self-regulation and
responsibility.

Independent learning: She discovered that children loved to learn

independently. When given the opportunity to choose activities
and correct themselves, children develop autonomy and a love
for knowledge through self-directed exploration.

Guided by the discoveries, Montessori implemented several

changes that became hallmarks of her approach:

Transforming the classroons:

Child-sized environment: Heavy furniture was replaced with

child-appropriate tables and chairs, and materials were placed
within easy reach.

Expanded practical activities: Tasks like sweeping and personal

care were extended to include a wider range of exercises for
self-care and environmental responsibility.

Open-air areas: The inclusion of open spaces encouraged

movement and exploration within the classroom.
Work Cycle: Instead of a rigid schedule, Montessori designed
the work cycle where children learn through cycles of activity all
while children were given freedom to choose their interests and
guide their own rhythm of learning.

The Directress as Observer and Guide: While the children take

the lead in their learning journey, trained adults play a crucial
role as observers and guides. They don’t dictate or instruct, but
rather observe children’s interests and subtly guide them
towards activities that match their current needs and
developmental stage.

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Question 3 : Elaborate the discoveries made by Dr. Maria Mobtessori

by observing the child?

At the end of the nineteenth century, it was claimed that children under the age of
six were ineligible, incapable of attention, and could not be supervised. The First
House of Children proved that these children`s theories were incorrect and
revealed who the children are.

Maria Montessori calls this the true nature of children whose development has
been obscured by the climate, which is not conducive to their growth. If the
children have found a suitable setting, they have manifested their true
characteristics.

A repeat of the Exercise:

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.
Montessori instructed the helper to pick up the child with the cylinder block and
position it on the table. There was a lot of commotion in there. And the child
wasn`t disturbed by the commotion.

Forty-two times, she managed to perform the workout. Then, as if coming out of a
dream, she stopped and grinned as if she were really happy. Her eyes are clear
and sparkling (Montessori 1986: 126–127; Standing 1998: 41). The same
phenomenon has been documented in various Children`s Houses around the
world at the time and now.

Respect for Order:

Children are generally referred to as disorderly. At school, order and discipline

are enforced on children with extreme punishment and compensation.
Montessori has learned that children enjoy order. In Casa Dei Bambini, in the
beginning, the instructor gave the apparatus back to its position after its use.

Each time the instructor took the show equipment, the children followed her and
stood around her. They will always come back, even if she sends them away.
Montessori felt it could be that the children decided to bring the device back on
their own.

Then the children were allowed to keep things clean and tidy in the classroom.
Children loved to do this as a job. If a glass falls out of the child`s hands, others
rush to pick up the pieces and dry the cement. When the teacher dropped the
tablets of light.

It was the children who easily put all of the tablets in order (Montessori 1986:128).
This is only possible because children respect 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 with.

One day, the caregiver failed to lock the cupboard. Not only did she forget to lock
the cupboard, but she was also 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 but also
carefully kept it back in their place of storage (Standing 1998:43; Montessori
1986: 129).

Until then, technology in the Montessori classroom has been presented beyond
the scope of the child`s hands and senses. Adding the equipment is placing it in
a position where children can see, touch, and navigate independently.

so that their option power is enriched.

They never chose the toys:

Casa Dei Bambini has a lot of lovely clothes and lovely dolls. Montessori has
explained how to use them. Ex: the doll's crockery, lighting the fire in the tiny
doll`s kitchen, putting a nice doll beside it, and so on.

Children had been showing interest for some time, but then they went down.
Dolls and toys were not a spontaneous choice. Montessori (1986: 130) states.
Demo

So I understood that in a child’s life play is perhaps something inferior, to which

he has recourse for want of something better, but that there were loftier things
that, in the child’s mind, seemed to take precedence over useless amusements.

The same might be said of ourselves; to play chess or bridge is pleasant enough
for our leisure moments, but it would no longer be so if we were forced to do
nothing else all through our life. when there is a lofty and urgent task to be done,
the bridge is forgotten, and the child has always lofty, and indeed urgent, tasks
before him.

Every passing minute is precious to him, representing the passage from a slightly
inferior state of being to a higher one. The child is continually growing, and all
that has to do with the means of his development fascinates him and makes him
forget idle occupations.

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 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 does."

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, such 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.

They refused Sweets:

It is a common misconception that children enjoy sweets and are very greedy for
them. When the children at Casa dei Bambini were given sweets, they did not eat
them but put them in their pockets.

And when they were given some more to take home, they took them but kept
them in their pockets, but they didn`t eat. A couple of days later, one of the boys
was ill, and the teacher visited his home. He opened his box and gave the teacher
the sweets he had given him at school.
The Sense of Dignity:

Montessori once taught us how to blow our noses. 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 noses.

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, and oppressed in adulthood.

Spontaneous Discipline:

The Montessori classroom allows for the freedom of presentation, voice, and
expression for the students. They offer an impression of extraordinary discipline,
given this independence.

They work softly on a piece of the 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 were spontaneous and the product of independence in
the Montessori Children`s Houses (Montessori 1986:139).

The Explosion into Writing and Exploration of Reading:

In the Montessori Children`s Home, children learned writing on their own. It just
happened this way. Montessori had provided some sandpaper letters to trace, as
well as some loose letters similar to sandpaper letters.

One day, a child was walking himself, saying, "To make "Sofia" you need S, O, F,
I, A," this child was working with a moving alphabet, an apparatus that uses the
consciousness of sounds. This was written (Standing, 1998, p. 48). Later, another
kid yelled, "I wrote, I wrote." Other children rushed to him, full of curiosity,
looking at the words written by their mates.

They all picked up a piece of chalk and shouted, "I, too! yeah, I do!” They rushed
to the blackboard and started to write on the blackboard. They wrote all day,
everywhere— on the gate, on the walls, and even on the bread loaves. It was an
eruption of prose (Montessori 1986:140).

Children understood the significance of writing six months after writing. Once
Montessori had written a simple sentence on the blackboard, asking him to kiss
her if anyone had read it.

Nothing has happened for a few days. Then a girl came to her and kissed her. In a
short time, all the children began to write their sentences on the board, so that
others could read and execute orders. This is how they discovered the
transmission of human thought through writing and reading without speaking a
word (Standing 1998:50).
Question 4: Explain sensitive period and write short notes on the
following:

a)​ Sensitive period for languages

b)​ Sensitive period for mathematics
c)​ Sensitive period for movement

Sensitive period

Because the Montessori Method was designed to align with the biological development of the child,
it makes sense that many of the terms associated with the method stem from stages of mental,
physical or emotional development. The term “sensitive period” is one such term.
The Association Montessori International defines sensitive periods in this way:

Young children experience transient periods of sensibility, and are intrinsically motivated or urged to
activity by specific sensitivities. A child in a sensitive period is believed to exhibit spontaneous
concentration when engaged in an activity that matches a particular sensitivity. For example, children
in a sensitive period for order will be drawn to activities that involve ordering. They will be observed
choosing such activities and becoming deeply concentrated, sometimes repeating the activity over
and over, without external reward or encouragement. Young children are naturally drawn towards
those specific aspects of the environment which meet their developmental needs.

Essentially, a sensitive period is a time of transition where a child shows uncharacteristic motivation
to engage with activities that align with their focus during that time of transition. According to work
conducted by Dr. Maria Montessori, there are six sensitive periods: order, language, walking, the
social aspects of life, small objects, and learning through the senses. Each of these periods takes
place during the early childhood years, typically during the first six years of life.

Sensitive period for languages

Dr. Montessori described sensitive periods as a window of time in which a child’s

interests are focused on developing a certain skill, like a spotlight illuminating an area of
development.
Dr. Montessori identified many different Sensitive Periods occurring from birth through
the age of six, including:

order, movement, small objects, grace and courtesy, refinement of the senses, writing,
reading, language, spatial relationships, music, toilet learning and mathematics.

The Sensitive Period for Language is the longest:

It spans from birth to age six, throughout the entire First Plane of Development!

During this time, children are drawn to language and words like moths to a flame. They
are particularly attuned to the human voice and to mouth and lip movements.

They are thrilled by the names of specific objects, rhyming words, and pronunciation of
complicated words.

We can support the Sensitive Period for Language by:

●​ telling oral stories

●​ naming objects all around us
●​ using the real words for things
●​ singing songs
●​ reading poems and books
●​ and having rich conversations!

Thanks to the Sensitive Period for Language, a child has the potential to learn two or
more languages fluently before the age of six.
After that time, a child will have to exert a conscious effort to learn vocabulary and
memorize grammatical structures of an additional language, rather than simply
absorbing it from their environment.

Sensitive period for mathematics

The sensitive period for math patterns, also known as a sensitive period for
mathematics, takes place between the ages of 2 and 6 years. During this time,
children are able to form an understanding of many different mathematical
concepts.

Their understanding usually progresses from addition and subtraction to

multiplication and division. The understanding of these concepts is enhanced
using concrete materials.

The human mind is by nature mathematical. From birth we learn the meaning of

phrases such as “how old are you?” and “we’re leaving in one hour.” The capabilities of

the mathematics mind are present in the mind of the child. An infant is able to

understand the difference between one and many. A toddler is able to sensorially

distinguish between small and large quantities. A preschooler is able to identify the

symbols for numbers and begin to physically quantify ‘how many’ that symbol means.

Numbers themselves cannot be easily defined, but come to be understood from

experiences with concrete objects that eventually become abstract ideas.

Doctor Maria Montessori believed that children come to absorb mathematical concepts

naturally. She recognised that there were specific sensitive periods in a child’s

development whereby the acquisition of mathematical concepts were eagerly explored

through repetition of activities with concrete, scientifically developed, didactic materials.

Doctor Maria Montessori designed concrete mathematical materials to represent all

levels of quantities and mathematical concepts after she observed that children who are

interested in counting, like to move items as they enumerate them. In the Montessori

learning environment, the children not only sees and learns the symbol for a number,

they hold the quantity in their hand. For most children, the sensitive development period

for learning mathematical concepts is between the age of four and six years.

Through the Montessori Curriculum areas of Practical Life, Sensorial and Mathematics,

children experience the concepts of order, measurement, calculations, numeric symbol

recognition, counting, and exactness. There are six key skill areas within the Montessori

Mathematics Curriculum, including: numeration (numbers 1 – 10), the decimal system,

the tradition names, the arithmetic tablets, and the passage to abstraction and fraction.

In order to help each child achieve their full mathematical potential, it is the role of the

Montessori teacher to set up and organise the materials in a way that is progressive and

sequential. Young Montessori students learn about precision and exactness by

measuring how many water drop it takes to fill a vessel (i.e. ice cube tray). These

Practical Life activities not only help children to gain independence, but also provide

indirect foundations for higher level maths skills.

As children develop in the Montessori learning environment, they become ready to

encounter more concrete mathematics materials that explore abstract thought,

beginning with quantity. Quantity is first presented to the child in the form of variables to

avoid confusion. The Montessori teacher will use a material, such as the Number Rods,
in order to introduce quantities from one to ten. The red and blue partitions of the

Number Rods make the quantity countable. The number rods are then given a name

and a number. As the child works with the rods, they begin to realise that the first rod is

the unit of measurement, with which the other rods can be measured. In this way,

Montessori students learn about the mathematics through their hands.

As Doctor Maria Montessori said: “This system in which a child is constantly

moving objects with his hands and actively exercising his senses, also takes into

account a child’s special aptitude for mathematics. When they leave the material,

the children very easily reach the point where they wish to write out the

operation. They thus carry out an abstract mental operation and acquire a kind of

natural and spontaneous inclination for mental calculation.“

Movement

Age: Birth – 2.5 years {Walking: 12 – 15 months}

This sensitive period encompasses all movements, beginning from touching at

infancy to walking and climbing. Between birth and 2.5 years old, children are
especially interested in learning to coordinate and control their movements.

Gross and fine motor skill develop during this sensitive period, from touching and
grasping to turning, crawling, balancing, walking and climbing. Maria Montessori
discovered that children are particularly interested in walking between 12 – 15
months.

The sensitive period for the coordination of movement, or just movement, is what drives
the child to develop strength through practice and refinement of gross and fine motor
skills. Children do this through observing and absorbing abstractions related to human
movement, imitation of these movements and, finally expressing one's own desire to
move.
The absorbent mind (another full post coming up on that!) is very much at work when it
comes to the sensitive period for movement. Children, in order to learn bi-pedal
locomotion and sophisticated human movement, must observe and absorb these
movements first. In orphanages throughout history, there have been instances where
children's movement was severely restricted. In some cases, they could still observe the
nurses walking and moving from their cribs. But in other instances, cribs had solid sides
and babies and toddlers with no model of walking and human movement were very
stunted and curtailed in ever developing these movements themselves. The absorbent
mind, along with the sensitive periods disappears by age six. So, before that time, the
child's mind sees things differently and absorbs totality images indiscriminately.

Stop for a moment and think of someone you know who has a very ungraceful walk. We
all know someone who plods around, hunched over slightly, clomping and stomping as
if they have sandbags tied to their feet at all times. It appears to take great effort with
each step to lift their foot off the ground and their hair may even shake and tremble from
the force of it all. This is a totality image. I do not have an absorbent mind, so I labeled it
right off as ungraceful and cast a negative judgment on such a walk. But the absorbent
mind does not do this; it simply takes it all in and concludes, "That is what walking is"
and then sets about training the body to do just that. So you can see that the images
presented to the child matter very much, as they're what wind up being imitated,
unconsciously, by the child's body.

A teacher in a Montessori classroom is always aware of how they move. When I was in
the classroom, I walked so quietly and deliberately always because the absorbent mind
is always watching and downloading everything it sees. This is evident in ways you'd
never think possible. My trainer said she had to start wearing her hair tied back because
she saw all of the children, including those whose hair was too short to tuck behind their
ears, repeatedly making that movement. Another teacher I know who wears glasses
said that after a few months, children would push their middle finger up the bridge of
their nose repeatedly. She could not figure out what these kids were doing, and when
she asked them about it they just looked at her blankly. It wasn't until she was out to
dinner with her mother and saw her mom push her glasses up that she realized they
were simply doing what they'd seen her do a million times! I have an ear that requires
me to pinch and blow air into it a dozen times a day. After a few months in the
classroom, I had to make sure I stepped out to do so because all of the kids were doing
it!

-So, movement is huge. Children will respond with their full body to rhythmic actions like
sweeping. They also can be taught things that seem impossible to teach a baby or
toddler. If your baby is having trouble with tummy time, get down and model it for them.
Do not speak, just show them. For older babies, teaching them to go down stairs
backward is the single biggest sanity saver of a favor you'll ever do yourself. Tell them,
"Look honey, this is how you can go down the stairs" and then show them without
talking during your movements. You can exaggerate your movements slightly for
emphasis and clarity, but don't overdo it or they will, too. For older toddlers and
preschoolers, exposure to a variety of movements and allowing them to try the ones
that appeal to them is very important. Ballet, skiing, scootering, balance bikes, and of
course, running, walking climbing, etc are all extremely beneficial.

Once a child hits four-and-a-half, the sensitive period for movement is fading away,
never to return. Their foundation for coordination and refinement of movement has been
laid and will limit them throughout their life. If they develop high levels of coordination,
balance, gross and fine motor skills, they will always be able to take on that high level of
activity as they grow and are ready for different challenges. If they don't, then they
won't. Each child is motivated by different things and this will impact the type of
coordination of movement they develop. Some might excel more at fine motor and
some at gross motor, while others still excel at both, or neither. It doesn't mean new
skills can't be learned, but it means that the potential for mastering new movements is
somewhat set.

_____________________________________________________________________

Q 5: Write short notes on the following core concepts of Montessori

education.

a)​ Mixed age group

b)​ Spiritual embryo
c)​ Absorbent mind
d)​ Prepared environment
e)​ Focus on individual progress

Mixed age group

The Montessori educational approach, founded by Maria Montessori, places significant
emphasis on the social and educational advantages of mixed-age classrooms. This model,
distinct from traditional age-segregated schooling, encourages an environment where children
of various ages learn together.

Montessori believed that such diversity in age enriches the learning environment by bringing a
variety of characters and experiences into the classroom, thereby fostering social development
and peer learning. This approach is in harmony with various cognitive and developmental
theories, which propose that children benefit from interacting with peers of different ages and
capabilities.

Spiritual embryo

Maria Montessori describes the baby born as a spiritual embryo after completing its

development in the womb. The period between 0-3 years is the stage of spiritual embryos.

Physically, he/she needs someone else, he/she can’t move on his own, he/she can’t stand or

eat. But deep inside he/she has got the power of the person he/she will be in the future, has got

an active spiritual dynamic. This is one of the basic terms of the Montessori philosophy.

There are 2 embryonic periods in humans, the first is the prenatal period, the second is the

postpartum period. Long-term infancy in humans distinguishes it from animals. In the animals,

the newborn animal begins to act on its own in a short period of time, while in humans there is a

long inadequacy.

Each individual is different from the other, has a unique soul. The child is born with a unique

spirit and has a unique personality development. The child hides his/her personality in essence

and has a development plan to follow.

For the development of the spiritual embryo, there is a need for an external environment which

is supported by love, respected, and helping the its development, as in the physical embryo.
What an adult supposed to do is to respect this spiritual embryo, try to understand the spiritual

needs of the child and to prepare an environment for him/her. The adult’s greatest responsibility

is to support the development of the child’s natural spirit.

There is a relationship between the environment and the individual. The child slowly discovers

his/her environment, adapts to it, develops it and uses his/her environment to reach his/her

personality.

In summary, when the baby is born, it carries a soul about the future person he/she will be. The

adult is expected to prepare the appropriate environment to explore this personality, to examine

the child’s development through observation and to provide support.

Absorbent mind

If there is a Montessori term that you need to know about, it's the Absorbent Mind!

The absorbent mind in Montessori refers to a child’s sponge like capacity to absorb information.
Unlike a sponge, young children can keep absorbing information without getting saturated.
Maria Montessori found that young children have the ability to take in information through their
experiences and environment.

If you have a child under 3, it's a pivotal concept and it will help you to understand how your
child learns during those early years.

Maria Montessori believed that a child from birth to 3 years old had an absorbent mind. From
birth to 3 years old, the child absorbs from his environment.
This is the time where the young child is growing not only physically but also spiritually. The
child works to become a human being. The first 3 years of life are of great importance. During
this time the child forms his personality.

Children unconsciously soak up information from the environment, learning at a rapid rate. We
say that the child absorbs like a sponge!

Prepared environment
Dr. Maria Montessori believed that a child should be provided an environment to facilitate
maximum independent learning and exploration; thus, named it as “Prepared environment.”

Therefore, a Montessori-prepared environment is an organized, clean, spacious, warm, safe,

and inviting space that helps children learn from the activities prepared to tailor their
development needs.

In a Montessori classroom, lessons, activities, and teaching tools are visually appealing and are
tailored to meet every child’s developmental needs and interests. Each child is allowed to
choose the lessons they want to learn. The furniture is child-sized and activities are kept at the
eye level of children.

With a prepared environment, each child gets the freedom to develop their unique potential
through appropriate learning materials and activities. These materials are realistic and easy to
use. It ranges from simple to complex and concrete to abstract, catering to every child’s age,
ability, and independence.

Montessori teachers act more than just as guides. They are responsible for preparing the
lessons, and the environment. They are also responsible for maintaining a healthy environment
and assisting with behavioral interventions.

The Montessori-prepared environment greatly differs from that of conventional education, here a
child experiences a combination of freedom and self-discipline, as guided by the environment.
The Prepared Environment is composed of six aspects, or principles: Freedom, Structure and
Order, Beauty, Nature and Reality, Social Environment, and Intellectual Environment.

Focus on individual progress

Montessori Theory recognizes that each child has unique interests, learning styles, and
developmental timelines. Understanding this theory enables educators and parents to tailor
educational experiences to individual needs, ensuring that each child can progress at their own
pace and in their own way.

Contrary to the goal of most educational settings, which is to have its students reach maximum
achievement in certain academic subjects, the Montessori method creates an environment that
promotes a child’s optimal intellectual, physical, emotional, and social development to occur.

Self paced individual activities:

Montessori believed that children should be allowed to learn at their own pace, following their
natural instincts and interests. She developed a unique method of teaching that emphasized
hands-on learning, self-directed play, and individualized instruction.

No Competition:
In the words of Dr. Maria Montessori,
“…I did not invent a method of Education, I simply gave some little children a chance to live.”

Dr Montessori believed that no human being is educated by another person. They must do it
themselves or it will never be done. She felt, therefore, that the goal of early childhood
education should not be to fill the child with facts from pre-selected course studies, but rather to
cultivate his own natural desire to learn.

In a Montessori house, no two children are compared with each other. We don’t make children
compete with each other or run races. There is a respect for individual differences and varying
paces at which different children progress in various areas.
Being compared to another child has negative implications on child psychology, so much so that
a child can label himself or herself to be incapable of doing a task in which some other child
excels. The disadvantage of competition is that it kills the idea of learning and increases the
sense of winning and achievement only. It also increases the chance to gain negative traits like
dishonesty, jealousy, cheating and using wrong means to beat the other kid.​
​