The Titus 2 Homemaker

I just finished reading Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook, by Maria Montessori.  I had heard of Montessori education, and was intrigued by its hands-on nature, but was a bit wary because these Montessori schools seem to be very child-centered, without an appropriate sense of authority, the need to train children up, etc.  I wanted to hear directly from the source what this method is all about.  What follows are my notes.

This book really contains some fascinating stuff!  Dr. Montessori’s method is certainly incomplete, as it does not address the spiritual development of a child, but what it does address, it does so very methodically.  A great emphasis is placed on teaching by example which, of course, is Biblical.  (This teaching by example is the main purpose for the notion of, “treating the children with respect,” which is so blown out of balance nowadays.)

Great emphasis is also placed on developing the children’s skills of observation, via all of the senses, as well as their motor skills.  The teacher provides direction, but the exercises (mostly educational “toys”) are designed/chosen to allow the children to discover knowledge and acquire skills for themselves.  They are trained to control their movements, and to recognize colors, gradations, light and dark, loud and soft, large and small, thick and thin, long (or tall) and short, shape, and pitch.  Later they are taught to recognize letters, phonetic sounds, numbers, numerals, and quantity.  This is accomplished by a number of manipulatives of which I have made notes.

(Two other comments before I move on to the manipulatives.  First, it should be noted that this method is intended for young children - “preschoolers” through about age 7.  Second, I find quite instructive Dr. Montessori’s comments that the fact that small children move around a lot and touch things is simply a natural part of their development.  It is much more productive to train them to control their movements than to continually tell them to “sit still and stop getting into everything.”)

• Fastening frames: Wooden frames with pieces of fabric affixed, for buttoning, lacing and tying, etc.
• Three sets of pegs with holes: Each set of ten pegs is fitted into a strip of wood with holes sized just right to accommodate the pegs. The pegs have little nubs on the tops for handles. The first set of pegs is graduated in diameter. The second is graduated in both diameter and height; the third is graduated in height. (One of the key features of this tool is that it is self-correcting. The child can tell if he has made a mistake because the pegs won’t fit properly.)
• Set of ten wooden cubes: These are pink cubes, ranging in size from 1 cm to 10 cm. The children stack them, and they teach the concept of “large” and “small.”
• Set of ten wooden prisms: These are brown rectangular prisms, 20 cm long. The square ends range in size from 1 cm to 10 cm. The children stack these, as well, or line them up beside each other, and they teach the concept of “thick” and “thin.”
• Set of ten wooden rods: These are green (for the younger children) or red and blue striped (for those learning numbers). They are 4 cm square and range in length in 10 cm increments from 10 cm to 1 m. The children stack them, and they teach “long” and “short.” For older children, each 10 cm of length is painted, alternately in red and blue. These are used to teach numbers.
• Textures: Several different tools are used here, but the underlying principle is that a variety of textures are presented, and the children learn to feel them. Two of each type should be provided, so they can be matched.
• Wooden tablets: The wooden tablets in this set are all the same size, but differ in weight. The purpose is for the children to learn to differentiate them by weight.
• Geometric solids: These are light blue, and are simply the geometric solids you see sold for teaching geometry - prism, cube, cylinder, sphere, etc.
• Colors: Dr. Montessori’s schools used specially-designed manipulatives here, but I don’t see why they’re necessary. Sixty-four colors were provided, 8 gradiations in each of 8 basic colors. Each had a duplicate so they could be matched. These are used for teaching both basic color recognition and recognition of gradiations - subtle differences.
• Geometric insets: Of all of the manipulatives, I find this the most intriguing. It is a set of six trays, each of which holds six square “frames.” Each frame (except the blanks) has a cutout shape in the center, with a little handle attached. (Basically, it’s a series of simple puzzles.) The shapes are painted blue, as are the bottoms of the trays, so the shape looks the same once removed. The first tray contains 6 circles of varying diameter. The second contains a square and five rectangles, each of which has the same height, but in varying widths. The third contains 6 different triangles. The fourth contains a pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, nonagon, and decagon. The fifth contains an oval, ellipse, rhombus, rhomboid, and trapezoid. (The oval is egg-shaped - narrower at one end than the other.) The sixth contains 4 blanks (solid squares with no cutouts), and two irregular shapes - basically a 4-petaled flower and a shape that looks like an obese triangle. ) There are also three sets of accompanying cards, identical in size to the cutouts. These display images of the same shapes, one in solid blue, one with a think (1/2 cm) blue outline, and one with a thin black outline. These are used for a number of things, but one very important feature is that of teaching the child to trace the outside of the shape with the tips of two fingers. This helps him learn to recognize the shape by feel, and is preparation for drawing and writing. Prewriting children can trace the insides of the trays and outsides of the insets, and color the resulting shapes for more development of writing skills.
• Set of six cardboard cylinders: These cylinders are opaque and completely sealed, and contain sounds in a variety of intensities. There should actually be two sets, so they can be matched.
• Two sets of chromatic bells: These bells are used for teaching the recognition of pitch. A set includes a full chromatic scale (everything from C to C on the piano keyboard, including the black keys). All of the bells should be identical in appearance, so that only striking them allows differentiation. As with the other manipulatives, there should be two sets, to allow for matching. These are placed on a long board, which is painted white and black in the same order as the piano keyboard.
• Colored pencils and precompiled designs: Colored pencils are used with the geometric shapes for tracing. They are then used to color a preselected set of designs to further develop prewriting skills
• Sandpaper letters and numerals: Cards with cutout sandpaper letters and numbers are used for tracing with the fingers when introducing these concepts.
• Letter cards: Smooth (non-sandpaper) letter cards are used for arranging into words. Use the sounds of the letters with the cards, rather than their names, then “spell” the words out sound by sound with the cards. In this manner, the child will learn to spell and read.
• Counting box: This is a box with 10 compartments, labeled from 0 to 9. Beans, small sticks, etc. can be counted into the compartments for recognition of quantity and the numerals that represent it.
• Number cards and slotted frames: These are cards with numbers printed on them. All multi-digit numbers should end in zeros; they’re used for teaching place value. A “2″ could be placed over a “10″ which is placed over a “500″ which is, in turn, placed over a “2000″ to demonstrate that 2,512 is really two thousands, five hundreds, one ten, and 2 ones.

(I have omitted one or two manipulatives which just did not jump out at me as strongly as the others.)

In addition, Dr. Montessori recommends two other activities which I thought sounded useful.

• Line-walking: Having the children walk along a painted/taped line (like an imaginary balance beam) helps develop their coordination and grace.
• Silence practice: Have the children sit down comfortably and be as still and silent as possible. The main motivation for this is to train their sense of hearing to be more acute and discerning: in the quiet, “little” sounds which we normally tune out become obvious. It has the side benefit, however, of developing an appreciation for calm and a distaste for clamor. If very soft instructions are given, or the child’s name is then called, very softly (in a whisper), attentiveness may be trained, as well.