Benefits of a Montessori Education
♦ Emphasis on cognitive structures & social development
♦ Teacher’s role is unobtrusive; child actively participates in learning
♦ Environment & method encourage internal self-discipline
♦ Individual & group instruction adapts to each student’s learning style
♦ Mixed age grouping
♦ Children encouraged to teach, collaborate, and help each other
♦ Child chooses own work based upon own interests and abilities
♦ Child formulates concepts from self-teaching materials
♦ Child works as long as s/he wants on chosen project
♦ Child sets own learning pace to internalize information
♦ Child spots own errors through feedback from material
♦ Learning is reinforced internally through child’s own repetition of activity and internal feelings of success
♦ Multi-sensory materials for physical exploration & development
♦ Organized program for learning care of self and environment
♦ Child can work where s/he is comfortable, moves & talks at will (yet doesn’t disturb others); group work is voluntary & negotiable.
♦ Organized program for parents to understand the Montessori philosophy & participate in the l learning process
Copyright American Montessori Society. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.