The 5 main areas of a Montessori classroom
The 5 main areas of activity in a Montessori classroom
When you walk into a Montessori classroom, you are struck by the great freedom the children enjoy, moving around as they please and freely choosing the activities they want to do. How is a Montessori classroom organized? Why? We're going to explain. Follow the guide!
Maria Montessori defined five areas that structure all Children's Houses around the world.
The practical life area
The practical life area is certainly the most emblematic of Montessori pedagogy. This area brings together fundamental everyday activities that enable children to function on a daily basis and gain independence. These are the first activities that children engage with in the classroom. These activities include:
preliminary activities that help children function in their environment and acquire real independence in everyday life: carrying a chair, rolling up a rug, opening/closing a box, pouring seeds or water, folding towels, etc.
Personal care activities that help children learn to take care of themselves: dressing frames to learn how to open and close zippers, buttons, snaps, tie shoelaces, make knots, wash hands, brush hair, put on gloves, etc. These activities help develop coordination, concentration, and independence.
Indoor and outdoor environmental care activities that enable children to take care of and look after their surroundings: cleaning windows, washing dishes, doing laundry, sweeping, mopping, cleaning tables and chairs, etc.
activities promoting grace and courtesy: this somewhat outdated expression refers to all group activities that enable children to learn the rules of social life, social relationships, politeness, and empathy.
Walking on the line activity: in all Montessori classrooms, there is an oval-shaped line marked on the floor. This line is used to teach children to walk in balance, alone or in a group, thus developing coordination, balance, willpower, and self-control.
The lesson of silence: the culmination of practical life activities, this exercise teaches children to remain completely silent in the classroom, allowing each student to practice self-control by inhibiting movement and sound.
The equipment in the practical living area is intended to:
to encourage independence
to enable the emergence of the phenomenon of attention
to guide the child toward concentration and social awareness through individual work.
The sensory activities area
Sensory materials provide children with the means to improve themselves through manipulation and observation of their environment. They enable children to reflect, understand, think, and perhaps even meditate. In order to form a representation of the world, children need to classify, compare, order, distinguish, specify, and generalize.
Sensory activities are essential for teaching children to better orient themselves and better understand their environment by giving them the "keys" to decipher it through the concepts of shapes, colors, sounds, tastes, textures, and the corresponding language.
The mathematics area
It is through the manipulation of materials representing elementary mathematical concepts (counting, the decimal system, the four operations, memorization of operations) that children can progress towards abstraction and mental calculation.
Children are also introduced to mathematics through the use of sensory materials that help them organize their thoughts. Exercises in sensory discrimination, pairing, and gradation develop logical thinking and thus prepare children for mathematics. The dimensions of a number of objects have been designed according to the decimal system we use for counting. These elements are an excellent preparation for mathematics.
During their schooling in Montessori 3-6, children are encouraged to learn to count to 1,000 (and beyond), to work with large numbers (thousands and millions), to perform the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division), and to work with fractions.
The language area
Language is an integral part of the atmosphere, beyond the material. Much of the work is driven by a constant focus on enriching vocabulary, using precise words, and encouraging oral expression.
Access to written language and reading is achieved through various materials that lead children to study the different sounds of the language, then their graphic form, and finally to put them together.
Other activities indirectly prepare children for writing. These include refining motor skills through practical life activities, arranging materials from left to right to prepare for the direction of writing, holding a pencil with three fingers, and developing the precision required by sensory materials. Intentional tracing and lightness of hand are also practiced to prepare for writing.
The area of culture
Geography
Geography materials are part of the sensory materials area. They lead children to access an important area of general knowledge and to a first representation of the planet on which they live (the Earth, the continents, countries, etc.).
Art
Through various free activities (easel painting, drawing, modeling clay, etc.), children can explore different art media and techniques.
Music
The bell materials were specifically developed by Maria Montessori to guide children from listening to each sound in the C scale to writing and reading music.
The living world
Living things are present in Montessori schools: children observe and care for plants and sometimes pets (fish, rabbits, hamsters, etc.) in the classroom environment! Botany and zoology materials allow them to study plants and animals.