Montessori Case Study

Jennifer Baker-Powers, Upper Midwest Lead Teacher, Raintree Montessori

How would you describe the Montessori method to someone who has no previous experience with it?

“The Montessori method is an educational theory developed by Maria Montessori over 100 years ago. It took into account the child 's developmental and emotional needs and designed classrooms and materials where children learn and grow at their own pace in academics and life skills, as well as basic grace and courtesies."

How is a Montessori program different from other preschool programs?

“We try to provide the children with real opportunities to do real things like things they see their parents doing at home that keep the household community running. For example, instead of

If you were going to say where the focus is in the Montessori classroom it is definitely not on the adult. The focus is on the children. The environment is child led. The role of the Montessori teacher is to observe the children and look for signs of interest, readiness, practicing with the materials and making progress, and then to present the lessons to the children with the materials. To sit down with them individually and to teach them how to use those materials. Also, I would think that one main role would be to be a model for, as I spoke of earlier, the lessons of grace and courtesy; how you treat one another, how to push in your chair, put your napkin in your lap at lunchtime, things like that. And she’s kind of the emotional current throughout the

The AMS teachers sometimes have additional materials that weren’t necessarily developed by Maria Montessori but were developed by other Montessori teachers. The AMI training is very pure, very theory driven. The AMI trained teacher spends as much time on the why of doing things a certain way as the how to do them. There is a reason for everything that we do, there’s a reason behind it which is true for the materials too. There’s a purpose and intent, something that the child is supposed to take from every material. AMI is maybe more theory based. It’s often either a three summer program or a one full academic year program. When you are AMI trained you do short amounts of practice teaching whereas AMS you go for one summer and then you spend a year practicing teaching. I would say that an AMS trained guide probably learns as much from the teacher that they are placed with as they do from the trainers. At AMI you learn more from your trainers so it’s kept the training very pure, whereas an AMS teacher is learning a lot from a teacher that they’re with who may have changed and adapted things for her classroom over the years or decided what works best for her. I would say that AMI is maybe more pure. AMI is the organization developed by Maria Montessori, AMS is an