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 The Montessori method can help your child to grow in many ways
Dr. Montessori devised a system of early childhood education that was specifically designed to meet the basic needs of the child. The Montessori method itself has many aspects and a well-trained Montessori directress has studied and worked a great deal. But the basic ideas and concepts of the system are easily understood by all.
Maria Montessori had a unique understanding of young children
 Born in Italy in 1870, Maria Montessori became the first woman doctor in her country's history. Her early work was with retarded and very poor children; by close observation and experimentation, Dr. Montessori devised a system of education that helped handicapped and deprived children learn as well as normal and average children. Her methods became world-known and many countries adopted them.
Today there is a renewed interest in her system in the United States. Her insights into children and her ideas for helping them grow into healthy, well-rounded adults seem fresh and meaningful today. The failures of traditional methods of education are becoming more and more obvious. The Montessori way offers a sensible, structured system that allows a child to develop at her own pace, using her own abilities, with the guidance of a trained Montessori directress and the use of specially designed Montessori materials.
The Montessori system has three main parts: the child, the environment and the directress.
 At the heart of any system of early childhood education should be the child. Maria Montessori based her entire method on her observations and understanding of the child as he is, not as adults imagine he might or should be.
Dr. Montessori then devised a total environment to help the child develop himself as a total human being. She saw the role of the teacher as one of directing activity rather than actually teaching, so she preferred to use the term "directress" instead of "teacher".
Montessori sees your child as she really is
 The Montessori method allows your child to learn the way she learns best and easiest — by doing things herself. Basically, she teaches herself. Within certain limits, your child can choose work that appeals to her own inner interests.
She can exercise her sense of freedom and spontaneity; she feels joy and enthusiasm in learning because she is doing what she wants to do instead of what someone else tells her she must do. Gradually, the child builds a strong sense of independence and self-confidence as her skills increase.
The Montessori method is built on your child's natural love of learning and instills a life-long motivation for continuous learning. It helps your child remain in touch with her natural growth and development and avoids forcing her to do anything she is not truly ready for.
The Montessori environment is your child's "teacher"
 In a Montessori school, your child teaches himself through his use of the specially designed Montessori materials. These are attractive, generally simple, child-sized materials that are self-correcting, that is, if a child makes an error, he can see it by looking at the material itself in this way, no adult is needed to point out his mistake and perhaps injure his self-esteem.
Your child learns to work alone and with others in a Montessori school — he can usually make this choice himself. He learns to follow the class "ground rules" and may often remind other children to follow them as well. Because he can choose his own work and do it at his own pace, your child has many opportunities for success; the Montessori classroom is non-competitive. He will also have access to plants and animals and will help care for them.
The Montessori classroom is an attractive place in which your child can be free from adult domination and can discover his world and build his mind and body.
The Montessori classroom covers a number of different areas
The "Practical Life" area is especially for the very young child (2-1/2 to 3-1/2) and teaches her how to care for herself and her environment. Here, your child will learn to dress herself by using the dressing frames (buttons, snaps, zipper, buckles, pins, laces, bows, and hooks and eyes), to pour (rice and water), to wash a table, and to properly wash her hands, among other things. The "Sensorial" area allows her to use her senses to learn about the world. Here, your child will learn to judge different heights, lengths, weights, colors, sounds, smells, shapes, and textures. The language, math, geography and science areas provide your child with aids for her intellectual development. Exercises in body movement assist her physical development and her awareness of her body and what it can do.
Many Montessori schools add such areas as music, art, dancing, sewing, wood-working and foreign languages to further enrich your child's total development.
The Montessori directress has many jobs to do
Unlike the teacher in a traditional school, the Montessori directress is not the center of the classroom. Instead, she is very often hardly noticeable in the room as the children are working. She has no desk and spends her time working with children at child-sized tables or on the rug. The directress must be a keen observer of children and needs to have a clear idea of each child's individual level of development. She then determines what materials are best for each child to work with. She guides each individual child in this way and helps him learn the proper use of each material; she then leaves him with it and returns to observing. The directress interferes only when necessary. She must be flexible and willing to try new ideas to help each child.
Your child will come to see the directress as a friendly helper and guide, someone who is there when needed, but mainly someone who helps him to do things for himself.
The Montessori classroom includes children of different ages
By placing your child in a classroom with children of varying ages (usually between 2-1/2 and 6 years), you are exposing her to a wide range of learning possibilities. When she first begins school, she will have the benefit of learning from older, more experienced children. Later on, she will be able to help others with learning skills that she has already mastered. Your child will also learn how to get along socially with a variety of other people.
Each Montessori classroom is different
Although the Montessori method has very definite structures, it is also flexible and open to individual interpretations. Because no two people are exactly alike, each Montessori classroom, being largely dependent on the interpretation and abilities of the directress, will be unique. It is wise for parents to meet with the directress and, if possible, also observe her class in action in order to discover her particular style of Montessori.
The Montessori method is different from all others
The Montessori method is unique. It is based on a sensible balance between freedom and structure specifically designed for the young child. It provides a pleasant environment with carefully devised materials that meet the child's natural needs. It provides the overall guidance of a thoroughly trained directress. Montessori gives your child a strong basis, in his most formative years, for developing into a well-rounded, responsible, happy and fulfilled adult.
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