According to Montessori (2007a) children in order to become mature individuals go through three distinct planes of development: infancy, childhood and adolescence. In opposition to the previous psychologist, Montessori (2007a, p21) stated that “the most important period of life is not the age of university studies, but the first one, the period from birth to the age of six”. At this time, children are endowed with a special mentality, the Absorbent Mind, that takes in everything children experience by their senses. Children create upon absorbed impressions their intelligence and personality (Montessori, 2007a). As children 's brain is extremely receptive and develops rapidly, they /need an interesting, slightly challenging and rich in purposeful activities environment. From this they can learn by themselves, without direct lessons and qualified teachers, with a great ease and commitment. The learning process occurs fast and any accomplishment brings them happiness and satisfaction. Moreover, the Absorbent Mind allows children to adjust to their environment by simply living in it. At this time, children become men of their times, place and culture, learn their mother tongue to perfection and get attached to their…
The stage at which the individual is located within the life course is another mediating factor of wellness. As a mediator of wellness, several important stages of the life course, as well as events within the life course, were discussed:…
Over this past summer, I experienced a lot of events that I think will change my life for the better. It seemed like everything started falling in place when I got an unexpected call from a college coach from a small school called Samford University. I was shocked that I received the call because for one, I’d never even heard of the school he was calling from. Also, I never actually played a full game of football in high school.…
The materials in the Montessori classroom are offered to the children with a direct aim in mind. The adult does the work of washing clothes as a chore whereas a child does the same activity for the enjoyment of the process. After the laborious work that she/he does, she/he repeats the process for the enjoyment of the process. Each material isolates a concept and allows for repetitive practice with a certain skill and the child repeats this process to because he gets a sense of satisfaction. This means that their design allows the child to solve challenges inherent in the materials without help. The Direct Aims of Practical Life are to develop coordination, concentration, independence, eye-hand coordination, control of movement, centering, strengthening of the dominant hand, and order through prepared activities that are attractive and draw the attention of the child. This internal aim which the child works is for him to grow. For e.g., the direct aim in the Rice Pouring activity will be concentration, co-ordination, independence and order.…
Dr Montessori believed that from the moment child is born, he begins his journey to independence. She believed that every child is born with certain potentialities/Nebulae and an urge or Horme to carry out activities. Maria Montessori termed the child as the spiritual embryo. The child possesses within him, a pre-determined pattern of psychic unfolding which leads him to perform activities for his self construction, development and growth. This psychic pattern is built at the expense of the environment around him.…
I grew up in a family that I can say is very ideal. Well, you might ask me what else can I ask for? I would understand if that thought would enter your mind because I believe most of the people I knew if not everybody would want to be in the position where I stand right now. But I guess you would also agree with me if I say that there are things that keep people on asking for more. Some ask for money, some ask for power, some ask for knowledge, some ask for love life, some ask for sex and whether we admit it or not there are these people who even ask for “life” per se.…
Athens and Sparta were superpowers in Ancient Greece. In some ways the two city-states were similar, and in some ways they were different. However, in terms of society and government, Athens was superior. Athens gave it's citizens greater freedoms, had a more modern form of government, and influenced western civilization far more than the Spartans ever did.…
Introduction Sentence: Parents spend a lot of time keeping their children healthy but at a young age, they start school and many schools now a days have cafeterias. But not all parents are aware of the food there children may be buying or if it's even healthy.…
The direct aims of the Practical Life area are the development of concentration, coordination, independence, and order, which are the basis for later learning in a Montessori classroom. While children often have difficulty focusing on any one activity for a long period of time, they must learn to resist the distractions around them to succeed in the Practical Life area. It is through these repeated activities that they develop the concentration needed to accomplish the more academic activities found in the Math and Language areas. The Practical Life area provides numerous materials to assist in the development of strong motor skills. Children seem to…
Maria Montessori called her plan for the young child the “Cosmic Curriculum”. Cosmic in this context means comprehensive, holistic and purposeful. Cultural Activities in a Montessori environment are used to broaden the child's experiences and draw their attention to various aspects of our social and physical world, as well as providing them with some experiences related to the laws of nature. The child will develop his personality and will be taught to love and appreciate his culture in order to become a useful member of his society. We want to satisfy the child’s absorbent mind to learn and understand the natural and man-made world with clear and accurate reality, facts and information. Many of the Cultural Activities are sensorial in nature to maximize the absorption and retention by the child, who is mainly a sensorial learner at this age. A sensorial impression in the child’s mind ensures that, when he has to deal in abstractions, he is able to draw upon those impressions. They will first learn the essential forms and then after working with concrete materials again and again. Then the child will find out new and deeper type of knowledge and universal ideas which will eventually become the key to the universe. For example: a child learns about shapes in geometric cabinet and will later discover that his environment was filled with circles, squares and triangles.…
Upon ending my spring semester, I knew that I was a havoc wreck when it came to school and my grades. I had failed myself tremendously and had not exceeded the expectations that I had set out for myself to achieve that semester. Not only that, being that I was on financial aid probation I did not meet their requirements and what was expected of me. I was angry with myself, frustrated, questioned myself saying,” Is this what I should be doing,” is school even for me. I placated and I also blamed others for my downfall. In simpler terms I made excuses. However, through it all I was granted another chance to prove to myself and to the university that this is where I wanted to be and that by any means necessary I would do what I had to do. So as I planned my schedule for this fall I knew that I needed a course that would help me take responsibilities for my actions, motivate me, and to inspire me to never give up so I registered for Strategic Learning ( LS 250). Through taking this course I have gain much knowledge and have learned different strategies to become successful , I’ve learned that my philosophy of success is to live my life based on what success means to me, stop living in fear and regrets, take responsibilities for my actions and stay motivated at all times.…
“Life, you can’t subdue me because I refuse to take your discipline too seriously. When you try to hurt me, I laugh — and the laughter knows no pain. I appreciate your joys wherever I find them; your sorrows neither frighten nor discourage me, for there is laughter in my soul.…
The Montessori teacher plays a radically different role from more well-known roles in relation to children such as parent, babysitter, friend, primary grades teacher or traditional pre-school teacher. The vision we all have of a teacher, standing before the blackboard and giving a good lesson to the whole class, is very seldom a part of what Montessori teachers do. This is because the founder of this new challenging educational system for young children below six years old, Dr. Maria Montessori believed that teachers should focus on the child as person, not on the daily lesson plan. She also believed that Montessori teacher’s ultimate objective is to help the children to learn how to learn independently, retaining the curiosity, creativity, and intelligence with which they were born. Therefore, Montessori teachers do not simply present lessons; they are facilitators, mentors, coaches, and guides for the children.…
To some people, life is hard, cruel and merciless. These set of people see life as punishment throughout their entire lives. They therefore resigned themselves to fate, believing all is finished. To them, nothing that they do can ever be good. They take delight in committing crimes and maiming (imperfect) others to avenge their ill-fortune. They lost every sense of direction and most times, some of them go as far as committing suicide, just to escape the injustice life has meted out to them.…
Children are naturally interested in activities they have witnessed. Therefore, Dr. Montessori began using what she called “Practical Life Exercises” to allow the child to do activities of daily life and therefore adapt and orientate himself in his society.…