Montessori Preparing a Child for the Futur - 8416 Words

eIntroduction â€Å"...the caterpillar and the butterfly are two creatures very different to look at and in the way they behave, yet the beauty of the butterfly comes from its life in the larval form, and not through any efforts it may make to imitate another butterfly. We serve the future by protecting the present. The more fully the needs of one period are met, the greater will be the success of the next.† (Maria Montessori) The Montessori environment may be looked at as a small society that is preparing the child for his future. Guiding him towards finding his role in the Universe; that he has a responsibility to nature; and to be respectful to everything in the Universe. To enable the directress to channel the children towards these goals†¦show more content†¦As a result, this successfully caters to the child’s sensitive periods. For example, a child may have an interest in letters. He may then go to the language area and work with materials that have been presented to him. The Montessori didactic materials are available at all times, and are easily accessible. The didactics â€Å"are designed to prepare the child indirectly for future learning.† The materials are of high standard, interesting, challenging, self-correcting and always complete. â€Å"†¦the child has an absorbent mind rather that reasoning mind before the age of six. A child is not capable of gathering materials from all over the room for one specific exercise.† The environment must therefore, be prepared for the child by experienced and sensitive adult. Extension with Sensorial Didactics Geometry and Algebra Didactics The Directress â€Å"Plainly, the environment must be a living one, directed by a higher intelligence, arranged by an adult who is prepared for his mission. It is this that our conception differs both from that of the world in which the adult does everything for the child and from that of a passive environment in which the adult abandons the child to himself†¦..This means that it is not enough to set the child among objects in proportion