Requirements For House Of Children
The children
cannot have the best development at home as every home is designed according to
adults needs, and the adults have to stop children from doing what their
natural urge wants to for maximum development. A house of children in a
Montessori system is quite different from a conventional method. A home or a
conventional school is in appropriate for the children’s maximum development.
The requirements to be considered to start a House of Children are as
following:
1)The Site Selection;
The Classroom: An ideal classroom is sunny and airy, but draft free, with low
windows, tiles or a wood floor, and about twenty square feet per child.
Ideally, washrooms are located just off the classroom with child-sized toilets
and low sinks. Classrooms are often finished with acoustical ceiling tiles and
curtains in cool pastels. Child-height water source and drinking fountains are
nice features, along with light switches. A separate entrance with a closet, an
adjacent teacher office and a storage space, are characteristics of classroom
built for Montessori system. Even in large schools, modular classroom open up
to individual outdoor space, with interior alcoves and discrete spaces which
help to create a “house of children” atmosphere.
The children 3
to 6 years are constantly absorbing from the environment and they do not need
to be taught in the conventional manners. Its classrooms are not like ordinary
classrooms, they cater to the natural needs of the children. They need to
normalized stable and flexible personality. The classroom should be rapidly
modifiable with a selection of available materials, physical layout and tones
which perfectly fit the always varying needs of the young children.
2)Furniture: Furniture styles are varied in design. Tables can have
different shapes, including rectangles, squares, ovals, trapezoids. Chairs
should be matched to table height, which varies according to the age level of
the class. Shelving, whether painted or natural wood, should be light in
colour, child sized and not in excess of eight inches wide for easy access. The
furniture, sanitary etc are child sized and unlike ordinary schools where
resources are placed on high shelves, the material is arranged on low shelves
here and everything is within the reach of the children.
3)Outdoors: Enriched outdoor environments include a natural habitat
and adjacent gardening and activity space for each classroom. Pick up/drop off
traffic access, benches for waiting children, children sized picnic tables, and
safe play grounds are other aspects to consider.
4)Materials: The other materials required other than furniture,
shelves, wash basins, toilets sanitary etc are many. Some of them are cleaning
tools, garden, shapes, boxes, books, stationary etc. A Montessori school must
be having things like mats, trays, jugs, aprons etc for basic elementary
exercises. Similarly, dressing frames, food gadgets, furniture for grace and
courtesy exercises and cleaning tools
and things for caring for animals and plants. For reading books are required
for children’s language developments. They must be placed in shelves in child’s
reach and must be according to their taste, mental level and reading
capability. Books and reading materials for phonic exercises, mathematical
skills and everyday science. All the instruments, apparatus etc like maps,
geometry objects, globe etc should be there for subjects like geography,
botany, zoology etc.
5)Teachers: The Montessori teachers or directresses must be
Montessori trained. They must know the whole philosophy, methodology and
apparatus handling. She must be able to prepare healthy happy kids who are
stable, normal, flexible and equipped with all advanced skills like reading, writing,
problem solving and creative.
6)Offices: Well equipped offices for teachers, administrative staff
and admissions, meeting of parents must be there. A computer, sitting
arrangements, desks, shelves for proper filling and documentation should be there.
7)Funds: Adequate
funds must be furnished for the following:
a)acquisition and repair of the Montessori materials,
b)for play ground props, classroom furniture, office
furniture etc,
c)for salaries of the staff, utility bills payments,
repairs, running expenditures etc,
d)for license fee, affiliations, government body payments,
taxes etc,
e)supplies and services acquired for the institute,
f)for insurance and legal issues, printing materials like
brochures etc.
8)Working Space: The Montessori school must have the following work
spaces for further learning of the children,
a)green belt or a place for plantation, flower beds etc,
b)play areas for their creation with child size swings,
picnic tables, chairs etc,
c)some sheds etc for keeping pet animals,
d)presentation areas with tables etc,
e)shelves for a
miniature library space for reading books etc.
Dr.Maria
discovered several phases and their developments of a child and his childhood.
As she was a science person she did a lot for experiments and observations for
almost twenty years. With a lot of reinforcement and testing in many places
with a group of friends. Her methods are collectively known as the Montessori
Method of education throughout the world today. Her method and discoveries were
aimed at helping the child to prepare himself for life. Some of the eminent
discoveries made by her as following;
1)Purposeful Work: Every child love to work purposefully. It is
with the correspondence of inner needs of development until the aim is
achieved. Work is done with a natural drive. Tasks are selected which are
appropriate for development.
2)Internal Drive: There is no motivation or conviction required to
be delivered by the adults for working. In fact they have to follow the child’s
inner urge. At specific times, the child has to work in various activities
himself. It is driven by an internal natural drive to do it. They should not be
given rewards or incentives to perform. It will make them ignore their inner
urge to work or perform activities.
3)Interest Develops From Inner Needs: The interest of the child
arises when he/she comes across something that meets the inner needs. In
suitable work conditions to work; there are spontaneous repetition occurs. It
results naturally in concentration. It is not the end but the beginning of
learning. Children can work with concentration in right conditions.
4)Order For Young Children: It is a primary requirement for their
development. She made an observation that children put things at their places.
This order is not only with objects but with their values, activities and
functions. They need to practice things like “Speak the Truth.”Though the
elders do not practice it in their everyday life. It confuses the child and
causes hindrance in his development. Similarly other such factors disturb
him/her. Another example of using a tool for something it is not meant for.
Further confusions are occurring when something is allowed at times and the
other times it is not. As there are processes in personality building which
have lifelong impressions. It takes a while for him to understand the
differences.
5)Collaboration And Unison: When children do not normalize, it is
due to inappropriate conditions for development. Dr. Montessori observed that
rectification of errors is possible in early childhood. Activities are
essential for child’s individual working freely.
6)Essential Activities: The activities for development are
essential for personality development of the child. These are sensorial
concepts, language, arithmetic, art, culture and they are found to be necessary
for a child’s active learning. The introduction of these exercises by Dr.
Montessori is a great contribution towards education. She discovered the ways children
like to perform. They bring out the intelligence, well and voluntary movements
of the personality. Children understand them well. In this way they mobilize
their minds to fullest potential.
7)Knowledge Assimilation: Dr. Montessori brings out the previously
barred discussions or activities for children aged 3 to 5 years. They were
thought to be the most essential for a child’s total development rather than
being restricted to subjects or lessons for memorization or learning. The
children responded to this approach and showed that they could assimilate
knowledge, normally considered to be too complex for a child. It is not if
represented in right conditions.
8)Freedom Brings The Real Freedom: Discipline came out as a problem
in houses of children. The children followed their own individual ways of
speaking, moving, handling, material, interacting with other peers etc. They
showed order, silence, good work attitude, being responsible for themselves and
the environment. They became independent, controlled their errors, quite
indifferent to reward or punishment. She observed that discipline is not to be
forced but cultivated. And it comes with freedom. Discipline and freedom are
two facts of the same coin.
9)Obedience: Actual obedience is a product of love, respect and
faith. Obedience leads a child to internal satisfaction and it converts to real
obedience and helps in real development.
10)Behavior: It was observed that children behave in a certain
manner. It could be destruction,
disorder, stubbornness, disobedience etc. But in prepared environments
and if the adults are trained there could be order responsibility and good
behavior. Misconduct is due to child’s inability to find suitable environment
for development. It is deviation and normality is correct behavior in suitable
environment as explained by Dr. Maria Montessori.
11)Observation Activities: After observing the child Montessori
activities are devised. They are real practical discoveries, such as, the
silence games, exercises of practical life and walking on the line.
12)Help In Doing Themselves: We should not do things for a child, but help him/her do
then themselves. “Help me do it myself” is the massage children want adults to
understand.
13)Importance Of Environment: Dr. Montessori discovered that ,the
environment is bringing the results she observed. She was the first to get
child-sized furniture. Entire schools were designed like this. Objects like
knives, pitchers and bowls were all child-size. The tables were light-weight so
that they can be carried by the children. Children learned to control their
movements, without knocking in the furniture.
14)Room Patterns: She studied traffic patterns of a room congestion
and tripping was avoided. Children love sitting on the floor, little rugs
defining work areas and children learned to walk around work that other
children were doing on the rugs.
