Montessori and Online learning?? Surely those two ideas do NOT mesh!
Just hear me out.
I am a special educator who now works in a Public Montessori School in Chicago. I’ve been teaching for over 20 years, but have only been in Montessori for the past two years. And let me tell you…I am forever changed after learning about the Montessori Philosophy. I’ve been kicking myself thinking, “Why didn’t I know these techniques earlier!?!?!?” But now that I do know about Montessori, I want to share the beauty of this method to the world!
I currently teach in a Lower Elementary classroom (a multi-age classroom with students in 1st-3rd grade, or 6–9 years old.)
And when it comes to Remote Learning, I think this is the way to go.
Here are seven reasons why Montessori works for Remote Learning.
- Presenting lessons to small groups, not the whole class
In Montessori, there is very little time of devoted to teaching the whole class. Often, classrooms may have an opening Morning Meeting or a Closing Circle, possibly with some Read Aloud time and time for Social-Emotional work and community building, but most of the core instruction happens during small group lessons.
As every teacher around the world has now discovered, doing anything with a large group of children or young people remotely is not the way to go. “Everybody…MUTE ON!” No, quick check-ins, announcements, some SEL work, and then be done!
Instead, using small group lessons as needed, whether grouped by age or ability depending on the lesson, in groups of 5 or less. Kids can interact more, you can follow their facial expressions better, and you can target their needs more specifically. This is how Montessori rooms ALREADY function. And it’s better.
2. Building Independence
Kids in Montessori environments learn how to do work much more independently than more traditional classrooms. Even children as young as 3 or 4 years old are capable of amazing levels of concentration and independence with they are deeply engaged in work that is meaningful and developmentally appropriate (i.e. not worksheets or online test prep.) Before I had experience with Montessori, I thought this meant classrooms were a free-for-all, but this is not true at all. It’s like in Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility”, only in this case, it’s freedom. As kids develop independence, they are given more freedom, but they must demonstrate that they can be responsible. If they are not ready, they get more support until they are ready. Kids are truly capable of so much, when given the chance!
The beauty of Montessori is that kids receive a “lesson” then are expected to go off and complete “follow-ups” that practice the skills without direct adult support. These are often hands-on activities that involve movement, tactile senses, creativity, art/writing skills, or a number of different possibilities
3. Less Screen Time
Which brings us to an important piece of the conversation that has been missing. Remote learning should NOT mean hours and hours in front of a computer screen, especially for younger learners. But when short mini-lessons are presented online and then the children are sent off to complete follow-ups on their own, screen time is minimized.
4. More Choice
In addition, differentiation and choice are possibly even more important during remote learning than in the physical classroom. And this is true for more than just the kids. We know that this pandemic has forced families to deal with all kinds of unforeseen challenges. Offering as much flexibility and choice as possible is vital to engage every child.
With the Montessori method, it’s easy to record the short, live lessons and then include a number of choices for follow-ups. So if a child is unable to attend a class, say their parent had to work and sent the child to grandma’s house where the internet is spotty, they can still complete the work on their own time. Live lessons are certainly preferred, but not necessary.
Plus, offering kids choice in their follow-ups is so useful to include all different types of learners. Some kids may want to record a video, some may want to listen to a song, some may want to complete an art project, some may want to write a short essay. As a special educator, it was so much easier to meet individual needs when the choice was built in to the works.
And speaking of special education, wow is it easier to build a more inclusive environment for my students with disabilities in a Montessori classroom. Montessori truly is better at Universal Design. No students are singled out as different when every child has choice, movement, and differentiated small group lessons or 1:1 support. It’s beautiful.
5. Cosmic Education & Social Justice Teaching
Montessori is built around the developmental needs of the child. For the age group I work with, known in Montessori as the “Second Plane of Development” (ages 6–12), kids are beginning to ask BIG questions, wanting to understand why our world works the way it does. So the entire Montessori Curriculum at this stage of development is built around these “big ideas”. Kids are told five “great stories” that address the creation of the universe, the timeline of life, the coming of humans, the creation of language, and the story of numbers. It is literally exposing kids to the whole universe then drilling down into interests and questions.
This vastness and openness in the curriculum allows space to explore individual interests of the child, but also to talk about culturally relevant topics and the big headlines of our times including anti-racist work, protest, social justice, and so much more.
Remote learning is the perfect time to allow children the space to ask big questions. To wrestle with hard, complicated topics like racism, police brutality, injustice. To research, to create, to present, to share. Projects and presentations should be a main driver of remote learning. Not work packets and online test prep sites.
6. Multiple Adults
Another beauty of the Montessori model is having more adults in the room. Every Montessori classroom has at the minimum a classroom teacher and classroom assistant. (Yes, even in a cash-strapped district like the Chicago Public Schools!) Plus, many rooms have special ed teachers, ESL teachers, special education classroom assistants, clinicians, or other support staff interacting with the kids.
Utilizing these adults is so important for more individualized attention for kids. Opportunities for small groups or 1:1 family check-ins. Daily check-out groups to help guide children and keep track of their progress. People who can help assess and encourage kids. Having more adults really makes a difference.
7. Multi-age classrooms
This is one that traditional schools probably cannot easily replicate, but wow does it make a difference. Montessori classrooms are multi-age classrooms, with kids in three different grade levels all in the same class. This means, each year, only 1/3 of your class graduates to the next level, leaving 2/3s of your students the same. The difference this will make this school year, where we cannot meet the children in person, will be huge. I already know most of the kids!
I wish more schools used multi-aged classrooms, but even considering looping teachers this school year might make sense. Having that in-person rapport just makes all the difference. Plus, getting to know the parents over multiple years really is helpful. And considering how much parent involvement is needed for successful remote learning, collaborating with the same teachers for many years just makes sense.
— — — — — — -
All in all, I am so thankful for being in a Montessori School during the time of remote learning. Having such a built-in child-centered approach has made my job less daunting and stressful. There are certainly still challenges, like how to get the kids access to the hands-on materials Montessori classrooms are famous for, but we are finding creative new ways to meet those needs, like creating Virtual Montessori Rooms.
Remote learning cannot be a simple recreation of an in-person teaching experience. But there are some existing models that have much to offer.
I recommend looking into Montessori in general, but especially now as we continue to navigate these uncharted educational waters!
Who knew a hundred-year old educational philosophy would work so well in the age of Google and Zoom? But it does!
