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Follow on Google News | Montessori Education Please, Monte-Something, No!Visit the school to make sure it's really a Montessori school and not a trendy copy
By: Lifetime Montessori school For decades, the Montessori Method has 'philosophically competed' with faith-based, home-based, private elite, and public kindergarten schools by using a different model: teaching children via an individualized methodology and respecting their abilities to complete a task before moving on to another. And, now, boom, Dr. Maria Montessori's teaching has gone mainstream! But, like a knock-off designer handbag, it's not the real thing--it's something else. "People are copying Montessori teaching tactics and borrowing parts of it, but a la carte parts don't make a complete education," says Kristin Edwards, M.Ed., Director of Lifetime Montessori School in Santaluz, a San Diego suburb. "Oscar Wilde was right…imitation is flattering," Activity and Product Hybrids Recently, parents have been asking us about specific activities and products now available on the marketplace and their true Montessori heritage. Here are some of those components: • Floor beds—a Montessori classroom is built for young, small people—close to the ground and everything at kids' eye level; one logical outgrowth has been the creation of the child's bedroom to match the classroom…a minimalist room with a floor bed and shelves and drawers at eye level. • Educational wall posters—please, no…instead, artwork hung low near the ground is a stronger approach. Most Montessori schools leave walls blank! Actual objects one can touch, feel and smell during lesson time works well in teaching skills and ideas. • Laptops and electronic devices—the use of technology does not make a school modern; rather, it's the ideas and principles the school embodies. Montessori asks: What do we want our children to become…button pushers who use technology but don't understand it or logical thinkers who ultimately will? • Alphabet and numerical toys for toddlers (18 months to 3 years)—just because a label says a toy has 'Montessori educational value' doesn't mean it's so—that's just to boost sales! Toddlers do not need alphabet letters or numbers placed on their toys. Instead, they need to develop and refine their motor skills. In Montessori, reading starts at three years of age and uses tactile 'sandpaper' letters, sand trays and a moveable alphabet in group settings. And, Montessori mathematics begins at four. Summary There are other Monte-Something— "I hope parents will read this article and then visit a Montessori school to observe the differences of our teaching philosophy," To schedule a tour, visit www.LifetimeMontessoriSchool.com/ End
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