What is the difference in a Montessori school?
Montessori emphasizes learning through all five senses, not just through listening, watching, or reading. Children in Montessori classes learn at their own, individual pace and according to their own choice of activities from hundreds of possibilities. … Montessori represents an entirely different approach to education.
Montessori School vs Traditional School
MONTESSORI
- Three-year age span motivated by self-development ungraded self-correcting materials children learn by handling objects and teaching themselves
- individual learning
- teacher is observer and directress
- Child completes “cycles of activity”
- Few interruptions
- Free to move and work within classroom
- Emphasis on more cognitive learning
- Quiet by choice and out of regard for others
- Materials used for specific purpose with sequence of steps
- Work for joy of working and sense of discovery
- Environment provides discipline
- Encouraged to help one another
- Child chooses own material
- Child sets own pace
- Child free to discover on own
- Emphasis on concrete
- Reality oriented
- Specific places for materials, sense of order
- Child provides own stimulus to learning
- Child-centered learning environment
- Self-education through self-correcting materials
- Recognition of sensitive periods
- Multisensory materials to develop specific skills
TRADITIONAL
- All one age (usually)
- Teacher motivated
- Graded
- Teacher corrects errors
- Teacher lectures
- Group learning
- Teacher is focal point and dominant influence
- Activity cycles determined by set time
- Frequent interruptions
- Assigned seats and specific class periods
- Postponement of 3R’s
- Emphasis on social development
- Quiet enforced
- Materials used in many ways without previous instruction work because they’re told to
- Teacher provides discipline
- Seek help from teacher
- Teacher sets curriculum
- Teacher sets pace
- Teacher guides child
- Emphasis on abstract
- Much role-playing and fantasy
- Random placement, not necessary to return to specific place teacher provides
- Teacher-centered
- Use of reward and punishment in motivation
- All children treated alike
- Play materials for nonspecific skills.
