The method by which children are taught in the Montessori school is extremely disciplined. And since the child has learned to work independently in the prepared environment, he is ready to enjoy the presence of other children without necessarily working directly with them. Thus, the Montessori teacher is able to work with each child individually, illustrating the use of the equipment. Because most of the Montessori equipment is designed so that errors are self-evident to the child, adult intervention in the child’s work is not necessary and is even undesirable once the use of the equipment has been demonstrated.

Dr. Montessori recognized that the only valid impulse to learning is the self-motivation of the child. Children naturally move themselves toward learning. Adults often intervene, with the best intentions, and place obstacles to learning in the child’s path. To this effect, Dr. Montessori stated that any unnecessary help given to the child hinders him in his growth. The teacher prepares the environment, observes and directs the activity, functions as an authority and protector to the children and environment, and offers the work according to the readiness and need of each child.

What you see in the classroom is not a group of children eagerly circled around the teacher waiting to be taught, but children actively pursuing what they most need to learn at their own unique stage of development. Because their teacher has been trained to be a keen observer of the individual child, she has demonstrated the material and then allows the child ample time to perfect himself. In some cases a child will zoom through the material and clamor for more. Other children will practice and perfect, maybe extend and explore for days with one piece of equipment. Either need is accommodated in the classroom where all the equipment is available to all the children for long work periods every day.

Ungraded Classroom

The greatest possibility for flexibility in permitting individual lessons and progress, while still retaining group sessions at no expense to the individual child, exists in the Montessori environment. The use of individual material permits a varied pace that accommodates many levels of ability in the classroom. If the classroom equipment is to be challenging enough to provoke a learning response, it must be properly matched to the sensitivities and past experiences of the child. This experience is so varied that the most satisfying choice usually can be made only by the child himself. The Montessori classroom offers him the opportunity to choose from the wide variety of graded materials. The child can grow as his interests lead him from one level of complexity to another. He works in a group composed of individuals of various ages, abilities, cultures, and interests and is not required to follow anyone else’s program. It permits the younger children a graded series of models for imitation, and the older ones an opportunity to reinforce their own knowledge by helping the younger ones. Hence, the child adds to the group as he receives from it what he needs.