Montessori Nature's Smile

 Maria Montessori was a legendary woman. She was the first to break the social stigma about women -she became the first woman to enter medical school in Italy at the age of 22. Maria was a strong and compassionate woman. In 1896 she added the appointment as surgical assistant at Santo Spirito Hospital in Rome to her portfolio of tasks. Much of her work there was with the poor, and particularly with their children. As a doctor she was noted for the way in which she ‘tended’ her patients, making sure they were warm and properly fed as well as diagnosing and treating their illnesses. In 1901 Montessori immersed herself in her own studies of educational philosophy and anthropology.

In her work Maria stated that the hand plays the great importance in mental development and learning. Montessori said that 'the hands are the instruments of man's intelligence' meaning that through the progressive refinement of the movements of the hand learning took place. Furthermore, brain is actually constructed through movement. Montessori insisted on the need to develop hand's movement, and on a larger scale to guard against separating body from mind in the curriculum for fear of breaking 'the continuity that should reign between them' (1988:130). She identified a sensitive period for movement lasting from birth to 6, critical for the development of the mind, because, to quote Sillick, 'the child's movement of his or her whole body prepares the neural pathways for cognitive development, language acquisition and creative expression...' (1996:85).
The concept of the prepared environment is fundamental. Early years educators all recognise the significance of quality settings for effective early learning. Montessori followers take this further. The main goal is to perfect a learning environment that will meet the needs of all children, as individuals, regardless of the stage of learning they are at.
The environment SHOULD:
-'call' to the children,
- actively engage their interest,
- be accessible to them,
- be fresh, stimulating, clearly seen, uncluttered
- above all be beautiful.
- provide the stimulus
The environment SHOULD NOT:
- limit child's movement within
-  have time constraints,
- have pressure to learn,
- have competition.
 Each chil must be free to choose whatever interests her, to do with it as her inspiration directs, and for as long or as short a time as he instinctively feels is necessary.
Research shows that child's language develops best when she is surrounded by adults communicating with each other, and with her, from the earliest days of life. The adults in the environment can enrich child's experiences by being with her. There is no need to do way out and costly things, overly 'educational' or 'fun' things. As adults we need 'to be there with her', sharing her small experiences rather than trying to inflict our own on her. In the same way, going for a walk with a child should not mean dragging her along at the brisk pace of our adult legs to get to a certain place by a certain time, but rather covering a unspecified distance in an unspecified length of time at the child's pace and in response to her interests, on the social front the same is true. And more than anything, as adults, we need to be sure that we are not putting obstacles in her way.
 Here are just some examples of Montessori inspired environment:
         


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