A room in which all the children move about usefully, intelligently, and voluntarily, without committing any rough or rude act, would seem to me a classroom very well disciplined indeed.
Maria Montessori, The Montessori Method
It was a treat to spend the morning in Preschool South. Here is a tiny snippet of their morning work period. I truly value that in a Montessori classroom children have the opportunity to meet their needs. It is apparent in this video that children experience freedom, the opportunity to concentrate, to learn from one another, and make independent choices. Maria Montessori shares,
Our educational aim with very young children must be to aid the spontaneous development of the mental, spiritual, and physical personality and not to make of the child a cultured individual in the commonly accepted sense of the term. …And herein lies the art of the educator; in knowing how to measure the action by which to help the young child’s personality to develop.
Throughout my observation in Preschool South, I watched as teachers, Steph and Ayako, followed the impulses and interests of the children. The teachers prepared the classroom materials, which in their design allow the children to learn through auto-education. There were certainly moments that the teachers offered a bit of instruction, social guidance, comfort, and acknowledgement of work well done. Yet, it was beautiful and inspiring to observe a space where children move freely, confidently, and very happily!
