Methodology of Montessori Education

Heredity can't completely determine a person's wisdom or stupidity all his life, and the acquired environment has most influence on the intellectual development after birth.

Montessori said: "The environment is like the human head, which affects the overall development of children." The above two facts, which we have described in the previous chapter 7, are based on the same understanding. Basically, Montessori teaching method contains four elements-environment, teaching AIDS, teachers and children. In fact, taken together, they should be an environment for the overall education of "children".

Hardware equipment (and the surrounding environment) Teaching aid teachers (tutors) In a perfect environment, children have not only the hardware equipment-carefully selected teaching materials and teaching AIDS (static), but also a gentle and loving "tutor" who designs teaching materials and induces children's willingness to learn, and plays the role of communication and traction between them; Of course, there is also the main character-"children" (dynamic) full of vitality and willingness to learn.

On how to design an environment to help children develop well, Montessori said the most specific thing: "Children's Home". Let's briefly introduce it to the mothers in China now.

1. It must be like a home.

Montessori said: "The so-called' Children's Home' refers to an environment that can provide children with opportunities for development (note: don't misunderstand it as an orphan shelter). This kind of school has no certain specifications, and it can be decided according to the economic situation and objective environment."

"But it must be like home." In other words, it is not just one or two classrooms of the same size. There must be several rooms with courtyards, which are equipped with shelter from the wind and rain ... Children can go outdoors and let them put some flowers, grass, animals and knickknacks that they like and can take care of themselves.

The main room in "home" is the "studio" for intellectual activities. In addition, it is equipped with smaller bathrooms, restaurants, reception rooms, gyms, lounges and other spaces for children to move and live.

Of course, in a place like Taipei, where land is scarce and living space is narrow, not every parent has such a courtyard-style house, so as long as you can give your child a warm family atmosphere, arrange a "studio" for him to display some educational toys (preferably not electric toys on the market) carefully selected by you and his "work" achievements; The other room is a dedicated bedroom and living room. And often take him to the wild for an outing to make up for the lack of a yard, which is a good Montessori education environment.

2, child-centered

The main feature of the equipment in the "home" is that everything is child-oriented. Not only should the content of teaching AIDS be suitable for the stage of children's intellectual development, but all hardware equipment should be based on the height of children, because in Children's Home, all things are done by children themselves.

3. Let's start with the simplest:

Eating: tables, chairs, spoons, rags, hand cloths, etc. for eating should all be suitable for children's size. You just need to imagine: What procedures will the children go through from the time they get to the table after eating? And what are the items needed in the process? And their size, weight, etc., must be suitable for children to use.

clothes: have you arranged a wardrobe with a moderate height for him, so that he can easily open it, put his clothes in and hang them up ...

Living: If there is a six-or seven-month-old baby at home, can you arrange a large space for him to climb (or transform the living room or bedroom)? As for the baby, the living room and bedroom should be specially designed.

OK: Apart from arranging all kinds of suitable shoes for him, is there a space outside the door for him to put his shoes in order. Why design the environment with children as the center? Because our arrangement is not only to see short-range targets (suitable for his activities), but to cultivate his "independent" character of being able to do everything by himself and not relying on others. I want to say you're welcome. Nowadays, most mothers tend to underestimate their children, thinking that her two-and-a-half-year-old "baby" can do nothing. In fact, he can not only wipe his nose, fold his clothes and take off his shoes, but also clean the environment!

The key lies in whether you boldly and patiently give him the opportunity to "do it yourself" and successfully guide him to "do it" and "how to do it".

4. The layout should be safe, beautiful and orderly.

As for all hardware arrangements, we must pay attention to safety. For example, you should avoid using a sandwich chair for children, because children can't control their weight, and they will be easily pinched if they are not careful. It is best to use a fixed one. Whether the shelf of the display is stable,

whether the door is nailed down, etc., are the key points that adults must think carefully and carefully.

in order to attract children's attention and cultivate their habit of being neat, the beauty of equipment layout is also one of the key points. It should be simple and bright, not "expensive is the best". Too luxurious and dazzling or complicated and clever is not good for children, but will only distract them. "Orderly" doesn't just mean that everything is in order. But further refers to the order of display, which has been considered by adults about children's acceptance, needs, use and whether it is convenient to return. Because order is of great significance to children, children will easily find out the relationship between things outside themselves and themselves and them through "their own observation" in an orderly environment, so as to promote the absorption of their minds. At the same time, the habit of being orderly and tidy is also cultivated through a beautiful environment.

in short, the prepared environment should also be a place with cultural literacy.

It can

1. Give full play to children's vitality.

2. Protect children and give them a sense of security.

3. Provide places for children to move freely.

4. Make children feel kind and have a certain sense of beauty.

5. There are restrictions-the main purpose is to make the child adapt, not to attract him because of curiosity.

6. Orderly, and gradually change with the needs of children's growth. Therefore, to give children intellectual inspiration, the design and preparation of the environment is the first step for you to work hard. Because Montessori's education law is "child-centered", it is different from traditional preschool education, which is teacher-centered. Therefore, the teacher is no longer an authoritative role standing in front of the blackboard and shouting and issuing numbers. He will not "instill" knowledge into children for educational purposes, but will live in the objective position of "helping children grow up in life" and designing and guiding children to learn by themselves.

By means of inspiration and induction, children are willing to think freely and automatically, so that their intelligence and physical fitness will continue to grow. Therefore, Montessori's "teacher" is called "mentor" in "Experimental Children's Home" (in Japanese it is called "instructor" or "guide". Because this book is written for mothers, the tutors mentioned in this chapter are all replaced by mothers at home.

1. He must understand Montessori's educational principles and teaching methods

We say that Montessori is a practitioner because she will turn idealization into methods and put them into practice; We also say that she is an educator and a scientist, because she discovered the Secret of Childhood by observation. This is a masterpiece of Montessori theory), which finds out the basis of education for children.

It is precisely because the "teaching aid" of Montessori's practice of ideals and methods is designed according to the "discovery of children" (meaning Montessori's discovery of children, which is also a masterpiece), if the tutor doesn't understand this truth, he will invariably and mechanically guide children, ignoring their inner needs and unreasonable and ineffective intervention behavior due to their growth rules and individual differences, and even causing harm to children.

In addition, she should be familiar with Montessori's educational methods. For example, a housewife wants to shred a piece of pork. If she can carefully observe the grain of its natural tissue and know how to use the appropriate knife method, she can cut strips of pork smoothly and beautifully; On the contrary, if you pick up the knife and cut it for a while, the result is not smooth and unpalatable!

Teachers who know the principles and methods will know the changes between the purpose, procedure, initiation and guidance of "it" when guiding children's learning. She will understand the child's inner consciousness, and the ability to learn and natural limitations; And what age, what mentality should give him, and give him correct guidance, which will effectively help their physical and mental development and improve their intellectual potential.

2. Know how to operate teaching AIDS

Children can develop intellectually and physically by means of teaching AIDS, and the introduction of teaching AIDS must be properly prompted by the tutor, so the tutor is a very important media figure.

She can not only demonstrate the use of "teaching AIDS" to children simply, concisely and objectively; It is also necessary to know the child's reaction to this teaching aid at any time to decide whether to inspire him to continue operating or induce him to stop temporarily.

She should also carefully observe the inner needs and limitations (especially mental and physical) of this child in front of her. At the same time, I can really understand what "child-centered" is! For example, there is no need to force him to do this or that; Will squat down and talk to children, not taking a high attitude; When demonstrating, you can whisper softly, move slowly and neatly, and so on; Teachers must also pay attention to these subtle places, so that children can clearly accept them and "work" (study) happily.

3. Comprehensive characteristics of the tutor

She should observe children patiently and care about their needs, and be a careful "observer"; She can design an environment suitable for children's growth according to her observations, and is a responsible "preparer" of teaching materials, teaching AIDS and good atmosphere; How the child contacts with the environment, he can coordinate and guide in the middle; It is also an "enlightener" for a child to learn "inspiration" and an "inducer" to change "mind". He should be able to ensure this environment, maintain the integrity of the environment, and let every contact of children be a complete study. These characteristics are the qualities that preschool teachers should have. In addition, there is the most important thing-the instructor himself must always keep a modest attitude of stepping down. Many adults often have some old-fashioned attitudes, such as self-righteousness. This is a considerable "obstacle" in Montessori classroom, because it obscures the tutor's understanding of children and easily leads to arbitrary and forced method errors. Therefore, in Montessori education, "adults" are also a part of education-the so-called never too old to learn. Tutors must have humility and kindness, and they must be able to change the bad old ideas of "being the only one" or children's ignorance; Re-understanding children is a "future talent" with infinite potential and great prospects; And we should take children as teachers in order to be a successful new preschool teacher.

4. Successful inspiring skills

The slogan of "heuristic teaching" can be seen in almost every kindergarten enrollment brochure. However, mothers should be careful. Adult-centered inspiration is still based on adults' opinions, so that they can passively understand, remember or imitate, which is completely different from "letting children open their own windows to absorb knowledge and use their own thinking, which is new day by day" in Montessori education. Let's understand this difference from a question (of course, it depends on the degree of children's development): ▲ Traditional style: Xiao Ming, what do you think is the difference between these two balls? Which one is the big one? Which one is small?

▲ Montessori: Come on! Xiao Ming, touch these two balls. What do you find? The former question has great limitations, and it has long been stipulated what questions children must answer. The flexibility of the latter is very wide. He not only wants children to feel and feel, but also maximizes the limits of the problem. Children can use their brains flexibly and discover the differences and mysteries of things. Again, the previous question is a limited answer to the teacher's "expectation"; The latter question is to let children "discover" all kinds of answers by themselves. What a big difference between views and positions!

How to inspire children is a very difficult job, which requires considerable thinking and skills. The accumulation of experience and professional training are indispensable exercises. But if you are a novice and can't grasp the tricks, you should keep a score in your mind: "Take the child as the center, let him use his head", chew it carefully before you speak, and you can always figure out the method after a long time!

5. Have love and patience

Although children have an innate "intrinsic motivation" by instinct, they will be driven to contact and love the environment and various teaching AIDS automatically; However, if teachers don't pay attention to and inspire them with their "love", children's interest in learning will be difficult to last, which makes the "work" advocated by Montessori for children's growth (referring to children's own contact with the environment and practical operation of teaching AIDS for long-term work) become the so-called "game" in the eyes of ordinary adults; The meaning and effect are completely deteriorated. Therefore, a caring, patient and highly educated tutor can make children's intelligence and physical fitness develop in an orderly and hierarchical way. ▲ Xiao Ming took a box of building blocks and squatted on the floor, piling them up one by one. They were colorful and beautiful. After piling up a "castle", he threw the building blocks on the floor and left without looking back!

▲ Xiaohua took a carpet and laid it on the floor, then took down ten pink towers from the shelf one by one and put them on the top of the carpet. He sat down, found the largest one and put it on the first floor, then found the second largest one and put it on the top of the largest one. So, in the same way, he always finished the smallest one, and checked whether it was neat by hand. When he finished, he put it back on the shelf piece by piece, and the carpet was put away.

have you noticed? What's the difference between these two activities? Why do we call Xiao Ming's toys? Xiaohua plays, which we call a "teaching aid"?

1. The difference between teaching AIDS and toys

"Teaching AIDS" have the function of "education", so it has serious significance and cannot be placed in the kitchen or living room at will; There must also be an exclusive "activity room" with specific rules of use, so that its function can be respected. Thirdly, because teaching AIDS have specific teaching functions; For example, the pink tower, in order to let children distinguish the size by touch and vision, is designed to be single in color, so as to focus attention and not be disturbed by other factors. However, after the child is fully familiar with this basic function, it can be allowed to be used differently with other teaching AIDS.

Teaching AIDS have the educational characteristics of educating children to understand the size, weight, height, even the largest and second largest … to the smallest, so that children can have a sense of order, sequence and so on. This characteristic is not only manifested in the teaching AIDS themselves, but also in all actions outside. Therefore, users must take down the teaching AIDS in an orderly manner, return to their places in an orderly manner, and respect them and maintain their literacy. Children brought up in this way will respect social ethics and social order such as "order for all ages" and "first come, first served" when they grow up.

toys are different! Although some toys are also instructive, they are not very obvious. Most of their purposes are just to make use of children's curiosity and earn money from their mothers' pockets, while mothers want to temporarily free their children from entanglement, or fathers want to meet the requirements of their children and their wives at the same time.