The Montessori Method

Have you ever seen a half child? What then is a whole child? Often, alternate educators use jargon that is not well defined or understood. The scientist in me rebels against this.

I send my two kids to a Montessori school ("even past kindergarten") , and often other parents are curious about my choice. Ironically, during such conversations, I have not been able to articulate my reasons any better than the alternate educators.

So, I went about identifying the top things that make a good school in general:

1. I believe kids learn best when they are interested. We have all had at least one teacher who brought that spark to the subject matter. In selecting a school, one must assess both the curriculum and the teacher for the ability to interest a child in learning.
2. I believe a school is not just made by the curriculum and teachers, but also largely by the students. Kids want to read, wear, eat, talk, live what they see around them.

However, there are plenty of traditional schools with great teachers and wonderful children. Why Montessori? Reading about reinforcements in "Don't Shoot The Dog", gave me the words to explain one of the many aspects of the Montessori Method that fascinate me.

All "teaching" requires reinforcements. There are negative reinforcements, such as, an angry glance, a punishment, a time out. There are positive reinforcements, such as, a special toy, a word of praise, a cookie, a sticker. However, all of these are external reinforcements. The joy of learning, accomplishing, or perfecting a task, is an internal reinforcement. Try convincing someone who has poor self image that they look good, and the power of internal reinforcement will become obvious.

Montessori schools nurture, rely on, and build upon the child's internal compass to reinforce behavior and learning. The results, so far, have been amazing. The child wants to learn. The child knows what is right. Most of all, when the child grows up and the school, the teacher, the peer group, the parents, etc. are removed from the person, the internal compass will still be there to guide her. Or so one hopes.