“Movement, or physical activity, is an essential factor in intellectual growth, which depends upon the impressions received from outside. Through movement we come in contact with external reality, and it is through these contacts that we eventually acquire even abstract ideas.” – Dr Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood
We use our senses to perceive and understand the world around us. Our brain then processes that information to tell our body how to respond. Sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch are the five senses most commonly identified. But did you know that there are two more senses that affect our ability to interact with the environment?
The vestibular system, also known as our balance center, is responsible for receiving information regarding our body’s movement in space. The vestibular sense helps us balance while we walk and run and stay upright when we sit and stand. The receptors in this system are located in the inner ear and are stimulated by changes in head position. The inner ear communicates with the brain to help keep us maintain our balance as we move through space.
Balance boards (also known as wobble boards) are curved wooden boards that allow children to receive vestibular input. As children stand on them, they will naturally shift their body weight and respond in the right way as the stimuli change. This tool helps children with their balance, posture, and coordination. It also helps children develop core strength because of the tiny adjustments a person needs to make in balancing.
The proprioceptive sense informs us of our body position in space. The receptors for this system are found in our skin, muscles, and joints and they send information to our brain about where our different body parts are, how they move, and how much strength our muscles need to use. Proprioception is important in building body awareness, coordination, and posture. Playing the piano, handwriting, and playing sports are all activities that require a lot of proprioceptive input.
Believe it or not, proprioception also plays a large role in self-regulation, the ability to focus, and even speech. When receptors known as proprioceptors are stimulated, the arousal centre of the brain (the cortex, limbic system, and cerebellum) is activated, which impacts a child’s level of alertness. Therefore, by providing children with proprioceptive input throughout the day, they can be assisted to maintain an optimal state for learning and focused attention.
The Pikler triangle is a climbing tool that provides many benefits for young children, including proprioceptive input. It also helps children with gross motor development, grasping, balance, and confidence.
Other proprioception activities include heavy muscle work activities or activities that apply deep pressure to the muscle and joints. Heavy work activities involve pushing, pulling, carrying heavy objects and weight-bearing, such as, carrying a pile of heavy books, or doing a wheelbarrow walk.
Montessori classrooms include equipment and activities that provide children opportunities to stimulate and develop their vestibular and proprioceptive senses. Dr. Montessori wrote, “The senses, being explorers of the world, open the way to knowledge.”
“The child has a different relation to his environment from ours… the child absorbs it. The things he sees are not just remembered; they form part of his soul.” – Dr. Maria Montessori
Dr. Montessori saw the outdoor environment as a natural extension of the classroom. Working outside allows children to explore with all their senses, fosters scientific inquiry, and inspires creativity. Over the past several years, the Greenspring community has come together to create truly beautiful outdoor spaces on campus for this growth to take place. They have become a deeply beloved extension to the classroom. Now more than ever, these environments are an essential part of our Montessori approach to education. Below we have outlined what has been happening this year in our Outdoor Environments at each level.
Toddlers
Toddlers are still in the developmental phase that Dr. Montessori said could be characterized by an “absorbent mind,” in which they soak up information through their senses. So we offer rich opportunities in the outdoor environment to see, touch, hear, smell, and taste. Depending on the day, you will see toddlers watering plants, sweeping the sidewalk, washing windows, filling the bird feeder, digging in sand, sorting pinecones and acorns, pouring water through funnels, and more. The toddlers enjoy tasting the herbs and vegetables that grow in their garden!
Children’s House
Students in our Children’s House classrooms also tend to the garden – planting, watering, weeding, and harvesting. Children also enjoy additional practical life, sensorial, art, and science activities, such as hammering nails into a tree stump, pumpkin scrubbing, creating geometric shapes from twigs, making collages from seeds, cutting zinnias for flower arranging, and experimenting with scientific concepts such as “sink and float.” On rainy days you might see students in the kitchen making apple sauce or baking pumpkin bread.
A Note on “Bad” Weather
Our Outdoor Environments are open year-round, meaning that rain and snow simply become part of the prepared environment! Children have rain boots, rain jackets, and outdoor gear for all seasons so that the weather becomes another sensory experience. Guides and Assistants in Montessori classrooms are also particularly mindful not to instill learned feelings toward particular weather, keeping language neutral and descriptive.
Elementary
The Elementary outdoor environment includes all this and also complements the science lessons happening in the classroom. Students learn to identify the bird calls they hear in nature, identify different animal tracks, and identify the parts of a plant by dissecting a specimen from the garden. Students conduct science experiments in their garden to learn about plant respiration, soil composition, and photosynthesis. The values of environmentalism, service, and scientific exploration are nurtured through these experiences.
Children are also ready for more exploration into the greater community. Field trips and Going-Outs offer valuable opportunities for children to experience the natural world in a new way. Recently, Lower Elementary students went on a field trip to Oregon Ridge Nature Center, sparking new research of local wildlife.
Adolescents
Dr. Montessori envisioned her Adolescent program as a working farm. So in addition to their classroom lessons and studies, our Adolescents honor Dr. Montessori’s vision by tending to a piece of our property called “The Land” – planting, tending to, and harvesting their gardens. The Adolescents also run a campus-wide composting program and give classes to younger students about how composting works and why it’s important. Over the years, we have seen our Adolescents caring for chickens, building a greenhouse, running a CSA, clearing invasive plants, and more. You can learn more about our Adolescents and their work on The Land here.
In September, Adolescents also went on a week-long Odyssey trip to Echo Hill Outdoor School on the eastern shore. This was an immersive community-building experience where the students looked closely at how our food is grown, a great introduction to their first science unit on the biochemistry of food. After returning to campus, students also created apple cider from local apples. They will be studying the process of fermentation and making vinegar.
The more children are outside, the stronger their connection with nature will become. As Dr. Montessori said, “When children come into contact with nature, they reveal their true strength.”
“The hand is the pathway to the brain.” – Dr. Maria Montessori
It may be hard for some parents to believe, but all children have the ability to really enjoy learning math. In Montessori classrooms, mathematics are introduced to children at 3 to 6 years old, enabling the child to form positive associations with numbers to be carried on throughout life. Scientific research supports that the key to developing this positive relationship early is to provide the child with hands-on experiences [source – https://www.hand2mind.com/resources/why-teach-math-with-manipulatives]. Dr. Maria Montessori demonstrated that if a child has access to concrete mathematical materials in their early years, they can come to their own understanding of the concept much faster than if introduced in an abstract form at a later age.
Think back to your own experience as a young student. Most of us learned math in school by memorizing the steps required to solve a problem. For example, when learning to “borrow” in subtraction, we learned to slash through one number and write another number above it, add a tiny number one in front of the number to its right, and then continue with the problem. Many of us learned how to do this without ever really understanding why we were doing it or what it meant. Yet for Montessori students, those mathematical symbols represent very concrete ideas that they have physically manipulated; they fully understand what they mean, how they work, and why.
At a certain point in development, usually around the age of 4, the child enters the sensitive period for numbers, and the child’s mathematical nature awakens. She graduates from purely sensory explorations to interest in specific measuring and counting. Once begun, the child progresses through the math materials sequentially. Montessori materials are scientifically designed to meet the child where they are, allowing for independent exploration. The materials are made to be self-correcting, allowing the child to learn as they go.
So, what are some of the essential Montessori materials for learning math? Here are a few of our favorites:
The Pink Tower
One of the first materials a child encounters in the Children’s House classroom at 3 years old is the Pink Tower. While this material may look like basic building blocks of conventional preschools, it is designed very specifically to introduce the child to the quantity of ten as well as basic experiences of order, sequence, coordination, and precision.
The smallest cube measures 1 centimeter cubed, and the largest is 10 centimeter cubed. In this way, the Pink Tower introduces the concept of base ten, which is also present in other sensorial materials such as the Brown Stair. When beginning the activity, the child carefully takes each cube, one by one, to their work mat. As the child builds the tower from biggest to smallest, they are able to work independently to determine the right order. If they place a cube out of order, they will quickly discover the tower doesn’t look quite right. This control of error is present in all Montessori materials and allows for the child’s self-discovery.
The Red Rods
The Red Rods are comprised of 10 wooden rods differing in length. The smallest rod is 10 centimeters long, and the largest rod is 100 centimeters, with each rod increasing by increments of 10 centimeters in length. The shape, weight, and color of this material is alluring to the child, drawing them in to learn more.
The Red Rods are introduced to children at around 3 years of age after they have become familiar with the initial sensorial materials in the classroom, including the Pink Tower, Brown Stairs, and Knobbed Cylinders.Moving the Red Rods allows the child to perceive the differences in length and weight. The child also expands upon their basic language of mathematics by discussing length, size, and order.
The Number Rods
Children are naturally drawn to the Number Rods after mastering the Red Rods. They are the same dimensions as the Red Rods, however, each 10 centimeters alternates between red and blue, showing the visual representation of each unit. The child is introduced to the number symbols and they learn to associate quantity and symbol.
With this work, the child is not simply memorizing 1-10 to recite back. They are learning that each quantity is a separate entity, known as one to one correspondence.
The Golden Beads
The presentation of The Golden Beads gives a visual and a very concrete experience of the decimal system and place value. With this material, the child learns the terminology of units, then tens, hundreds, and thousands. The child can literally feel the heft of the thousand square and see visually the relationship between the unit bead and the thousand cube.
The use of tangible materials allows the child to tap into mathematical concepts much earlier than in a conventional education setting. By physically exchanging (ie, carrying ten ten bars to the shelf and trading it for a hundred square), students as young as four quickly learn that ten tens are equal to one hundred. Montessori students discover that the “square” of a number (10 squared = 100) is literally the shape of a square and the “cube” of a number (10 cubed = 1,000) is literally a cube.
The Bank Game
Once a child is able to build a visual representation of a number, the Golden Beads are used to add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers into the thousands. When students start using this material, one subtraction problem may take 20 minutes! But because it’s physical, social, and interactive, it doesn’t feel like work.
Children are given real-life examples of math problems, such as dividing a sum between their peers. This is a way to introduce them to solving increasingly complex problems while still maintaining a playful approach. A five year old may learn to divide 6,540 three ways to share with their peers.
The Stamp Game
When a student is ready to progress to a new challenge, either in Children’s House or during Lower Elementary, they are introduced to the Stamp Game. Instead of holding a large cube that actually shows the relative size of one thousand as they did with the Golden Beads, they use a representational material. These small square stamps are all the same size, but are differentiated only by their color and number label represent units, tens, hundreds, and thousands. Like the Golden Beads, the Stamp Game material is used to teach all four operations, with children adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing into the thousands. The Stamp Game is still hands-on, but slightly more abstract that the Golden Beads.
Since the elementary age child now craves variety more than repetition, other hands-on materials, such as the Bead Frame, Checkerboard, and Racks and Tubes are also introduced for computing all four operations.
The Trinomial Cube
The Binomial and Trinomial Cubes are three-dimensional puzzles that are introduced to children at age 3 or 4. The Trinomial Cube is made up of 27 color-coded blocks which fit together in a very specific way. Assembling the puzzle uses the child’s fine motor skills and requires the ability to observe the different characteristics of each block. Like other Montessori materials, the Cube is self-correcting. When it is assembled properly, it forms a cube that fits back into the wooden box. While the primary aim of the Trinomial Cube is to build a puzzle, children only later discover that it is a concrete representation of the algebraic formula, (a+b+c)³. You may recognize this formula from your own school days, but very few of us had the opportunity to interact with it in such a hands-on material. Through this process of discovery, children are able to grasp a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts.
Moving into Mathematical Abstraction
When the student is ready, they are shown how to record their work with the materials on paper. The paper is used to record the process completed with the concrete materials.
Having started with the Golden Beads, moved on to the Stamp Game, and then the Bead Frame, Checkerboard, and Racks and Tubes, at some point during this progression through the materials, the child experiences an “Aha!” moment and is able to “see” the answer without using the materials. The student understands the process so well, she can see the materials and can compute the answer in her mind. This moment is always thrilling to observe. The student feels pride and a sense of accomplishment that can not be matched by any lecture or quiz.
These are just a few of the many Montessori materials that are utilized daily in the classroom. By laying the foundation in the 3-6 year classrooms, Montessori students are able to understand mathematical concepts earlier and utilize problem-solving skills with more complicated math in high school and beyond.
To learn more about Mathematics materials in the Montessori classroom, take a look at this webinar from Greenspring Children’s House Guides, Lydia Farmer and Emily Shattuck – The Magic of Children’s House.
A Lower Elementary student writes about the research she is doing.
In the Montessori Children’s House program, students learn letter sounds before the letter names. For example, they learn that the sound of “d” is “duh,” not “dee” and the sound of “b” is “buh,” not “bee.” (See our blog post about Language in the Children’s House for more information.) Spelling is not the focus during the Children’s House years because the focus is on children hearing and learning the letter sounds rather than recognizing the letter names.
A Children’s House student uses the Moveable Alphabet to craft a message.
By using the Moveable Alphabet, children are able to put different letter sounds together to form a word (long before they have the hand strength necessary to hold a pencil). When a young child is asked to form the word “photo” with the Moveable Alphabet, she sounds out how she hears the word, letter by letter.
“Fuh”, “oh”, “tuh”, “oh”.
She would likely place out Moveable Alphabet letters like so:
f-o-t-o
While the word is spelled incorrectly, it is phonetically correct. This “spelling” is age-appropriate for a student in the Children’s House.
Later, once students have a firm grasp of letter sounds and have associated the letter names with these sounds, we work to introduce phonograms, which are when you put two sounds together to make a new sound (think, ee, ea, y, e-e all make the sound “ee”). With this work, which often begins during the Children’s House and continues into Lower Elementary, students become aware that there are options in spelling and become conscious of how to spell words when writing.
Once the child begins to internalize the phonograms, we can begin to explore the complexities of the English language. (Unlike Dr. Montessori’s native language of Italian, English is not a phonetic language; there are so many exceptions to every rule!) We practice reading “sight words” and finding “rule breakers.” This feeds the interest of the Lower Elementary student, who naturally begins to show an interest in how to correctly spell words.
Spelling is reinforced through extensive reading. The more a child reads, the more they will be exposed to spelling patterns. As a result, children are able to edit their work to identify words that don’t “look” right in context and begin to self-correct. In addition, children use a variety of strategies to determine the correct spelling of a work. Things like “have a go,” where the child will write a word that is misspelled, then write it again to see if it is correctly spelled, and if not try again until they get it right. Another strategy children may use to spell longer words is to “chunk” the word into single syllable pieces. As they move to Upper Elementary, children are exposed to Latin roots, which helps them understand the spellings of many English words.
Lower Elementary students write in English and Spanish to their pen pals at a Montessori school in Spain.
Keep in mind that even with more emphasis on spelling in Elementary, guides will not correct students’ spelling while writing rough drafts of reports or stories. We allow the children to focus on developing their skills of self-expression. The expression of the idea and the flow of creativity is more important than the limiting, halting prospect of getting every word right. Corrections are made during the editing stage of the writing process – whether individually, with a peer, or with the assistance of a guide. As children begin to create more polished work to share with others, such as the letters to pen pals shown above, they are more internally motivated to edit and correct their spelling.
A Lower Elementary student reads through his spelling dictionary.
Lower Elementary students keep their own personal spelling dictionaries, in which they can write words they want to remember how to spell. It allows the children to help themselves!It also teaches the very basic and beginning steps of learning how to use a dictionary. But most importantly, the words the student put into their personal dictionaries have meaning to them.
Just as with all other areas of the curriculum, the Montessori approach to spelling is rich, interdisciplinary, and meaningful.
Beginning a new school year is a time of excitement and uncertainty for many new children. For some, it is their first time being away from home for a stretch of time. It is common for students (and parents) to experience feelings of anxiety; this is perfectly normal. These feelings are often caused by a fear of the unknown, as the child has no point of reference to draw upon when faced with a new environment or experience.
Separation anxiety can also be attributed to a child’s stage of development. Separation anxiety is a normal part of development, and most common for children aged eight months to two years; however, it can affect children of all ages. The first day of school, in a new room or level, can bring on a reoccurrence of separation anxiety in children who were previously settled. It takes time for young children to build relationships and establish a sense of trust with their new guides, so that they come to understand that their new environment is a safe and happy place. This is not uncommon, and is likely to settle once a new routine and relationships have been established.
Below you will find a number of strategies published by the Montessori Academy to help Montessori parents settle their children into preschool. Remember separation anxiety is a phase, it is perfectly normal, and will pass in time.
Positive Behaviors and Attitudes
Modeling positive behaviors and attitudes plays an important role in the success of the first day of school, and the weeks thereafter. Keep discussions about school positive, and focus on things that your child is likely to enjoy. Children pick up on parent’s feelings, behaviors, and emotions, and are likely to emulate them if you are feeling upset or uncertain.
Morning Routines
Establish a positive and happy morning routine for preschool days. For children over two, this may include encouraging your child to pack their own school bag or sing a happy ‘school day’ themed song. Always give yourself plenty of time to get ready and arrive on time. Feeling late or rushed can cause children to feel additional anxiety.
Acknowledge your Child’s Feelings
It is important to accept that your child’s unhappiness at being separated from you is real, very normal, and temporary. Reinforce that you understand that leaving your child makes them unhappy, but that it is important that you leave, and they will have a good time. Avoid offering your child bribes for good behavior or not crying as this is only a temporary solution. Learning to cope with sadness is an important part of your child’s development and learning about emotions.
Positive and Prompt Goodbyes
When you drop your child off, don’t linger outside the classroom or stay for “just one more minute.” As a parent, the best thing you can do is give your child a hug and a kiss as they get out of the car, let them know you love them, and reassure them that you will be back soon. It is important for your child that you do not delay the inevitable.
Establish a Goodbye Routine
Montessori parents who establish a consistent goodbye routine typically have better luck with successful goodbyes. Take a special moment with your child to say goodbye, and do it the same way, every day. This may be as simple as a kiss and a cuddle, giving your child a thumbs up, or establishing a ‘secret’ hand shake. A special goodbye is a great way for your child to start their day feeling happy and reassured.
Encourage Friendships
Make a point of getting to know your child’s friends and classmates at school, and encourage friendships outside of school. These friendships will help make your child’s transition to the new Montessori environment easier.
Pick Up Routines
It is important to be punctual when picking up your child. It easy to lose track of time, but no matter who is picking your child up, always be on time. If you are late, it can cause your child to feel more anxiety, and makes drop off the next time much harder.
Positive Daily Reflections
On the way home, establish a routine where you talk to your child about their school day. Focus on the positive aspects of their day, such as their favorite activity, or playing with their best friend. By consistently reinforcing the positive aspects of their school day, your child will learn that their new environment is a fun and happy place, and their feelings of anxiety will decrease over time.
One of the first materials a child encounters in the Children’s House classroom at 3 years old is the Pink Tower. While this material may look like basic building blocks of conventional preschools, it is designed very specifically to introduce the child to the quantity of ten as well as basic experiences of order, sequence, coordination, and precision. 
The Red Rods are comprised of 10 wooden rods differing in length. The smallest rod is 10 centimeters long, and the largest rod is 100 centimeters, with each rod increasing by increments of 10 centimeters in length. The shape, weight, and color of this material is alluring to the child, drawing them in to learn more. 
Children are naturally drawn to the Number Rods after mastering the Red Rods. They are the same dimensions as the Red Rods, however, each 10 centimeters alternates between red and blue, showing the visual representation of each unit. The child is introduced to the number symbols and they learn to associate quantity and symbol.
The presentation of The Golden Beads gives a visual and a very concrete experience of the decimal system and place value. With this material, the child learns the terminology of units, then tens, hundreds, and thousands. The child can literally feel the heft of the thousand square and see visually the relationship between the unit bead and the thousand cube.
Once a child is able to build a visual representation of a number, the Golden Beads are used to add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers into the thousands. When students start using this material, one subtraction problem may take 20 minutes! But because it’s physical, social, and interactive, it doesn’t feel like work.
