The Prepared Environment

You have seen your child work with various Montessori tools, in a Montessori set up however, there are many theories that support the use of activities we offer, along with its significance. 

This blog will take you through an important aspect of Montessori schools i.e. "The prepared environment". So what is this prepared environment? Is it the teachers? Is it the curriculum? or is it the physical space? 

Montessori defines education as “Aid to Life”. In order to offer this “Aid to Life” without doing any injustice to the child, without hurting his dignity, without imposing our help on him, without making him feel “the weight of the hand that offers the help”, we offer the child something called as a prepared environment.

                                      THE PREPARED ENVIRONMENT

Dr. Maria Montessori stated that young children absorb everything through their senses. A well-prepared, child-centric environment is a sensorial one which reflects beauty, simplicity, and order. It provides well-chosen materials and activities which are required for learning. Everything is carefully chosen by the Montessori teacher in order to best facilitate the child’s learning. Unlike many overly-stimulating childcare centers which rely on the use of color, sound and movement, the Montessori classroom is designed to minimise things that may over-stimulate and distract. The Montessori classroom uses physical space and time that allows for concentration, design which allows children to find, use, and replace materials easily. Walls are painted in neutral colors. Shelves display a few objects at a time. This prepared environment provides a calm, neutral, quiet background that encourages and supports learning.

Let us explore some of the essentials of a 'prepared environment':

DEVELOPMENTAL ACTIVITIES

                                         

These are activities that have a purpose, which the child's budding intelligence can understand, which his will can choose, persevere and stimulate his concentration.

These activities help develop muscular movements, grips, hand and eye coordination, fine motor skills, confidence and eventually aid towards independence. 

TOOLS

These developmental activities, as a rule need special tools as “means of development”. These tools are scientifically prepared and are precise. Each set of tool is offered at a particular age, in a particular way, so as to prepare the child with concepts and skills essential for optimal development.

             TRAINED ADULTS

The child also needs the help of specially trained adults, to help him in his self formation. The adult will  demonstrate the use of tools as means of development and she has to be unobtrusive and discreet. She acts as a bridge between the tools and how effectively they are used. This Montessori trained adult observes the child working and facilitates further learning, based on her observations. 

SENSE OF ORDER

The environment is prepared to facilitate a sense of order. When the child’s environment becomes disordered, chaos ensues. Many temper tantrums can be avoided by having consistent, predictable schedules and ground rules. However, drastic changes in our environment can elicit feelings of stress. 
The Montessori environment meets the child’s need for order by making sure materials are stored in the same place every day. We make sure each work is complete and repairs are made as needed. Lessons are presented in the same sequence and each activity ends with the child returning the work to the shelf. This physical sense of order sets the foundation for higher level thinking skills such as classification, as well as helping the child order his own space and time. This physical order in turn leads to mental order as the child turns into an adult.

                                                     

                                               FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND CHOICE

A prepared environment is the one where children are free to move around the room, and move from one activity to the next. In consequence, by allowing freedom of movement, children learn to explore their environment; and therefore discover their interests. This in turn allows them to make a choice of activities, that is driven by their natural desire for learning. 

CHILD SIZED 

Everything in a prepared environment is child sized, the shelves, the furniture, the cutlery and the activities. This allows the child to reach out and feel comfortable and allows him to use things independently.

                                                                     CONCLUSION
The prepared environment assures security of the child, this security is not only being physically safe but also being intellectually, mentally and emotionally. A 'Prepared Environment is such that everything is consciously decided. 



Written by 
Aksheeta Parikh
References- Notes from AMI training centre
                    NAMC training centre

SCIENCE EXPLORATION WEEK

A Fun filled Science week at Casa Vista Montessori

For young learners, Science is just an extension of their everyday world. We don't have to teach young children how to wonder, discover and explore through play because they do it naturally. 

When people say they don't like Science, it's most likely because of a bad experience they have had as a child. Experiences shape our thinking and opinions. Therefore, it is extremely important to focus on the development of scientific thinking, in the early years. 

Our students at Casa Vista Montessori, experienced a week full of enriching exposure towards Science experiments, which enabled them to explore, investigate, discover and use their imagination.

The pictures attached below explain the scientific method and principles involved in the process of learning.
                                                            
                                                  Using a weighing scale
               
           Aim- To be able to understand the concept of balance through heavy and light objects           

Water fall

Aim- To be able to understand how water flows in the given direction

Sensory path
Aim- To cater to the tactile sensation of the feet and understand the different textures

                                              

Primary to secondary colours

Aim- To understand how yellow and blue changes into green when mixed

Musical Instruments

Aim- To be able to create musical sounds and rhythm to enhance the acoustic sense

Tactile board

 Aim- To be able to feel different textures through the tactile touch

Sound boxes

Aim- To be able to understand the different degrees of loud and soft sounds

Magnet attracts

Aim- To be able to understand that a magnet attracts iron, nickle and other metals

Sinking and floating

 Aim- To be able to understand that heavy objects sink in the water while light objects float

 Magnifying glass 

Aim- To be able to see objects enlarged, using a magnifying glass

Tasting trays

Aim- To be able to understand the four basic tastes; salty, sweet, bitter and sour

Colour bars

Aim- To be able to understand that when two primary colours are mixed, they form a secondary colour. 

Run away pepper

Aim- To be able to understand that pepper repels away from the soap because soap breaks the water surface tension, allowing the water to pull the pepper away

Cars on different surfaces

Aim- To be able to understand that the speed at which the cars travel vary due to friction between its tyres and the surfaces 

Peek-a-boo

Aim- A game, to enable children to say names of hidden pictures

Group sessions

To understand the process of precipitation

 

To be able to see rainbow colours

                                                                        Colour changing milk 

Aim- To be able to understand how fats and proteins in the milk are sensitive to changes in the surrounding 

Singing rhymes with shadow puppets

Throughout the week, children gained vocabulary related to all the experiments. Most of the experiments catered to the child's visual and kinesthetic learning.

Science Exhibition

With an endeavour to promote scientific attitude among budding young students, we held an exhibition at school. A science exhibition being an interface of science and society, contributes towards creating awareness about science as well as creating enthusiasm in students.

 

Feedback from parents

Thank you!

Team Casa Vista Montessori

Montessori- A strong foundation for life

Experiences in your early life make basis for your personality. Early childhood events make patterns in your brain, which determine your behaviour in later stages of life. The emotional, social and physical development of young children has a direct effect on their overall development and on the adult they will become.

Many theories have been suggested for early child care, one of which has been successfully developed and tested by Dr. Maria Montessori. She discovered and termed  0-3 years of age as a period of 'absorption' and 3-6 years as a period of 'consolidation'. Her observations and discoveries have been so precise that they lay a strong foundation for learning programs across countries today.

Talking about programs and methods, many traditional schools lay emphasis on scoring marks, good behaviour, learning matter from textbooks, rote learning and competition. Some of us experienced this during our school days, yet most of us are doing fine today with our careers and life in general. But the questions that arise are that did we really learn in such environments? Did it lay a good foundation for conceptual understanding? Did these schools allow us to think for ourselves? Were we really happy? Did they play a role in developing essential life skills and the necessary confidence? AND are we applying all the knowledge acquired in our life?            

Do we relate to this image?

This article will take you through how the Montessori education system helps to lay a strong foundation for a holistic development in children. An education system, where you not only learn the complex problems but also learn to apply them in your real life. 

Liberal attitude: For optimal emotional growth the first necessity is a liberal attitude of the school towards its students. The environment should be such that the children feel free, happy, attracted by and confident in it. The school should be like an extension of home. The fear element in schools do not allow children's personalities to develop fully. With fear, no education is possible.

This should not be misunderstood, children should not be pampered or over protected but they should be allowed to work with a free will. So then what is this free will?

Classes: In Montessori schools, the class routines have a lot of flexibility within structure. There are no fixed timetables, so this allows continual work schedules without interruptions. These kinds of uninterrupted work patterns help the children to concentrate and develop focus. Self discoveries can only be made when children are left free to explore things on their own. In a Montessori classroom, children have a free will to choose their learning activities along with their place of work. This not only gives them freedom to make decisions but also the confidence to work with, an activity of their choice. Therefore, in Montessori schools there are no assigned desks to students and they have the freedom of space. The environment is rich with resources that directly cater to skill development and conceptual understandings.

Curriculum: The Montessori curriculum is flexible that caters to developmental stages of the child. Just like one-size-fits all won't work, Montessori educators know that one standard approach to teaching will not meet the needs of all the students. Therefore, Montessori schools practice something called as 'differentiated learning' where different activities are given to different ability of groups. This stimulates the quick learners to discover deeper layers of learning while simultaneously structuring curriculum to support lower level students. In simple terms differentiated instruction is the adjusting of lesson activities and tasks for students in a single class having different ability levels. 

Skills: Dr. Maria Montessori termed the child's capacity of taking in maximum information from birth to 6 as the 'Absorbent Mind'. At a young age, every new experience, every word children learn and every behaviour they adopt is an investment in a more productive future. Therefore, the Montessori curriculum is a skill based curriculum, where the prepared environment offers activities that aim to develop children who are; social, independent, thinkers, communicators, knowledgeable, risk-takers, caring, curious and confident. 

Assessments:"Everyone is a genius but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid"- Albert Einstein  

Such is the state of many education systems today. Recognising the strengths of each child is essential for a holistic development. Therefore assessments in Montessori schools are not a formal testing procedure but an ongoing action, where the emphasis is laid on the process rather than the product. Children have to be allowed to make mistakes and rather than correcting the errors, what really should be rectified is 'what caused the error'. So instead of setting papers with marks and setting an atmosphere of tension and stress, assessments should be informally conducted where students are given multi-modal ways to explain their understanding. Assessments and tests should not be the only way to test students learning and capability. 

Teacher as a facilitator: In Montessori schools, teachers don't impart knowledge but rather facilitate this learning journey by providing the necessary support. They remain passive, yet observant and sensitive to the needs to the child. The Montessori teachers assist children in the areas that need development and allow them to learn on their own. 

Hand's on learning: Montessori in its true sense is experiential learning where children discover the information for themselves. They are encouraged to ask questions and try things on their own. On the contrary traditional school lessons are often given orally to students who are expected to sit, listen, memorise and give tests. 

Application of learning: When students are engaged in authentic hands on experiences they learn to apply their findings to real life scenarios. I witnessed many such evidences of learning during my teaching journey. 
I vividly remember a time when we were inquiring into the concept of 'Measurements, with 6 year olds. They learned to use measuring jars to measure the capacity of liquids. In a few days of learning this, a 6 year old child came up to me and said, "I consumed 2 litres of water today". I was surprised and asked him, "How did you know that?" He said, "My bottle had a capacity to hold one litre and I filled it twice". 
At another time, our topic focus was 'Reduce Reuse Recycle'. Children received many hands on experiences where they learned different ways to make best out of waste. They conducted interviews, and researched to find out how much waste is created on an average, in a day. As a consequence of their learning they came up with an action plan of banning the use of tissues and instead started carrying their own hand towels. 
This is called 'application of learning in its true sense'. 

Conclusion: Some of our education systems are geared towards teaching and testing knowledge as opposed to teaching skills. There goes a famous quote, "Give a man a fish and you feed him one day, teach him how to catch a fish and he will feed himself for lifetime". Knowledge is largely forgotten after the semester exam is over. The goal of our new education system should be to create thinkers, entrepreneurs, innovators, artists, scientists and writers who can establish the foundation of a knowledge based economy. Montessori education provides children with opportunities which in turn takes mediocrity out of the system.

                   References-http://startup.nujs.edu/blog
                   Metaporphosis 2004, The Child and you
                   Images-google