Dr Montessori was born in Italy in 1870. In 1896, she actually became the first female doctor in Italy. She began her research about the development of the child and the necessary conditions required in order for the child to fully grow from a medical perspective, researched about the child and her mission was actually to study about the child on a educational perspective and this was actually intended to help improve their opportunity for better learning and their development and hence it was through her research that could help understand the child.
She based her work on the direct observation of young children and it was due to her own research that she refused the opinions about these children abilities and neither did she attempt to manipulate these behaviours of these children by reward or punishment towards any end. This actually led her to develop some materials which were linked to the children’s interest, their needs and their developing abilities in order to help this child to develop and these actually made educators to give her the name of miracle worker because of her determination in understanding the child. Some of the quotes she made in her new education include “free the child’s potential and you will transform him in to the world”. (Montessori 1996).
In Montessori 0-3 program, which she opted to work with in the first place, she realized that working with children who are older than three years of age, was too late to have the most beneficial results on the life of a human being so she decided to work with the 0-3 program which would give better results on the life of the human being and in understanding how a person actually develops. But she later came up with the two-year full time course for adults living or working with children from birth to three years of age.
Children below three years can give better results of understanding the young child since these children below the ages three do not know anything and mostly do play with anything they come across with and hence achieve a state of profound peace order and harmony. (Jung, 1954).
Montessori quoted that” learning child sees not so much the task of filling the mind with information, but of rather constructing the mind through activity according to inner directives and urges. Sere she meant that children below ages three do not want to understand anything by filling their minds with information they are not able to remember but through the activities they perform since children at ages below three have poor memory, can’t go to school but they learn through the activities they mostly do like playing with toys. For children age of six and older, the computer can be a very positive part of the environment, but it is still important to decide what to do with it”. (Montessori, 1996).
You find that children above age six have a bit of knowledge and can operate some of the machines like computers since they have gone to school and have operated most of these things. In a period of forty years she wrote many books in which she opted that many people would follow her suit in trying to understand the child and helping the child to understand to understand herself. She also found out that given the right scientific conditions the young children can shed ordinary pattern of disorder, in attention and fantasy, entering in a totally new state of self discipline, love of order, peace, attachment to reality and complete harmony with the environment and viewed this as the Childs state of normal being since it arose from within the child itself.
Children at these ages are normally disorderly and end up messing everything they come across with. People can learn about children by observing their behaviours that is what they normally do with certain things like the toys and other playing materials. Children below the ages three like mostly playing with materials near them and it’s through this then that a child can develop and grow and reach an order person. (Jung, 1954)
The practice of the Montessori new education for children below the age of twelve in home and at school provides a good advice for using Montessori new education in all kinds. She said that if a child has the capability of doing something, then she should be left to do it all along since its through this then that the child will have experience of doing it and understand it more since the child is doing it without any assistance and in this she quoted that “never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed”. (Montessori, 1996).
Montessori education is a way of discovering and supporting the normal life of a child in the natural setting. His teaching can be carried out as viewing children as having their own inborn nature, their inner guidance and also is a way of been committed to infinite and eternal laws of nature. It has been a source of developing appropriate Montessori books, toys, and other educational materials, and this in turn helps parents and teachers to develop educational environment that fosters creativity, independence of thought and action. And hence as a result, this can help the child develop full potentials of inner respect, creativity and more so understanding the laws of nature.
She also quoted that “the world of education is like an island where people, cut off from the world, are prepared for life by exclusion from it” The toys and materials in the home and school should be of the very best quality to call forth self-respect, respect and care from the child towards the environment and the development of an appreciation of beauty. (Froebel, 1980)
Dr. Montessori new education discovered the phenomena of the Childs true nature in 1907 and eventually elaborated his discovery in various publications and further research she conducted throughout the world thereafter until her death in 1952.She wrote many publications which includes, the joyful child and this publication is available from the Michael Olaf company which is a company which was began by Montessori student established in 1982, another publication is the child of the world which actually explains Montessori practice for children from three to twelve years and are available directly from the Michael Olaf company, a company which was began by Montessori student. (Ashton, 1964)
Dr. Montessori approach has shown the teacher conducting some experiments with children and in using by using the available technology and this helps the child to understand the laws of nature around each child, and in which in practice it functions to control the environment instead of controlling the child. Her environment also provides an order and arrangement of self-teaching materials that children use according to their own choice for learning and intellectual development. Her teaching today creates the right potentials for the emergence of upright normal being in young children. Also it helps to supports normal development in older children by following the laws of nature.
It’s through her books that many people are in a position to understand the development of a child, how a child grows through various activities like playing with objects around her. Since her death she left a vision for a new education, which many people should follow, her suit in trying to help and understand the child. Her new education would bring about a whole new and better humanity in the world. So it’s upon teachers and students to follow the right education in order to be in a position to know the development of a child. (Cohen, 1983)
The practice of the Montessori new education for children below the age of twelve in home and at school provides a good advice for using Montessori new education in all kinds. She said that if a child has the capability of doing something, then she should be left to do it all along since it’s through this then that the child will have experience of doing it and understand it more since the child is doing it without any assistance.
Reference
Jung, C (1954). Child Development and Education; London: Routedge and Kegan Paul.
Ashton, W (1964). Teacher; New York, bantam.
Cohen, A. (1983). The Educational Philosophy of Martin Buber; London: Farleigh Dickinson University Press.
Froebel, F (1980). The Education of Man; New York’s; Appleton and Company.
Montessori, M (1996). Discovery of the child. Italy.