"The first essential for the child's development is concentration. The child who concentrates is immensely happy." ~ Maria Montessori
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| The Button Frame |
Concentration is essential to learning and learning cannot happen without concentration. How does the Montessori Method develop concentration in children?
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Making Patterns - An Extension with the Pink Tower
and Brown Stair |
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| Numbers 11 - 19 |
Firstly, their must be interest. Montessori environments (classrooms) are beautiful, child-centered spaces. The Montessori materials are attractive to the children and invite repetition. This repetition leads to concentration.
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| The Number Rods |
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| Puzzle Map of Asia |
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Language Work - The Blue Boxes
(reading and writing phonetic words of four letters or greater) |
In a Montessori environment, the children are given the time and opportunity to work with the materials. The uninterrupted three-hour work period provides children with time.
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| The Cylinder Blocks |
The adults (teacher guides) in the environment are careful not to interrupt and break the children's concentration unless absolutely necessary. This is vital to the development of deep concentration.
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Language Work - The Pink Boxes
(reading words of two and three letters) |
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Language Work - The Blue Boxes
(reading and interpreting sentences) |
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| Spelling words with the Moveable Alphabet |
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| The Bead Stair (numbers 1 to 10) |
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| The Golden Beads - The Decimal System |
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The Subtraction Finger Chart
(memorization of subtraction facts) |
Whether a child is buttoning buttons, learning multiplication facts, using a dustpan, raking leaves or tracing the Sandpaper Letters, all work is meaningful. As the child's ability to concentrate improves, so too does their self-control and self-regulation. Concentration is essential in schooling and in life.
