The Montessori Child as Observer

How the Child Learns About His World

Jul 7, 2009 Andrea Coventry

The Montessori child learns through keen observation of his environment.

The Montessori environment teaches a child to observe the world around him, taking in everything through his senses.

Montessori Demonstrations

The Montessori directress gives her lessons and presentations using as few words as possible, if any at all. The goal is for the child to concentrate on watching her every deliberate move. Process is more important than product. The child gets distracted when too many words are used.

The child will also observe how the directress moves throughout the classroom. He will study how she interacts with his classmates, her coworkers, and other adults in the environment. He will mimic her every move and speech pattern.

Observation of Others' Work

Montessori children can frequently be found observing the work of their peers. To an outsider it appears that the child is just doing nothing. But he is actually engaged in an important learning process.

It is similar to watching a teacher give a lesson. A child observing another child is looking to see how the work is manipulated. He will want to precisely mimic how the other child works. Soon he will aspire to be the one other children are watching.

Children sometimes learn best by watching other children. Many times, a child will spend several weeks or months doing little but observing the work of others. Then, all of a sudden, he appears to have mastered numerous activities.

Refining the Senses for Observation

The Montessori child continues his intense observation of his world outside of the classroom. The sensorial curriculum prepares him for this:

Training of the visual sense teaches discrimination in size, shape/form, and color.
Training of the tactile sense teaches discrimination in touch, such as rough and smooth.
Training of the auditory sense teaches discrimination in sound, such as loud and soft.
Training of the gustatory sense teaches discrimination in taste, such as sweet and sour.
Training of the olfactory sense teaches discrimination in smell.

He will talk about the size and shape of items in his environment. He will gently touch things to see how they feel. He will discern sounds, such as bird calls. He will develop an appreciation for how foods taste and how flowers smell. The observations he makes will be more acute from the refining of the senses.

Montessori children will learn a lot of skills through manipulation of materials in the environment. However, their observation of the actions of the directress and the works of others will enhance their learning experience. As their senses are refined, they will also better observe and appreciate the world around them.

The copyright of the article The Montessori Child as Observer in Educational Issues is owned by Andrea Coventry. Permission to republish The Montessori Child as Observer in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

The Montessori Child as Observer