The Prepared Montessori Environment
One of the factors that contributed to the success of Montessori education was in Montessori’s scrutiny of the traditional educational environment. At that time, schoolrooms held adult-size furniture that was usually arranged in rows and bolted in place. Closets and shelves were placed at adult height so even the simplest of tasks had to be carried out by adults.
Montessori’s analysis led her to create schools that were truly suited for children. By adapting the environment and surroundings to the child’s size and nature, the Montessori classroom became a place where children could relax and learn. She had carpenters build child-sized tables and chairs which could easily be moved about without adult help. She also brought in rugs and mats because she’d observed that young children like to lye and work on the floor.
Montessori stated that young children process (absorb) everything through their senses. A well-prepared, child-centric environment is a sensorial one which reflects beauty, simplicity, and order. It provides well-chosen materials and activities which are required for learning. Everything is carefully chosen by the Montessori teacher in order to best facilitate the child’s learning.
Unlike many overly-stimulating childcare centers which rely on the use of color, sound and movement, the Montessori classroom is designed to minimize things that may over-stimulate and distract. The Montessori classroom uses physical space and time that allows for concentration, design which allows children to find, use, and replace materials easily. Walls are painted in neutral colors. Shelves display a few objects at a time. This prepared environment provides a calm, neutral, quiet background that encourages and supports learning.
In a Montessori Infant/Toddler room, the prepared environment is very important. It is designed to meet these goals:
• Be attractive, welcoming, and conducive to learning
• Have a space large enough to accommodate all the children, providing them with free and comfortable movement
• Provide areas for all the activities each day
• Provide and store equipment for the personal care of young children
• Provide materials designed with a self-correcting control of error
• To allow the adults to view all the children and get to them quickly as necessary
Beautiful objects come in a variety of means: curtains on the windows, fresh flowers and non-toxic plants in pretty containers and vases, a few carefully chosen pictures on the walls. It should be noted that the goal of artwork in a Montessori classroom is to add interest to the room, not cover the walls. These pictures should be at the children’s eye level and not the adults’. The pictures should show real-life people, objects or scenes. Since children need to learn to think about that which is real, the Montessori environment provides materials that are real and not ‘pretend’.
Since Montessori infants and toddlers are not confined to playpens or carriers, it is important to have ample room (45-55 square feet) of open space per child. These spaces provide areas for children to develop their gross motor skills. It’s also important to have smaller, more confined areas for non-mobile infants, well-lit areas for reading, and quiet areas feeding and rocking infants.
The Montessori outdoor environment is prepared just as carefully as indoors. Since infants and toddlers are apt to put almost anything in their mouth, caregivers must survey the area regularly for any dangers. Outdoor areas require space for running, jumping, throwing, climbing, lying, sitting, balancing, watching, building, digging, playing with water, and exploring. It is not necessary to purchase expensive playground equipment for this age, though many Montessori outdoor spaces to have a sandbox.
Because preparing the environment is such an important task, the Montessori teacher needs to become familiar with every detail of the classroom, and provide a well-prepared environment.
