Pedagogy
- Start date
- About us
- Pedagogy
Many of the demands we place on mainstream schools are rooted in Maria Montessori’s ideas about what is needed for optimal learning in children. We are looking for…
More:
- Job satisfaction
- Help for self-awareness
- Creativity
Less:
- Coercion
- Equality
- Competition
Taking care of children's sensitive periods
Montessori education is based on children’s own development. Maria Montessori knew what every parent already knows. Namely that children are curious by nature. Full of the joy of discovery and eager to try and learn new things. Maria Montessori also noted that children’s interests vary with age and maturity.
She observed that the changes in interest follow a given pattern that is similar in all children. From the very earliest interests such as the desire to eat by themselves, learn to walk and talk to the later ones which can be reading, mathematics, space with all the planets or all the countries and animals of the world.
Maria Montessori recognized that children at specific stages of maturity are particularly receptive to different kinds of knowledge. She therefore recognized the value of taking advantage of these “periods of interest”, which she called “sensitive” periods.
We offer a business with:
- Wise, knowledgeable and highly committed teachers.
- A beautiful and inviting pre-school environment.
- An exciting pedagogy that offers your child the satisfaction of optimal learning and personal creative development.
Our activities in Montessori education are based on:
- Practical and sensory work
- Mathematics
- Swedish with reading and writing plus concrete grammar
- English language
- Geography
- Biology
- History
- Astronomy
- Song and music
- Art
- Creative activities
- Rhythm and drama
- Free play
- Outdoor recreation
Freedom to choose
Maria Montessori discovered that learning is easier when it is linked to a child’s own stage of development. That the child’s spontaneous desire for work is best utilized by letting his or her own interest be motivation enough to seek knowledge. That children have an enviable ability to concentrate on an interesting task. And that children, wanting to learn something new, repeat an exercise over and over again.
With her knowledge and insights into the early human maturation process, she created the conditions for children to develop into harmonious and independent adults.
Freedom to choose the activity and the possibility to work undisturbed at one’s own pace became two of the most important conditions.
Montessori materials - a great help in learning
The material is not the most important part of the pedagogy, but it is a good help on the way
In a Montessori room, there are materials for practical, intellectual and sensory exercises. Everything from shoe polish and cleaning rags to sensory materials that train logical and mathematical thinking. Materials that practice writing skills, language/word sense and grammar. But also things that let children practice sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.
Montessori’s idea of learning is about moving from the concrete to the abstract. For example, the math materials clearly show how and why to measure and count in a certain way. Once a child understands the structure of mathematics, it is time to move away from the material and solve abstract problems without tools.
Almost all intellectual materials serve several functions
While practicing mathematical quantities, the sense of difference between them and the ability to act and think practically are trained. Most materials are also self-correcting. Children can experience the satisfaction of seeing for themselves that they have succeeded in a task.
…and a good help in education
All materials are available in one copy only. The children are responsible for ensuring that the various items are not damaged unnecessarily. The idea of wear and tear is banned in a Montessori group. The children are taught to be considerate of each other. If a certain work material is occupied, they have to wait for their turn or agree to cooperate.
All materials have a specific place in the room. The person who used a piece of equipment is responsible for returning it to its proper place in a neat and tidy manner.
Montessori preschool
An exciting and stimulating environment
If you visit a Montessori preschool, you can’t help but be fascinated by the activity. You’ll see children aged 3 to 7 baking, shining shoes, setting tables or engaging in other practical activities. But you’ll also see children using beads of different colors, wooden cubes and rods to learn the basics of mathematics.
You may be surprised to see a 3-year-old working on a jigsaw puzzle with the continents as pieces with the utmost concentration. Or that a 4-year-old is practicing the art of writing with the greatest zeal. And maybe you find it strange that a 5-year-old talks about triangles, circles and parallelograms as the most obvious thing.
The Montessori preschool is full of exciting things. Through play and stimulation, children are able to express their imagination and answer their many curious questions. By not helping the children from time to time, but letting them freely experiment, feel their way and practice in different areas, all the obstacles that we adults normally place in the way of the children’s natural development have been removed.
So what you see in the Montessori preschool is simply a testament to what happens when, in the right environment and with the right stimulation, children’s inherent resources are harnessed. You see evidence that children both want and can do much more than we adults think. And that children need to be stimulated in all areas in order to develop their whole personality.
Montessori in primary schools
Independence, consideration/cooperation and freedom
If you visit a Montessori preschool, you can’t help but be fascinated by the activity. You’ll see children aged 3 to 7 baking, shining shoes, setting tables or engaging in other practical activities. But you’ll also see children using beads of different colors, wooden cubes and rods to learn the basics of mathematics.
You may be surprised to see a 3-year-old working on a jigsaw puzzle with the continents as pieces with the utmost concentration. Or that a 4-year-old is practicing the art of writing with the greatest zeal. And maybe you find it strange that a 5-year-old talks about triangles, circles and parallelograms as the most obvious thing.
The Montessori preschool is full of exciting things. Through play and stimulation, children are able to express their imagination and answer their many curious questions. By not helping the children from time to time, but letting them freely experiment, feel their way and practice in different areas, all the obstacles that we adults normally place in the way of the children’s natural development have been removed.
So what you see in the Montessori preschool is simply a testament to what happens when, in the right environment and with the right stimulation, children’s inherent resources are harnessed. You see evidence that children both want and can do much more than we adults think. And that children need to be stimulated in all areas in order to develop their whole personality.