Montessori Who? What?

My Journey to the Montessori Method

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I have been an educator and administrator for over 30 years, and I always enjoyed what I was doing and felt I was making an impact. As a teacher, my classes were upbeat and had elements of multi-modality. I had a strong connection with many of my students and the parents were happy.  I had, of course, heard about Montessori as part of my formal education, and did some follow-up in the literature after I got my M.Ed. (I am an avid reader, especially when it involves education.) Chinuch is never all rosy, so naturally I had my share of frustrations and worked hard to find solutions to them.

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About 20 years ago, we were moving to NJ and I needed to find work. I have a wonderful sister-in-law - herself a career teacher - who suggested I look into the Clifton Cheder, then under the direction of Rabbi Hillel Mandel and Torah Umesorah. I called and went for an interview. Rabbi Mandel walked me through the school and I got to meet some very warm and caring staff, people who were really happy and offered to answer any questions I might have. At one point we paused outside a large classroom called the “Beis Midrash.” The Rebbe stepped out and explained that parts of the day the children work in classrooms on “grade level” skills, but that there was a point in the day when the first through third graders would come and work together, either individually (on a work  plan that was personally set up for them)  or in small-group learning. During this time children can also go ahead with guidance from their Rebbe or can reinforce skills that need honing. The room was well organized and had a large variety of materials for the students to work with.

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The Rebbe spoke to me for about 15 to 20 minutes. I was very interested in what the Rebbe was saying, yet at the same time my focus kept straying into the classroom. “Why don’t I hear the boys who are calling loudly for the Rebbe’s attention?” I wondered, “Where are the boys who, realizing that the Rebbe is out of the class, ‘push the boundaries’?” The Rebbi finished talking and asked if I had any questions. I turned to the classroom and asked, “How can I create a class where the boys take ownership of their behavior and their learning? How did you create this wonderful atmosphere of independence, where they don't need you in the classroom at all times?” I told the Rebbe that what I wanted to learn was how to develop a classroom like his, where self-motivated, self-regulated learning took place because of some deeper chinuch the boys has gotten. So began my journey…

A mentor, Rabbi Rietti, started me on the way. He told me that often teachers need to learn that “sometimes they are the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage.” I needed to rethink how learning was taking place in my classroom. My improved classroom expressed the belief that children can and should be responsible for their learning, and I, the teacher, would act primarily as a facilitator. As I started to embrace this idea, I saw more clearly that Hashem created children with the desire to learn and grow in their environment, but children learn differently at different developmental stages. Young children need to touch and feel and experience learning, so our job is to create an environment that facilitates their interactions with materials.

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Intrinsic motivation grows in this type of environment, where children develop the ability to think, explore and safely make mistakes (which they learn from, of course!) It is wonderful to see their self-confidence grow as they learn that that they have the ability to try and practice - and eventually master - new skills and knowledge.

My two biggest challenges were setting up a material-rich, age-appropriate environment, and taking a deep breath, stepping back and letting learning happen without directly involving myself at each moment. It’s become easier, as I’ve seen they system work… and it does! I love how every subject is based in learning from a concrete method: children are able to handle higher forms of mathematical concepts, scientific ideas and complex language because it has developed out of a tangible base, and is continuously brought back to real-world, tangible, examples and uses. As children develop and become more sophisticated, you see them looking at the world around them and asking questions, an intellectual habit we promote. They have a deep desire for knowledge about the world they live in. 

There are connections between what they’re learning and what they experience in the world. I remember our Bais Yaakov girls learning about Tzedaka and going to a food bank to understand better how their Tzedaka works. They met people and heard stories of how their pennies effected and helped real people. The girls ended up with a true understanding - rooted in feelings from first-hand experience - of how Tzedaka makes a difference. We need and want our children’s learning to penetrate inside and make a difference to who they become.

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Much of our teaching comes through what we call our Three-Part Lesson: we role model or demonstrate, we practice together and we “catch” children doing it right! Then we assess whether the children really internalized what we wanted them to learn. This is across the board for all academic, social or emotional skills. If we see that the child has not internalized the skill we go back to step 1 and teach it in a different way. Interestingly, we find there is something about this process that fulfills a child’s needs and gives them that crucial feeling of success; there is no need for external motivation like “prizes”, candy, etc. The children are excited to learn, and mastery of something new is its own reward for them! Children in our classrooms cheer each other on because there is no competition for an imposed win/lose goal; knowledge is a prize they can all attain, and they enjoy seeing their friends “get” what they’ve “got.” Individually, the students are focused on mastering their skills, not concerned with where the class is holding. Each student knows that when he or she has mastered a thing, they won’t be “bored” waiting for the others, they’ll be given one more step to climb. Conversely, no student is ever stressed, worrying about holding the class back or being thought of as a “burden” (or worse) by his classmates. It is the teacher’s job to know each child’s skill-level and what is next for her when she completes her current task.    

 

I have found the Montessori method fully supports the core things we want for our children. Montessori fosters our children’s natural desire to learn, and simultaneously helps them develop a strong sense of personal and communal responsibility. It de-emphasizes selfishness, negative competition and jealousies that impede good middos.

In our classrooms you will find children as young as 3 that relish setting up the table for lunch (no different than helping mommy for Shabbos, right? Why shouldn’t this natural love of helping and “being big” extend from our homes into our classrooms?) Putting out the placemats, plates and napkins teaches one-to-one correspondence.  Washing dishes is a form of real-life constructive sensory play. When you see them working on mats or at the table  it’s just a great way to teach about my personal space and your personal space. You will certainly see an older child helping a younger child with review skills (building  a sense of community and responsibility), and they love doing it. All it takes is thought and planning; there is so much intent and thought put into a Montessori classroom!

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My personal “Ah-hah!” moment in a Montessori classroom involved two 4 year olds. The girls were arguing over crayons in the middle of a table. The teacher who noticed them shared her sentiment that this would be an opportunity to use the Vered Shalom (“Rose of Peace”). I was impressed at how she gave them room to do it themselves; she did not get it for them, but just made the suggestion that this might a way for them to help themselves find a solution. One of the girls jumped up and ran to get a beautiful rose in a vase that was on a shelf, the Vered Shalom. This is a tool to teach children how to listen and how to talk. One child began by holding the rose and telling the other child, “You moved the crayon away from me when I was using them.” Then she handed the rose to the second child, who thought and said, “Yes, because Morah did not put the crayons where I could reach them, so I moved them to the middle because I wanted to color, too.” The first girl looked at the second with such understanding, and said, “Oh! OK…” They both put the rose back and then moved the crayons to the middle of the table and continued coloring. It was wonderful, and I wondered what if we adults could do this peaceful back-and-forth trying to understand each other until we found a solution. The icing on the cake was when I saw the mother at carpool the next morning and went to tell her. She told me that her daughter had told her the whole Vered Shalom story already, and she wanted to try it in her home! And think what an impression was made, that this little girl went home and told her mother about this…

Our classrooms aren’t perfect, but then again, neither is life. The uplifting moments for me, as a menahelles, are when a different principal calls me up about a child who has come from our school and shares with me that the child has a true joy of learning, or when I am at a simcha and a person comes up and says, “I know when a child is from your school because of they way they act.” I get notes and calls from parents who tell me that they offered to go to do something with their child, but the child wanted  to come to school - not because there was a special activity but they were in the midst of learning something and they want to continue. I feel that many of our holy mosdos succeed at teaching our children how to  learn chumash and how to daven, but we also need to give them skills to be successful adults, who can be healthy husbands and wives capable of communicating and functioning with each other and with the world through all its ups and downs. People who properly earn respect, and know how to carry that respect and to respect others.

I am grateful for my journey, b”H; as much as I have grown professionally, I have grown personally as well. Montessori education has taught me to be an observer – how to be respectful of children and people - in a way I never before imagined. It has taught me to not fear what I do not know, but instead to reach out and search for answers and understanding. More than anything else, it has taught me that every single child has a strength and a gift to share in this world.