Optimus Template

Montessori identified multi-age grouping as a key variable in perpetuating a positive environment for individual and collaborative learning and social development. During the past year, in my observations at the lab school at Xavier University, I have encjoyed focusing on what an integral part this aspect of the Montessori philosophy plays in the education of our children. One morning, for example, I observed two nine-year-olds teaching a lesson on prepositions to two seven-year-olds. They clearly modeled their lesson on the teacher with all the appropriate concrete material. Their students were very responsive, and later lessons reflected their grasp of the concepts presented. That same morning I observed an eight-year-old advising a seven-year-old how to find out how to spell the word 'yesterday'. It interested me that the eight-year-old was reaffirming strategies that he himself had recently developed. Within that same hour, I also saw a eight-year-old gently guiding a six-year-old to the assignment board. The older child showed the young how to select work and how to get started on it. On another day, I observed a lovely interaction between a nine-year-old boy and a six-year-old who were exploring the long bead chains together. Listening to them, it was apparant that the younger child was exploring counting to one hundred and one thousand, and delighted in marking his work by a hundred square and a thousand cube. The older child, on the other hand, was exploring the powers of numbers: e.g. 102 = 100 and 103 = 1,000. The two were not simply working side-by-side; they were talking together and sharing insights with each other.

You must be a member to read the rest of this article.  Join here.