Montessori

Educating with Purposes and Values

María Montessori developed a pedagogical method through observing children, with its foundation being sensorial materials that meet their needs. She allowed children to work freely in an environment prepared especially for them, where they could make their own discoveries and form concepts through concrete, hands-on experiences. Children are free to choose what they want to work on and for how long. Through repetition, they achieve perfection, leading to a great sense of internal satisfaction, acquired skills, and self-discipline. Children self-construct through work following this process:

Interest > purposeful activity freely chosen > error control > repetition > concentration > achievement > internal satisfaction > acquired skill > self-discipline

What Dr. Montessori observed was spontaneous discipline, self-mastery that develops when children engage in purposeful activities that pique their interest, which they freely choose.

Children don’t work to get results, but to exercise and strengthen themselves. Each time they accomplish something on their own, they gain confidence and bolster their personality. Success reinforces their self-affirmation: “I can,” which translates to “I am worthy.” The security they gain provides the strength to tackle tasks they hadn’t done before. The activity itself isn’t crucial; it’s the sense of security that fosters personal growth.

The goal was always to maximize each child’s potential, hence Montessori's lesson: “Follow the child, not me.” She realized education should begin at birth, as these years are crucial for personality development. Thus, she founded Infant Communities for ages two to three. Later, she established Children's Houses for ages three to six, Elementary 1 for ages six to nine, and Workshop 2 for ages nine to twelve. Adolescents’ Communities were created for ages twelve to fifteen, and "Nido," for children under two, was designed with working mothers in mind.

Childhood is fundamentally a sensory stage, and children cultivate intelligence through their senses. Therefore, Dr. Montessori perfected various pedagogical materials to help children acquire knowledge vividly through direct experience with tangible objects.

Sensitive Periods

María Montessori mentioned that children have internal natural laws that drive their development, and by following these natural laws, they are truly satisfying their needs. She referred to these laws as sensitive periods. These are periods of time during which the child has an intense interest in repeating certain actions. The special joy that the child manifests during these periods results from their intense desire to make contact with the world. These periods are transient and limited to the acquisition of a specific characteristic. Once this characteristic is developed, the corresponding sensitivity ceases. Montessori proposed four essential sensitive periods: order, language, movement, and refinement of the senses.

Order is through external order (physical order, limits, routines, and habits) that surround the child, enabling them to build their internal order, essential for emotional and cognitive development. With this order, the child creates a mental framework of the world to orient themselves and draw conclusions about their surroundings. This period begins at birth and ends around 5 years old. Its extreme manifestation occurs at the end of the first year of life.

Movement is easily observed as young children have an irresistible sensitivity to movement, as they construct through it. Movement becomes increasingly refined, and it can be seen that between 2 and a half and 4 years old, the child goes through a stage where they are sensitive to developing activities that lead to the accuracy and precision of their movements. The philosophy of movement is essential in Montessori, as it corresponds to a fundamental need for the child's development.

Refinement of The Senses if you observe a young child, you will notice that from birth, they have a special sensitivity to what they can perceive through their senses. This is due to the urgent need to know their environment. Childhood is fundamentally a sensory stage. Thus, in their first three years of life, the child unconsciously and without any order absorbs all kinds of sensations. They require multiple sensory experiences to develop and refine their senses.

Language during this period, the child develops the organization of their vocal cords, semantics (meaning of words), syntax (word order in a sentence and function), and pronunciation. They do all of this without consciousness, effort, or special classes. They achieve it by listening, playing, and living. This is the longest and most complex period.

Absorbent Mind

Montessori also talks about a privileged mind, unique to children, capable of absorbing everything around them—an Absorbent Mind. From zero to three years old, they absorb everything in their environment like sponges. From three to six years old, there starts to be classification and discrimination of everything they absorb. Education during this period is crucial because children assimilate their environment through their senses; they build their world through them. What the child absorbs shapes their character and personality.

Social Development

Within a Montessori environment, genuine social life takes place, respecting individual and group interests and needs. Children move freely in their own activities within their environment without interrupting others' work. They meet and greet each other, discuss common problems, correct each other's mistakes, and show each other how to use materials. They also help each other in various ways. Sometimes, some children prepare food for their peers, others set the table, others serve the food, others wash the dishes, others put everything back in its place, and so on. In every Montessori environment, we see a real social life that develops quite naturally and spontaneously day by day.

Limits & Consequences

In order for an environment to function effectively, clear boundaries must be established. For example, there is only one copy of each material. If a child wants a material that someone else has taken, they must wait for their turn. This teaches them patience and respect. A child has the freedom to choose and use any material they wish, but it is not allowed to throw it or damage it; if they do so, they must put it away. The child can also decide to work or not, but it is not allowed to interrupt their peers during work time. The goal is to create an environment where children understand the reasons behind actions, boundaries, and rules. It's not helpful for them to follow rules “because the Guide said so”; it's better for them to experience and realize on their own that rules and boundaries are true and useful.

In Montessori, punishment is not used as a form of learning. Instead, a consequence is assigned, and the situation is discussed calmly and without negative emotions with the child. The aim is for the child to see and understand why their actions were not correct. It focuses on helping the child see what happened rather than imposing an inappropriate punishment or rule that the child may not understand. This way, the child can engage in repairing the situation. Guides refrain from solving children's problems but can guide them. Children are allowed to solve their own problems because it prepares them to face future challenges by accepting their share of responsibility and acting for the common good.

Language

In a Montessori environment, correct language usage is modeled at all times, whether it's for resolving conflicts, calling things by their names, or enriching vocabulary. From the perspective of Montessori philosophy, children have the ability to acquire multiple languages simultaneously, thanks to the absorbent mind. At Nia School, the aim is to develop each child's full potential, creativity, and curiosity through firsthand experience. For these reasons, a bilingual Montessori approach is proposed, leveraging children's natural abilities to learn, with the purpose of providing them tools that will be useful throughout their lives.

Full english immersion at Nia School

In the Infant Community, Children's House, and Elementary, children are introduced to the English language in their daily activities through conversations, presentations, songs, discussing topics, and receiving guidance and instruction from the English Guide and teacher.

In the Infant Community and House, in addition to general work in English, vocabulary enrichment and the process of literacy (in Children's House) are also conducted in Spanish.

In Children's House, a more formal English program begins with the English teacher using the Heron Books reading program. This program consists of a series of booklets through which children learn letter sounds, read short words and sentences, all while working individually with the teacher.

In Elementary, children spend half of the day with a Spanish Guide and the other half with an English teacher trained in the Heron Books English program. This program covers reading, writing, handwriting, spelling, and research. General topics as well as final projects are presented in both Spanish and English according to the Montessori method.

Glosario

Pedagogical Method: The way in which teachers help students acquire knowledge and skills.
Sensory Materials: Elements designed to refine the senses or make an abstract concept tangible.
Prepared Environment: In Montessori, the classroom is called the Environment. A prepared environment is a classroom fully set up for children to carry out their activities with minimal adult assistance. This includes furniture sized appropriately for children.
Intelligent Purpose: Ensuring activities have an educational, achievable, and relevant purpose for the child's development.
Tangible: Something that can be touched.
Cognitive: Related to knowledge.
Character: The way a person typically acts; their mode of being and behavior. Influenced by the surrounding environment.
Personality: Emotions, understanding, and behavior of a person. The sum of biological and environmental aspects.