About

From the age of three on, Montessori students are in multi-age classrooms. They remain in the same classroom for three years, moving from being the youngest to the oldest in their classroom community. This approach is beneficial for students in a variety of ways. Older students act as teachers, showing younger children how to do things, which reinforces their own learning. Younger peers are often motivated to learn by seeing what others can accomplish. They also can learn from observing those who are just ahead of them in skills. Another benefit is that children can progress at their own pace without grade level stigma and can take on challenges they are ready for without having to wait until the next school year.

Over the three-year period, the teacher is able to observe and support each individual child’s growth. This intimate knowledge of the child allows the teacher to individualize instruction by offering the child opportunities to accelerate or deepen learning in areas of special interest. The familiarity of a stable environment supports risk-taking, which is essential for learning to occur.

The basis for the multi-age classroom is Montessori’s observation-based theory of human development.

Montessori students often refer to the “work” they are doing, by which they mean a particular Montessori material. These materials are designed to be “self-teaching,” in that a child who is taught to use them can learn from them without having a teacher present to verify whether the lesson has been completed correctly. The material itself has “control of error,” which may mean, for example, that it only fits together in a particular way.

Montessori materials are designed to teach abstract concepts through hands-on activities. Sandpaper letters are an example from the Early Childhood language curriculum: students trace their fingers along a letter made of sandpaper and the physical movement and texture create a muscle memory of the letter’s shape. A child is thus able to recognize letters well before he or she has the fine motor ability to hold a pencil. In the math curriculum, students use beads to count and do math problems. They can easily grasp the concept of subtraction, for example, because they are literally taking away a certain number of beads.

Montessori materials are sequential. Each work prepares the child for the one after it, which adds to their learning. Materials also have depth, in that they can be used to teach a variety of concepts. A good example of this is the binomial cube, a cube composed of 8 wooden blocks which fit together in a binomial pattern, representing the cube of two numbers, (a + b). This work is first used as a three-dimensional puzzle to help the child learn to recognize patterns. Later, students use it to physically represent the algebraic equation (a+b)3. New ideas can be introduced through the use of familiar works as children mature, which makes learning feel like a natural unfolding rather than a series of unconnected concepts.