Introduction
Here, we hope to explain both the theory and the practice of Montessori in our classrooms at BAMH; the Montessori theory which guides each classroom as well as some information about the kinds of work your child will do.
Primary Classroom
Self Construction Dr. Montessori teaches us that the greatest task in the first six years of life is the construction of the self. Self Construction is not you, as I need you to be, but you at your best. This is why the lessons, presentations and work in the early Montessori school years are geared to individual children, one-to-one. Montessori teaches us to honor the sacred task of each single child’s developing character and self-awareness.
Dr. Montessori believed that no human being is educated by another person. He or she must do it by him or herself or it will never be done. A truly educated individual continues learning long after the hours and years spent in the classroom because the person is motivated from within by a natural curiosity and love of knowledge. Dr. Montessori felt, therefore, the goal of early childhood education should not be to fill the child with facts from a preschool course of study, but rather to cultivate the child’s own natural desire to learn.
In the Montessori classroom, this objective is approached in two ways:
- By allowing each child to experience the excitement of learning by his or her own choice rather than by being forced.
- By helping the child perfect his or her natural tools for learning, so that the child’s abilities will be maximized for future learning situations.
The Montessori materials have this dual, long range purpose in addition to the immediate purpose of giving specific information to the child.
Practical Life Practical Life Exercises have as their goal the adaptation of the child to her environment and growth of her independence. This goal is accomplished through the development of coordination and controlled movement, by which the child will be enabled to care for both herself and her surroundings; thereby establishing herself in her society through courteous relations with others. For this purpose, the child is provided with special materials scaled to her size and with which she can enjoy such tasks as sweeping, dusting, polishing, washing, tying and buttoning. These exercises provide the child with a clear relationship between the “prepared environment” and what she has seen her own family do, thus allowing her to contribute to the life she sees around her.
Sensorial A child is brought by nature to the task of classifying those materials which surround him. The Sensorial Materials of the Montessori Classroom are designed to aid the process of classification of the environment which has already begun, thus enabling the child to arrive at a conscious level of discrimination rather than a vague one. These materials are designed to develop the senses of hearing, vision, touch, taste, smell and perception, as well as the ability to discriminate between shapes and sizes.
Language Language is the essence of the development of the child because it enables her to communicate with others and understand when they communicate. Within the Montessori Classroom your child’s vocabulary is enriched by storytelling, conversation and poetry. The Montessori child begins reading when she is ready and proceeds at her own pace. Sandpaper letters provide a phonetic basis for reading. The child hears the sound, sees the shape, and prepares her muscles for writing by the light tracing of the letter with the fingertips. Many other exercises for both reading and writing are found in the classroom environment.
Mathematics The mind contains a mathematical ability inherent in all humankind. Therefore, it is essential to take a child’s natural mathematical tendencies and couple them with his innate urge for exploration, repetition and exactness. The mathematics materials used in the Montessori Classroom introduce the concept of concrete quantity before working with the abstract numerical symbols. "Quantity" is introduced by a series of rods which the child can count and compare. Beads and symbol cards familiarize the child with the decimal system. These exercises provide a deep understanding of the functions of numbers and concepts which will help the child in later abstractions.
Elementary Classroom
“Having a concept in your head is one thing. To imagine it, then enact it, test and declare it, allows even greater authority once something is learned. What is learned this way becomes personal property in a most personal way. The Montessori environment exists for no higher purpose than such discovery.”
Around age six, there is a great transformation in the child. She is no longer centered around herself and her family members, but she wants to explore the world. The elementary child has a great thirst to know how things work and how things came into being. She wants to know right from wrong. It is at this time that Dr. Montessori said we are to give the child the cosmos. Cosmic Education refers to giving the global view on how everything in our cosmos is dependent and interrelated to others. Everything created is of service to something else. That is, every animal and plant has their own part in creation. Even the least significant is important to the whole. Humanity’s role in the cosmos is to maintain the equilibrium of nature and to contribute to both the material and spiritual side of all humankind.
Cosmic education requires an integration of curriculum. The subjects of language, mathematics, zoology, botany, chemistry, physics, geometry, history and geography are not taught as isolated subjects. They are integrated into the five Great Lessons and the key lessons that follow. The Great Lessons are special stories not to be learned and memorized. They are used to excite the minds of the children. They unfold to the imagining and reasoning mind of the child all that she could hope to explore.
The first Great Lesson given is “God without hands” - the story of the creation of the universe. To follow soon after is “the coming of life with the furnishings” - plants and animals. Then comes the story of “Man endowed with gifts to set him apart.” Man writes his own great lessons, the story of language and invention (math). These great lessons are impressionistic and are used to touch the imagination of the child. The child in turn uses his imagination to make his own pictures in his mind. The child is free to explore any aspect he has discovered through the Great Lessons.
Because the child is given the universe to explore, there is some concern of meeting the educational demands of society. To take care of these concerns, the classroom elements for the public school are made available to the child. The child knows what is required of her each year. The lessons that appear on this list become the “must do” lessons. Everything else in cosmic education are free lessons.
Sometimes the need for exploration goes beyond the confines of the classroom. In the Montessori elementary class, the child has a dual learning environment. First, he has the classroom, and when the classroom is not enough, the child may “go out” of the classroom for further exploration. The “going out” experiences are entirely planned, organized, and carried out by the child. These experiences are to prepare the child to independently function by himself in the larger community of the world.
Home Environment Room
We are able to provide before and after school care for a limited number of children. We call this the "Home Environment Room" (HER) to intentionally distinguish between the work your child will do in his or her classroom and the home-like atmosphere of HER in which your child is encouraged to play and rest.
Students must be officially registered for the Home Environment Program in order to attend HER. Drop-ins are only allowed is in an emergency situation. The HER program is closed on all school holidays and vacation days with the exception of Parent Conference days. There are regular HER hours on early dismissal days.
Atrium
The Christian orientation of Bay Area Montessori House provides us the opportunity to observe Church seasons and holidays. In addition, general lessons of God’s love, Jesus as the Son of God, kindness to one another, and respect for Creation are incorporated into the life of the class. Children attend a one-hour-per-week session in the Atrium.
The “Atrium” is the Montessori term for a children’s worship center. This tradition honors the child’s natural sense of the sacred and seeks to provide a richly structured environment in which the religious potential of a child may freely develop.
In this area, we are using Jerome Berryman and Sonya Stewart’s curriculum Young Children and Worship.
Dr. Jerome Berryman is an A.M.I. Elementary teacher trained in Bergamo, Italy. In his Montessori studies, Berryman was inspired by Sofia Cavaletti, who is best known for her work, "The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd." In 1971, Berryman returned to Houston to develop a comprehensive religious education curriculum based on the work of Montessori and Cavaletti. This approach to religious education has come to be known as “Godly Play."
Library
Our library is gradually growing with the generous donations of books. The purpose of the library is to teach the children how to search for books and the routine for borrowing books from the library, as well as allowing the children to choose from a broad spectrum of educational reading material for research and pleasure.
Physical Education
The Elementary students have two classes of P.E. weekly. Basic skills in Basketball, Field Hockey, Dodgeball, Kickball, Baseball, Soccer, Volleyball, modified Football and La Crosse are taught through out the year. There is a basketball tournament held in the spring and the children also participate in the Presidents Challenge. Health classes are held periodically through out the school term
Montessori’s Unique Assessment Methods
Detailed Student Records Teachers keep meticulous records of each child’s lessons, projects, and progress. Therefore, teachers know who has had which lesson, who has mastered a lesson, who needs a repeat lesson, and who is ready for the next lesson.
Student Record Books (Journals) Elementary children also keep records in their personal record books. In these “journals” elementary children note when and what they worked on throughout each day. They specify, clarify, quantify and even beautify their journal entries. Thus, a child’s record book includes all subjects studied, lessons given, activities done, teacher/student conferences, and other classroom happenings such as quiet reading time and committee participation. The teacher frequently reviews each child’s journal – always in respectful collaboration with the child. Parents may consult the journals (with the child’s permission) to see what their children are doing in our rich, exciting classrooms.
Assessment of Knowledge and Progress Teachers have various diagnostic tools to assess student knowledge and progress. First, teachers easily observe each child’s understanding through the small group lessons given. Second, teachers assess work caliber and progress by observing a child helping another child with a lesson or giving a formal presentation to others. Third, elementary teachers often have informal discussions with the children and they may give individual written assignments to assess the child’s understanding of the concepts.
Regular Conferences with Each Child Elementary teachers meet regularly with each child to discuss work and work habits. Here, children have the opportunity to self-evaluate. They are encouraged to look critically at their work, identifying their own strengths and weaknesses. The teacher and child then collaborate about how to make improvements. In this way, satisfaction for work well done belongs to the child and if work is lacking, the child is aware and will take ownership to improve. If a child is to yet able to choose and produce work responsibly, teacher will give the needed direction.
Homework Elementary children are expected to read daily at home. Otherwise, there is no homework assigned because Montessori children work extraordinarily hard throughout the school day. They organize, manage their time and complete their daily work at school.
Grades and Testing There is minimal testing of an entire classroom and there are no grades at BAMH. Montessori education nurtures children to grow intellectually and to challenge and satisfy their natural desires to learn. Montessori education results in children who love to learn. However at BAMH third and sixth year elementary children take a standardized test. This test occurs at the end of the natural 3 year cycles of elementary. The primary purpose is to give the children the experience of testing. The tests provide a limited assessment of knowledge because they do not allow for using extended analysis, solving open ended problems, or displaying a command of complex relationships. Please note that although the children at BAMH test scores are consistently well above national averages, we do not post them because that sends the message to our community that we value the test scores in a different way than we do. Test scores are indicators of knowledge but cannot show what we value the most – the individual creative thinking ability of each child. If we posted our test scores, our parents, and even our teachers, may feel pressured, subconsciously or not, to concentrate on the low level rote memory skills that dominate standardized tests.
“Children with the most impressive learning are usually those who love to learn, not those who see learning as a way to get rewards like money or “A”s. Because tests and grades create external motivation (motivation brought about by outside factors not internally desires) they are unnecessary and potentially destructive to learning” (Kohn, 1999).
To read Additional Research on Grades and Testing (which summarizes points made by Alfie Kohn, a former teacher turned author of seven landmark books on education), click here.
Communication of Child's Progress to Parents The ultimate goal of Montessori is to enable the child to be an independent functioning human being. We want them to be in charge of their education. However, we realize that the parent is an important part of the communication triangle (child, teacher, parent). Communication between all three aspects of the triangle is imperative.
The communication between the teacher and the child is discussed on the Primary Class and Elementary pages.
The parent receives information on the child’s development through the following means.
- Your Child can provide a wealth of information about what they feel the most important part of their day was. Being available to listen rather than interrogate can lead to satisfying that all important question; “What did you do at school today?”
- Parent-Teacher Conferences are a special time set aside for the teacher to give you a status check on how your child is progressing in his self construction. The teacher has thoughtfully prepared talking points for the conference. Parents are encouraged to take notes on the discussion and may ask any questions that come up in the course of the conference. There are conferences offered in the fall and spring and parents are encouraged to attend these. Additionally, there is a third optional conference offered in the winter.
- Spontaneous Conferences are at the request of the teacher or parent. They occur when questions arise out of concern for the child. Parents may request a conference at anytime to discuss their child.
When the child leaves the school a permanent record is sent to the new school. The teacher compiles all the conference reports, student records and classroom assessments in a 7-8 page narrative (elementary) or 2 page narratives (primary) of the child’s progress. The narrative style gives the next school a comprehensive “picture” of the child, not only academically but it gives insight into the child’s personality and learning style. These cumulative records are well received by the schools our students go on to attend. A copy of this record is available upon request but please note all school records are handled according to your school contract.