My philosophy is aligned with the methodology created by Maria Montessori, who developed the world renowned theory of child development in the most crucial developmental stage, the first six years. Born in Italy in 1870, she died in the Netherlands in 1952, after having influenced education worldwide through her passion and inspiration about how to best educate children.
I believe a safe, organized, beautiful environment should be prepared for children to enable them to absorb knowledge as they experience through movement and hands-on practical experience. The classroom and furnishings are child-sized---individual tables and chairs, interesting and colorful--yet realistic--pictures around the room, eye-level bulletin boards and low shelves--where children are free to choose and replace works that interest them. I want to have the classroom environment that will help a child develop his or her will...
FYI...regarding the will, Montessori said:
"A will in agreement with what the individual is doing finds the path open for its conscious development. Our children choose their work spontaneously, and by repeating the work they have chosen, they develop an awareness of their actions. That which at first was but a vital impulse (horme) has become a deliberate act. The little child's first movements were instinctive. Now, he acts consciously and voluntarily, and with this comes an awakening of his spirit. The child himself feels the difference, and one of them has expressed it in a fashion which will always be one of our most treasured memories. A lady of high rank once paid the school a visit and, being old-fashioned in her views, she said to a little boy, "So this is the school where you do as you like?" "No, ma'am," said the child. "It is not that we do as we like, but we like what we do." The child had grasped the subtle difference between doing a thing because it gives one pleasure, and enjoying a piece of work that one has decided to do.
One thing ought to be very clear. Conscious will is a power which develops with use and activity. We must aim at cultivating the will, not at breaking it. The will can be broken in a moment. Its development is a slow process that evolves through a continuous activity in relationship with the environment. It is so much easier to destroy. The devastation of a building, by bombardment or earthquake, can be wrought in a few seconds. But how hard it was to construct. For this was needed a knowledge of the laws of equilibrium, of the strength of materials, and even of the rules of art, to make it please the eye. If all this be required to set up a lifeless structure, how much more is needed to construct the human spirit? But this is a building which constructs itself in secrecy. So its builder can be neither the mother not the teacher. Nor are they even the architects. All they can do is to help the work of creation which is going on in their presence. To help, this must be their task and their aim. Yet they still have the power to break the will and can destroy it by tyranny. Many prejudices converge on this point making the issue obscure. It is worthwhile to clear it up" (253-254).
My philosophy regarding how I teach reading and math as a supplement to the regular Montessori classroom teacher is not different, however, I will not be using the "Montessori materials" as I would otherwise do. Here, my philosophy is to help the child relate what they are learning to the application they will use the information for in the real world. I will strive to help inspire the child to keep an attitude for the "love of learning," which I believe is crucial to learning--period. I want to first, discover the child's strengths, and then have them use those strengths to acquire the information related to their struggles learning reading and/or math.
For math, I hope to be able to use projects that apply math skills in hopes this will help the math concepts "stick," where routine math presentations may not have. For reading, helping the child not only read more fluently (speed), I also hope to help them develop the skill of comprehension. I will be using different strategies that will reflect upon the child's strengths, and will help them to use various other strategies that could help them develop this skill that many find difficult to master.
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