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Maria Montessori was the world's greatest proponent of early childhood education. While modern education focuses more on high school and college as the important stages of education, such beliefs are unfounded by science or the astute observer of human nature. Any teacher or parent of young children will tell you how eager they are to learn, how determined they are to reach independence, and how few things can frustrate their purpose. If you want to see these traits appreciated and emphasized in your child, send them to a Montessori preschool in Corona. The Absorbent Mind When your child attends a Montessori preschool, he or she will be immersed in an environment that interests them and is designed to help them develop, not merely to keep them busy. Dr. Montessori's seminal work is a book entitled "The Absorbent Mind." Within the pages of this groundbreaking work, she expounds on the child's remarkable ability to absorb and assimilate information from the environment. Indeed, children before the age of three make the most remarkable strides toward maturity and independence and they do it all without a single lesson. No one teaches the infant to roll over or sit up. No one teaches him or her to walk. While adults may teach their children words, no one can teach them to form them. All of this is accomplished by the child of their own will and volition. Why then does our society think them incapable of significant learning before the age of 5? The Direct Aims While traditional preschools may be full of dolls, bicycles, trucks, and art supplies, the Montessori classroom is full works that purposefully help a child develop important skills like concentration, respect for order, coordination, and control. These four areas are referred to as the direct aims of Montessori education and can be seen in each and every work that graces the shelves of a Montessori classroom. Take the most basic work in the Montessori classroom: the puzzle. In order to do a puzzle a child must have the coordination and control necessary to retrieve the puzzle from the shelf and carry it to their seat. They must use coordination in order to remove the puzzle pieces and set them quietly and gently to the side, and must use and develop the concentration necessary for putting those pieces back in the correct spot. In a Montessori classroom, each work has a spot on the shelf and each child is expected to return their work to its spot. This helps foster a respect for order. Noticeable Results, Soon To give you an idea of what kind of results this method of education produces, here is an anecdote from a Montessori mother. "We were having a birthday party for my sister-in-law that included cupcakes. My 18 month old, who had been in Montessori for 3 months discovered that the black licorice spider legs on the cupcakes were beyond his ability to eat. Instead of throwing them on the floor or handing them to a parent, he made a neat pile of them on his tray and proceeded to eat the rest of his cupcake. After he finished eating his cupcake, he quietly piled the legs into the empty cupcake wrapper, folded the wrapper over, picked it up by the corners, said, "Help please, all gone," and handed me the wrapper. I was incredulous. He had only been in school 3 months!" Most parents who have their children in traditional education will never see results like that, let alone see them in an 18 month old! If you want to see the very best aspects of childhood blossom, send your child to a Montessori preschool in Corona!
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