What Does a Montessori Class Look Like?

There are Montessori schools all over the world, with over four thousand schools in America alone. The majority of Montessori schools are privately owned, but there is a growing trend of public school systems adopting the Montessori Method of instruction. I took part in some Montessori training several years ago when the elementary school where I worked was to become a Montessori school through a magnet school grant.

The Montessori Method, also called the Montessori Way, was developed by Italian physician Maria Montessori. Dr. Montessori was working with children who had intellectual disabilities in a Rome psychiatric clinic. Dr. Montessori sought to prove that all children had the capacity to learn and used hands-on learning techniques and surrounded the children in an environment that would stimulate their senses and curiosity. In 1907 she created a school called "The Children's House" for impoverished preschool aged children where she continued to use her methods of teaching. Dr. Montessori felt that children became more self-motivated to learn when they were involved in activities that gave them a purpose rather than listening to a lecture seated in rows without the ability to move freely within the environment.
Where traditional schools are divided into kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and so on, Montessori classes are broken into age groups of three years 3-6, 6-9, 9-12, etc. Instead of desks where students learn from textbooks, a Montessori classroom is a more open space with small tables and shelves where materials for the various subjects are housed. Students can choose to work at a table or on the floor using a mat, and they are allowed to choose which activities they do and when, if they have been shown how to use the material. Teachers are meant to facilitate learning through modeling the specific procedures used for each material. Each material must be taught and used with steps in a specific sequence, and after using the material the child is responsible for putting it in the correct place. There is usually a teacher and an assistant present, with one observing children and the other giving lessons to one child or a small group. The purpose of allowing students the freedom to choose what they work on and how long they engage in that activity is meant to help them learn self-discipline, independence, and how to plan and organize tasks.

Sources:
Montessori.org
Personal experience