MONTESSORI ON A DAILY BASIS
By repeating an activity, the child experiences positive inner sensations which encourage self-confidence. It allows each child to respect his own learning rhythm.
He demonstrates how to use a material, and he does it meticulously to catch the child's attention. The latter will then keep on reproducing the experience he deeply absorbed. The Montessori teacher also makes sure the basic fundamental rules are respected: to put the material back to place after use, to respect others and their work, to take care of each material. The child needs to get good working habits from the beginning. The teacher's intercession is as limited as possible and when he does, he will act discreetly: he gives the child time to realize his mistakes and to correct them on his own.
The mainly animated life of children highlights the fact that the use of motion is an essential factor for their physical and mental development. |
Therefore, the child can choose his material according to an inner and deep motivation which corresponds to the sensitives periods the child is going through. As children don't have the same needs at the same time, giving them the opportunity to choose their material and using the latter as long as they wish allows our children to satisfy their interests and to get as much time as needed to build their intelligence according to each child's specific rhythm. The more a child works, repeats and observes, the more focused he will be. He will gradually develop his ability to concentrate.
Each child has enough time to understand, to deepen, to incorporate his knowledge, at his own pace. The program- chosen by the child - corresponds to his needs. The fact that our children are free to choose connects them with their current needs and the characteristics related to their age. When the child arrives at school, he decides what to work on. He takes himself in hand, he discovers his own self, his actions, he devotes himself to his activities and becomes day after day more independent.
Competition, punishments and rewards are excluded from our school. The child nurtures his own desire to learn, to enrich his knowledge, to understand. He develops his judgement on his work. Our children's best satisfaction comes from their feeling of succeeding and of being able to move up to the next stage. Therefore, they become more independent on the recognition of who they are and of what they are capable of.
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