Shazia Saleem Roll No.

D - 13003 Module -1

Requirements to Start a House of Children & its

Implementation
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Stimulating Learning Environment

Placing 20 or more children, roughly the same age in a little room and confining them to
desks, making them wait in line, making them behave will never achieve educational goals.
The education system other than Montessori has imposed adult point of view on the child.
The discord between child and adult stems from our distrust in the child’s ability to learn
and disbelief in the child’s discovery on his own.

Montessori strongly believed that child’s mind absorbs environment, leaving lasting
impressions upon it, forming it and providing nourishment for it. Montessori warned that
the quality of environment could greatly enhance a child’s life or seriously diminish it.

Howard Gardner says, “The smarter the environment and more powerful the interventions
and resources the more competent the individuals will become and less important will be
their genetic inheritance.

Montessori child should spend largest amount of time 40% in self-directed study. This time
is not merely for manipulation of objects in itself that is important for child. What is
important is the mental action that is encouraged when child acts on objects himself. The
environment should facilitate this mental action.

Following are basic requirements to achieve the Montessori goals.

1. Organizational Roots
A Montessori school must have a vision to afford all children the opportunity to access

a quality Montessori education which will fulfill the need of the whole child and promote
self-motivated, independent, lifelong learners by supporting the natural development of
Shazia Saleem Roll No. D - 13003 Module -1

each child in a respectful, well prepared environment. It should be a place where children
can grow and meet their needs independent of the adult. Montessori school should help the
child in building his ideas by means of sensible objects and by placing the child at the
center of the process.

Besides this, the local legal, social and health services, insurance protection, building and
zoning, health record keeping, class size, food service, fire code, building code and teacher-
student ratios are also important to check and should comply with the local municipality
requirements.

2. Activity Areas - Set the Stage

The multisensory experiences should start right from the doorstep of the class. An ideal
Montessori classroom is sunny and airy but draft-free with low windows. Ideally
washrooms must be located just off the classroom with child sized fixtures and fittings.
Child height water sources would be nice feature, along with low light switches. A separate
cloakroom, individual outdoor spaces with interior alcoves and discrete spaces which help
create a “house of children” atmosphere are appreciable.

Natural lighting, soft colors and uncluttered spaces set the stage for activity that is focused
and calm. Learning materials are displayed on accessible shelves, fostering independence
as students go about their work. Everything should be, where it is supposed to be,
conveying a sense of harmony and order that both comforts and inspires.

There must be spaces suited to group activity and areas where a student can settle in alone.
Each child should have 20 sq. feet to lay out strands of beads for counting or for an
elementary student to ponder a 10-foot-long Timeline of Life. To accommodate lunch
about 400 sq. feet space is required. Number of students in a class should not be more than
25. Ultimately the final test is how well the children function within their environment.
Shazia Saleem Roll No. D - 13003 Module -1

3. Learning Materials
Each material should teach a single skill or concept at a time for example various dressing
frames help toddlers learn to button, zip and tie; 3-dimension grammar symbols help
elementary students analyze sentence structure and style. Concrete materials provide
passage to abstraction, and introduce concepts that are becoming complex in natural world.
We can categorize materials keeping in view the following fields:

a. Exercises for Practical life

The primary goal of practical life material is to empower children by giving them skills
like walking on line, grace & courtesy, dusting, table washing, sweeping, folding clothes,
pouring, flower arranging, dish washing, care of plants, washing hands, table setting etc.
The tools should be child sized and allow for care of oneself and the environment.

b. Sensorial
Wooden cylinders, Pink Tower, Brown Stairs, Geometry Cabinet, Sound Boxes, Smelling
Bottles, Mystery Bag, Constructive Triangles, Binomial and Trinomial Cubes, sorting
exercises tool, Thermic tablets are some important sensorial development tools.

c. Language
Phonogram objects, phonetic cards, chalkboards for writing, sand paper letters, grammar
boxes, fantasy books etc. should or at least can be teacher made and don’t require huge
financial investment.

d. Maths
Number rods, sandpaper numbers, decimal numeral cards, unit division board,
multiplication board etc. are a few important tools for mathematical skills.

e. Cultural (Science & Geography)

Land and Water forms, maps, globe, geography cards, botany cabinet, bug jar, sink & float
materials, animal puzzles help children increase their cultural skills.
Shazia Saleem Roll No. D - 13003 Module -1

f. Art
Every class must have creative materials like easel, paints, crayons, chart papers, coloured
pencils, and play-doughs.

Implementation of Montessori
Montessori cannot be done piecemeal; it is total curriculum approach that is integrated and
sequential. Montessori programming should be implemented entirely with minimal
interruption from auxiliary classes or services. Following are the aspects that I would
consider for implementing Montessori.

1. Providing Montessori Trained Teachers

The guides who are experienced at child psychology, material demonstration, practiced
with Montessori materials, observation of classrooms and respect for child attitude are
hallmarks of “House of Children”.

2. Uninterrupted work periods

An extended period of classroom time in which children of mixed age groups can engage
in self-selected activities are to be provided. Sessions will last for upto 3 hours.

3. Using Montessori-specific progress reporting

mechanism
Montessori house should strive to produce students:

Who are moral beings; confident; competent learners;

Who are independent; autonomous;

Who are socially responsible; who are free within limits;

Who are intrinsically motivated; who are academically prepared;

Shazia Saleem Roll No. D - 13003 Module -1

Who are spiritually aware; who are able to handle external authority;

Who become citizens of the world; and who become stewards of the planet;

For these goals I will assess students on the basis of their projects, portfolios, verbal
discussion skills, demonstration of problem solving, analysis and implementation. With the
increasing availability of alternative assessment instruments, better alignment of
assessment and Montessori curriculum can be attained.

4. By involving parents and community

Community forums that deal with aspects of Montessori parent education are recurring
events for increasing public awareness and keeping parents informed of ways of bringing
Montessori into their homes. Research confirms that academic achievements are directly
proportional to parent involvement.
Shazia Saleem Roll No. D - 13003 Module -1

References
https://prismmmm.blogspot.com/2014/06/main-requirements-to-be-considered-to.html

https://www.studymode.com/.../which-are-the-main-requirements-to-be-considered-to...

www.mariamontessori.org › School › What we offer › Montessori Children’s House

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