MONTESSORI EDUCATIONHOW INTEGRATED ARE THE COMPONENTS

by

Jayanthi RajagopalanCanadian Montessori Teacher Education Institute, Toronto

As Montessorians, we credit Montessori education as being comprehensive, all-inclusive and broad-based. Children in our classrooms explore freely and learn first through concrete manipulation leading to complex abstractions and derivations. The question is; Is Montessori education simply a sum of its parts or an integrated whole?

The Montessori environment is no doubt interlinked. We are all well aware of simple Practical Life activities that are related to a Geography lesson on Land and Water forms or that Language is the thread that strings along all of the avenues of the montessori

curriculum. It is also a given that Sensorial materials give children the basic foundation for mathematics and even prepares them for the Arts. It is my understanding that there are two ways of looking at how the various aspects of a Montessori education is interlinked. At the simplistic level, one can conjure up an image of a Spider Chart Diagram . This is great when we work on theme-related lesson plans and is often used in the early years.

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At the Elementary level, we have Montessori’s very own Cosmic Plan.

The children will have the choice of what object they would like to work on.In my example, I have used Sugar as the starting point for my Cosmic Plan and would like to share my thoughts with the following diagram:

I would also like to share my ideas for the Cosmic Plan by elaborating on the diagram.

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PRACTICAL LIFE

• Transferring sugar cubes with tongs

• Spooning sugar crystals

• Pouring sugar from one jug to another

• Pouring sugar equally into many containers

SENSORIAL

• What colour is sugar?

• What are the dimensions of the sugar cube?

• what shape is it?

• How does it taste?

• How does it smell?

• Is it rough or smooth?

• Is it hard or soft?

LANGUAGEYou may use many of the language materials with text material about sugar. For example

• What rhymes with CUBE?

• Circle the adjectives in the following text:(add text)

• Add punctuation to the text below: (add text)

• Sentence Analysis

• Change CUBE to the last word in the two examples given below by only changing one letter at a time

CUBE CUBE_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _CATS _ _ _ _

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_ _ _ _MAPS

• Find the following words from the crossword given below:

• Make 20 words out of the word SUGARCUBE

MATHEMATICS

• Word problemsHere are a few examples. Children may use materials such as the Stamp Game, addition Strip Board etc. depending on their ability. Remember to have Instruction Cards and Control Cards to foster independence.

S T C U P C A K E

B J G R P A O T N

M U F F I N T L G

M I L D E D A S A

D C A I S Y R U P

R E N O B F T L K

M A E R C E C I H

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CANDY, GUM, PIES, ICECREAM, TART, FLAN, MUFFIN, COLA, CUPCAKE, JUICE

1. If a sugar cube is 3 cms. long, how many of them may be placed in a rectangular tray that measures 15 cms long and 12 cms broad?

2. If the weight of a sugar cube is 21 grams, how much will a dozen weigh?3. A pack of 25 sugar cubes costs $3.75. Using the Division Board, calculate the cost

of a single sugar cube?4. Using racks and tubes, solve this problem:5. A truck is carrying 354,375 metric tons of sugar to 75 supermarkets. How much

sugar does each one receive? Convert to kilograms.6. Draw a line graph to compare sugar consumption in Michael’s household from the

data given below:

in 2013 (in kilograms) in 2014 (in kilograms)JAN 3 6FEB 10 14MAR 4 3APR 4 7MAY 2 6JUN 1 4JUL 5 5AUG 8 10SEP 5 9OCT 6 7NOV 8 11DEC 13 15

- Which year had a highest amount of consumption?- Which months in 2013 and 2014 did the family use a lot of sugar? What could be the

reason?- Which months in 2013 and 2014 did they use the least amount of sugar?

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GEOMETRY

1. Measure the sides of a single sugar cube2. How many sides does it have? How many vertices?3. What shape is the base of a cube?4. How do you define a cube?5. What is the area of the cube that you measured?6. What is its volume?

GEOGRAPHY

The children may look at the countries where sugarcane is grown and locate it on the world map. They may also look at which countries in the world import sugar for consumption and from where. Elementary students may be encouraged to look into the probable reasons why sugarcane is cultivated in some areas of the world in terms of climate, soil conditions etc.

HISTORY

Children enjoy stories- stories about where something originated from and what people did in the olden days. You may prepare a story of sugar production by creating a Time Line that I would like to share with you. Elementary students may write it down in their Culture journals or discuss the story amongst themselves.

PHYSICAL SCIENCES

Younger children may be asked to examine a sugar cube and think about whether it is a solid, liquid or gas. They may also be encouraged to think about why it is a solid.For Elementary students:

• Give each student a sugar cube and a magnifying lens and ask them to list the physical properties they see.

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• Next give them each a dropper with some water in it. Ask them to pour a few drops on to the cube. They now record their observations.

• Can the sugar come back to its original shape?

• Does it take longer to dissolve the sugar in water or to crumble it?

• When dissolved in water, is the resulting solution a homogenous solution or a heterogeneous one?

• In what liquids does sugar dissolve easily? Give the students a variety of liquids like vinegar, milk, oil etc.

CHEMISTRY

Lower Elementary students may try their hand at crystallization of sugar.Upper Elementary students may make the molecular structure of sugar using toothpicks and small styrofoam balls colored differently to indicate carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.You may burn some sugar cubes in a skillet and comment on the observations made. Students may be asked if it was a physical or a chemical change and distinguish between the two.

BOTANYLook at the leaves of sugarcane. Identify its shape with the help of Botany Cabinet.Look at the structure of the veins.

CULINARY ARTS

All children enjoy cooking and one may come up with innumerable recipes involving sugar that are easy to make and fun to eat. They may take turns to measure the ingredients, sift some flour, beat eggs etc.Many recipes involve no stove or heating equipment besides a microwave.Our favourite is the Sugar TeddyYou need 2 cups of granulated sugar and 4 teaspoons of water.

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In a mixing bowl, add the sugar. Make a hole in the centre and pour the water. Mix it well without allowing for any lumps to form. Line a mould (ours is a Teddy bear) with corn starch and add the mixture into it so it is leveled. Remove from the mould immediately. Leave it to stand for 24 hours. Add coloring for decoration.

THE SECOND DIMENSION

If we were to take it up a notch, to a level that transcends simple lesson plans, then we may say with conviction that Montessori is an integrated approach to education.

I would like to share a metaphor here. A month ago, I had the misfortune of undergoing a surgery for a broken clavicle. I had a plate installed, secured in place with multiple screws. With plenty of time on my hands and being virtually under house arrest due to my inability to drive, I could draw some parallels between the plate and screws in my body and the various components of a Montessori curriculum.

THE MONTESSORI “PLATE”

Undoubtedly, the Montessori classroom is the plate and what is being held securely in its place and yet being allowed to grow, is the child. The child is allowed to partake of anything in the buffet that catches his fancy. He is allowed to exercise his freedom to work with the materials any number of times. He explores freely endless possibilities that the materials offer him.

THE MONTESSORI “SCREWS”

But the Montessori prepared environment is not something that is simply floating around willy nilly. It is held together by “screws” - a set of fundamental key components that ensure that the environment is grounded and allows for a healthy, all-rounded development of the child. These keys work together hand-in-hand, linking and holding together the various aspects of the Montessori curriculum.

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1. IndependenceThe montessori environment fosters independence. Every child works at their own pace and individually at their activities at the early childhood level. It is this very same quality that runs like a thread through all of the avenues of a montessori classroom and is fundamental to the philosophy. The ability to hold a dropper with the three-finger grasp ensures that the child can work successfully with the Knobbed Cylinders. Being able to work independently is key to working with the Math materials. 2. Fine motor skills and hand/eye coordinationNowhere is this most pronounced and emphasized than in the area of Practical Life. But we may also apply this very important aspect across all avenues. Building the Pink Tower or one with the Knobless Cylinders calls for good hand/eye coordination and motor skills.In the area of Language, a child traces the Sandpaper Letters or may work with the Metal Insets that involves refined fine motor skills and coordination between the hand and eyes.Moving on to Math, simple activities such as building the Short Bead Stair or the Number Rods involve both fine motor skills and hand/eye coordination.When a child superimposes the shapes of a Puzzle Map or pours water into the Landform trays, he/she must have reasonably developed motor skills and hand to eye coordination.Striking a bell must be just right as the child hits the bell at the right point on the dome. Striking elsewhere does not give the desired sound. This means that the child must have well-developed fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.3. ConcentrationMaria Montessori talks about concentration extensively in all her books that when a material piques his interest, the child will work with it several times and not be tired of it. She gives the example of a child in Casa de Bambini that worked well over twenty times with the Cylinder Blocks until when completely satisfied, she finally put it away.Not only is concentration enhanced by working with all the materials but it is also an essential link between all of the components of Montessori education.

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4. Sequence within activities and between activitiesMaria Montessori emphasized accuracy and precision when presenting a material to a child. Not only did she encourage the directress to work with it several times, explore it, turn it around, digest it and ruminate over it before presenting but she must also do so accurately so the child may see the entire sequence of the activity without interruptions. Equally important is maintaining the sequence between activities across two or more avenues. Every material teaches a certain skill that is required for working with another one at the next level. Every activity leads to another almost seamlessly. This inter and intra-material sequence is a binding factor in Montessori education. We have several examples in Practical Life, Sensorial, Language etc. to illustrate this.5. DistinguishMontessori identified three keys or elements of every presentation particularly in the Sensorial area that is applicable, in my opinion to all avenues just as well. The first one she identified is the concept of “distinguish”. when a child works with Color Box 1, she takes the colour tablets out of the box and lays them down at random. She may choose a tablet. The Montessori guide places a tablet of a different colour beside the first one and asks: Are they the same?The child now uses her visual sense to make the distinction between the two and may say, No. The guide then places the right tablet next to the first one and asks the same question. The child is satisfied that they are indeed the same and matches them. She continues to do the same with the other 2 pairs.The child applies the same sense of distinguishing while working with the Leaf Cabinet for example as she places the leaf shapes on the corresponding cards. She distinguishes again while matching Nomenclature Cards.6. SpecifyOnce the child uses his senses to distinguish between two materials, we move on to teaching him the name. Montessori gave this naming function a terminology- specify.We may explore this concept further by watching an infant that may want something. Our natural tendency is to name the object that he points to, to further confirm his need.We specify. Montessori used the Three Period Lesson which is perhaps her most unique contribution to the education of young children.

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This is a common occurrence across all subject areas of the Montessori curriculum. I would like to return to the example of Nomenclature Cards. After the child has matched the cards, we teach him the names using the Three Period Lesson. Number Rods, Short Bead Stair and many more examples may be cited here. This concept of “specifying” is key to interconnecting all areas of the Montessori environment.7. GeneralizeAnother key component of every presentation is “generalize” according to Montessori.Once the child has used his senses to distinguish and later been introduced to its nomenclature, the child is now able to extract its attributes and apply them to a similar one within his environment.Let me illustrate with the Tree puzzle. If a child has been taught the nomenclature of the parts of the puzzle, he internalizes the terms and promptly uses them while on a walk with his parent much to the latter’s amazement. Montessori believed that children are thirsty to learn the real names and encouraged parents to use the right words rather than bringing it down to some form of baby language.We often see in our daily lives, children who have learned to identify numbers stopping to look at and say aloud any numbers that they may come across. It could be the number in front of their homes, a bus, a birthday candle etc. This is due to the fact that by specifying a certain graphic code, the Montessori guide has offered him opportunities to internalize the shape and form of the numeral and reapply it later.We see this concept of generalizing in every avenue of the Montessori environment and therefore, in my opinion acts as yet another screw that holds the curriculum together.

8. Concrete to abstractLast but not the least important “screw” would be the child’s experiences of moving from concrete to abstract and as we are all well aware, this particular component of the philosophy is what makes for successful learning.The child works with materials that he may touch, feel, see, smell, hear or taste using his sense organs initially. This then flows into abstract concepts. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Math where working extensively with the Bank Game, for instance gives the child a concrete idea of place value.

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The beads in the Multiplication Board in the early years helps him to transition effortlessly to multiplication tables at the elementary level. Similarly Geometric Sticks helps the older child to comprehend angles and their definitions.The Solar System and eclipses are taught using concrete materials that aid in abstractions.We could look at virtually every material in the Montessori environment only to be convinced that they open a path to mastering abstract concepts simply by manipulating concrete materials.

This is my own interpretation of how the Montessori curriculum is an integrated whole and not just a set of neatly compartmentalized materials or techniques, divided by their uses or applications thrown willy nilly into an environment. But rather a well-thought out, systematic plan that is in perfect alignment with the naturals laws of development of the child and ensures that every child reaches his/her fullest potential.

Would you agree?

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