Montessori materials have been used by teachers and children for over a century with great success. Most of the materials used in a Montessori classroom today, are in fact the same ones designed and adapted by Dr. Montessori herself when she first started working with young children.
In addition to the materials, the consistent manner in which the materials are displayed and presented is fundamental to the Montessori methodology. Although each of the Montessori materials meet their own specific educational goal, they all share fundamental characteristics.
The materials are presented in a way as to isolate one property at a time, thus allowing the child to keep focus on just one element at a time.
The materials are specifically designed to be worked with in a certain order— from simplex to complex, allowing the child to gradually build up to accomplishing complex tasks while still feeling pride in the simple one at hand.
The way in which Montessori materials are displayed has been specifically thought out with the young child in mind, from the open shelves to the organised trays each with separate pieces of material.
And lastly, most Montessori materials have a built in control of error, which allows the child to self-correct independently and therefor learn more from the material.
At Sunny Side, we strive to always provide children with the best materials in order to nurture their ever growing and curious minds.
- Elsje Prinsloo
