Maria Montessori and her Method

[montrealactor]

Disagree that photosynthesis cannot be concrete, showing how a leave grows when it is green would turn the abstract though of the method of the plant building sugars for itself into real view.

Appreciate the use of senses to allow for first hand knowledge, one has to respect technology and social change though that have come a long way since in the days of this pedagogical scholar a woman's place was to be instructed to be be a good domestic. Today being domesticated is more of a choice.

[ChaosPilote666]

The Montessori method has been viewed as anti-social because children are ideally not forced to do anything, only prevented from harming others:)

[legendre007]

I agree. I always hear the silly accusations about home-schooling and Montessori schooling making kids "antisocial."

It was actually being forced to go to government "public" school -- and getting bullied there -- that made me "antisocial." :-)

[ChaosPilote666]

There is more to the method. Above all it is very effective, which has been backed up by research.

The filosophy behind the movement is surprisingly close to objectivism. It is very anti-collectivist. The empfasis is on the child working to better himself and follow his interests. Co-operation and sharing is voluntary and looked at from the perspective of the interest of the individual child.

[Irisheyes77christy]

Oh, I also wanted to add two more things.

The Montessori method was written by Maria Montessori many years ago and technology and such have changed quite a bit since there.

Also, Maria Montessori, I believe, worked with children who were learning disabled. So, I would think her methods would be geared a bit differently because of that.

[Irisheyes77christy]

I am using the Montessori method for my younger children and really like it for the younger years.

The Math is especially a favorite of mine. I really think math scores could be boosted if these principals were incorporated in elementary schools.

I do not only use the Montessori method. I just find it to be a fantastic addition. I have never found it wise to jump onto one band wagon so to speak. It's good to balance things and be somewhat eclectic.

[anjaba2]

Hi CropperB, I liked your video. I'm getting my Master's in Montessori Ed. at the moment, and while perhaps you are missing some key points, you did very well at something I've struggled with, which is summarizing Montessori. There are other aspects at play, but I liked your concise explanation at the beginning of how the material responds to the unique way a child learns (concrete vs. abstract). For other aspects, I recommend you read "The Absorbent Mind." How did you get interested in this?

[bigstronguy]

I understand why you would disagree with the method of trying to 'concretize' photosynthesis using little green-men absorbing the sun. However, the goal of that specific chart, to which you refer, is to create an impressionistic idea to the minds of very young children. I actually teach a lower elementary Montessori classroom, and I know, first hand, that the children DO Understand abstract ideas, after being given the impressionistic charts. Don't confuse the mind of children with adult's

[KirstenBo]

i work at old school montessori as a program plus teacher lol

[fractalsq]

every lesson taught in the Montessori classroom is a head-fake. It's all about tricking a kid into learning without realizing it at the time, because at the time it just seems like a fun activity. i think you missed this key point (note the soap part).

[fractalsq]

Ayn Randers are stereotyped for regurgitating other people's ideas, instead of building off of their ideas. he uses Ayn Rand as a keyword. This was painful. But I thought the talking of how "some 25 year olds don't know how to use soap" was hillarious!!!! haha =) the missing the point library called. they want their books back.

[callbooks]

montessori teaching methods are not limited to practical life exercises. It also includes math, language and cultural arts...and what's wrong with learning to tie shoelaces anyway?

[sharoncaldwell]

How do you justify using a book written about the program for 3-6 year oldsa nd a book on homeschooling, that you have clearly only paged through, to trash a system that has been vindicated by research for almost a century (elementary, that is). How can you support the idea that you can criticize the methods used by people who have actually studied the method.

[hoser4]

In fact, this concretization is *remarkably* true to what actually happens. I encourage you to read up on the subject; it is VERY fascinating, and the photosynthesis process itself (which actually converts sunlight to electricity in the form of ions) makes our current solar cell technology look utterly pathetic in comparison.

[hoser4]

I can tell you how to concretize photosynthesis: imagine a plant with lots and lots of loading docks. Energy from the sun arrives in packets, called photons. Each of these packets carries energy, kind of like batteries. The plants use the energy in these "batteries" to power their food generators (imagine these like little microwave ovens if you must).

[MattBronsil]

Photosynthesis is the process of taking energy from sunlight and turning it into sugar. Sorry for all the posts, it's my last one :). Just can only post 500 words at a time.

[MattBronsil]

You talked about how the Montessori method is moved into the upper grades "in the same way. They think they have to concrete-ise everything." Not true. The level always goes from concrete to abstract, so abstraction provides the mastery of the concept. When a 1st grader is learning square roots, they need that concrete material. You said photosynthesis is "nothing more than the green color of the leaf when the sun strikes it." Um...no it's not. Sounds like you needed Montessori.

[MattBronsil]

"You're supposed to just teach them a lot of basic things when they're young." Not sure if that is phrased incorrectly, but the word "just" seems to suggest that is all you teach them.

Your explanations of the practical life activities are also "end result" focused. You're missing the point of the "process over the product."

[tomorrowkiddo]

Hurrah awakingdragon! and further more, self-education in a prepared environment... allowing a child/adult to be free to learn from the environment, of which the teacher is a member of. Again, Hurrah!!!

[awakingdragon79]

In fact, the method, correctly applied to the elementary age students (from 1st grade to at least up to the 8th grade), can provide the kind of superior education that only private tutoring can impart! If I had to describe the Montessori method in its most essential application, I would simply say that it boils down to PRIVATE TUTORING IN A SOCIAL SETTING, i.e. the best of individualized and classroom instruction!

[awakingdragon79]

This rational approach to education benefits students of all ages, from kindergarten to university and could greatly enhance the skills of teachers who haven't heard of it, whether they teach children or adults. These are the reasons why Objectivists value the Montessori method. It is unfortunate that most Objectivists erroneously abstract that the rational principles of the Montessori method do not apply beyond the preschool age.

[awakingdragon79]

The Montessori teacher plans a program consisting of lessons graded in difficulty and teaches according to the principles of ISOLATION OF DIFFICULTIES, ACTIVE LEARNING, SELF-PACED LEARNING, and INDIVIDUALIZED LEARNING, tailoring each lesson to the developmental level of the individual child.

[awakingdragon79]

Although Maria Montessori shared with Rousseau the naturalistic view of education, she went much further than Rousseau in her understanding of how the "child constructs the self." The Rousseau teacher follows the child in all his whims; the Montessori teacher, on the other hand, prepares the environment so as to guide the child to encounter experiences, helps him discover, from concrete to abstract, the principles of what he/she is learning.

[awakingdragon79]

These concepts are best understood, even by adults, with drawings derived from our knowledge of dissection, micro-observation, and x-ray vision. All abstract concepts must be reducible to concrete representations and this is where the Montessori approach is applied even unbeknown to the person who is using this method of learning.

[awakingdragon79]

Sensory education is the foundation of early childhood education and it is the foundation upon which ALL abstract concepts must be based. It is not true that we do not have a way to concretize certain biological processes, such as photosynthesis or digestion for the child.

[TheRandyRandist]

CropperB advocates CHILD ABUSE and CHILD EXPLOITATION for self-gratification. He explains his philosophy of CHILD ABUSE in his video "Sweat shops and Child Labor".

[tomorrowkiddo]

Mario Montessori did MOST of the development of the 'older child' and adult curriculum. The Montessori Method was written at the start of a very long and developed career. I wish you every success with your school. Maybe if you could observe a Montessori Elementary/High school you can see what I am discussing here. Children are our best teacher after all! (signed a primary teacher from Australia!)

[tomorrowkiddo]

To say that the Montessori Method is useless after the age of 6 ignores over 100years of scientific research, conducted in the field. It also shows a lack of understanding of her research into 'peace education' and life long learning.

[cropperb]

Well, I am coming from the direction of Objectivism, and any residual value in the system for older children is subsumed in the cognitive approach Objectivism takes to education. But the essential, that abstractions have to be concretized so so tudents can learn everything through the five senses, is the major error of Montessori for older kids.

[amandasupak]

Montessori teaching is simply amazing!

[AlexAnCapAdvocate]

Scientific American just had an online article today entitled: "Cognitive Ability Mostly Developed Before Adolescence", in which an NIH study said that, "improvement on tasks of cognitive and motor function, this progress levels off at around age 11 or 12."

So... just thought I'd mention that.

[cropperb]

The reason Montessori is so admired by Objectivists is that Maria Montessori discovered the nature of abstract thought- that it must be learned from earlier, concrete material. There is no reason detatched from reality, as she showed. And her ideas cohere with Objectivist epistemology because, like Objectivism, they are abstracted from reality. But like I said, after the age of six or so, this method is useless.

[thericshun]

So what is it exactly that the elementary and middle schools do that you object to? The green man example... is that a real example or did you just make that up as an example. In what way, in other words, do the schools for older kids over~concretize stuff?

[cropperb]

"The green man example... is that a real example or did you just make that up as an example."

That is a real example, taken from Van Damme's course "Objective vs Classical Education."

[MetaMorphy]

I apologize. I meant to write "breed"---not "bread."

[MetaMorphy]

I never understood the objectivist love of Montessori. Her philosophy is a direct carry-over of Rousseau. While I do not want to commit the genetic fallacy, I think origins do matter when dealing with ideas: Irrational ideas tend to bread other irrational ideas.