We all would like our children to be able to learn and grow to their full potential. We all have had questions about when and where to begin their learning experiences. What is best for growing brains?
- Learning begins before birth. Brain cells begin to form in the third week of prenatal development. The sense of hearing is evident by week ten. By the seventeenth week, the fetus is sensitive to light. By the sixteenth week, a period of rapid brain development begins that will extend through the child’s fourth year of life. By the twenty-eighth week, the fetus is showing evidence that information is being taken in through the stimulation of the senses of taste, touch, hearing and vision.
- The young child learns through exploration with the senses. Research indicates that infants and children who are given rich environments to explore, and the ability to explore with minimal intervention from others, will develop synapses (brain connections between related ideas) at a much greater rate than children who are not allowed the freedom of exploration.
- The young child cannot stop learning.
Brain cells, both neurons and synapses, continue to take in whatever a child is exposed to, both positive and negative. Children have the capacity to learn a new language easily. They will also pick up anything else that they hear. The child under three has no filtering system in place, and is easily overloaded. The adult in the child’s environment is responsible for being the filtering system that allows the child to develop focus and concentration.
- Brain connections are strengthened with repeated experiences.
Children older than three are beginning to organize the masses of information they have already taken in, and also to weed out mistaken connections they have made. Consistent, repeated, multisensory learning experiences tend to strengthen connections, leading to greater understanding and an increased ability to retrieve the information in new situations.
How does the Montessori environment enhance brain development?
- Language—The Montessori environment enhances language development by giving children precise names for things, and accurate descriptive language, while the child is actually holding and experiencing that which is being named or described. Sounds and symbols are integrated using the sense of touch along with the visual and auditory senses.
- Order—Activities in a Montessori school have a precise order in which they are completed, and an order to the way they are set up on the shelf. Left to right order is emphasized, as well as simple to complex, top to bottom, and smaller to greater. This reinforcement strengthens connections that help the brain organize for reading and math operations.
- Movement—The Montessori environment encourages movement, but not just random movement. Children are encouraged to imitate the precise movement of the adults that emphasize the physical attributes of the activities they are involved in, whether moving a large or tiny cube, setting up the steps of a carrot peeling activity from left to right, or using a screwdriver. The act of using controlled movements to complete a task strengthens the brain synapses used to complete the task, as well.
How the Montessori environment enhances brain development.
A. Language - The Montessori environment enhances language development by giving children precise names for things, and accurate descriptive language, while the child is actually holding and experiencing that which is being named or described. Sounds and symbols are integrated using the sense of touch along with the visual and auditory senses.
B. Order - Activities in a Montessori school have a precise order in which they are completed, and an order to the way they are set up on the shelf. Left to right order is emphasized, as well as simple to complex, top to bottom, and smaller to greater. This reinforcement strengthens connections that help the brain organize for reading and math operations.
C. Movement - The Montessori environment encourages movement, but not just random movement. Children are encouraged to imitate the precise movement of the adults that emphasize the physical attributes of the activities they are involved in, whether moving a large or tiny cube, setting up the steps of a carrot peeling activity from left to right, or using a screwdriver. The act of using controlled movements to complete a task strengthens the brain synapses used to complete the task, as well.
1. Motor Memory – Concrete experiences in the Montessori environment reinforce learning by providing additional pathways for recall, making the retrieval of information more successful. This suggests that more connections are being made in the brain.
Examples of things we have in our classroom that support brain development
A. Sandpaper letters – concrete representation of sounds, absorbed sensorially.
B. Moveable alphabet – shows how separate sounds are put together to form words.
C. Knobbed cylinders – sensorial representation of the 1-10 continuum; refines fine motor control; encourages order (left to right)
D. Golden beads – concrete experiences of number help forge strong connections.
E. Practical life exercises (i.e. foot washing) – reinforce organization and movement.
F. Freedom of movement – allows the child to experiment with his/her environment, and come to their own conclusions.
G. Work space and rugs – encourages organization.
H. Foreign languages and cultural experiences – give children the opportunity, while learning, to use their whole brain, while exposing them to new sounds.
I. Multi-age children - encourage repetition and comprehension.
Additional resources
A. “A Parents’ Guide to the Montessori Classroom” by Aline D. Wolf
B. “I Can Do It Myself: A Record of Progress for a Preschool Montessori Child” by Barbara Moffitt
C. “Teaching With the Brain in Mind” by Eric Jensen
