COURSE OF STUDY
There are five basic areas of study in Montessori
education: Sensorial, Practical Life, Math, Language,
Culture (and for some a sixth - Theology).
The Sensorial and Practical Life areas are not seen in
an ordinary classroom. However, Maria Montessori, in her
wisdom, created these areas. Each serves as a fundamental
foundation for successive areas of learning, namely in the
material experience of going from concrete impressions to
abstract imaginations. In the child there is also a spiritual/moral foundation
being formed:
Excerpt
-
From Creative Chaos to Livable Learning
by S.V.
Wilhelmi:
One who is normalized has acquired
prudence, which intellectually guides the person to keep the
entire good in mind, and morally it helps the person to
control the will, while accomplishing a task. This should be
our aim both with ourselves and with our children - that
through our self-discipline we can come to good judgments in
our thoughts and make the right decisions in our actions.
As I reflected on the first two
areas of study for the Montessori student, I realized that
the Sensorial and Practical Life exercises not only lead a
child to normalization (self-discipline) but they form the
spiritual and moral foundation for the virtue of Prudence
which is the basis for the other moral virtues.
The Sensorial exercises
train the senses to form an evaluation, by the contrasting,
comparing, and grading of physical objects. The child learns
the difference between a good and a bad construction. Coming
to a judgment by observing both similarities and differences
exercises the child’s reasoning, and enables a more
accurate perception of reality. This physical training of
the senses forms a foundation for the internal
reasoning (thinking) needed for discernment in
spiritual matters.
The Practical Life exercises
refine the child’s skills of bodily movement, or action. The
child learns the difference between a right or a wrong
sequence of action. He learns to exercise the will
through self-control. Authentic conscience is formed by
right reason. Conscience is the judgment of reason reached
by human intelligence, seeking to know what action is
morally permissible. This physical training of the movements
of the body form a foundation for the external
conduct (behavior) of conscience in moral matters.
Below is an outlined summary of the five areas of
Montessori education:
