The pedagogical project
THE GUIDES
Led by expert adults (known as “Guides” and professionally trained by various international centers strictly affiliated with A.M.I.), children choose activities that allow them to develop concentration, self-discipline, independence and expectations of success and satisfaction in work. The Guides therefore have the task of interpreting the child's need to anticipate and arrange in the environment the most appropriate material to stimulate the free choice of activity. The adult also acts as a “mediator” between the child and the material itself, willing to take a step back to let him or her autonomously grasp and absorb the lessons inherent in the material.
THE EXPLORATION MATERIAL
The material accompanies the child from the phase of the first sensorial experiences to the conquest of reading and writing, up to supporting him in the contact with the first secrets of arithmetic. Then, the material can be a companion in the exploration of the laws that regulate the most advanced arithmetic, geometry, grammar, and much more. Finally, children can find valid support and guidance tools to explore multiple areas in the most disparate fields of knowledge, such as history, geography, botany, astronomy, zoology, art, music, ... All materials do not teach, but decode what you want to teach and make it suitable to be investigated and easily accepted by children. Each single material offers, within it, a range of activities and possible explorations. The child can find the one he needs to satisfy the internal need that most attracts him in that period. In fact, each child uses the materials according to his own individual needs with regard to the succession of activities and their duration, thus developing his own personal path of self-education.
THE PREPARED ENVIRONMENT
A prepared environment will allow the child to carry out scientifically prepared activities with objectives that are not only interesting to achieve but also stimulating because they are aimed at perfecting his intellectual and manual skills. Following his own internal development plan and guiding instincts, the child in the Montessori environment is irresistibly attracted by the materials: through their manipulation, he discovers a succession of steps and, attracted by the challenge, develops interest, skills and knowledge.
THE ERROR FRIEND
The materials created for the first approaches are designed so that error control is inherent in the material itself. This allows even a small child to proceed autonomously by trial and error. In subsequent materials, when the sensorial or cognitive capacities have been refined, it will be the child himself who carries out self-correction through the perception or understanding of differences.
THE BRIDGE
Each material is designed to be a springboard for subsequent developments. Indeed, as Dr. Montessori herself says, "the development material is only necessary as a starting point." Just as an airplane uses the runway to rise, so the child can use the material to develop those basic skills that will then allow him to range according to his own interests. The use of the material, therefore, must not be seen as an end in itself, but as a bridge, an aid to start the child discovering the world.
FREEDOM WITHIN LIMITS
The first rule for every good educator is to leave the child free to choose and act within his environment, respecting some limits that favor his development: - freedom of movement - freedom of choice - freedom of time - freedom to repeat - freedom to communicate - freedom to make mistakes
FREE CHOICE: A NECESSARY CONDITION
Knowledge is like gifts that every society passes on to its children. Through Montessori material, these gifts can be acquired with joy and interest, without apparent effort. The child comes into contact with knowledge that becomes his, without him perceiving sensations of obligation and heaviness. However, in order for Montessori material to fully perform the functions for which it was designed, its use must be accompanied and supported by free choice. Only when the child comes into contact with the material through his own interest, it becomes a tool for interior and cognitive development, the evidence of which is the total and particular concentration shown by the child with calm naturalness. Then a sort of virtuous circle is triggered that guides the child to in-depth levels of experimentation, until he activates, more and more, his capacity for self-education and, at the same time, develops an interest in knowledge.
ENCOURAGE DIALOGUE
The educational interventions of the Guides responding to the "sensitive period" of the child ensure that they do not run the risk of losing precious learning and development opportunities. Progress is reported to families regularly, facilitating communication also through scheduled meetings with the Guides that allow parents to fully understand their children's educational path.