Picture a classroom without assigned desks configured in front of a white board; a school without students carrying heavy textbooks and work sheets on their backs. Think of a learning system free from standardization our society has pressed onto children and their education. Instead, picture a multiage classroom of students working independently and self- sufficiently. A school that encourages kids to embody their creativity and a learning system that caters to the natural and individual development of a learner. Montessori is a system of education for children that seek to develop and advance interests rather than use formal schooling approaches. The Montessori Method creates organic harmony between a child and learning. By establishing young independence, the ability to work at a desired pace, lessons taught by teaching not correcting, and the natural setting of a classroom. These are all factors that contribute to the most successful learning environment for a student. 

Over one hundred years ago Dr. Maria Montessori specialized in child development and conducted many scientific achievements about the ways children naturally learn. Montessori was an Italian educator, psychiatrist, and creator of the Montessori Method. She opened her first Montessori School in 1907 in a poor-inner-city district in Rome, Italy. Montessori believed that children should be given the opportunities to demonstrate responsibility, creating and achieving personal goals, and finding solution to their own complications. “According to her, children and adolescents should be routinely engaged in activities for their self-development, perfection of their personalities, and they must be encouraged do so without feelings of constraint. She argued that the traditional classroom that allows cramming of the minds of young people, fosters ruthless competition, and is insensitive to the needs of the child” (Baligadoo,4) The Montessori Method is now used worldwide and is often praised for its academic achievements. There are countless numbers of successfully recognized people that were once Montessori students. For example, Sergey Brin and Larry Page are the founders of Google; during an interview with Barbra Walters Page credited their accomplishments to the Montessori Method, Page says, “We both went to Montessori school and I think it was part of that training of following rules and orders and being self motivated and questioning what is going on in the world and doing things a little bit differently.”  (The Daily Montessori)

For a few years I have worked at a Montessori School. Though I am not certified or a trained teacher, I am a helping hand to my local Montessori community. Each year I think about the children as we do the preparation for the school garden outside the classrooms; saturating them with experience and providing clean air and sunshine to grow. Each year I observe the students slowly sprouting from seedlings to healthy fruitful minds. Watching these transformations are the ultimate reward. Similar, the feeling a student gets when picking a tomato from the plant they have watered all summer in the garden.

Montessori herself writes “The child who has never learnt to do things by itself, to control its actions, to master its own will, later turns into an adult who is easily led and who needs the support of other people” (Wentworth,54). Creating independence is very important in a Montessori classroom; The younger the student the better. When a child has established independence they have officially created the tools for successes, such as concentration, coordination, and confidence.  A Montessori child is taught independently and works independently, so when a student completes an activity the feeling of accomplishment encourages the child to learn more ways to become self-sufficient. “Liberty is not the ability to do anything one likes, it is being able to act without help.” (Montessori)

Over time Montessori independence becomes a helpful part of a kid’s home and classroom, children are given responsibilities and within, stems freedom. For example, a child is capable of preparing and packing their own lunch; simple requirements such as one fruit, one vegetable, and one carbohydrate are given and the child has the ability to choose within the guidelines. Often in the classroom kids are given chores that they must complete by the end of the school day; anything from watering the plants to taking out the trash. These lessons seem small but scientifically benefit a child’s future.

 Inaya is a seven-year-old girl, working on single digit subtraction. She quietly works on a mat exchanging bead back and forth; this work is called small bead frame subtraction. In the same room across the class a seven-year-old boy name Andy sit at a table working on Stamp game subtraction. He tells me “I try to minus stuff and get the right answer like, 6,522-4,611=1,911.”  Both children the same age, the same subject, and the same class working at different levels. This is an illustration of the harmony that is created when children work at their own pace. Not only does this eliminate the competitive nature found in a traditional class setting; but it also creates uniqueness between the students. When discussing the benefits of Montessori education, The American Montessori Society says “each child is valued as a unique individual. Montessori education recognizes that children learn in different ways, and accommodates, all learning styles. Students are also free to learn at their own pace, each advancing through the curriculum as they are ready, guided by the teacher and an individualized learning plan.” Because the freedom of choosing work is in the hands of the students; Montessori believed that a child’s mind should be well-rounded and it is a teacher’s job to incorporate lessons that interest each child so the student does not limit it’s work to a favored subject. 

Teachers, should teach by leading not by correcting. In a traditional classroom students are critiqued daily; when a teacher grades homework or yells at a student in the hall, these are examples of correcting a child. A trained Montessori teacher does not take this approach; they provide a more understanding way of leading a classroom. They are taught to respect the child who makes a mistake and give the child the ability to correct themselves. To Be ready to answer the questions of students only who want the guidance of the instructor, and to never break concentration of a child who has not asked for assistance. Teachers are asked to improve and develop good qualities in a child, so it may leave no room for the malicious.  Montessori teachers respect the child that simply takes a break from their work and return when ready. When discussing discipline in Montessori schools Laura Flores Shaw writes, “We know from a huge body of research that extrinsic rewards and punishments don’t work and can actually adversely affect intrinsic motivation.” Instead of harsh discipline, Montessori believes in redirecting a child to an activity that might change their behavior. Through my own experience, the teacher sets the tone of the classroom; so for a successful learning community the Montessori teacher leads with respect and compassion for each student, and the students will treat the teacher and fellow students the same.

The first time I stepped into a Montessori classroom I was intrigued by the tiny furnishing purposefully placed throughout the room. Miniature shelves outlining the walls of the room were filled with baskets and trays that were neatly arranged and packed with what I thought to be little trinkets. I later learn that the are not trinkets at all, but are individual lessons. A miniature sink, miniature bathroom, even a miniature broom. Everything had shrunken and become perfect fit for the twenty miniature humans that filled the space. I noticed that there were no desks, a few table but mostly rugs and pillows. For me this was a shock, “kids can’t work on the floor” I thought to myself. There were children spread out all over the large area rug. Each child working at their own mat, that they retrieved from the corner of the room. Not only were children working diligently on the floor but they were also barefoot, know one in the entire room had shoes on, except for me.  Each child had a small cubby containing their shoes and a canvas tote, no such thing as a Spiderman book bag at a Montessori school. The natural light poured through the many uncovered windows. Posters of famous works of art like Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by, Georges Seurat, and a poster of Maria Montessori that reads “Within the child lies the fate of the future.” (Montessori) I could barley hear the strings of the violin from a Beethoven CD lightly playing in the background; because the whispering buzz of the busy children filled the hive. It was in that moment I began to grow, just as the young minds that surrounded me in the natural sanctuary of learning. That is when I first noticed the harmony.

According to the North American Montessori Center, freedom is the most important quality in a class room, “the child must experience freedom of movement, freedom of exploration, freedom to interact socially, and freedom from interferences from others. This freedom ultimately leads to a greater freedom: freedom of choice.” Through the organized flow of the well maintained shelves of work; the overall feeling of the class is peaceful and tranquil. 

I have read about speculations that children who attend Montessori schools do not get to experience enough social interactions as students in a public school setting. I have to say that I do not agree with this accusation. In a Montessori classroom it is a multiage environment; at first I had a hard time believing that a three-year-old could work in the same room as a six-year-old, but when you see it, it is like the milkweed blossoming in the butterfly garden. The older students are the milkweed providing nectar for the young butterflies.  There is an organic harmony of students teaching students; because of the multiage classrooms students learn to socialize and communicate with kids of differing ages. 

Victoria Bradfield wrote an article about the pros and cons of Montessori, that is where I discovered that Montessori is not patented, copy writed, or trademarked so any school can consider themselves Montessori with out the credentials and without the training. I believe that if the parents are invested enough to seek out a school that they should know to examine the school and request proof of authenticity also visiting the school and sitting in during class time will prove if a school is qualified or not. Another argument is about the transition from Montessori to a regular classroom setting; because Montessori tends to an elementary educational school many students sucessully advance traditional classroom for middle school and high school. I would argue that it depends on the child, Montessori creates an independent leader that should be able to adapt to many changes through a child’s life.

As of 2015, “there are more than 4,000 certified Montessori schools in the United States and more than 7,000 worldwide.” (Lillard) slowly the world is discovering the power of Montessori and its underlying goal to developing a child to its full potential in hopes the child will become an outstanding member of society. In the Untied States the Montessori method is generally used in early childhood development though it is great to expose children to a Montessori class at an early age. The method has best results if continued through the years. 

“We should be aware of what Dr. Montessori was not offering: an educational method for teaching very young children to read, write and calculate. Maria Montessori observed children from a clinical viewpoint…to satisfy children’s needs from birth through college. Montessori’s principles are more the answer of a scientist to the problems of society than the theories of an educator” (Wentworth 41). In America Montessori schools are typically viewed as an privileged upper class alternative form of education when many other countries is seen as the dominant educational style. Just in recent years, there has been an influx of Montessori Charter schools and even some Montessori Public schools. Here in Columbia, South Carolina we have a total of six Montessori elementary schools and three out of the five are considered a public form of education. This is only the beginning for Montessori and its great success world wide.

The establishment of young independence and freedom, the ability to work at a desired pace, lessons taught by teaching not correcting, and the tranquil setting of a classroom; through these elements an organic harmony between a child and learning is planted; because of Montessori, I watch the children outgrow our school garden, pruning  leaves  of mistakes become unchallenging, their roots become full of knowledge and  are able to grow through invasive weeds of choice.; The Montessori children then leave our patch of plants at the school  and plant themselves in a much larger garden. 
