Montessori Theory Terms Flashcards
Absorbent Mind
The mind of the child is like a sponge absorbing all that is in their environment indiscriminately - impressions in the environment become part of the child, this is done unconsciously
Part of the child’s self-construction as they build their intelligence and personality
They completely adapt to the culture in which they live
Camera analogy - takes in totality of image, effortlessly, without fatigue
Child takes in emotional content - absorbs relationship between people and things - all attitudes and prejudices, even unstated
Indiscriminate, without judgement - can’t distinguish between helpful and harmful
Universal - all children worldwide follow this pattern of development
Temporary - only lasts a few years, will fade into a reasoning mind (what a child will have into adulthood)
Helps with adaptation
Abstraction
A reduced representation of something to bring attention to something specific**
Able to understand a concept without relying on materials - distance game
Analysis of Movement
slow precise movements to bring attention to “how” to do something
movement broken down into small purposeful steps
Classification
organizing and grouping of like things
-ice cream
-flowers
-made of wood
concentration
child’s ability to focus on a particular thing that is developed through meaningful work - leads to mormalization
control of error
built in to the material to make it self correcting - child gets instant feedback, allowed them to recognize, correct, and learn from an error without adult assistance
mechanical - won;t fit, left over piece
visual - see mistake (blindfold removed)
within the child’s developing since, perception
cultural extensions
create experiences giving information about various cultures
windows/mirrors - seeing themselves as same and different - way to bring in other cultures not represented in classroom
deviations
when development of child has strayed from the path of normal development
child’s natural development is disrupted - human tendencies, sensitive periods - incomplete environment and they can’t fully develop; trama, lack of resources
discipline
self - discipline focuses on control through meaningful work
outer and inner form - inner guides development - outer is window in to what is happening internally
rain coat tantrum - right not raining, carry now wear later
extended day/Montessori all-day
children who stay a full day and are able to engage in more challenging work in the afternoon - second work cycle
Four Planes of Development
0-6 functional independence - help me do it myself
6-12 intellectual independence - help me thing for myself
12-18 social/emotional - help me find myself
18-24 economic independence - help me support myself
Freedom
ability to choose and act on what you desire to do - freedom within a structured environment
functional independence
first plane birth to 6 - child learns how to take care of basic needs - walk, talk, feed self, dressing, care of belongings and environment (home and school)
knows steps to complete task
human tendencies
innate powers that urge humans towards development - within all of us
self-perfection, exactness and precision, work, imagination, abstraction, communication, exploration, order
imagination
human tendency - forming abstractions leads to imagination - this is what we do with the essence of abstractions
independence
ability to do something for yourself, self- sufficient without relying on someone else
can’t be given must be achieved
have to be given freedom to carry out choices to achieve
to support - break down tasks to smaller steps, show don’t tell, give time to practice
indirect preparation
aspect of presentaion or work that prepared a foundation for an activity in the future - aids in learning or development later - could be just an impression
isolation of difficulty
teaching one step at a time
points of interest - pause draw attention, done through analyzed movements
removes unecessary obstacles - allows child to focus on and gain mastry of just one difficult element
liberty
granted to children so they are free to acto on what their mind tells them to do
connected to choiceand action - freedom is capacity to choose, liberty is ability to act upon choice
liberty is external
limits
freedom within limits/boundaries - like banks of river - still have choice but within these limits - giving choice a or b, to allow child to choose when choice is in not an option
materialized abstraction
concepts that are made concrete - concrete representaion color box 3 variations of green allows for development of thinking that there is more green than what is shown in the 7 - child comes into physical contact with idea or concept
mathematical mind
produces order out of disorder
mind recognized patterns and logical thinking
all of earth has a pattern it follows - we also have that within us
montessori adult
has understanding of child development
prepares and maintains supportive environment
observes carefully - understands transformation happening
offer opportunities to support further development
sees child’s potential and has faith and knowledge to bring that potential to light
normalization
process by which the child develops concentration and meaningful work - child’s true self, focus concentration ad independence by the child’s own choice
recipe for normalization; work freely chosen, done by the hands, with real objects, with concentration
obedience
develops naturally within child’s character - hear request and follows through with action
not forced or imitated - inner preparation
observation
seeing what is happening in the room and what the child is interested in - what lessons are needed and know when to step in and when to allow for a bit of struggle
objectivly seeing what is needed for grace and courtesy
points of interest
specific point to bring child’s attention to certain details of a presentation that will aid them in process of self perfection
shows refined movement to engage child’s attention - nonverbal instructions - channels child’s creative energies and encourages deeper concentration
prepared environment
one leg of montessori tri-ad
items call to child, are real, give real feedback, functional, child-sized, natural material, organized by area, set up in sequence of difficulty from L to R
thoughtfully prepared
presentation
analyzed steps shown to a child in a specfic order or sequence to allow child to follow and repeat
for purpose of connection
logical sequencing
responsibility
children are taught to be responsibilie for their choices and actions - treat others with kindness, share in caring for environment, help others, express their own needs nad take initive to do it
sensitive periods
order, movement, development and refinement of sensory perception, language
brian overly produces synapses - then elimates what is less efficent based on environment - not used regualry fade away - regularly used are mylenated - brain is uniquely constructed this way - the growth and development is guided by sinsitive periods and operates with the absorbent mind
social cohesion
community of mixed ages
socially responsible
admire their accomplishments w/o judgement of others
have altruism (unselfish regard/devotion to welfare of others) for thier community
third period review
this is the recall - ask the child to identify a concept that they have previously learned (a bring me game with the known sandpaper letters for instance)
three period lesson
1st - concrete experience where something is named, in context
2nd - longest, what can the child recognize - point, move, arrange, etc
3rd - recall - what is this?…
three part work cycle (cycle of activity)
comepletion of activity, beginning, middle, end
-choose work from shelf
-take work and use it
-return work to shelf, ready for next person
uninterrupted work period
block of 2.5 - 3 hours
child is not interrupted by any outside force
child can freely choose work and work for as long as they would like
will
inner guide of child that directs them to do or not do something
work
what the child uses to construct themselves
