Baan Dek

Integrating Montessori

Thoughts & Reflections

While Montessori doesn’t expect or encourage outside homework, as this may cause confusion in the classroom, and with the child, we do recommend that parents work with their children on a regular basis. That almost sounds like a paradox. Let us explain.

Children thrive on routines and they adore order. The more consistent their lives, the better they seem to do. In this respect, it’s important that a home and school environment mesh, as this equilibrium can be extremely helpful for the development of a child.

So, how can this be achieved? What can we, together, work towards to accomplish this task of integrating Montessori: at home, in the classroom, and in the community at large? To be sure, there are things that are unique to a home environment, just as there are things that are unique to a school environment, or an outdoor setting, but there are a few basic principles that we can employ to bring Montessori full circle.

One of the most important things to remember, is that Montessori offers hands on, real world experiences. The phrase that we like to use, is that the concrete always precedes the abstract. For instance, if we wanted to teach a child the concept of fractions, we would first start with a fraction puzzle, two halves of a whole, for example, before introducing them to the symbol 1/2. While the puzzle is concrete, the symbol is abstract.

Here are a few practical suggestions, but there are certainly many others. As you can see from the picture above, one of our students is at home, helping his family prepare the coffee. What a beautiful illustration of how to integrate Montessori at home. In this instance, the boy is measuring just the right amount of grounds to pour into the coffee filter, working on his manual dexterity and fine motor skills, balancing the measuring spoon, carefully scooping the grounds, counting how many scoops are needed.

How about another example? Let’s say that you’re at the grocery store and your daughter wants to help. ( By the way, the grocery store is a magical place to learn, to put practical life skills into action. ) So, you’ve decided that you want to make banana bread. The recipe calls for three bananans, so you assign your daughter a simple task, “Can you please find me three bananas?” Your daughter then proceeds to select three bananas, counting out loud as she carefully places them in the cart.

Understanding abstract concepts, like the number three, can be a challenge, so finding ways to connect the concrete (three bananas) to the abstract (3) can be illuminating for a child. This will help to support their progress, and reinforce what they are learning in the classroom. While it seems like a slight shift in the way we traditionally think about learning and teaching concepts, it has radical implications for discovering and thinking about the world.

Written by:

Baan Dek

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