MONTESSORI > Montessori Vs. Traditional Education
Montessori prepares children to lead and contribute in the 21st century.
Montessori differs from traditional education in ways that are increasingly relevant for the future.
Traditional education often relies on a structured sequence of lessons and grade-level benchmarks designed to guide groups of students through learning. Montessori differs by allowing children to progress at their own pace and engage with concepts when they are developmentally ready.
The Montessori classroom is a “prepared environment” that encourages individual growth and learning. Children can move about the room selecting from a wide assortment of designed materials stored on well-organized shelves. Parents new to the world of Montessori always remark on how peaceful the classroom is, how beautiful it looks, and how focused the children are. This is because they are concentrated on the “work” of learning.
| Montessori Approach | Traditional Methods |
|---|---|
| Emphasis on cognitive and social development | Emphasis on social development |
| Teacher has unobtrusive role in classroom | Teacher is center of classroom as controller |
| Mainly individual instruction | Group and individual instruction |
| Mixed age grouping | Same age grouping |
| Grouping encourages children to teach and help each other | Most teaching done by teacher |
| Child chooses own work | Activities structured for child |
| Child works as long as he wishes on chosen project | Child generally allotted specific time for work |
| Child discovers own concepts from self-teaching materials | Child is guided to concepts by teacher |
| Child sets own learning pace | Instruction pace usually set by group |
| Child spots own errors from feedback on material | If work is corrected, errors usually pointed out by teacher |
| Child reinforces learning by repetition and feelings of success | Learning is reinforced externally by repetition and rewards |
| Organized program for learning care of self and environment | Less emphasis on self-care instruction |
| Child can work where he chooses, yet not disturb others | Child usually assigned own chair |
| Group work is encouraged | Encouraged to participate, sit still and listen during group sessions |
Seeing is believing!
Stepping into a classroom at Crabapple Montessori School, parents immediately notice the difference. We invite you to experience Montessori yourself – please set up an appointment to visit us for a tour. We serve students in Alpharetta, Milton, Roswell, Canton, Woodstock, and Cumming in north metro Atlanta.
