Learning How to Learn

Developing the Transition to Abstract Thinking

The Montessori learning experience is cumulative: what a child learns in the kindergarten year depends on what he has learned in his previous Montessori years. In many ways the preceding years are of lower utility if she cannot continue her interaction with the Montessori materials to complete the three year cycle. 

In the Montessori environment there is tremendous emphasis on having a child use the concrete manipulative to transition into abstract thinking.  Kindergarten is a critical developmental time when the transition should not be broken.  If the transition is allowed to take place in the Montessori environment, children will learn to read, do mathematical operations and begin to think about the world in terms of inter-related facts.  It is a social time as well, when children are starting to interact with each other in work and play, and to pay attention to the thoughts and feelings of others.

Differences Between Traditional and Montessori Kindergarten

There are important differences between a Montessori kindergarten and a traditional one.  In most traditional kindergarten classes, the primary emphasis is on developing social skills with some preliminary work in cognitive “readiness”. Contrastingly, a Montessori classroom focuses on developing cognitive skills on a firm foundation of sensory and motor skill training. In a Montessori classroom, a child progresses at his/her own rate; there are no pressures to “catch up” or “slow down” to the level of the class. The child working at his own rate develops good work habits including initiative, the ability to process information, and the ability to persist in completing a task. We emphasize helping each child feel competent in his or her own abilities and interested in learning for its own sake. 

Montessori Education Provides Better Outcomes than Traditional Methods, Study Indicates

A study comparing outcomes of children at a public inner-city Montessori school with children who

attended traditional schools indicates that Montessori education leads to children with better social

and academic skills.

The study appears in the Sept. 29, 2006 issue of the journal Science.

Montessori education is characterized by multi-age classrooms, a special set of educational

materials, student-chosen work in long time blocks, a collaborative environment with student

mentors, absence of grades and tests, and individual and small group instruction in academic and

social skills. More than 5,000 schools in the United States, including 300 public schools, use the

Montessori method.

The Montessori school studied is located in Milwaukee and serves urban minority children.

Students at the school were selected for enrolment through a random lottery process. Those

students who "won" the lottery and enrolled at the Montessori school made up the study group. A

control group was made up of children who had "lost" the lottery and were therefore enrolled in

other schools using traditional methods. In both cases the parents had entered their children in the

school lottery with the hope of gaining enrolment in the Montessori school.

"This strategy addressed the concern that parents who seek to enrol their children in a Montessori

school are different from parents who do not," wrote study authors Angeline Lillard, a University of

Virginia professor of psychology, and Nicole Else-Quest, a former graduate student in psychology

at the University of Wisconsin. This was an important factor because parents generally are the

dominant influence on child outcomes.

Children were evaluated at the end of the two most widely implemented levels of Montessori

education: primary (3- to 6-year-olds) and elementary (6- to 12-year-olds). They came from

families of very similar income levels (averaging from $20,000 to $50,000 per year for both

groups).

The children who attended the Montessori school, and the children who did not, were tested for

their cognitive and academic skills, and for their social and behavioural skills.

"We found significant advantages for the Montessori students in these tests for both age groups,"

Lillard said. "Particularly remarkable are the positive social effects of Montessori education.

Typically the home environment overwhelms all other influences in that area."

Among the 5-year-olds, Montessori students proved to be significantly better prepared for

elementary school in reading and math skills than the non-Montessori children. They also tested

better on "executive function," the ability to adapt to changing and more complex problems, an

indicator of future school and life success.

Montessori children also displayed better abilities on the social and behavioural tests,

demonstrating a greater sense of justice and fairness. And on the playground they were much

more likely to engage in emotionally positive play with peers, and less likely to engage in rough

play.

Among the 12-year-olds from both groups, the Montessori children, in cognitive and academic

measures, produced essays that were rated as "significantly more creative and as using

significantly more sophisticated sentence structures." The Montessori and non-Montessori

students scored similarly on spelling, punctuation and grammar, and there was not much

difference in academic skills related to reading and math. This parity occurred despite the

Montessori children not being regularly tested and graded.

Montessori Education Provides Better Outcomes Page 2

In social and behavioural measures, 12-year-old Montessori students were more likely to choose

"positive assertive responses" for dealing with unpleasant social situations, such as having

someone cut into a line. They also indicated a "greater sense of community" at their school and felt

that students there respected, helped and cared about each other.

The authors concluded that, "_when strictly implemented, Montessori education fosters social and

academic skills that are equal or superior to those fostered by a pool of other types of schools."

Lillard plans to continue the research by tracking the students from both groups over a longer

period of time to determine long-term effects of Montessori versus traditional education. She also

would like to replicate the study at other Montessori and traditional schools using a prospective

design, and to examine whether specific Montessori practices are linked to specific outcomes.

Lillard is the author of "Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius." More information is available

at: http://www.montessori-science.org/. For a copy of the study in the journal Science, call 1-202-

326-6440, or email: scipak@aaas.org.

Fariss Samarrai

Senior News Officer for Science

Office of University Relations

University of Virginia

400 Ray C. Hunt Drive, P.O. Box 400229

Charlottesville, VA 22904-4229

434-924-3778 samarrai@virginia.edu

Parenting - Give Your Child The Tools To Build Strong Character And Values

By Jennifer Houck

There are many parenting styles. Yours may be very different from your own parents, your siblings, or your neighbors. There is no right or wrong parenting style. If you are teaching your children basic values and good citizenship, you have already won half the battle. There are some basic character traits that are necessary for children to develop into good citizens and role models. Instilling these values in your children will provide them with a strong foundation on which they can base their lives and build their futures.

Trustworthiness is among the most important lessons you can teach your children. Children that are taught to be honest and reliable will not only grow up to be successful adults, they will also become courageous, learn to do the honorable thing even if it is not the easiest way, and will build a good reputation that will follow them through the rest of their lives. Children should also be taught fairness. Taking turns, playing by the rules, learning to listen to others and their opinions with an open mind, and learning to not cast blame will put your child on the path to responsible adulthood and teach the value of friendship. Learning to respect others includes tolerance, judiciousness, and solving problems peacefully.

Teach your children to be compassionate and caring towards others. Gratefulness, forgiveness, and helpfulness will follow your child into adulthood and give them strong leadership skills. Children should learn to be dependable, learn to do their best at whatever challenges are placed in their path, and learn to take responsibility for their actions. Respect for authority and a concern for the world in which they live will give your children the skills they require to become successful adults and leaders in their community. No matter what your parenting style, these basic lessons will give your children a sense of values, belonging, and a strong character.

About the Author: Head on over to the ever growing Online Resource Guide for Mothers at http://www.ilovebeingamom.com today!

Source: www.isnare.com

Ages and Stages

North American Montessori Teachers Association*

 My vision of the future is no longer people taking exams and proceeding then on that certification . . . but of individuals passing from one stage of independence to a higher [one], by means of their own activity through their own effort of will, which constitutes the inner evolution of the individual.

—Maria Montessori, From Childhood to Adolescence

The Montessori Developmental Continuum 

Montessori education is a flow experience; it builds on the continuing self-construction of the child—daily, weekly, yearly—for the duration of the program. Although Montessori schools are divided into multi-age classrooms—parent infant (ages 0 to 3), preschool (ages 3 to 6), lower and upper elementary (ages 6 to 9 and 9 to 12), and middle school (ages 12 to 14)—the prepared environments introduce an uninterrupted series of learning passages, a continuum.

The prepared environments described in this section, along with their physical dimensions, desired outcomes, and documented results, carefully reflect the natural learning characteristics of the child at each stage of development. In Maria Montessori's metaphorical language, "the successive levels of education must conform to the successive personalities of the child." 

The prepared environments and the role of the teacher in the classroom distinguish Montessori from other educational approaches. For example, independent activity constitutes about 80% of the work while teacher-directed activity accounts for the remaining 20%. The reverse percentages are generally true for traditional education. The special environments enable children to perform various tasks which induce thinking about relationships. The prepared environment also offers practical occasions for introducing social relationships through free interaction. The logical, sequential nature of the environment provides orderly structures that guide discovery: Theorems are discovered, not presented; spelling rules are derived through recognition of patterns, not merely memorized. Every aspect of the curriculum involves creative invention and careful, thoughtful analysis. In viewing learning outcomes at each Montessori level, it must be emphasized that why and how students arrive at what they know is just as important as what they know.

*NAMTA’s purpose is to maintain Montessori traditions, and at the same time, to be on the cutting edge of innovative education. Accordingly, we provide the medium for study, interpretation, and improvement of Montessori education.