Choosing the Right School - Montessori Unlimited
Submitted by backend on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 21:22.
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Montessori vs. Traditional Method
| Montessori | Traditional Method |
|---|---|
| Emphasis on cognitive and social development | Emphasis on social development |
| Teacher has unobtrusive role in classroom | Teacher is center of classroom as "controller" |
| Environment and method encourage self-discipline | Teacher enforces discipline |
| Mainly individual instruction | Group and individual instruction |
| Mixed age grouping | Same age grouping |
| Grouping encourages children to teach and help each other | Most teaching done by teacher |
| Child chooses own work | Activities structured for child |
| Child discovers own concepts from self-teaching materials | Child is guided to concepts by teacher |
| Child works as long as he wishes on chosen project | Child generally allotted specific time for work |
| Child sets own learning pace | Instruction pace usually set by group |
| Child spots own errors from feedback of material | If work is corrected, errors usually pointed out by teacher |
| Child reinforces learning by repetition and feelings of success | Learning is reinforced externally by repetition and rewards |
| Multi-sensory materials for physical exploration | Fewer materials for sensory development |
| Organized program for learning care of self and environment (polishing shoes, cleaning the sink, etc.) | Less emphasis on self-care instruction |
| Child can work where he chooses, (yet not disturb work of others) group work is also encouraged | Child usually assigned own chair; encouraged to participate, sit still and listen during group sessions |
