What is a Montessori Kindergarten?

The Montessori Kindergarten is named after its founder, the Italian physician and reform pedagogue Maria Montessori (1870-1952). Her motto and the theme of the Montessori Kindergartens is: “Help me to do it myself. “In a Montessori kindergarten, the child is already seen as a whole person. In addition to this guiding principle, the Montessori pedagogy is based on the following principles, according to which the educators in the kindergarten act.

What is the concept behind this kindergarten?

Maria Montessori, the reformed educator and founder of the Montessori Kindergarten, has developed a kindergarten concept in which the educators are seen less as teachers and more as helpers. A guiding principle of Montessori is the following: “Help me to do it myself”. The caregivers should therefore help the children to overcome difficulties themselves and to develop their personality on their own responsibility, instead of prescribing learning contents which the children have to imitate or learn by heart.

This means that the educators have a special attitude and basic attitude towards the child. The child is seen as a person with his or her own wishes and needs and the educator observes and helps the child in its developmental processes. Furthermore, the Montessori concept is based on the statement that the child is the master builder of itself, it knows best what it wants and needs.

Accordingly, the child should deal with the materials in the kindergarten that are particularly appealing to him or her. To freely pursue the urge for research and development. Adults should not hinder the child by restricting it and demanding obedience.

Instead, they should allow the child to experience as many different environmental impressions as possible, i.e. acquainting the child with a wide variety of materials and thus giving each child the opportunity to discover its inclinations, strengths and interests. In addition, an environment with many impressions is important in a Montessori kindergarten, because according to Montessori, children, especially children under the age of three, have an absorbing mind. This means that they absorb and store impressions of their environment.

In the kindergarten, the child is provided with special materials for playing or learning. These sensory materials consist of a system of objects that are ordered according to certain physical characteristics, such as the body, color, shape, sound, weight, etc. Care is taken to ensure that only one property is hidden in the material at a time, so that the child can experience and learn these properties intensively and without distraction.

Sensory materials include colored cylinders, a brown staircase, red rods, sound boxes, geometric maps, and much more. Furthermore, there is also the possibility for the children to perform exercises from practical life, such as carrying water, lighting candles, etc. In addition, a Montessori kindergarten also provides language and mathematical materials for language training and for learning how to count and calculate.