We at Arborland Montessori Children’s Academy sincerely endorse Dr. Montessori’s belief that the goal of early childhood education should not be to fill the child with facts for a preselected course of study, but rather to cultivate the child’s own natural desire to learn. 

 

The primary age child is a sensorial learner, and not ready for abstract concepts. Based on this fact all the lessons at the primary level appeal to the five senses. At this age the child also absorbs ideas spontaneously, what Dr. Montessori called “The Absorbent Mind.” From birth to the age of six, the child has sensitive periods of learning different topics. Modern day educators refer to these as “windows of opportunities.” These are periods in a child’s life where there is a strong natural need and an attraction to learn and absorb a specific idea or subject–therefore in the primary classroom all education is geared to take advantage of these sensitive periods. All the attractive materials are aids to learning specific concepts; they are not “toys.” The teacher, who is also referred to as a guide, makes presentations, after making observations to fit the lesson to the particular sensitive period the child is going through. After the initial presentation, the child is free to repeat the lesson/exercise as many times as necessary, to aid perfection. At the primary level the child is given all the tools necessary to develop into a productive and successful adult.

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In the Montessori classroom, this objective is approached by allowing each child to experience the excitement of learning by his/her own choice rather than by being forced. It is also approached by helping the child perfect his/her natural tools for learning, so that the child’s abilities will be maximized for future learning situations. Montessori materials have this dual, long-range purpose in addition to their immediate purpose of giving specific information to the child.