Pedagogy

• When dealing with children, we would like to convey respect for the dignity of each individual child and let the children feel that they are valuable and accepted by us.
• We support the children to act confidently and independently and to make decisions.
• The children are shown and demonstrated that every action or decision has a natural consequence.
• Children who are critical of us, who take responsibility for what they do and who also demand their right to be observed and recognized are welcome in our kindergarten team and are not considered "difficult".
• We support children in their emotional entirety and look for ways to perceive their feelings and to be able to express them in a way that is appropriate for them within the group
• Through talks and appropriate accompaniment, we want to make the children capable of conflict and help them to become communicative.
• We support the children in finding solutions to problems and constructively negotiating conflicts.
• We strive to offer qualitative educational content according to tried and tested scientific methods of kindergarten pedagogy and to continuously expand our pedagogical know-how.
• We want to encourage and challenge children, but not to overwhelm them, in order to awaken and support the joy of learning.

Seminar on Montessori Pedagogy prepared for the Pedagogical Faculty in Pilsen:

The discovery of the child

(The absorbent mind)
Maria Montessori was one of the first scholars to take note of the child as an individual personality. She had recognized how important childhood is - it shapes a person for his whole life. What it experiences during this time, what happens to the child, influences its actions and attitudes. Montessori recorded the various factors that contribute significantly to human development.
In her opinion, the time from birth to the age of 3 is "the time of unconscious absorption".
The mere existence of the child makes it absorb things from the environment, it learns under the guidance of inner sensibilities. Montessori calls this phenomenon the "absorbent mind". The most important task is therefore to protect the child's driving force and, in addition, to provide the environment and the material that is crucial for the children's motivation to learn and develop.
Through intensive observation, the conclusions drawn from it and their ability to give space, time and material to the perceived needs, the Montessori pedagogy was created. In addition to the materials, the changed attitude of the adult towards the child is an essential part of their method.
Children are no longer considered incomplete, small adults - childhood has become a recognized phase of life. A number of industries are now devoted to children and their needs.
The Montessori pedagogy offers - in my opinion - simple but efficient means to give the children the opportunity to find their real needs. Children need space for their own experiences. You can only learn self-employment through self-employment. They need freedom, movement as well as silence, and above all they need adults to guide, support, respect and love them!
I assume that adults-parents-only want the best for their child. They see it as their job to shape the children's character. They do not notice that their constant intervention and patronage disrupt natural development.
Children are master builders of their own, they can effortlessly, quickly and holistically record, collect and save a wide variety of impressions of its surroundings.
In the age range between 0-6 years, the children can learn a second or third language within a short time, their learning and performance capacity is at its peak during this period.

The child

(Sensitive phases, polarization of attention)
Maria Montessori discovered that every child seems to have an internal blueprint. In contrast to an adult, his actions are not targeted.
The adult works only for the purpose of making a living. He wants to get the child so far that he or she will be able to do it at some point. He pushes and pushes it through the school, because only with knowledge can it get there. So the child only learns for the next exam and in no way for himself.
Children have the will to know within them.
The child learns from an inner need and only stops when inner satisfaction is achieved. It is extremely focused on its activities and cannot be disturbed by anything. Montessori called this state "polarization of attention". These polerations take place during the so-called "sensitive phases". These are stages of development in the life of every child, in which they can learn something new particularly easily and effortlessly. These phases occur in individual order and duration. They can also pass unused if you fail to provide the child with appropriate material. At a later stage, however, the child will find it much more difficult to learn the new.

Stages of development of the child

The child development stages according to Maria Montessori are:
1st stage: covers the time from the birth to the 6th year of a child. It goes through the process of self-discovery and gains independence through self-activity.
2nd level: ranges from 6 to 12 years old. In this period, the child copes with the transition from the concrete to the abstract.
3rd stage: In adolescence, the child is not only able to pay attention to the feelings of those around him, but increasingly develops an abstract social feeling for unknown people or for the world as a whole.
4th stage: The young person assumes responsibility and knows about his opportunities for development in culture.

How we learn: 3-step lesson

Maria Montessori found that we humans learn in three steps.
1st stage: We get to know a new object and become familiar with it. We combine the sensory impressions with the name.
Example: 2 colors (This is red. This is blue.)
Stage 2: We recognize the object based on our experience when we hear its name.
(Give me red. Give me blue.)
3rd stage: The picture with the name of the object is stored in our memory. We can work with him in an abstract way - active mastery.
("What is this color called?" - Child's answer: "This is red.")

Requirements

The prepared environment

One of the main concerns in Montessori education is the design of the prepared environment. It is the responsibility of the educators. "The kindergarten teacher should be aware that the environment belongs to the children. The environment is not theirs because they are the educators.
It is the environment in which it helps the child to master this environment. What is missing in society is a place for the children, where they are not suppressed, but find means of development.
Maria Montessori assumed that every child is able to choose exactly the material that is necessary for its development. That is why it is so important that the educator is able to recognize the needs of the children and fill the shelves with the appropriate development materials. The whole room should be attractively designed and livened up with plants and have a cozy atmosphere overall. The cleanliness, the completeness and the repair of the materials also fall within the area of ​​responsibility of the educator, who should be the role model for the children.
The room in which the children work must be designed to enable them to be independent and independent of adults. Furniture that is child-friendly is a matter of course these days, as are the toilets and free access to water - a revolutionary innovation a hundred years ago.
The children can take an active part in everyday kindergarten life and help with meal preparation, for example.
The development and work materials provided are subject to strict criteria and are classified according to areas and level of difficulty.

Sub-areas

• Exercises of daily life: Here the children learn to deal with the demands of everyday life. (Blow your nose, tie a stitch, set the table, sweep up, ...) The practice of pouring and spooning also belongs to this area.
• Sensory material: These materials serve to refine the senses
• Math material
• Language material
• Cosmic Education: Topics from the natural sciences are dealt with here, often in the form of project work.

Material

According to Maria Montessori, the material must meet certain requirements.
It must provide the child with an outward goal, that is, the child is asked to start working out of interest. In addition, it should always be aesthetically pleasing.
Each material is only present once in the room. This increases the value and promotes children's social learning because they have to wait and make arrangements. In order to achieve more independence from the adult, each material should be self-explanatory and contain the solution in itself, i.e. have a built-in error control.
In addition, the materials must have a didactic structure. The child has the opportunity to perfect himself by offering different levels of difficulty.

The role of the educator

Maria Montessori asked a lot from the teachers, because in her opinion his / her attitude is the practical foundation in Montessori pedagogy.
A kindergarten teacher must postpone his / her activities in favor of the children. "He must give the child the freedom to express himself, because there is no greater obstacle to the development of the child's personality than an adult with all his superior strength against the child. " He / she can provide suggestions, but his / her intervention must be limited. This means that he / she really only intervenes where help is actually required.
In addition to designing the prepared environment, observing the children is an essential part of the educational work. This is the only way to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of the children and to promote them with the appropriate material.
New work material can be introduced to the children with a performance. The teacher speaks as little as possible and the movements are slow and precise.
 The teacher must respect the child, whether they are learning, making mistakes, or resting. He / she must not correct or interrupt it, as this would disrupt natural development.
The pedagogue serves as a role model for children in doing, thinking and feeling. I believe that helping children express and deal with their feelings is an increasingly important task. All kindergarten teachers should be able to accompany and strengthen a child in any emotional situation. A lot would have been achieved with that. Another important point is to create rules together and set limits. The children can orientate themselves on this and it gives them security. They also learn what is right and what is wrong.
In addition, a teacher must be familiar with every material in the room in order to be able to present it at all times. Another important task is self-education and the ability to choose the right material for a child. This requires self-reflection, practice and experience. Teachers also have to learn!

Movement

Humans learn through movement - every human function can only develop through activity. We learn to speak by speaking, walking only by walking.
“Self-activity and movement are of fundamental importance for physical and psychological development, for intelligence, for will, character as well as for the independence and independence of people. So movement is an essential factor in building intelligence.
It follows that children can only watch or think when they are moving. They deal with the same material over and over again over a longer period of time - out of an inner need - and until they have achieved inner satisfaction. Gradually, when the individual movements are internalized, the purpose of their moves goes in the foreground. The learned is mastered!
In our schools, movement is strictly separated from learning. Physical activity replaces mental activity in order to allow rest from the effort of learning. This deeply contradicts Maria Montessori's view, since she gives the movement a much deeper meaning. It not only stimulates blood circulation, but also demands concentration from the child. It coordinates the psyche and motor activity, which, according to Montessori, leads to greater clarity of thought.

The practice of silence

The primary purpose of these exercises is not to stop the noise, but to help the children calm down and concentrate better.
To practice silence requires a special and beautiful atmosphere. The teacher could have soft music playing in the background, address the center of a circle, or hang the windows with translucent cloths.
Every child should have the will to participate and be quiet. The silent exercise focuses on one meaning and the appropriate material should be ready.

Free work

 The free choice

 "... it does not mean to have freedom from what, but freedom to do what."
Free choice is a central theme in Montessori education. It gives the child the opportunity to decide which material is necessary for them at that moment. Maria Montessori assumes that a normal child knows what suits his inner needs. Through self-activity it can recognize its strengths and weaknesses and through self-control of the material, no educator is needed to correct itself. The child gains self-confidence, independence from the adult and exercises in making decisions.

Free choice also includes deciding on the type of work:
   

• what the child wants to do
• with whom it wants to work
• where it wants to work
• how long it wants to work
• and whether it wants to work until the exercise is solved

   
The children also learn a lot about their social behavior as part of the free work, which spans a fixed period of time. In addition to the decisions that need to be made, every child must be able to wait when the desired material is in use. Agreements must be made, the choice of others must be respected and consideration must be given. The children also learn to share and develop a willingness to help.

Freedom wants to be learned

If you open a Montessori-oriented group, the educator cannot assume that everything will work smoothly.
The future children are not only not familiar with the material, they do not even suspect the independence and independence that they can achieve. Previous experience may have made them almost used to being restricted in what they do. (It should be mentioned here that I have no bad intentions about parents and educators.) The fact is that the children first have to get used to the possibility of free choice.
The children are restless at first and don't really know how to deal with the material. You must first satisfy your urge to explore before you can calm down and concentrate.
In order to take the first step towards free choice, the kindergarten teacher must be very present and still remain in the attitude of love. It is necessary to set rules and set limits. Often the children have to be instructed in social behavior, among other things in conflict resolution.
The order begins the moment a child is intensely interested in a material and begins to work with it. At this moment you shouldn't disturb it, not even watch it openly, because that could destroy everything because the child accepts that the adult once again judges his actions.
The group calms down and the actual work of the children begins. The kindergarten teacher can now withdraw more and more and take the position that Maria Montessori intended for him / her.