The Sandpaper Globe, also known as the land and water globe, is an introductory geography material from the Sensorial Curriculum.
This first thing that draws the eye in a Montessori classroom is the materials. Neatly ordered from left to right, and organised into curriculum areas, Montessori materials are specifically designed for little minds and little hands!
The Pink Tower is the iconic Montessori material. Often called the ‘symbol of Montessori’, it is a welcoming sign in any Montessori environment, and a favourite with educators globally.
Maria Montessori was one of the first academics to link children’s emotional development to their ability to learn at an optimal rate. To support the development of social skills, emotional intelligence, and academic wellbeing, Montessori designed the concept of a classroom community to support the development of these skills over time.
The Montessori approach to early childhood education offers a broad vision of education as an “aid and a preparation for life.” It is designed to help children grow from birth to maturity, and succeeds because it is flexible, interest-based, and aligned to children’s key developmental stages. The Montessori Curriculum and classroom structure incorporates flexible learning in a number of ways. Ultimately, this leads to the development of an optimal learning environment that caters to the needs of a diverse range of students and abilities. So how is the Montessori Curriculum flexible?
Parents frequently ask why Montessori classes group children by two to three year age groups, when primary schools group students by their birth year.
According to Montessori Theory, the development of literacy begins long before children start primary school, and is acquired in a variety of ways at different ages.
Montessori is a transformative educational model that can make a significant contribution to the educational outcomes for children from all social, cultural, and economic backgrounds.