What method do you use to educate your child?
Maria Montessori
Dr. Maria Montessori, the first woman in Italy to obtain a doctorate. She developed an educational model (teaching methods) and bears his name, while in 1907 she taught a class of 50 poor students on the outskirts of Rome. Dr. Montessori, who previously worked with students with special needs. Maria rejected the theory that children were born as “empty plates”. She made sure that the children were born with absorbing minds. Children are fully capable of independent learning. Montessori has developed a structure for a planned educational environment in which children, allowed by the freedom to choose how they will spend their time at school, will individually explore learning opportunities. Her brilliant and dedicated work created the foundation for the Montessori classroom, which today is largely supported by preschool and elementary schools.
Montessori believed that kids enjoy and need periods of long concentration. With his structured lessons and curriculum, he continued to inhibit the natural development of children. Students in Montessori are free to spend large blocks of the day while a teacher or principal notices it. Dr. Montessori was a major proponent of tactile learning. Classes in Montessori usually include three-year age groups. The lack of grades, tests, and other forms of formal grading helps ensure that classes remain uncompetitive. The first Montessori school in the United States opened in 1911 in Tarrytown, New York.
Steiner / Waldorf
Austrian truth seeker and scientist Rudolf Steiner developed an educational mannequin that focused on the development of the “whole child”. Influenced by the likes of Goethe and Jean Piaget, Steiner believed there were three 7-year intervals of child development. His instructional method (teaching methods) mirrored what he thinking ought to and need to no longer be taught in the course of each of these stages.
Preschool workers in Waldorf schools are encouraged to play and communicate with their surroundings. Steiner also believed that children should learn to write before they learned to read and that no child should learn to read before the age of seven. Some critics of the Waldorf method argue that it borders on religion. According to the curriculum, students learn about Christian saints in the second grade and Old Testament personalities in the third grade. There are more than 800 schools that use some variations of Steiner’s teaching method around the world.
Reggio Emilia
The first preschool, Reggio Emilia, was opened in 1945. Schools emphasize the importance of parents who actively participate in their child’s early schooling. Classrooms are designed to look and feel at home. The curriculum is flexible because there is no set of lecture plans. Reggio Emilia emphasizes growth in students. Art supplies are an important component of any Reggio Emilia classroom. In traditional schools, there is an atelier or art teacher who works closely with children on various creative projects.
Reggio Emilia’s teachers often keep extensive documentation of the child’s development. This includes art maps and story notes behind each artwork. Louise Boid Cadwell said, “It’s about exploring the world and supporting children’s thinking, not just giving ready-made answers.” She was an intern at two schools in Emilia, Italy in the early 1990s. Louise wrote a book on the method of teaching. Choosing a school for your child is one of the most important decisions you will ever make.
Source: Alternative Teaching Methods, Daniel Lopez
