Lucy Hellerman
Kate McFall
Maria Montessori lived 1870-1952
in Italy
 Degrees in engineering and
medicine
 Found her passion for education
after working with
institutionalized children
 Founded Casa dei Bambini in early
1907
 Started teaching others her
method in 1909
 Devout Catholic
 Had a son named Mario in 1898

“And so we discovered that education is not
something which the teacher does, but that it
is a natural process which develops
spontaneously in the human being.”
- Maria Montessori
Child-Centered
Learning
Vs.
Teacher-Directed
Learning



Sensitive Periods
Normalization
Prepared Environment
Perceived Control

Free Choice
 When a child is allowed to freely make decisions
about which activities he/she will work on at any
given time.

Directed Choice
 When a teacher suggests an activity to a child
while still allowing the child to believe that it is
their own choice.
Nature
Montessori
“Education is a natural process carried out by the
human individual, and is acquired not by listening
to words, but by experiences in the environment.”
– Maria Montessori
Nurture
• Child-sized furniture
• Materials within a child’s reach
• Nature brought indoors –
plants and animals
• Mats designate personal work
space

“you have to really understand that you are not a teacher. Knowledge is not just like
throwing things in a sack. Everything is connected and you always build on schema. So you
are more of a director, even if you are not called one.”

“as a Montessori teacher you do a lot of it is observing. You really need to see where each
child is at. You want them to pick what they are interested in, but you also need perceived
choice to make sure they are covering all areas of study…it is a lot. Classroom
management, making sure no one is hoarding snacks or playing with the materials, all
while giving lessons and observing all the students to make sure they are getting
something out of what they are learning. While you are giving a lesson you have to have
eyes in the back of your head and are always making mental notes. You are multitasking a
lot. Take a break and observing the class as a whole and their dynamics only happens about
once or twice a day.”

“A bad Montessori school is worse than the most horrific public school, because in a bad
Montessori school, very little learning happens. But a well run, true Montessori school, well
that is just about the best thing you can do for a child.”

“The best benefit of Montessori education is allowing the child to develop at their own
pace in all areas. Socially, academically, physically. You can be strong in math and need
more support in language. You have an incredible amount of flexibility that you just can’t
get in a usual classroom.”

“a negative is that some children really need structure. Some Montessori people want to
say it is perfect for everybody, there are some kids that struggle with that freedom.”
Lily –
the ideal Montessori student
She came in and immediately
chose an activity and began.
 Worked on one activity for an
extended period of time until
normalized.
 When Lily decided to eat a
snack, she put the necklace
on, chose a snack, spent over
10 minutes peeling and slicing
it, set a place at the table for
herself, got a glass of water,
then finally sat down to enjoy
her snack.
 Was not distracted by the
children around her, always
remained focused on her
chosen task.

Molly –
not a model Montessori student
She wandered around the
room and never settled on
one activity.
 Did not put one activity away
before starting another one.
 Molly put the snack necklace
on for fun while wandering
around the room. She did not
put it on and then eat her
snack like she was supposed
to.
 She tried to take play-dough
from another girl instead of
getting her own.


“the ordinary school not only denies the child every
opportunity for using his will but directly obstructs and
inhibits its expression” - Montessori

“It becomes increasingly obvious that traditional
education, based as it is upon handing to the student
the answers of another era, is no longer sufficient. If
young people are to meet the challenge of survival
that faces them today, it is imperative that their
education develop to the fullest extent possible their
potential for creativity, initiative, independence, inner
discipline, and self-confidence. This is the central focus
of Montessori education.” - Lillard


Purpose: to compare the results of Maria
Montessori’s method of child-centered learning
to the teacher-directed learning found in
traditional classrooms.
Our Questions:
 Is there a noticeable difference in the results of child-
centered learning as compared to teacher-directed
learning?
 Which method produces better results?

That when comparing the results of childcentered and teacher-directed outcomes,
there will be a marked difference. The childcentered students will demonstrate a more
thorough understanding of the material than
the teacher-directed students.




Taught an introduction to Fractions Lesson to 12
first graders
6 kids were taught using an AMI certified lesson
plan and 6 using a Cscope lesson plan.
After the lesson we assessed their
understanding using oral questioning with
scores based on a rubric.
We returned the day after and assessed them
two more times using the same questions.
Montessori Lesson Plan
Traditional Lesson Plan


Manipulative intensive
Solely focused on circle
fractions
 Questioning
 Choice in activity


Image/visual intensive
Started with hexagons,
then moved to circles
 Telling
 Assigned activity
Modifications:
None made, followed
the lesson exactly
Modifications:
Added circles up to
tenths.
Child-Centered (Montessori) Students
1. Take several units ( ½, 1/3, ¼ ) and
separate the pieces slightly on the felt.
What do I call pieces of a unit?
2. Clear the felt except for the 3rd family
circle. Point to the unit on the felt. Are the
pieces of this unit equal?
3. Have a unit and a black strip on the felt.
Have the numbers in easy access to the
child. What number would you place below
the black strip for this unit?
4. Remove all families from the felt. Show a
fraction on the black strip. What family
does this fraction belong to? How many
pieces are in that family?
5. Place the different family units on the felt
and their written fraction. Can you match
these written fractions with the correct
family unit?
Teacher-Directed (Traditional) Students
1. Show the child a picture of a circle
separated into 2 or 3 parts. What are parts
of a whole called?
2. Show the child a picture of a circle
separated into 3 parts. Are the 3 parts
equal?
3. Show the child a picture of a circle divided
into 4 parts, with one part shaded. What
number goes below the fraction bar for this
fraction?
4. Show the child a written fraction. How
many fractions of this size are needed to
make a whole?
5. Have the child match 3 different fractions
to their appropriate circles.
Concept:
Breaking a unit (whole) into parts results in fractions.
Putting those fractions together again creates a unit.
When breaking the unit into equal pieces a student conceptually
understands that they are equal.
You can divide a unit into a different number of pieces.
The size of the pieces depends on the number of pieces the unit is
divided into.
When writing a fraction, the number of equal pieces used to
create a unit is written below the black bar.
The number written below the black strip is how many equal
pieces of that fraction size are needed to create a unit.
The number written below the black strip is called the
denominator.
We write a number one above the black strip because each
fraction is one part of the unit.
The number written above the black strip is called the numerator.
The child can match a written fraction to a concrete fraction in
one-to-one correspondence.
The child on their own comes to show knowledge of fractions
with a numerator greater than one.
Student has a
Student doesn't have a
Student has some grasp of the concept total grasp of the
grasp of the concept (0
(1 point)
concept (2
points)
points)

Zero point answer: no concept, says they do not know or
gives information they know but is not relevant.
 “my shoe has a black strip”

One point answer: gets answer correct, but cannot explain
what they know.
 the use of the word circle instead of whole or unit.
 “I just remember it”
 “because you said so earlier”

Two point answer: explains the reason behind the answer,
shows a real understanding of the concept being questioned.
 “the thirds only has three pieces, so each piece has more space than
the sixths.”
 “two of the family of sixths fit in each piece of the family of thirds,
so the thirds are bigger”
 “1/4 goes with the family of fourths because there is a 4 in the
fraction and 4 pieces in the family”
25
20
15
Montessori
Traditional Students
10
5
0
Assessment 1
Assessment 2
Assessment 3
14
12
10
8
6
Montessori
4
Traditional
2
0



Montessori students started higher but
remained stagnant.
Traditional students needed the additional
repetitions to comprehend the lesson more
fully, but were able to improve.
However, traditional student average scores
never reached average Montessori scores.

Hands on, positive questioning, results in
faster absorption of the materials

Giving children opportunity to experience
real things rather than representations of
things seems to foster increased
understanding.
The Montessori students were not given enough
time to Normalize with the material
 We are not Montessori certified nor traditional
school certified, which might have changed the
lesson.
 Would have had more time with the students
 Not enough students
 Too small of a student pool – all in private school
 We altered the tradition lesson plan to match
the amount of information in Montessori


Although we couldn’t fully prove our
hypothesis, there is at least some, if not a
significant, difference between the
Montessori and traditional students
comprehension of the material.

Thanks so much to:
 Mrs. Khirallah
 St. Francis Montessori School
 Amy Kremling
 Holy Family of Nazareth School
 Maria Montessori