Assignment 2

Montessori Course

ContentsQuestion 1: How has image of child changed in history?.................................................3

Question 2: What is your own philosophy of childhood education?.................................3

Question 3: Develop a set of 5 learning activities of preschool children based on philosophy of Maria Montessori. Give reason for selecting each activity.........................4

Question 4: Develop a set of 5 learning activities of preschool children based on the philosophy of Frobel. Give reasons for selecting each activity.........................................9

Question 5: Compare the educational philosophies of John Dewey and Rosseau........13

Question 6: You are planning to start a preschool in your locality. You are short of finances but you want to provide child centered quality education to preschoolers. What kind of apparatus and activities will you plan for your children to ensure holistic development of each child?...........................................................................................13

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Question 1: How has image of child changed in history?

Different researches and philosophies have significantly contributed in changing the image of the children. In past younger children less than 7 years old were thought to be incapable of learning. It was believed that children cannot concentrate and learn new skills. Children were considered to be devoid of cognitive as well as emotional skills. However, Scientists through research revealed that old stereotype believes about children inability to learn were not plausible. Froble was first to rebut the concept of children inability to learn. He observed that significant brain development happens between birth and age of 3 years; Children learn mother language in the same age. Forble said that “Learning begin when conscious erupts, education must also”. Different scientists put forwarded many theories about children education. In the beginning children educational institute were funded by charity. However, with the realization that children can learn, governments started to patronage the children education and child educational institutes profuse. Finally it has been revealed that children have the cognitive, emotional and learning skills.

Question 2: What is your own philosophy of childhood education?

I believe that children are motivated in learning by doing. Freedom of making choices in an enriching and stimulating environment engages them in learning process and increases children’s curiosity about the topic being learnt. In classroom with their peers children have much more opportunities to develop communication skills while they exchange their cognitive thoughts with each other. I believe in guiding children who need assistance with a task that help them to develop the profound understanding of the object being learnt. Children can be highly motivated and involved in their own learning and produce work of very high quality when they have time to engage in short and long term independent projects. Independent projects should be designed in such a way that those should help students in enhancing their following skills

Fine motor development Cognitive development Physical development Social development Mathematical skill and critical thinking Emotions Family involvement Community development

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Question 3: Develop a set of 5 learning activities of preschool children based on philosophy of Maria Montessori. Give reason for selecting each activity.

Maria Montessori defined areas of learning can be organized into the following six areas:

1. Practical life2. Sensorial3. Mathematics4. Language and Literacy5. Science6. Cultural Knowledge and understanding

As preschool children are of very small age so they need foundation in all the above mentioned areas. In my set of activities based on Maria Montessori approach I shall keep the following activities

Activity 1:Tasks related to diurnal routine such as Pouring, sweeping and tying, washing and ironing etc. These activities shall foster and encourage autonomy, responsibility, and self-esteem, and provides the framework for classroom discipline.

Figure 1: Practical Life Based Washing Activity

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Figure 2: Practical Life Based Pouring Activity

Activity 2:Tasks that would allow children to learn discern subtle differences in taste, smell, and sound and sight experiences. The senses are the pathways to one’s mind, from environment to the individual.  At three years of age, children begin to make sense of their world.  To assist the child’s development, the Sensorial materials isolate stimuli in order to help the child make sense of his impressions.

Matching colors is such an activity that would hone the visual skills of preschools children.

Figure 3: Sensorial Improvement Activity: Color Matching

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Children can be given miniature models of the landmarks along with their pictures and can be asked to match the landmark miniature with the model. This task shall force the children to compare the miniature model, analyze and discern the differences and ultimately matching the model with images.

Figure 4: Sensorial Improvement Activity: Comparison and Matching

Similarly children can be given different pair of socks and be asked to arrange the same pair of jobs. This activity shall also engage the senses of children and they shall look for the similarities and differences. This whole activity shall improve the sensory skills of the children

Figure 5: Sensorial Improvement Activity: Socks Matching

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Activity 3:Solving worksheets which include preliminary math such as counting, multiplication, subtraction, integrated with Activity 1

Figure 6: Mathematics Based Activity

Children place number of sticks according to digit written in each box.Similarly children can be provided with strips with circles on them and children can be asked to place identical digit in front of appropriate strip.

Figure 7 : Mathematics Based Activity 2

Activity 4:Children should participate in language workshop, doing such activities which would help children to learn phonetics, language grammar and pronunciation etc. In language workshops children can be assigned to match alphabets as shown in figure 8.

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Figure 8 : Aliphatic matching

A next level of this activity could be matching words and figures as shown in figure 9

Figure 9 : Words and figures matching

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Activity 5:Lacing Is an activity which shall help children to develop fine motor skills. They shall be able to learn when to move and where to move. Children can be provided with a pair of boats and can be asked to put laces in it.

Figure 10 : Fine Motor Development Activity

Reason for selection of activitiesTasks in activity 1 shall help students in developing their motor and cognitive skillsTasks in activity 2 shall help students in developing their sensory skills such as discerning in taste, color and sounds etc. Tasks in activity 3, amalgamated with activity 1 shall help the students to learn basic math quickly and would enforce leaning whenever they engage in such activities again. Language workshops in activity 4 shall help students to enhance their communication skills; they would learn proper diction, grammar and vocabulary to express their cognitive thinking. Tasks in activity 5 shall fine tune the motor movements in child. I think that above chosen set of activities are foundation in child development process and shall help to mold children’s personalities into informed adults.

Question 4: Develop a set of 5 learning activities of preschool children based on the philosophy of Frobel. Give reasons for selecting each activity

Frobel theory stated that for effective brain development of children they must be provided with opportunities in which they can have exposure to the following areas

Free Self-Activity Creativity Social Participation Motor Expression

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Activity 1 Rolling BallProvide the children with balls (Yarn or any other material). The ball symbolized unity because it is a complete whole, a pure form. The whole is the beginning of understanding and everything else is derived from the whole. Learning is derived from impressions formed during play. The child forms his/her first impressions of the physical world by holding, rolling or watching the ball. Play with objects and interaction withThe mother or caregiver help the child begin to differentiate his/herself from the rest of the world (the whole). Talking (vocabulary) and eye contact are so important for these early impressions, and balls are a wonderful tool to stimulate interactions.

Figure 11 : Rolling Balls

Activity 2 Using Rectangular PrismUsing rectangular prisms children can learn new possibilities in building. Introduce words like brick, tile, steps. The child will make walls, sidewalks, fences, tables, chairs, etc. The concept of fractions (and vocabulary words half, quarter, fourth, etc.) can be discovered, as well as proportion. Introduce new words like rectangle, oblong, direction, vertical, horizontal, height, width, length, etc.

Figure 12 : Rectangular Prisms

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Activity 3 – Sphere, Cube and Cylinder BoxProvide children with sphere, cube and cylinder box. The box can be shaken and the child asked, "What is inside?" Open the lid and reveal the pieces. Have the child touch, feel, smell, hold and examine the sphere, then the cylinder, and the cube, in turn. Use the pieces to represent things from the child's life (e.g., the sphere is an orange, the cylinder is a baby bottle or a wheel, the cube is a house, etc.). Stack the pieces in different ways (e.g. the cylinder on the cube and the sphere on top creates a person). Build with the pieces and include the box parts, as well. Roll the sphere and cylinder. Encourage the children's descriptions through imaginative play.

Differentiate the pieces by naming the geometric shapes. Sort them. Count the number of pieces or the number of surfaces, edges, corners, etc. Introduce the concepts of on/under, front/back, up/down, in front of/behind, etc. Simple physics concepts can be discovered. Some of the solids will roll (sphere, cylinder) and some will stand (cube, cylinder). The idea of resonance in sound also can be learned by tapping the solids together or onto the table. By exploring these properties, children will be naturally curious and their discoveries will create a foundation of basic science.

Figure 13 : Sphere, Cube and Cylinder Box

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Activity 4 – Based on Cubes and Triangular PrismsNew terms like angle, triangle, diagonal, rectangular prism can be introduced. Fractions and other mathematical concepts can be discovered and concepts of geometric shapes, size/shape differentiation, parts-of-the-whole relationships, and others can be further explored. With this Gift, children can see it as three cubed (3^3), the larger 3" cube composed of 27 1-inch cubes (albeit some further divided into triangles).

Figure 14 : Cubes and Triangular Prisms Based Activity

Activity 5 – Based on Social ParticipationAfter doing above mentioned activities independently, children should be provided with opportunities to perform above given activities in group with other children.

Start with a reasonably small number of pieces (6 to 12) of the 2" stick. No of sticks may be increased the number of pieces as needed. Ask the child to create something.Participate in the play by making your own creations. The children will represent objects in their lives in two dimensions. Each child will create from his/her own world.

In this play, the adult can "peer into" the mind of the child and perceive how the child understands and interacts with his/her world by asking the child about his/her creation.

Through the attention and dialogue, the child will build self-esteem and understanding of relationships. Through the act of creating, the child will develop self-confidence and become more familiar with the physical properties of the universe.

Figure 15 : Sticks and Rings

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Question 5: Compare the educational philosophies of John Dewey and Rosseau.

Rousseau set out his views on education in Émile, a semi-fictitious work detailing thegrowth of a young boy of that name, presided over by Rousseau himself. He brings him up in the countryside, where, he believes, humans are most naturally suited, rather than in a city, where we only learn bad habits, both physical and intellectual. The aim of education, Rousseau says, is to learn how to live, and this is accomplished by following a guardian who can point the way to good living. Moreover, the book is based on Rousseau's ideals of healthy living. The boy must work out how to follow his social instincts and be protected from the vices of urban individualism and self-consciousness.

For John Dewey, education and democracy are intimately connected. According toDewey good education should have both a societal purpose and purpose for the individual student. For Dewey, the long-term matters, but so does the short-term quality of an educational experience. Educators are responsible, therefore, for providing students with experiences that are immediately valuable and which better enable the students to contribute to society.

Question 6: You are planning to start a preschool in your locality. You are short of finances but you want to provide child centered quality education to preschoolers. What kind of apparatus and activities will you plan for your children to ensure holistic development of each child?

I think that most of the activities involved in the development of preschoolers don’t include any expensive item which could drastically affect the financial budget. Most of the child centered activities developed on the basis of theories presented by Montessori and Forbles require simple toys and objects with which children can play in order to explore the characteristics of those toys and externalize their creativity. However, Still if the purchases of these simple items restrain the budget then I shall buy the minimum set of required items necessary for the holistic development of the children and I would try to maximize the use of learning objects by shifting the time of use among different children. Furthermore, I would let the children play in groups with the toys i.e. each group will be playing with different set of toys or learning aid objects at different time. This technique shall ensure effective utilization of the apparatus and each children shall also be exposed to the experience of every toy.

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