The year 2020 brought new experiences to children and their parents, whether they wanted it or not: learning at home via the screen and with the parents was and is on the program. New ways and means of conveying content have found their way into everyday school life. A large number of people had to get involved spontaneously.
The model of Montessori pedagogy has been tried and tested for a long time, but is strange to many. Such an educational institution is located in the municipality, where the children’s group opened on November 3rd. In an interview, the director of the school, Martha Slamenik, explains what the lessons in the children’s group are about and why the widespread image that children at a Montessori school could do whatever they want all day long is a wrong one.
“We don’t have Lego or the doll’s kitchen around.” Martha Slamenik, Director
The day with the teachers for the children of the Montessori children’s group begins between 7 and 9 a.m., in two groups the very young, up to three-year-olds and the slightly older, up to six-year-olds, are looked after. So far, everything seems very similar to the classic kindergarten visit, but the processes will soon change: Sensory materials come into play. “We don’t have Lego or the doll’s kitchen around,” explains Slamenik, learning is done with exercises from everyday life. The children make their own snacks, everything is vulnerable in this phase of the lesson. It is only with advancing age that abstraction takes place without material.
The binomial cube, for example, is an important element to familiarize children with mathematics. With it, the binomial formulas can be understood on the tangible object. The well-known mathematician Rudolf Taschner, who is currently a member of the National Council for the ÖVP, explains the binomial formula differently than many of us learned it in school lessons, with surfaces and cubes – imaginably imaginable (can be viewed on the youtube channel mathspacewien under the title “The binomial formula”).
It is important for the pedagogues in the children’s group to recognize the sensitive phases of young children up to the age of six according to the thought leader Montessori. Director Slamenik explains that in this phase of life the little ones are very open to learning to write for a while, then it is again learning by heart that the children are open to. At this age, however, security plays an important role: There can only be small changes, regular processes have priority. Clear rules are therefore necessary, within which the children can, however, decide freely.
What value should the extra individual care for the children have? They can follow their interests at their own pace and thus develop self-confidence and independence, according to the philosophy of Montessori pedagogy. Central is the joy and enthusiasm in learning, which must be exemplified by the teachers themselves.
For brain researcher Gerald Hüther, this enthusiasm is an essential key to success in learning. Director Slamenik sees researchers like Hüther confirming the principles of Montessori pedagogy. The researcher’s suggestions also include so-called multi-level classes, a model that is practiced at the Großharras elementary school, for example. After the stay in the children’s group, six school levels are taught together in the Montessori school, but the children still learn different subjects.
Whatever you think of it, this year the parents were forced to get involved with new things with their children. Some things will probably not exist in the next few years, but some new methods will remain. In the face of digitization, it is possible that some unusual models will find wider application, perhaps also those of Montessori pedagogy. Because the crisis has shown one thing: habits and standards that seem secure can quickly collapse.
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