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Introduction
The first years of a child’s life are critical: they shape his or her outlook on the world. Be they fulfilling, happy, or traumatic, the experiences that he or she has left a lasting imprint. Early childhood education is a field that emerged during the Enlightenment era and brought the public’s attention to children’s autonomy and integrity. For many centuries, children had not been seen as human beings who could enjoy their rights and liberties the way adults could.
Even though, as of now, researchers have gathered an extensive body of evidence on developmental psychology, there is still no consensus as to what approach to early education benefits children best. This paper discusses Maria Montessori’s contribution to early childhood education, the main concepts introduced by her, and ideas for practical implementation of her methods.
Brief Biographical Overview
Maria Montessori was born in 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy, in a well-educated family. Her academic and professional background was quite diverse: in secondary school, Montessori was studying natural and precise sciences, and later, she entered a medical university in Rome (Kramer 10). During their university years, she was working with children with mental retardation, and after graduation, she was involved with psychiatric clinics and asylums where she continued studying developmental disabilities.
As a passionate social justice advocate, Maria Montessori supported several causes, such as women’s rights in education and restoration for juvenile delinquents. In 1906, Montessori opened her first institution – Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House) – where she decided to apply her methods to mentally healthy children (Kramer 35). Her education program proved to be a major success, and soon her ideas spread across Italy.
Montessori’s Main Concepts and Ideas
Montessori’s methods are based on the assumption that natural child development involves free, uninhibited acting in an environment that responds to children’s needs. The researcher had a deep respect for children’s spontaneity in making discoveries about the world. She was convinced that there was no need to pressure children into learning new things by establishing a rigid curriculum or setting strict evaluation metrics. Instead, it sufficed to exploit their natural desire for knowledge in their best interests and remove all obstacles on their way to fulfilling life.
The first important idea introduced by Maria Montessori was child-centered education. She reasoned that no two children were the same: from birth, every human being had his or her unique traits, abilities, and interests.
For instance, according to Montessori, there was no need to push a child to make progress at a certain pace if it did not align with his or her learning style. This idea led to the second significant concept put forward by the researcher – individualized learning. Montessori claimed that learning programs had to be highly flexible and adaptable to meet children’s needs, and the changes had to be based on constant observations, not merely on the existing theoretical framework. Lastly, she introduced interrelated curriculums in which different subjects were intertwined and that repetition and complexity allowed for better memorizing and learning.
Practical Implementation
These days, Montessori’s ideas are still highly relevant and applicable to modern early childhood education facilities. It is possible to implement Montessori’s ideas even with minimum resources; however, the realization will take a thoughtful approach (Bredekamp 36). First, education providers need to arrange specialized classrooms and make sure that new spaces are safe and peaceful. There should not be a focal point as in traditional classrooms: a teacher should not be the center of attention, nor should children feel observed and scrutinized at all times. If a facility deals with very young children, the sizes of furniture and other items should be adjusted to children’s height and weight. The learning environment should be stimulating and engage a child’s vision, hearing, and tactile senses.
As for school subjects, Montessori’s method is highly beneficial due to its support of playfulness in children. Early years are characterized by the inclination to interact with the world through roleplay and partake in imaginary situations. There is evidence that kindergarten-age children learn mathematics with more efficiency if rules are introduced through games and materials are available at all times (Faryadi 10). Thus, learning becomes a guided activity in which a teacher assumes the role of a mentor and not an overseer.
Conclusion
The early years of life also constitute a period when a child’s natural curiosity and creativity push him or her to learn and explore at a rapid pace. A branch of education theory, early childhood education, raises awareness of children’s cognitive faculties and offers a number of approaches as to how to accommodate a child and provide a learning environment. Back in the 1910s, Maria Montessori transformed early childhood education by introducing the concepts of child-centered individualized learning and interdisciplinary programs. Her legacy lives on as many educational facilities nowadays adopt her principles of respect for children’s integrity and spontaneity. Practical implementation of Montessori’s ideas requires creating safe spaces and adjusting curriculums to involve more playful activities and independent learning.
Works Cited
Bredekamp, Sue. Effective Practices in Early Childhood Education: Building a Foundation. 2nd ed., Pearson, 2014.
Faryadi, Qais. “The Application of Montessori Method in Learning Mathematics: An Experimental Research.” Open Access Library Journal, vol. 4, 2017, pp. 1-14.
Kramer, Rita. Maria Montessori: A Biography. Diversion Books, 2017.
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