Name : Quratulann

Roll no: D-10783

Assignment module 1
1. Discuss the life and works of Dr. Maria Montessori and why is
she referred to as a lady much ahead of her time?
Maria Montessori life
Dr. Maria Montessori is a founder of Montessori Method of teaching. She was a
very confident and strong lady of her time. She is well known of introducing the
Montessori Method and also the early childhood
education.
She was born on 31st August 1870 to an educated middle
class family in Ancona, Italy. Her father was a
conservative military man and her mother was liberal lady
who always encouraged her daughter to pursuit her
education. Maria Montessori, an only child, she was
a vivacious, strong-willed girl.

EDUCATION:
Her early education was in Florence and then Rome. At the age of thirteen, she
went to secondary, technical school. In those days Europe was very conservation in
its attitude toward and treatment of women, but Montessori pursed medical and
scientific education. After that, she graduated with highest honors from medical
school of the University of Rome. She became the first lady doctor in the history of
Italy in 1896. She was a brilliant student throughout her academic career.

WORK WITH SPECIAL CHILDREN:

Montessori was well known for her contributions in education. She became the
director of the deficient and insane children in the University of Rome. She
started working with these mentally disabled children. She discovered that her
children need purposeful activities to do in order to get sense and mind and she
successfully achieved her goals.

Inspiration from Itard and Seguin:

Maria was so much inspired by the work of two French doctors who had also
worked with children who had some physical and mental disorders. They
attempted basic skills in their work for example reading, writing or alternative
methods which were helped full for children. Maria had keenly observed their
methodology and figure out that children could learn the same things as the normal
children. After the success, she started working with normal children.

Casa dei Bambini:

Montessori started her first school with normal children named Casa dei Bambini
(the house of children) which was inaugurated in 1907. At the beginning of the
school, there were only fifty students and one untrained teacher. In her school, she
introduced exercises of practical day living for example cleaning, dressing;
gardening etc. she noticed that children took great interest in doing these kinds of
activities. These kinds of activities made the independent and more efficient. When
she found out that the job of the teacher is to serve the children, she believed that
the urges of the children are universal and that is in the nature of the child to
perform such activities. The children of the school of Casa dei Bambini had
showed outstanding progress in their academic and practical work. They learnt a
lot of activities related to writing and reading etc. her school became famous due to
the progress of these young angel whom people consider they cant do anything
until they sent to public schools.

WORLDWIDE RESPONSE:

Her school became famous all over the world in a very short time. After first
school, she started numerous schools. People from all over the world visited her
and appreciated her effort and discoveries. Her methodology was started to practice
all over the world.

HIGHEST RECOGNITION AND AWARDS:

She became so much successful as she was nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
thrice. She was even pictured on the Italian 200 lire coins and through 1990s on the
1000 lire bills.

DEATH:
Montessori died on 1952 in the Netherlands. Her name would always alive because
of her extraordinary contribution in the field of education.

LADY A HEAD:
Montessori is referred to lady a head because her discoveries are being practiced
all over the world. She is immortal through her methods which are still being
practiced now and will in future also. She lived in old days but was definitely A
woman much Ahead of her time.

2 . Which are the main requirements to be considered to start a

House of Children? How to you implement them?
The natural urges during childhood are universal and every child experiences them.
However the behavioral experiences children undergo during sensitive periods may
vary from child to child. Homes are designed according to the adults needs, so
they cannot fulfill the natural urges of children as the children are being restricted
and forbidden by elders to meet their natural urges. Children cannot access
anything freely and comfortably.
Montessori is the place where children can do whatever they want and meet their
needs and interest. Therefore, one has to be very particular and consider numerous
things when start the house of children. It is the most difficult task to start it. There
are several requirements which one should be keeping in mind.
1) Class room design is the most important place where children have to stay.
Montessori educational apparatus, tables and shelving, and related activities
equipment should be appropriate and several in number so that children could
approach them.

2) The number of students in the classroom should not be exceeding more than
30 students.
3) The size of the classroom should allow minimum of 20 square feet per
students at the early level, 30 squares for the elementary level and 40 squares
would be for secondary level.

4) Montessori house should be child-sized where he could enjoy his age. A child
sized kitchen, science lab, an art studio, bath rooms, hobby workshop, everything
should be according to the size of a child. They lead him to fulfill his desires and
enjoy his own world.
5) A house should be design in such a way that the child could face outdoor
environment. There must be window through which the children could face
sunlight at a daytime and become a natural source of ventilation.
6) There must be the children garden where child can grow vegetables and fruits
of their choice. It leads them to close to their natural environment.
7) There should not be any prohibition of doing something which the student is
not allowed at his home. Prohibition is sweet or bitter, prohibition is prohibition.
8) Children are usually not allowed to do by themselves what they want at their
home so Montessori room should provide them this opportunity.
These are some factors which should consider while starting any house of children.
HOW TO IMPLEMENT:
Considering requirements are very important but implementation is more important
than them because implementation is something which we have to implement and
how it works is based on it. There must be a lot of things which should be
implement those are:

Respect for the children.

Focus on individual child
The prepared environment
Polite behavior of the teacher
Parent- teacher meeting.

RESPECT FOR THE CHILDREN:

Respect is the basic thing which everybody requires. Every child needs respect.
Parents try to force them to follow the parents without regarding their needs and
interest. Therefore, first we should take great care of the respect of the child.

FOCUS ON INDIVIDUAL CHILD:

Every child is different from one another. Teacher should focus on individual child
as his learning progress, growth and understanding is different from other children.
THE PREPARED ENVIRONMENT:
Prepared environment is very important. When they have prepared environment,
they are able to do what they want. The material is available for the child which
they can easily access and do whatever their interest.
POLITE BEHAVIOR OF THE TEACHER:
The teacher is the role model for the student. Her behavior should be polite
towards students. As the teacher is the spiritual mother of the students, they learn a
lot from them after their mother. So, her behavior and attitude should be very good.
PARENT- TEACHER MEETING:
There must be parent-teacher meeting as parents should know the progress and
development of their student and the most important about the attitude and the
nature of the student. Montessori teacher can guide them according to the nature of
their children.

CONCLUSION:
To sum up, the house of the children is the place where children can meet their
needs and interests. So, these requirements should keep in mind when starting the
school.

3 . What are the discoveries made by Dr. Maria Montessori by

observing the child?
Maria Montessori's discoveries
Maria Montessori made a lot of discoveries by observing the children. She is a
founder of Montessori education. She conducted a lot of experiments and observed
children by spending a lot of time with them. She discovered several aspects of
children. She has specified some of the discoveries she had made during her work.
According to Maria Montessori children work until they reach to their goal. They
are very enthusiastic about the work which makes them select and concentrate on
different activities which lead them to make them perfect in their inner
development. Children love to work purposefully, they work out of the natural
drive, which makes them select and concentrate on tasks which are appropriate for
development.
The teacher or an adult should follow the child rather them to motivate him to do
work. When a child works in different areas of human activity at specific time that
lead them to develop the awareness and usage of doing. The teacher should not
ignore their inner urge of doing activities.
When a child does activities again and again or when there is a spontaneous
repetition of an activity is done with great interest the result is concentration .The
child concentrates more when they found right conditions. And condition is just a
beginning not an end.
Maria discovered that children really need an order in their life. She found out
when she saw her children putting their things back to their places; same in the
case of values, functions and other human activities. The child wants to learn by
practice that is the truth, the need to see it being practiced. Montessori students in
this age, built up their personalities, they needed consistency in all aspects of
environment.
Normality refers to human power working in unison or in collaboration. Dr. Maria
says that during the early childhood it is possible to rectify any developmental

error and bring the child back to normality. The child should work individually and
with freedom. All activities are very important to bring child back to normality.
A child needs those activities which help him to develop sensorial concepts,
language, arithmetic art, and culture. These are very important for building of
childs personality. Montessori found that these activities can bring intelligence in
the children as they love to perform these activities.
A child could assimilate that the knowledge which people think that this kind of
knowledge is too complex for the children but according to Maria Montessori if
that knowledge present in rightful manner or condition, that would be easy for
them to digest.
Montessori figure out that discipline should not be imposed on children. If a child
is satisfied, he would start respect others. He may learn discipline unintentionally.
Real discipline comes along with freedom.
If a child is satisfied he or she starts respect elders because real obedience is based
on love, respect and faith.
She was confident that the childs behavior rely on the environment. If a child
couldn't get the environment for development, when his or her inner needs do not
fulfill, he becomes stubborn, disobedient and destructive. So we should provide
him or her suitable environment and condition for development and Montessori is
the right place for that.
She discovered that children love to do their household work.They believe in a
statement that Help me Do it myself but parents dont pay any heed towards
this. So, she says we should trust the child.
Maria had a view that we should provide a very good environment to the student in
order to attain good result. For this purpose, she used child size table and chair
rather than heavy desk. She discovered the child wants everything according to its
size. Tables were so small and light in weight so two children could easily move it.
Another very important point which she had discovered is traffic pattern. She
figure out that a room where children had to stay, it should not be congested and

overloaded. The children love to sit on the floor so thats why she put a lot of rugs
and mats for children where they sit and do activities.
Maria observed that the building and outside environment should be according to
the size of a child. For instance toilet, low sink, windows, shelves, garden tools etc.
designed in child sized.

4 . What does PILES stands for when we talk of human

development ? discuss the physical ,lingual and intellectual
development taking the place during 3 to 6 years of age?
PILES stand for:

P = Physical
I = Intellectual
L = Language
E = Emotional
S = Social

The age from 3 to 6 is the first phase of a child development. In this phase, the
child needs proper environment and freedom to practice his activities which he has
learns, observes and watches. Now he wants to put them in action. Children are
very curious and want to explore the world in this age. In this phase, there is a
great development in their lingual, physical, and intellectual development.
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT:
Physical development is very important and rapid in the phase. A child is very
active, imaginative and energetic. He wants to conquer the world in this phase of
age. Their muscles get strength first then gradually develop coordination. In this
age, the physical activity involves many energetic activities. The physical
development progresses with the age.
At the age of 3 years:
1.
2.
3.
4.

A child is Skilled at running, jumping, walking on tiptoes and kicking balls.

He can move his tricycle by the use of pedals and steers it well.
He jumps off or upstairs in an adult style.
He is able to sits at the bottom with crossed ankles.

At the age of 4 years:

1. He can bend down and climb up trees in this age.
2. He becomes more good in kicking and catching balls and playing other
games.
3. In this age, he is able to run upstairs with full efficiency.

4. He can cross his legs and balances one foot for a long time.
At the age of 5 to 6 years:
1.
2.
3.
4.

At the age of five a child becomes more strong and energetic.

He can dance and play all kinds of games.
His balance is improved and he is able to walk along a thin line.
He can swim, climb, and slide.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT:
Language starts developing when a child is born. But in this age, his language
develops and achieves more sense more efficiently. He can easily make full
sentences. He becomes advance in development in this age group. The child is able
to understand about objects and relationships.
At the age of 3 years:
1. A child can ask many questions and recite names, age and sex.
2. Their sentences are easily understandable and they have simple
conversations with others.
3. Their grammar is not development totally but they have an understanding of
I, you, me, him, her etc.
4. They can recite songs and rhymes of different poems and want to read
stories over and over.
At the age of 4 years:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Their grammar becomes perfect in this age.

Loves to have jokes
They not only like stories but also love to tell to others.
They are still confused in pronouncing the letters K with T And R with W,
or TH with F

At the age of 5 to 6 years:

1. They start asking meanings of different words as their vocabulary builds up.
2. They start reciting the address, name and age.
3. They start to sing more songs and rhymes.

4. They now, in this age only confuse with S with TH, or F with TH.
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT:
The childs intellect also improves with the passage of time. In different age, the
child strengthens his intellectual power.
At the age of 3:
1.
2.
3.
4.

He can name all colors.

He uses childs scissors for cutting
He can hold pencil properly in this age.
Can copy a circle.

At the age of 4:
1. He can draw a house
2. He is able to build ten bricks tower.
At the age of 5 to 6 years:
1. Now able to draw figures with all features including head, body, arms etc.
2. He can copy a square, circle, a triangle etc.
3. He is now able to relate time of day corresponding to everyday activities.

All is all; a child develops his physical, intellectual, social, emotional, and lingual
in the age of 3 to 6 years.

5 . Write a comprehensive note on the role of teacher in a

Montessori classroom?

A Montessori teacher is considered to be a guide, facilitator or a directress. Her

role in teaching Montessori students is very distinct and significant. In order to
have a better understanding of a role of teacher we have two types of art of
teaching.
1.

Productive Art

2.

Cooperative Art

PRODUCTIVE ART:
It refers to an art in which the activity of an artist is the principle and the only
cause of production i e. shoemaker or tailor. They both have end product as
shoemaker have shoes and tailor stitches the clothes.
COOPERATIVE ART:
In this type of art, the end product
is not predefined. There are three
cooperative arts which are:
farming, healing, and teaching.
Montessori teachers main concern
is with teaching under this art.
ROLE OF A TEACHER IN
MONTESSORI CLASS:
There are numerous roles of a teacher in the Montessori classroom. She has to be a
role model for children as they imitate her actions. The important Roles of the
teacher in a classroom are given below.

PREPARATION OF ENVIRONMENT:
A Montessori mentor should prepare the best
learning environment where a child could easily
select his own work which is according to his
interest. It should be put in low shelves where
the child could easily explore and place it in
order.
PROVIDE APPROPRIATE MATERIALS:
A Montessori directress should provide appropriate material which meets the needs
of the Montessori students to develop their interest in different fields of education
and practical life.

OBSERVING THE CHILDREN:

A directress should observe all children individually. She should deal with them
according to their interest and provide materials or activities but there must be a
dynamic link between children and the prepared environment. She should observe
her student very keenly in order to interpret his need.
GIVING LESSONS:
Montessori teachers lesson should be brief and interesting therefore their attention
should not be diverting elsewhere. She should provide simple and necessary
information to the child to do the work on their own pace.

EVALUATE A STUDENT:
A directress should evaluate her student in such a way; she should able to know
about the needs and effectiveness of her student. She should evaluate her children
performance individually.
A GOOD COMMUNICATOR:
As we know that a teacher is a role model for a student; she should be a very good
communicator and help the children to learn how to be a good communicator and
communicate their thoughts to adults.
MORAL SENSE DEVELOPER:
The role of Montessori guider is to develop moral sense in children. She should
develop the sense of courtesy, calm, grace and respect.
DIAGNOSTICIAN:
Diagnosticians mean concerns are with psycho-educational assessment. A
Montessori teacher is a diagnostician as she can figure out the growth,
development, and behavior of the children and guide their parents about their
children habits.
PROTECT STUDENTS INDEPENDENCE:
A directress should give space to students and let them to work according to their
own interest. She should respect and protect their freedom. She may present
interesting and relevant lesson and then free them to work according to their
interest and generate new ideas and meet their needs.
SUPPORTIVE:
The teacher should be supportive, offering warmth, security, stability, and nonjudgment acceptance to each child. She should support her student to learn or
generate new ideas and work independently.
To sum up, Montessori directress is more than a teacher. Her ultimate goal is to
facilitate Montessori children. She works as a guide, directress, and teacher or
mentor in order to retain curiosity, creativity and intelligence in students.