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Self-Construction through Conceptual Education
As many of you know, Montessori education begins early in childhood when children start exploring the world around them with hands-on, conceptual materials. This is true for tasks as simple as buttoning a shirt and as complex as exploring a mathematical relationship. The conceptual curriculum builds on itself with more advanced work on the materials as the child develops (mainly on their own) materialized abstractions of concepts and relationships.
As many of you know, Montessori education begins early in childhood when children start exploring the world around them with hands-on, conceptual materials. This is true for tasks as simple as buttoning a shirt and as complex as exploring a mathematical relationship. The conceptual curriculum builds on itself with more advanced work on the materials as the child develops (mainly on their own) materialized abstractions of concepts and relationships.
For example, the binomial and trinomial cubes are mathematical materials that exist in the classroom for all levels of Montessori. In the Primary classroom, these are sensorial materials and an exercise in shape, proportionality, dimension, area, and volume. The children reassemble the cubes and/or rectangular prisms based on matching faces of the smaller cubes and/or rectangular prisms with like-color faces. Through doing this (first in the box and then free-standing), they have internalized a three-dimensional impression (a model in the mind, if you will) of all the concepts mentioned previously.
As the children move from Primary to Elementary, their intellect and imagination become the vehicle for development as they grow their powers of abstraction and reasoning. The very same binomial cube is revisited for the students to manipulate. However, this time, they are examining the mathematical relationships it represents: the binomial formula (for squares and cubes): a2 + 2ab + b2. Conversely, the trinomial cube represents the formula (a+b+c)³.
In adolescence, students dive in again, deriving the formula for themselves. So, the impression, modeling, and preparation for understanding and abstraction of these advanced mathematical concepts begin early in primary school and are reinforced throughout the child’s Montessori experience in the upper levels.
In adolescence, students dive in again, deriving the formula for themselves. So, the impression, modeling, and preparation for understanding and abstraction of these advanced mathematical concepts begin early in primary school and are reinforced throughout the child’s Montessori experience in the upper levels.
Socialization and Adaptation
Equally as important as the academics that build on themselves, as described above, is the consistency of the social and community environment in Montessori classrooms at every level. Children engage in a social environment that emphasizes cooperation, understanding, and patience from the beginning of Primary.
Equally as important as the academics that build on themselves, as described above, is the consistency of the social and community environment in Montessori classrooms at every level. Children engage in a social environment that emphasizes cooperation, understanding, and patience from the beginning of Primary.
This is true for the child’s immediate social environment (their classroom) and how the study of other cultures is approached. Internalizing these concepts is a much longer-term prospect than learning and retaining any specific academic facts or theorems. We are indeed socialized through conditioning and reinforcement over and over again. In short, we will adapt to whatever social environment surrounds us, particularly when we are young and developing. Children who engage in an environment where the above tenets are emphasized will adapt and learn to be caring, responsible, and patient. If children encounter a harsher environment that is highly competitive, judgmental, and socially exclusive, then their behavior and perceptions will adapt accordingly. This is an understandable defense mechanism.
In other words, for students to have the social developmental outcomes we strive for in a Montessori environment – cooperative, morally conscious, caring, patient individuals – they need continuous exposure to and guidance in such an environment. They develop and grow as individuals in the context of their surrounding social environment. The students can develop in harmony with or in opposition to the social community they find themselves in. As such, they must have a safe and nurturing social community in which to develop.
So, welcome to the “Construction Zone!” We are excited to partner with you to support your child’s self-construction through active engagement in our Montessori environments.
Austin Montessori School
Austin Montessori School is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex or gender, disability, or age in providing educational services, activities, and programs. Austin Montessori School complies with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"), as amended, which incorporates and expands upon the requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended; and any other legally-protected classification or status protected by applicable law.
