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When Italy’s first female doctor, Dr. Maria Montessori, began an experiment of educating the poorest children in Rome more than a hundred years ago, she was fascinated essentially with just one thing — teaching her young charges. Rumor has it that Maria figured out a few things and consequently inspired educators all over the world to imitate her methods and philosophy. But Maria never trademarked or copyrighted the Montessori name. Nor did she ever legally shield her approach and never did she think what businesspeople would name her trade secrets.

So it must come as no surprise that today we find millions of schools with Montessori in their name. The Montessori society appreciates diversity. Each Montessori school is distinctive. So, how do we come to know if a school follows Montessori principles or not? What exactly is termed as Montessori anyway?

While considering a Montessori school, you must look for the following:

American Montessori Society Membership

Consorting to the national association is something that only around 1,100 Montessori schools out of the 8,000 in theU.S.actually do. Schools are not accredited by the American Montessori Society. No school is required to join the American Montessori Society.

The Teaching Technique

Montessori teachers do not teach in the generally accepted sense of that word. Montessori teachers guide, facilitate and direct their students. If you find a teacher lecturing or talking to a group of students sitting and listening, odds are that the school does not stick to Montessori methods. Montessori trained teachers teach with 1:1 (teacher: student) ratio.

Each Class Can Include Children of Several Ages

You will not find a 1st grade for instance in a Montessori school. Students will be divided in groups extending a range of several years. The idea behind this is that older children teach their younger classmates in effect. The communication between older and younger children is an essential part of the Montessori approach. Montessori age groupings are done on average in three year cycles, such as 0-3, 3-6, 6-9 and 9-12.

Work of Children is Not Graded

The essence of Montessori Method is that students learn by exploring and working at their own pace. A Montessori teacher will never hand back notebooks with red marks or grades on them. A Montessori teacher suggests things to be explored but the child ultimately has the liberty to choose what he desires to learn at any given point during his day at school.

Stories written by aostler
Andrew Ostler started working for Employment Research Institute in 2008, and currently works as a content manager, writer, and editor for LawCrossing, EmploymentCrossing, and several of the company blogs. He is currently attending Brigham Young University - Idaho online.

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