What Is The Montessori Method of Te …

Part I of II—How the Montessori Method Benefits The Child

The Montessori Method of teaching was founded by Maria Montessori, Italy’s first female doctor nearly 120 years ago. And, at La Jolla Montessori School, the focus is the same today as it was in 1900. Montessori is a child-centered environment where students are provided with a child-size space with child-size tools to discover knowledge through concepts, lessons, and materials.

At this independent learning preschool, her philosophies about how to teach children incorporate these elements:

• Teaching children as young as eighteen months helps them lay down the basic foundations of their personalities and interactions within an ever-widening circle of children and adults.
• Children thrive through individualized learning which stimulates, challenges, and creates a ‘whole child’ who learns to love learning by expressing their curiosity today and for a lifetime.
• Children spend hours each day concentrating on their individual interests because they love learning.
• Children learn at their own speed and at their own level—thinking about ‘how’ things work rather than memorizing.
• They are shown that if they make a mistake, it’s alright because they learn from them. By figuring things out on their own, children build self-respect and self-motivation. Thus, the Montessori Method instills a love for learning rather than a fear of failure.
• Peer learning, mixing older and younger children together, is key to the social development thread. Montessori schools do not place all children in one class because they are the same age. Instead, the youngest children are propelled by their observations of older children. They look up to the oldest and strive to increase their own skill sets. At the same time, the oldest children build empathy and leadership capabilities by teaching younger ones.
• Montessori is focused more on knowing what the right answer means rather than knowing what the right answer is. Synthesizing and applying skills and concepts is what’s valuable. The focus, then, is on the process, not just the destination.

Summary

The Montessori Method of teaching is wholly based on children being treated with respect while being laser-focused on each child’s individualized academic, intellectual, social, and emotional development. At La Jolla Montessori School, Maria Montessori’s philosophies are followed. The overall result of your child’s education: a ‘whole child’ who is smart, confident, good with others, and capable of seeing others as they see themselves.

La Jolla Montessori School is a private preschool in La Jolla located at 8745 La Jolla Scenic Drive North near I-5 at La Jolla Village Drive. To read more about the tools our Montessori teachers use to build your children’s skills, go here. Interested in touring our school? Take a virtual tour or book an in-person tour today!

Read Part II—The Montessori Method of Teaching Builds Students’ Skill Sets