Teach Me Tuesdays - Montessori

Today's "Teach Me Tuesday" topic is the Montessori method of schooling. I first heard about this method last spring in my Kindergarten practicum and I have been itching to learn more about it. It's super interesting, and something that I plan on integrating into my future classroom.

The basics:
1. Children have a natural ability to learn.
2. Classes are multi-age (0-6,6-12,12-18)
3. Students are given the freedom to make decisions about how they want to learn.
4. Children are given lessons and then allowed to move about the room to centers where they choose what learning tools they want to use and they are able to learn at their own pace.
5. The curriculum is divided into the following:

*Practical Life - Materials are provided that are child-sized (tables, chairs, and other furniture)and the students learn to take care of themselves and their environment in ways such as cleaning up after themselves, and helping one another. Other activities include learning to dress oneself with materials that simulate tying, buttoning, and zipping. Also, students learn to scoop, measure, use manners, and to cook.

* Sensorial - Students explore size, shape, color, and dimension of objects.

* Mathematics - Students use hands-on materials (manipulatives) to explore math concepts and learn place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, etc.

* Language - Children begin with letters made of sandpaper that they can trace with their fingers and learn the sound that each letter makes. The then move on to building words with movable letters. They continue learning progressively with hands-on materials that make language tangible.

* Cultural - Students have access to maps, puzzles, and many country-specific materials.

There are a few Montessori schools in the Nashville area, and I would love to sit in on a class and learn more, as I have only read about these schools and watched videos of Montessori classrooms.

Typical Montessori classroom: