Welcome to the World of Montessori
How Your Child Can Benefit from Montessori at Home
Montessori education offers children opportunities to develop their full potential as they step out into the world as engaged, competent, responsible, and respectful citizens with an understanding and appreciation that learning is for life.
There are four key principles from the Montessori philosophy that will truly benefit your child.
1. Foster your child's independence and self-sufficiency
Dr. Montessori said it best herself:
“Normal developmental milestones such as weaning, walking, talking, etc. can be seen as a series of events which enable the child to achieve increased individuation, autonomy and self-regulation. Throughout the four planes of development, the child and young adult continuously seek to become more independent.”
The Montessori Method is deeply rooted in the biological principles of child development and age-appropriate opportunities for independence are introduced during these stages. Fostering independence from a young age will allow your child to become a self-starter and teach them to differentiate between a time to rely upon parental support and a time where they are capable of completing a task themselves. Your child will feel cared for and supported but simultaneously challenged to learn and grow. This lesson is ingrained in their core and can carry them through adolescence and into adulthood.
2. Organize your child’s environment
“A place for everything and everything in its place”, is one of the key principles of Montessori classrooms. When you designate a place for something in your home, your child will quickly learn where everything goes. It is an essential tool in teaching children to be responsible for their belongings and their environment.
To introduce Montessori at home, start by creating a Montessori lifestyle: explore, respect the child, follow the child's interests, slow down, involve them in your everyday work, and give them sensory experiences.
To effectively order your environment, the most significant change you will want to introduce is in making things more accessible to your child:
- Store their clothing in low drawers, shelves or baskets
- Place step stools in the bathroom and kitchen giving your child access
- Place toys, games, books and art supplies in separate shelves or baskets
- Store snacks and beverages in accessible areas with child-friendly dishes nearby
- Place coat hooks and shoe racks at a low level
- Place a child-sized table and chair in the kitchen for eating and food preparation
- Hang art work and
3. Have your child participate in practical skills and personal care
In a Montessori classroom, self-care is considered an important skill for young children to develop. Learning to identify their physical needs, and begin to take care of themselves, is a big step for a child and adults are sometimes the biggest obstacle in their way. It’s so much easier to do things for your child, but slowing down and helping them do it for themselves, has huge benefits. It encourages independence and self-confidence as your child will realize all of the things, they
can do on their own. Allow your child to do things for themselves with their own personal care and life skills such as dressing, bathing, brushing hair and food preparation, with your guidance and supervision while they learn. Provide enriching opportunities and appropriate choices to your child, within a safe and nurturing environment, while always being available to assist when needed.
“Help me to help myself” — Maria Montessori
4. Offer encouragement over praise
In Montessori, the child is encouraged to make judgments on their own behaviour, work, and ultimately self-worth. When praise is given, the child feels pressure to live up to the standards of expectations of someone else. Excessive, long-term praise can inhibit children from gaining independence as they rely too heavily on the praise of the adults in their lives. Encouragement is empowering and fosters an intrinsic feeling of self-satisfaction. The encouragement you give your child is unconditional, with feelings that are not attached to what they do or how they act. In return, your child feels loved, respected and listened to.
Encouragement focuses on the process and will acknowledge your child’s struggle in mastering something. It gives them permission to be imperfect – it recognizes their perseverance, creativity and ability to solve problems. It is especially valuable to your child when they are struggling and finding things challenging. It promotes faith in their own ability and gives them the impetus to keep trying. Using comments such as “you must be proud of yourself for accomplishing so much” or “you did your best and you didn’t give up” or ‘that’s a difficult one but I know you’ll work it out” are very effective as they target the process rather than the product.
1) Observe and follow your child’s lead
“Follow the child but follow the child as his leader” is a well-known Montessori phrase which refers to the ability to observe and follow each child’s development, interests, needs and abilities. Freedom is limited by the level of ability and responsibility a child has. The idea that freedom follows responsible behavior is an important concept in Montessori philosophy. Opportunities to "respond with ability" are provided and corresponding freedoms are given.
Freedom within limits involves setting clear expectations and ground rules ahead of time and being consistent with following through with your child. By providing an appropriate environment, with established routines and a secure, loving and trusting relationship between you and your child, they will pursue their interests and make choices that allow for self-mastery and independence. An adult should always offer limited choice with an emphasis on when a child would like to do something, as opposed to whether or not the child wants to. Also allow your child to experience the logical or natural consequences (good or bad) of the choices they make.
2) Build Your Child’s Confidence
When your child is able to complete and master certain skills, they will build confidence in their ability to take on new tasks. Allowing the child to choose their activities based on what interests them is consistently observed in a Montessori environment. This approach will help your child learn to be independent in choosing their activities, will give them a feeling of pride and accomplishment when they have mastered an activity they have chosen, and help build self-esteem and confidence in their ability to make decisions.
The Montessori approach does not provide extrinsic rewards, such as stickers or candy, for behaviour or accomplishments. Verbal praise is also given sparingly, as it is essential to acknowledge a child’s effort and encourage dedication and commitment to accomplishing a task, rather than the outcome of his work. The key is that you should teach your child to enjoy and seek the feelings of pleasure and pride that come with learning something new or completing a task. By expressing encouragement and appreciation for your child’s efforts at home, you will help nurture an inner motivation that will serve them for life.
3) Develop Your Child’s Critical Thinking
When you think critically about an issue or a problem, it means you can evaluate, be open-minded, and consider different ways of looking at possible solutions. As children grow up, their critical thinking skills become essential to helping them make judgments independently of their parents. The emphasis in a Montessori classroom is on children learning rather than teachers teaching. Thinking requires infinitely more effort and involves much more brain activity than simple memorization. Thinking involves inquiry, creativity, analysis, problem solving, persistence, self-confidence, motivation, independence and even courage.
The goal is for the child to achieve independence and joyful discovery that naturally leads to greater learning and retention. The Montessori philosophy prepares children to be able to think for themselves. Teaching your child to question facts and research questionable statements is imperative in life. As a parent, it is important to encourage your child to develop a critical mindset – encourage them to ask questions, to analyze information, and develop the necessary skills to recognize fact. By modeling empathy and building connections with others, your child will learn to be considerate of others and include the wellbeing of others in the process.