Danica Woo

Professor Christen Enos

3/27/17

Unit 3

Context Note

This is an open letter to parents that are looking into where to send

their children to school. It was written to persuade and to share my opinions

and experiences with the education system in the US and with my

experience with Montessori education. I chose to make this an open letter

because I want many people to see the benefits of a Montessori education.

It is not a formal proposal as it doesnt lay out the logistics to the solutions of

mass education reform or even concrete psychological studies or trends. It

focuses heavily on the practices of the Montessori approach and how it

influences an individual during childhood and even how it can influence them

in the future and into adulthood. I feel passionate about the subject because

as a recent high school graduate and freshman in college, I notice the things

that my Montessori education has instilled in me for the better. I also want

to persuade parents to recognize the benefits of Montessori education and

hopefully send their children to those schools if they can. I hope that

Montessori schools gain popularity and eventually Montessori practices will

be incorporated into traditional style schools.

 Woo 2

An Open Letter to Parents considering their childs education:

In a rapidly changing society, younger generations, with a few

exceptions, struggle with finding a useful place in the working world.

Different professional fields overlap different skills, and new technologies and

trends open up doors for special jobs that you cant train for or learn in the

current established school system. Traditional pre- college education

systems and cultures, public and private, dont always provide the needed

psychological support and education to produce a successful and innovative

member of society. The system is outdated and modeled to produce workers

for factory type jobs, which do exist, but are slowly becoming harder and

harder to find. The most successful people in America and all over the world

are innovators; creative and well-rounded individuals who know how to think

on their toes and outside of the box. I ask myself, why are people like that

so rare? Why cant we produce a more innovative generation? Are those

qualities linked to genetics or can they be fostered through education? While

some may argue that our creative leaders were born with the natural talent

to see things differently, I believe that some of their qualities can be taught

and achieved through certain educational practices, especially those in the

primary and elementary years.

 Woo 3

Based upon the scientific and famous Freudian psychological

philosophy, the most impressionable years in a persons life are during their

childhood. It has the most impact on who a person grows up to be and how

they behave. Events and routines that are established during childhood are

carried throughout a persons lifetime and can affect their outlook on

themselves and on the world around them. Most of a child and teenagers

life is spent at school. While home life is a big influence on a young child,

school is where their brains develop. They do most of their learning and

growing at school whether its in the classroom or during recess. While a

childs success relies on their brain capacity and their individual level of

intelligence I believe the influence different educational practices have on a

childs thinking capacity are worth looking at. Through my personal

experience and research, putting a child through non-traditional style of

education like the Montessori approach plays a major role in how to learn to

think and eventually what they can offer society.

The Montessori approach to education was founded by Italian teacher

and doctor Maria Montessori. Maria Montessori was a pioneer of education

during her time. She started with the study of those that had mental

disabilities and learning delays that could not fit the traditional school mold

of the time. Through natural observation and the belief that the disabled

had the ability to learn and be useful members of society, Dr. Maria

Montessori designed a specialized way of teaching and learning to try to

bring out their innate learning styles. After the success of her teachings, she
 Woo 4

applied her way of teaching across all children no matter their mental ability

to which she found success. The practice of her teaching methods dates

back to 1907 when she opened her first school in Italy. Since then, the

Montessori approach has spread throughout the world and is starting to

come to the forefront of leading educational practices.

The Montessori way is based upon a view of the child as one who is

naturally eager for knowledge and capable of initiating learning in a

supportive, thoughtfully prepared learning environment (AMS). It is the

belief that all children learn best when engaged in their natural behaviors

and focuses on the development of the whole childphysical, social,

emotional, cognitive (AMS). From the start, Montessori education is

dedicated to the full development of the child. Contrasting to traditional

school systems, the idea of complete childhood development is within the

curriculum and teaching practices. Traditional school systems only focus on

the brain development in charge of memorizing facts and leaves the rest of a

childs development on its own.

Montessori schools emphasize three major practices; peer learning

through multiage classrooms, free work time, and special visual and physical

learning aids like beads and blocks. All three of these things lend

themselves to the full development of a child. Being in a multiage classroom

exposes children to learning around those that are smarter or more

advanced than them and vice versa. They learn how to be social with those

that arent the same age as them and learn to collaborate with children of
 Woo 5

different maturity levels. They are able to navigate how to think for

themselves while also learning how to work off of others and adapt other

practices to their own. In traditional classrooms, children dont get that

chance. Not only do traditional classrooms prohibit group work but they also

completely separate kids into different age groups. Because many of the

practices learned in childhood are carried with an individual into adulthood or

at least has some influence on adult behavior and intelligence, it can be said

that a child that is successful in Montessori schools already have a more well-

rounded edge over others later in life.

The idea of free uninterrupted work time in a Montessori classroom

develops the motivation, independence and love for learning that is lacking

in traditional classrooms. On an average school day in the Montessori

system, a child receives a lesson from a teacher then has a long block of

time sometimes up to two hours of free work. They have a checklist of the

tasks that need to be done by the end of the week and are allowed to do

what assignments they want to do and when. With some guidance and

guidelines from a teacher, the student is essentially allowed the freedom to

do what assignments they want to do. They are free to work on the floor, on

a table or desk or even outside. It removes the pressure and force of

learning and actually stimulates their motivation to learn and accomplish

tasks. It allows their mind to freely wander and allows them to understand

how they work best. It teaches them organization and time management

while allowing them to follow their innate learning style and timeline. In a
 Woo 6

recent University of Virginia study, Montessori students proved to be

significantly better prepared for elementary school in reading and math skills

than the non-Montessori children as they carried the lessons taught in

primary school (Dohrmann). Through high school the Montessori students

achieved higher test scores on the ACT test and higher GPAs, with a

particular skill in the math and sciences. Children work at their own pace

whether it be delayed or advanced, their education is tailored to their natural

wants and needs, which in the end is far beneficial to their being hood and

even their test scores.

In addition to the way things are taught and how school life is

structured, Montessori classrooms are equipped with specialized materials

and tools that allow engage all of a childs senses. This can be crucial in

their development as it provides all styles of learning, visual, auditory and

kinetic. In a traditional environment, when a child is learning how to add or

subtract numbers, they are told to write out formulas on specific lines on

graph paper and to think about it in a specific way in order to be correct. If

the childs way of thinking deviates from what the teaching manual says, it is

automatically considered wrong. At Montessori school, children are given

materials like blocks or beads and can think about or see addition or

subtraction in a way that makes sense to them. Montessori schools have

teachers that offer guidance but they dont tell they show and then follow

the student while offering suggestions and direction.

 Woo 7

The current model of teaching trains teenagers and children to be

convergent thinkers, a quality that hinders their ability to be effective

problem solvers in an evolving workforce and economy. Convergent thinking

is the ability to produce a straight forward and single correct answer to a

problem. While this can be beneficial to succeed in high school as most tests

and homework are questions with right or wrong answers, its not always

helpful in the real world. There is no way to prepare or learn how to think of

correct answers in a work place. When a problem arises in a project or

deadline, there is no answer at the back of the book or in the teachers

manual. It is expected that your brain has the ability to think of different

solutions, analyze them and choose the most effective one to complete the

task. The basis of the Montessori approach teaches all those things from a

young age.

Our education system is built for a different age; its designed around

the principle that you go to school, learn a routine, then go work in a factory

or are guaranteed a job, but thats not how it is anymore. The world has

evolved and the education system isnt giving kids the tools they need to be

successful. The idea of what is considered intelligent and not intelligent, like

knowing the classicshistory, math, and sciencenot the ability to be

creative or how to navigate through the world, how to understand yourself,

your thoughts, your strengths, your weaknesses, how you understand others,

how you interact and care for others. As a parent, educator or student its

worth looking outside of the traditional schooling system and into other
 Woo 8

practices like Montessori education. Montessori schools produce innovators

with superior cognitive skills above the average student in a traditional

setting. The world is a global community with different cultures and

influences. In order to be successful, an individual has to know how to

adapt, think creatively and be confident in their ability to be a useful part of

society.
 Woo 9

Works Cited

"History of Montessori Education and the Movement." American Montessori

Society : Education That Transforms Lives. American Montessori

Society, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

"Introduction to Montessori Method." American Montessori Society :

Education That Transforms Lives. American Montessori Society, n.d.

Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

Rindskopf Dohrmann, Kathryn, comp. "Outcomes for Students in a

Montessori Program." Lexikon Des Gesamten Buchwesens Online

(n.d.): n. pag. Web.