What is Montessori Learning?

Montessori uses hands-on materials and real specimens to make the learning process concrete and exciting

Learning is not in the abstract – it is real and relevant to the child’s level of understanding and everyday experience. This keeps students engaged deeply in the learning process, which helps them retain a love of learning instead of becoming bored. 

Montessori is a dynamic learning approach

In a Montessori environment, many things are happening at the same time. Teachers may be giving separate lessons to different small groups while other students are doing independent assignments. Teachers monitor student lessons and work every step of the way. The benefit is that students are getting lessons right for them and are also learning to work on their own to accomplish tasks.

In Montessori – the focus is always on the whole – the big picture

Facts are easily forgotten unless they are taught in a broader context. Montessori kids enjoy learning about “big ideas” – the essential concepts of science, geography, and history. They learn these concepts through inspiring stories and creative follow-up activities. Montessori students also continuously learn how to make connections between ideas in different subjects. The benefit is that Montessori students remember what they have learned at a deeper level.

Students progress at their own rate

In a Montessori school, there is no limit to how fast a student can progress. When a student is ready for a new challenge, the teachers are ready to help them to meet it. As a result, Montessori schools like OFS have students reading far above grade level, doing advanced math, learning research methods and utilizing technology to learn and to make presentations. 

Multi-age classrooms

Maria Montessori discovered the magic of multi-age classrooms over 85 years ago. Now, the concept has been adopted, in modified form, in many non-Montessori schools everywhere. A multi-age classroom taps into our natural desire to learn from others who know more than us and our joy in teaching others what we know. In addition, the multi-age classroom allows students to go through a 3-year leadership cycle, allowing students and families to stay with a team of teachers to build a deep relationship of trust and communication.

Intrinsic motivation

Montessori schools do not attempt to motivate by grades, threats, punishments, or rewards. Rather, with emphasis on choice and initiative, students take charge of their learning process in partnership with their teachers. Students do assignments not because of the grade they will get but because it has meaning and relevance to them. The reward of learning is the learning itself – not just a grade. In a Montessori environment, assessment can take many forms, including individual or group student projects and presentations – which build very strong communication skills.

Non-competitive learning

Montessori students gain very strong self-confidence because they understand their talents and the areas in which they need to improve. Moreover, they learn to appreciate the gifts of others. How does this prepare them for the “real world”? The more solid students are in who they are – and the greater their ability to empathize with others – the better prepared they will be for future success.

Self-Organization

Montessori students begin to plan their days in preschool. At OFS, in grades 1-3, they learn to do a daily work plan in consultation with their teachers, which includes the lessons they must attend and the independent assignments they will do. When students graduate to grades 4-5, they begin to plan a week at a time, and in grades 6-8, they learn to look at the entire scope of a cycle of learning – about eight weeks. 

Montessori classrooms encourage students to ask questions and challenge assumptions

Students learn early on that their ideas are important –and that all great ideas come from deep thinking. Maria Montessori understood that the heart of learning is in the questions students ask. Moreover, where traditional learning focuses on “one right answer,” Montessori encourages students to discover more than one answer where possible. The benefit is that students learn to think differently about topics and to appreciate many viewpoints.

Part of a community

Both the social environment and the curriculum in a Montessori school are powerful reinforcements of the idea that we are part of a greater whole. From 2 years old onward, students learn how to care for their classroom and each other. Students learn to see their place in the community and the world and to understand that they have an important responsibility to support the well-being of our planet and its great web of life.