Merits Of The Montessori Method

Montessory method of teaching

Everything about the Montessori philosophy and a few easy ways to get started with it right at home.

Montessori is a method of education developed by an Italian physician named Maria Montessori, (remember the name you might want to thank this genius later). It's a 100-year-old philosophy used commonly in many parts of the world which promotes a child-centred approach towards education. The main aim of this method is to develop the children physically, emotionally, socially and cognitively. The best part about this approach is that it gives the children the freedom to choose things based on their interests from the carefully given choices. It allows them to lead their own development at their own pace and focuses on giving your little one's a hands-on experience which surely makes their learning game better, it also allows you to interact more with your children and educate them in a more fun, practical and impactful way. Now that you know what Montessori is all about, let's quickly hop on to ways in which you can incorporate this method of training in your child's life at the comfort and safety of your home.

1. Create a Montessori like environment

Provide the children with a prepared environment. Make sure everything in your child's room is kept clean, is appealing to the eye and is in a perfect size and proportion to your child's age, height and weight. Every element in the room should exist for a reason which can help them in their development in one way or the other. The main reason for creating this environment is, it helps the children to do their activities with minimal or no assistance at all. Trust us there is no better practice to make the children more independent and confident from early years.

2. Let them make their own choices

When you offer your children minimal options and ask them to choose for themselves, it makes them more confident and in the long run helps them to improve their decision-making skills. For instance: Ask your little girl if she wants to wear a yellow dress or a red dress for the evening party. When the child is allowed to choose for herself, it will make her more self-sufficient and independent. Let them do simple tasks all by themselves. You will notice a different sense of pride when they get to pack their own school bag. The Montessori community emphasises more upon the ''help me do it by myself'' approach.

3. Respect your little one

This is one of the most important things to do in the Montessori approach. Talk to your child with respect. Make it a point to treat them as equal and involve them in family decisions. Let them know they are heard and understood at all times. Speak kindly to them, in a gentle and polite way. This will greatly help them feel important, will allow them to express themselves better and will also train them to respect other people around them through your example. And do you know what the best part is? This will immensely help you to get rid of the toddler tantrums.

4. Teach them a problem-solving approach

Switch to kind sentences instead of directly saying No. When you want to say, this is not correct, tell them, let me show you a better way to do this! When you want to stop them from doing a wrong activity, answer them with that's not a good thing to do, so how about we do some other interesting thing, maybe we can paint together? This helps create a more positive and tension-free environment for both the kids as well as the parents and will also teach them to focus on what better can be done than sitting and whining.

5. Let them be a part of your everyday tasks

Allow them to help you do a daily task. Children especially love doing things realistically that adults might find boring or tiring. It helps them to learn the consequences positive or negative of doing a new thing. This will also boost their confidence and over time they will learn to do activities independently. At the same time, don't forget to allow them some free space, just to explore thoughts and things.

6. Take out time to OBSERVE your children

Sit back and calmly observe your little ones while they are involved in a particular activity, understand which exercise sparks joy in them and which discourages them. Try and plan everything else according to their interests and preferences. This will help you make them be more productive and satisfied doing and learning what they enjoy the most!

Before you get started, it is important to understand that the main goal is to find an appropriate parenting style that suits your kids even if it is Montessori or not. So don't stress out. Although, we wouldn't deny that Montessori is a great option but if it doesn't suit you, you can simply pick the things that will help you make your parenting journey easier and will let your child be more productive and happy. Now that you know easy ways to get started, make a new to-do list and get going. But first, how about sharing with us your views on the Montessori approach.