What Is Montessori

Confused by the different preschool approaches out there? In this new series, Young Parents tells you what you need about each one to know before you sign on. First up: Montessori.

Walk around any HDB estate and chances are, you’ll pass by a Montessori preschool.

The Ministry of Community Youth and Social Development’s website lists 50 childcare centres which include the word ‘Montessori’ in their names; while out of the 493 kindergartens which the Ministry of Education has on record, 35 are Montessori ones.

It’s a name synonymous with quality preschool education, but ironically, Dr Maria Montessori started her groundbreaking method in the slums of Rome in 1907, teaching dirt-poor children.

She observed that at certain ages, a child shows an interest in acquiring a particular skill – she called these “sensitive periods”.

A child will learn to talk during his “sensitive period for language”; at other times, he will demonstrate the same passion for precise movement, learning numbers and even socialising. So the Montessori programme takes advantage of these periods.

Unlike a normal classroom situation, the Montessori teacher’s role is to introduce children to materials, then remain a “silent presence” in the classroom.

Montessori preschoolers “direct” their own learning process, choosing among the sections of a curriculum. These include:

• Practical Life (materials that help with practical, daily activities, including the those that develop fine and gross motor skills)
• Sensorial (materials designed to refine the different senses)
• Language
• Mathematics
• Cultural

Some schools may adapt the formula to suit their needs. East Coast Children’s House, for instance, uses both the Montessori and cross curriculum approaches, so cultural work has been replaced with lessons organised around a theme.

Hansa Ramanlal from the centre gives an example: “In Montessori work the children could learn to identify sea water and fresh water fish. But in cross curriculum, we’d make a conscious effort to cross from environmental awareness to maths, where children would sort and classify the fish.”

At Halifax Montessori, principal Maria Seow says the only adaptation is with Mandarin. “We highlight featured strokes of Chinese characters in sandpaper to allow the children to learn through their senses.”

What’s also important to note is that there is no testing and no grading.

A typical Montessori class consists of children of different ages and abilities, who become used to working individually and in groups. They regularly “socialise” – choosing to work on projects together, with the older children helping younger ones.

Read the February 2010 issue of Young Parents for the full story, and learn if a Montessori preschool is right for your child.