The prepared environment refers to the classroom in a Montessori school. The peaceful environment is prepared with purpose, providing the ideal conditions for optimal development during a specific stage of life.
At The Montessori House the Prepared Environment is aligned with the development for children ages three to six. Essential elements for the Prepared Environment consist of a trained teacher, a group of children between the ages of three and six, and Montessori materials.
The mixed age group encourages all children to develop their personalities socially and intellectually at their own pace. Children are given freedom to work within guidelines that enable them to be part of a social group. Mixed ages allow individual and social development. The class is composed of various abilities, cultures, and interests allowing them to work according to their developmental needs.
The Montessori Materials are the heart of The Montessori House. Developmentally appropriate materials facilitate learning in a hierarchy from simple to complex and concrete to abstract. They are child-sized, beautiful, and inviting. These materials are attractive to young children because they were designed to cater to the Sensitive Periods. They are tools that enable the child to explore the world and develop essential cognitive skills. Materials are arranged in an orderly way in the Prepared Environment on open, accessible shelves. The materials are self-correcting. Just by using the material the child will be guided toward its purpose.
At The Montessori House the Prepared Environment is aligned with the development for children ages three to six. Essential elements for the Prepared Environment consist of a trained teacher, a group of children between the ages of three and six, and Montessori materials.
The mixed age group encourages all children to develop their personalities socially and intellectually at their own pace. Children are given freedom to work within guidelines that enable them to be part of a social group. Mixed ages allow individual and social development. The class is composed of various abilities, cultures, and interests allowing them to work according to their developmental needs.
The Montessori Materials are the heart of The Montessori House. Developmentally appropriate materials facilitate learning in a hierarchy from simple to complex and concrete to abstract. They are child-sized, beautiful, and inviting. These materials are attractive to young children because they were designed to cater to the Sensitive Periods. They are tools that enable the child to explore the world and develop essential cognitive skills. Materials are arranged in an orderly way in the Prepared Environment on open, accessible shelves. The materials are self-correcting. Just by using the material the child will be guided toward its purpose.
Structure and order of the Prepared Environment are in place to maximize the child’s independence, learning, and exploration. The classroom is divided into four main areas: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, and Math. There are also Art and Cultural Activities that include Art, Geography, Biology, Music, Science, and History. These activities are all incorporated into the other areas of the room.
The goal of the Prepared Environment is to help the child reach functional independence, while living interdependently within a community. By living as a free member of a real, social community, the child develops fundamental social qualities that form the basis of good citizenship such as how to solve conflicts, cooperate, and help one another.
The children are given these liberties by also having limits that channel this freedom in activity. The limits are built into the environment. The child must be given a presentation before she can choose an activity. Once a material has been presented she is at liberty to choose it off the shelf, work with it for as long as she chooses, and return it to the shelf when finished. An uninterrupted three-hour period is completely open for free choice activities.
The goal of the Prepared Environment is to help the child reach functional independence, while living interdependently within a community. By living as a free member of a real, social community, the child develops fundamental social qualities that form the basis of good citizenship such as how to solve conflicts, cooperate, and help one another.
The children are given these liberties by also having limits that channel this freedom in activity. The limits are built into the environment. The child must be given a presentation before she can choose an activity. Once a material has been presented she is at liberty to choose it off the shelf, work with it for as long as she chooses, and return it to the shelf when finished. An uninterrupted three-hour period is completely open for free choice activities.
The Prepared Environment
The prepared environment offers the children the liberties of a child-focused environment:
*Liberty to move at will
*Liberty to interact with
others
*Liberty to act
independently
*Liberty to choose
own work
*Liberty to work at
own pace
*Liberty to interact with
an activity as much and
as often as she chooses