Once upon a time, I worked at a Montessori kindergarten in southeast Melbourne for over 6 months. I finally found time to put my impressions down on paper. I had read many books by Maria Montessori herself, monographs about the method, as well as textbooks during my studies at Monash University. I’d also encountered Montessori as a parent. When my son was a year and a half old, some friends and I enrolled in a “parent and toddler” group in Moscow. Misha loved it, but “parent and toddler” is more of an entertainment really—you can’t fully understand the system that way. A child needs complete immersion, ideally attending a Montessori kindergarten for half a day to a full day, at least three days a week.
So, my first impressions. To make this review more interesting, I decided to add sections: “How It Should Be” (that is, what a Montessori classroom should ideally be like—the principles, ideas, and my expectations) and “How It Actually Is” (what I saw in our Montessori kindergarten)! Out of respect for the children’s and their parents’ privacy, I’ll only publish photos of children at work if their faces aren’t visible.
SPACE
How It Should Be
Order is the fundamental principle of Maria Montessori’s approach. Therefore, the space should be clean, bright, and beautiful. Furniture and equipment should be child-friendly, chairs light enough for children to move, shelves accessible and convenient.
How It Actually Was
The Montessori kindergarten where I worked fully complied with Montessori “laws” and principles. It was a beautiful mansion, a real palace for children. Very bright, with natural sunlight rather than artificial light, thanks largely to enormous windows and glass doors. Wooden shelves, chairs, and tables created an atmosphere of naturalness. Add to this the magnificent pines and eucalyptus trees outside and a handcrafted playground covered with special wood chips.
EQUIPMENT
How It Should Be
A prepared environment filled with Montessori-created materials, arranged by zones: sensory, practical life, mathematics, language, geography and world, biology, art.
In such a prepared environment, children learn independently; the teacher’s role is to create the appropriate learning environment. When working with materials, the child returns them to their place on the shelf. Each child has their own workspace—a mat for floor work or a table.
How It Actually Was
All the materials were absolutely new, high-quality, and pleasant to study and work with. However, children didn’t always put them back in place—they often scattered materials and lost “parts.” We teachers had to intervene in the process and “give presentations.” It was very heartening that children threw napkins in the trash, cleaned up sand after themselves, swept the room, dusted, poured water into pitchers, and watered plants.
You could say that the environment was indeed incredibly effective for developing independence.
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THE CHILD
How It Should Be
Montessori believed children have an innate inclination toward learning, thanks to their absorbent minds.
Additionally, there are certain sensitive periods in a child’s life when they are most receptive to absorbing particular information or mastering certain skills.
Montessori education is child-centred, not curriculum-centred. In a Montessori classroom, each child develops at their own pace.
How It Actually Was
Although some special group lessons for everyone existed, children were generally free to choose what to do.
While three-year-old Evie poured water from one small pitcher to another, four-year-old Alex wrote in his notebook in capital letters “I love my mum,” and Harper worked on addition.
Most of the time, children were busy with activities, but I noticed that Montessori’s philosophy often needed Vygotsky’s added to it, with his zone of proximal development. Suggesting a child do something together (because it’s social and communicative), offering new materials or a new approach, or providing help.
What I Didn’t Like
I didn’t like that sometimes we had to raise our voices at the children. They wouldn’t listen. The impression from Montessori’s books is that directresses (as Maria called teachers) are role models for children and, consequently, speak quietly and calmly.
We often had to “bark” at the children to stop bad behaviour.
What I Really Liked
Personally, as a fan of Vygotsky and the sociocultural approach, I wasn’t thrilled that Montessori lessons are supposed to happen in complete silence. Children love to talk, and through communication with adults, they acquire language. Moreover, following Vygotsky, I believe that language and consciousness are closely connected.
Montessori undoubtedly develops self-regulation and self-control. Children learn to move carefully around the room, to listen for the bell as a signal that the teacher has a special message. They learn to take things and return them to their places. And neatness too. Of course, we can’t overlook that Maria Montessori developed amazing mathematics materials. These materials—the “red rods,” “spindles,” “geometric cabinet,” “golden material”—make it possible to give preschool-age children fundamental knowledge of mathematics
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