Montessori in SPED

MONTESSORI

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MONTESSORI METHOD OF EDUCATION

• Developed by Dr. Maria Montessori

• A child-centered educational approach based on scientific observations of children from birth to adulthood.

• It is a view of the child as one who is naturally eager for knowledge and capable of initiating learning in a supportive, thoughtfully prepared learning environment.

• It is an approach that values the human spirit and the development of the whole child—physical, social, emotional, cognitive.

• The Montessori educational system is unique in that it has successfully undergone continued development for over one hundred years and has been used effectively with mentally retarded, physically handicapped, normal, and gifted children in different countries around the world

MONTESSORI TEACHER• Mentor, model, and guide• She won’t be presenting information for rote

learning; rather, she’ll be demonstrating specially designed learning materials that serve as a springboard for investigation and discovery

• Teacher thoughtfully prepares a classroom environment with materials and activities that meet the students’ unique interests, academic level, and developmental needs

MONTESSORI CLASSROOM• Design and flow of the Montessori classroom create

a learning environment that accommodates choice

• There are spaces suited to group activity, and areas where a student can settle in alone.

• Children work at tables or on the floor, rolling out mats on which to work and define their work space.

• There are well-defined spaces or learning areas: practical life, sensorial, mathematics, and language: each of these areas features shelves or display tables with a variety of inviting materials from which students can choose.

• Area devoted to peace and reflection: a quiet corner or table with well-chosen items—a vase of daisies; a goldfish bowl—to lead a child to meditative thought.

• Preschool rooms feature low sinks, chairs, and tables; a reading corner with a small couch (or comfy floor cushions); reachable shelves; and child-sized kitchen tools—elements that allow independence and help develop small motor skills.

MONTESSORI

LEARNING MATERIALS• Montessori learning materials are ingeniously

designed to allow children to work independently with very little introduction or help

• Materials themselves invite activity (bright arrays of solid geometric forms, knobbed puzzle maps, colored beads, and various specialized rods and blocks).

• Throughout the room, children will be sorting, stacking, and manipulating all sorts of beautiful objects made of a range of materials and textures.

• Many of the materials are made of smooth, polished wood (others are made of enameled metal, wicker, fabric).

• Also available to the children to explore are items from nature (ex, seashells, birds' nests, etc.)

• Built-in “control of error” in many of the Montessori materials allows the child to determine if he has done the exercise correctly (self-correcting materials) (a teacher never has to correct his work; he can try again, ask another child for help, or go to a teacher for suggestions if the work doesn’t look quite right)

MONTESSORI IN SPECIAL EDUCATIONFOR CHILDREN ON THE AUTISTIC SPECTRUM• Autism affects girls' and boys' everyday living and

learning in many ways:

(Language and communication, echolalia, lack of imagination, social skills, different perceptions, listening and attention, hyper-sensitivity to sensory stimuli, behavior, special abilities)

• In a Montessori environment, children have an opportunity to learn through hands-on explorations, research, and experimentation instead of abstract verbal instruction.

• The traditional teaching and learning methods and the predictable daily routines employed in prepared Montessori learning environments provide stability for children with special educational needs (SEN), including disorders on the autistic spectrum.

• All children are involved in hands-on activities with which they become fully engaged.

• Special needs children respond very well to the multi-sensory, interactive Montessori teaching/learning approach.

• The Montessori approach provides continuous stimulation.

• However, Montessori teachers should be aware that children with autism might be extra sensitive to sounds, light, tough, tastes and smells.

• The Montessori language and grammar materials are heaven-sent to teachers of children with autism (Command Cards)

• The Montessori daily routines and social graces activities give all children endless opportunities to practice polite social interactions.

• The practical life activities help all boys and girls to fine-hone the visual-motor skills necessary for carrying, lifting, folding and rolling.

• The open shelves and clearly visible learning resources in a prepared Montessori learning environment are a boon for children with thought processing and imagination difficulties.

• Montessori’s approach and methods blend remarkably well with applied behavioral analysis (ABA), which is currently the only scientifically established method for treating children on the autistic spectrum

• Any child, typical or with special needs, is on an IEP in a Montessori classroom by default.

• Self- Paced Education

OVERALL BENEFITS OF MONTESSORI TO CSN• Individual Work Time

• Mixed Age Groups

• On-going Child Study

• Materials and Environment

• Curriculum (multisensory, structured, cumulative, and sequential)

• Parent involvement

TEACHER-MADE MATERIALS

BRAILLE ALPHABET

• Writing system which enables blind and partially sighted people to read and write.

• It consists of patterns of raised dots arranged in cells up to six dots in a 3x2 configuration.

• Each cell represents a letter or number.

• Numbers 1-10 is the same as letters A-J.

• Some frequently used words and letter combinations have their own cell patterns.

• It has been adapted to write in many different languages

Narrow to Wide Simple Puzzle

COLORED BOXES/ EGG CARTON (COLOR SORTING)

“Students in the Autism Spectrum learns best through visual or multi-sensory presentations”

Self-correcting material that introduces the basic shapes to the student