Game Based Learning: Birch Trail

Prompt:

     Further along on the Birch Trail you see what only can be a Bamboo Stand. There is a small package at the base of the stand, so you reach to get it, and...

Bamboo Stand: 

The Montessori Method

     Maria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator.  She is best know for the educational philosophy that bears her name as well as her writings on scientific pedagogy.  Montessori's influences came from scholars who emphasized exploratory/sensory learning and the use of manipulative's.  Her first works were at a school for disabled children where she taught them tasks such as how to walk and how to use implements such as a spoon. 

     She viewed her work with these children as scientific pedagogy.  The methods she employed were designed to be adapted and improved my students needs.  She believed that, by monitoring her methods and accommodations that science could transform education. 

     She developed her educational method that we know as the Montessori Method when she began working with non-disabled students.  These students learned in an environment that was crafted to their developmental needs. Part of the student responsibilities also included "practical activities" that included sweeping and cleaning tables. 

     In her book, she described a method in which the students learned to read and had the opportunity to play.  Students will pick a piece of paper out of a hat, read the paper, then stick it back in the hat.  Then, students would go tot he front of the room, correctly say the name of the toy that was on their paper and locate the toy.  If the student both pronounced the word correctly and located the toy they then had the opportunity to play with the toy. The students enjoyed this method and some refused to play with the toy they picked because they were eager to learn more. 

Review: 

     Montessori  developed a method that was innovative for her and and still seems to be innovative today.  I love the concept of matching the learning to what it represents. This is definitely a method I would like to use in my classroom, especially since I will be in a kindergarten classroom this fall.  Her method resembles the immersion method of learning a second language.  Students (children and adults) learn what objects and actions are by labeling or practicing them.