Gentle hands, quiet voices: secrets of Montessori - Ways of Learning
Author: Mothering

Time was running out. My husband and I had to make a decision: Should we keep our three-year-old daughter, Abby, in her daycare or enroll her in a preschool? My sister had received an extraordinary education at a Montessori school from 1974 through 1980; however, I wasn't sure it would be right for my daughter. Perhaps visiting a classroom would help us decide.

We brought Abby to an open house at Providence Montessori in Lexington, Kentucky. Like the interior of a home, the classroom was warm, inviting, and comfortable. Desks in rows of five were absent. Instead, small tables and chairs were neatly arranged near work trays that rested on low shelves. I gazed at the bright posters and Van Gogh prints, then peeked outside at the snow-dusted benches and birdfeeders. Even though I was impressed with the beauty and the meticulous organization, I wondered if Montessori would be right for us. Would my daughter be prepared for high school, college, and life?

Before visiting the classroom, I had purchased two books: Lesley Britton's Montessori: Play and Learn and Cam Gordon's Together with Montessori. I learned that Maria Montessori was born in 1870 in a place called Chiaravalle, Italy. Rather than following her parents' wishes to become a teacher, she graduated as the first female physician in Italy. Her interest, however, lay in working with special-needs children. Because she had also trained as an anthropologist, she was able to study and to work with these children in hopes of finding a way to educate them. Through her observations she developed a successful method, which was introduced to classrooms of more typical students.

Montessori became convinced that children develop in three-year intervals. Keeping in line with her theories, most Montessori schools offer Primary (ages 3 to 6) and Elementary (ages 6 to 9 and 9 to 12) curriculums. Each class usually consists of 25 to 30 children taught by two or three teachers. The Primary curriculum includes practical life exercises such as pouring, washing, and sweeping. In addition, mathematics, language, geography, science, music, and art are taught. In Elementary, the same subjects are taught, but in more depth and with more individualized lessons. Children in Elementary learn zoology and botany, go on more field trips, and listen to guest speakers.