Montessori Terminology

Montessori education uses some terminology specific to our schools. Below, we focus on a few terms (some familiar, some perhaps not so familiar) that apply to both the early childhood years and beyond. Included are some quotes from Dr. Maria Montessori. Dr. Montessori was a woman well before her time, and her books, in particular From Childhood to Adolescence and To Educate the Human Potential, can be a source of insight and inspiration.

Grace and Courtesy

Grace and courtesy are essential aspects of Montessori environments and support children as they develop social relationships. Grace is how we move through the space around us, and courtesy is how we treat each other. 

In the Montessori primary classroom, grace and courtesy are considered part of practical life. For example, adults give lessons on how to interrupt, how to accept an offering, how to offer help, or how to introduce oneself. These lessons are provided in small groups, and the technique used is role-playing. Little social scenarios are acted out and provide a model for behavior that is situational. Like all other learning activities, grace and courtesy lessons are practiced and repeated. They provide a respectful way of learning expectations and aiding social skills before they are needed.

Grace and courtesy lessons are never offered as punishment or correction. We ensure children don’t experience embarrassment by being corrected by adults on the spot, as this makes children feel disrespected and not safe. Dr. Montessori reminds us of this in The Secret of Childhood: “I have come to appreciate the fact that children have a deep sense of personal dignity. Adults, as a rule, have no concept of how easily they are wounded and oppressed.” In time, if we offer these grace and courtesy lessons and give children a safe place to practice, children will eventually perform these skills independently. 

Human Tendencies

Human tendencies are unconscious, universal drives that support our adaptation to our particular time and place. All humans are born with innate needs and drives and are wired to adapt to their environment. The human tendencies—to orient, explore, order, abstract, imagine, calculate, work, be exact and repeat, perfect oneself, and communicate and associate with others—help aid this adaptation.  

Dr. Montessori alluded to human tendencies when she wrote about the inner drive she observed in children. How this drive helps individuals construct themselves to develop into maturity: “Their behavior led us to become aware of a fundamental truth, namely that the child works for his own inner development and not to reach an exterior aim and that when he has done this work he has not really developed a special ability but he has developed something in himself.” 

Prepared Environment

The Montessori environment is carefully prepared so that children can satisfy their human tendencies and thus develop to their fullest potential. The prepared environment takes into consideration what children need at their particular stage of growth and as individuals on their own trajectory of development. It consists of the physical and psychic aspects of the environment, of which the Montessori-trained adult is an integral part. 

Through interactions in a prepared environment, children can construct who they are as human beings. Children learn, grow, adapt, and create as they go through this process of self-construction in their environment. The prepared environment is part of the triad of the child, the environment, and the adult, all interconnected components. 

Sensitive Periods/Sensitivities

Dr. Montessori was, first, a scientist. She was interested in what happened before observable signs of human development, in what was going on in the mind before the skill manifested itself. For example, she wanted to know what happened during the many months before children spoke their first word. 

Without the high-tech tools that neuropsychologists and psychologists now have to measure brain activity, Dr. Montessori had to rely upon observation. She watched the children, took notes, and made charts about what children did. As a result, she discovered that a particular object or aspect of the environment would have an irresistible draw for children. This attraction would last for some time. Children would keep returning to the same activity or element of the environment and be continually drawn to it. Then, the day would come when it held no more interest, and something new would be attractive. 

Dr. Montessori observed this phenomenon repeatedly, which led her to believe that something innate in children was driving this interest. Building upon the work of biologists, Dr. Montessori adopted the term sensitive period to describe transitory periods of psychic development. Beyond the Montessori world, sensitive periods are now referred to as critical periods or windows of opportunity. 

What does a school look like that focuses first on grace and courtesy, human tendencies, a prepared environment, and sensitive periods? Contact White Bear Montessori to learn more.