I've long been interested in educational methodologies, so I was glad when Stoneridge Children's Montessori School held a special event called "the Journey". Parents got the chance to experience first-hand many of their educational materials. Montessori education forms a triangle between the teacher, the child, and the educational environment, each of which influences the other two.



We began our tour with the Toddler House program. Our kids were already past this point when we found Stoneridge. Other parents tell me that even at 20-36 months, children like the orderliness of taking trays of materials, "working" with them, and putting them back in place. Some materials were clearly suited for younger toddlers. Others were more advanced, like the box with many types of latches to open. Another advanced work I noticed was a flashlight with batteries. I can imagine a two-and-a-half year old feeling very independent learning to change batteries in a flashlight.



They have a variety of small musical instruments that must surely be a hit. They also have their own small playground directly outside from the classroom. It definitely seemed like a nicer environment than your average daycare, and from what other parents have told me there's real educational value in such a program at that age.



Our next stop was Children's House, a classroom for children from 3 to 6 years old. This is the age group that Montessori education is most known for. My wife and I were very impressed the first time we saw a classroom of children this age enjoying their "work" in an orderly way. The classroom follows simple rules: Children choose materials from a shelf that have been demonstrated to them by a teacher. They may not choose materials that they haven't been taught how to "work" with yet. When they tire of one thing they put it away and get another. Teachers circulate to give guidance and demonstrate new materials. For "the Journey", the teachers simply left laminated instructions for parents to read.



There is an abundance of materials. Some introduce progression, such as the different sized blocks and cylinders. Then there are the counting beads that make numbers into a concrete concept. There are materials that then tie the symbols that represent numbers to the numbers themselves. One of my kids was very proud for having completed the hundreds board just a few days ago. I tried doing the hundreds board the way a child would -- hunting for each number individually instead of sorting as I went. It was a big task. I'm sure it helps number recognition a lot.



They teach reading starting with lower-case letters, emphasizing sounds rather than letter names. This is the shortest path to reading words, the most meaningful reward for the child's effort. Various materials teach children to recognize, feel, and write letters. Initial work putting words together is done with a "movable alphabet" that is easier for small hands to manipulate than a pencil. There is a large variety of early reading/writing material.



Each Childrens House classroom has its own decorating style according to the lead teacher's wishes. The one we toured had caged birds, and a pumpkin enclosed in a plastic jar that let children watch decomposition. Stoneridge is set far back from any road, so that the rooms are quiet and the views out the windows are pleasant. It feels like a haven from the rush of modern life.



Next we visited a first-level elementary classroom, where ages 6-9 learn together. The materials follow the same principles as in Childrens House, but are more advanced. My favorite was long division. When the digit you're working with does not divide evenly, you physically replace the remainder with ten times as many of the next digit. The manipulation of abstract symbols is directly connected to physical objects that you see and touch. I am sure children who learn math in this way will have a clear mental picture of what arithmetic operations do. As a math major at MIT, I remember tutoring underclassmen who could manipulate the symbols but not apply them to word problems. Math education needs more materials like this, and not just at the elementary level.



The second-level elementary classroom had more independent study materials. It also continued the progression of concrete materials for math concepts and reading/writing. I noticed the square of (a+b) was something that could be done in a traditional textbook, and wondered why I didn't remember seeing it when I learned algebra in high school. It is another example of putting a concrete picture together with the symbol-manipulation concepts.



We had enough time at the end for one middle-school exercise that involved group discussion of a Shakespeare poem. At some point I hope to find out more about what goes on at that level. I think middle school is a good age to introduce computers into the curriculum, and I know they're starting something along those lines.

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