The Montessori method is an educational model now available to parents and children around the world, including here in Shanghai. It was developed by Italian psychiatrist, educator and anthropologist Maria Montessori in the early 1900s and is based on her belief that “Each child is born with a unique potential to be revealed, rather than as a ‘blank slate’ waiting to be written upon.” 

One of the most unique aspects of Montessori education is the focus on individual learning facilitation – encouraging children to be independent and take responsibility for their learning. There is also a strong collaborative aspect to the method, particularly in the role older children are encouraged to play in mixed age classrooms, working together and helping younger children.

Teaching in a Montessori classroom involves a lot of material-based engagement and play using things like geometrical shapes, as well as games that teach names and systems through repetition. A common misconception is that there is a lack of discipline in a classroom where children can do whatever they like, but the Montessori educators we spoke to were quick to prove otherwise. They emphasised that children are not permitted to sit twiddling their thumbs without work to do. But they are allowed to choose what materials to work with and when, thus making the learning process more interesting and stimulating.

Astrid Santana began the search for a suitable kindergarten for her children before relocating to Shanghai. The non-Montessori kindergarten in her local area was full, so she decided to give the nearby Montessori Children’s Academy a shot.

Although her oldest child had been going to a traditional kindergarten in Spain, Santana decided to keep an open mind and visited the local Montessori option. After meeting with the principal, she felt a connection, and also liked the fact that it was a smaller kindergarten that had outdoor space for the children to play and get fresh air. But in the long run, Santana says it was “the support and flexibility in education” that was offered to her three children that has proven “invaluable”.

Shanghai doesn’t have any Montessori options for children beyond kindergarten level, but Santana says her oldest son transitioned well from his Montessori kindergarten to the more standard learning methods at the primary school he now attends. “It’s not so much to do with the school system as the transition itself that can be difficult, and if one finds the right school with the right environment the child will adjust well,” she says.

Santana says the most valuable thing her children have taken away from their Monessori education is tolerance and responsibility. “They have learnt to take care of others and accept differences between people,” she says. “From kindergarten, they've learned to put things back and clean up after themselves, and help each other, and this is also something they do naturally at home as a result.”

To find out more about the Montessori method, visit www.montessori.edu