Have you ever wondered what it was like inside of a Montessori classroom? Have you even heard of the option of your child going into a Montessori school? This post will give you all the insights you need on what a Montessori classroom is and how it's the best option for your child! Everything stated below is from my own insight, combining websites I've looked through, passages I've read about in school as well as personally being in the classroom and asking my mother (who is a Montessori teacher) questions.
This is an example of what a Montessori classroom looks like. As you can see, there are no actual desks like there would be in a public school. The reason being is because of the different "works" students have, they are using every part of the classroom, whether that be a mat on the floor or sitting at a table by themselves or with a group. A "work" is like a type of assignment that would be given in a traditional classroom. These works do not have to be done in one sitting, in fact, children can move from one work to the next and do what they are most excited about doing that day. The specifics of the works I have yet to learn about, but I do know they range from life skills to more "academic" settings.
The whole purpose of a Montessori education is to let the child be in control of their learning as the teacher aides them in these works. A teacher in a public school has a very specific job requirement of teaching common core standards, giving out assignments and projects that are to be graded and adding these grades up to determine whether or not a child passes or fails a class. A teacher in a Montessori setting is more of an observer, watching and documenting the progress of each student while having no grading system that would "pass or fail" them. Montessori has multi-age classrooms, for example, the primary classroom houses 3-6 year olds, allowing the older students to guide the younger ones since the older students have gone through the works the younger ones are currently going through. This inspires leadership and mentoring as well as a deeper comprehension whereas in a public school, every child is confined to a specific grade level as well as being surrounded by others who are the same age as them.
Montessori methods look to nourish the already inquisitive mind of a child so that students are in charge of their learning and most of the time, teachers don't have to encourage a deeper understanding because students are actively researching and gaining valuable knowledge without any prompting to do so. In a public school, the knowledge only goes as far as is required by the teacher and unless it's about a subject that a student is particularly interested/excited about, they retain more surface-level knowledge.
This is all just a small insight on what goes on in a Montessori classroom and how enriching it is for a child. I suggest that if you have a child and you're looking to give them the best education, finding a Montessori school will guarantee outstanding results.
