Montessori school as Preschool
In different countries the statutory education for a child goes under different names such as elementary schooling or primary schooling. Generally the statutory education starts when the child is 5 or 6 years old. Preschool provides for the education of a child before the child commences statutory education. Preschool is a very influential period in a child’s upbringing.
Even small children who are not old enough to go to regular school have a sharp, inquisitive mind. They can assimilate information fast and they can learn quickly. They have a keen interest and fascination for each new discovery. Cultivating their minds correctly at this stage is very important. There are many Preschools available for doing this; they are known by various other names such as day care, nursery school, and kindergarten or Montessori school.
Subjects covered by Preschool curriculum are language, mathematics, geography, science, and arts. Various specialized methods of teaching like Montessori, High Scope, Waldorf, etc are followed by preschools. Let us have a look at one of the commonly adopted method of preschool education, the Montessori education method that has become so popular.
In the late 19th century; Dr. Maria Montessori developed certain concepts about the education of small children; her concepts were based on her observation that the development and thinking of children is quite different from that of adults and that children learn in their own way, choosing among the materials and resources available to them. These concepts are the basis of Montessori education method. Even though Montessori school children learn preschool curriculum subjects such as language, mathematics, geography, science, and arts that children from other preschools do, they do so in a very different atmosphere
One of the basic arguments in the Montessori learning method is that children, from birth up to an age of around six, have a mind that can assimilate quickly, that they are very highly motivated to achieve perfection of skills and understanding within their setting. The young child learns by repetition of activities; for instance, exhaustive babbling - totally incoherent and incomprehensible to us - is the child’s language practice leading to his competence in language.
The Montessori learning method allows children to pursue subjects that interest them and at their own pace. There are long periods of time when a child works without interruption on a topic. Montessori classrooms have feature areas devoted to different subjects emphasizing motor skills, sensory and memory skills, etc. and a child goes to an area when he feels interested in that subject.
Montessori classrooms allow children to feel and experience as much of the natural world around as possible by providing small pets or may be a window sill garden in the classroom. The Montessori teacher has to introduce the children to suitable material and then observe and guide them.
One of the preschools small children can join is the Kindergarten school. Children join kindergarten school at the age of five and here they learn interaction and playing with other children. The school provides materials and activities to inspire them to learn the language, mathematics, science, etc. Children also learn music, art, etc in the school; The school teaches them social behavior. Pre K (Pre Kindergarten) program is similar to Montessori and covers children of three and four years of age.