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Q1. 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:

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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 in
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 can’t do anything until they sent to public
schools.

WORLDWIDE RESPONSE:

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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”.

Q2. 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
adult's 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

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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

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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

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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:

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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.

Q3. 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

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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 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 child’s 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 child’s 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

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statement that “Help me Do it myself” but parents don’t 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 that’s 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.
Q4. 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

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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. A child is Skilled at running, jumping, walking on tiptoes and kicking balls.
2. He can move his tricycle by the use of pedals and steers it well.
3. He jumps off or upstairs in an adult style.
4. 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. At the age of five a child becomes more strong and energetic.

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

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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. Their grammar becomes perfect in this age.
2. Loves to have jokes
3. They not only like stories but also love to tell to others.
4. 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.

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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 child’s intellect also improves with the passage of time. In different age, the
child strengthens his intellectual power.

At the age of 3:
1. He can name all colors.
2. He uses child’s scissors for cutting
3. He can hold pencil properly in this age.
4. 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.

Q5. Write a comprehensive note on the role of teacher in a Montessori

classroom?

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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

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 teacher’s
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.

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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 f not 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:

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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 teacher’s 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:
Diagnostician’s 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.

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PROTECT STUDENT’S 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 non-
Judgment 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.

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