How Do You Choose Which Lesson Comes Next?

by Tricia Siudut, Traditional Primary Teacher

As someone who grew up going to traditional schools in  the suburbs of metro west Boston I am aware that there are many differences between Montessori classrooms and Traditional classrooms.  Before becoming acquainted with this wonderful Montessori world of ours I couldn’t have imagined a classroom without a special desk for the teacher, math without worksheets,  or loud bells ushering you to another room whether you were ready or not. The more immersed I become though the more I take for granted the way we do things and have to remind myself, that our peaceful, busy classroom of 25 independent children is not necessarily the norm.

A few of the predominant differences are: mixed ages within one room, hundreds of hands-on activities specially designed, no assigned seating, each child doing something different in the same room, a non-competitive atmosphere, freedom of movement, and freedom of communication throughout the work period. The difference that I have been  thinking a lot about recently as I plan my weekly lessons  is the individual tailoring of lessons for each child. It is a bit complicated, and likely somewhat mysterious and so I thought I would try to tie it up into a nice neat package…

One of the factors that I consider when planning lessons is the child’s interests.  To come to know what the child is interested in and their level of comprehension or ability I need to observe. This means without bias or assumption watching and noting movements, attention, stumbling blocks, and moments of joy. The children are used to my intermittently sitting with a notebook and know that when I do I am “working,” and deciding what lessons to give them.  They seem to instinctively settle down and become more concentrated when I observe and it has a calming effect on the classroom. Maria Montessori was first a scientist and she brought the scientific method of  gathering data through observation to her philosophy of education. For example, if I see a child running his hands over the colorful bead chains but he  is not yet counting to 100 without difficulty and doesn’t yet have the control of movement to manipulate the small papers  we use to label the chains I would look for something that may be satisfying and offer the right level of challenge. I might suggest a preliminary math work, like Spindle Boxes where he  would count a physical quantity and associate the large number symbols from 0-9. I may invite him to dust the bead chains, string beads, and/or to match and grade the colors on the color tablets. I want to find out what it is that is interesting about a thing and the purpose that interest may hold for the child’s development, and then cater to that need at the appropriate difficulty level..

            Another factor in deciding what lesson to give is whether or not the child has had the  prerequisite lessons to set him or her up for success. For example if a child is interested in “The Farm,” which is a reading activity that introduces adjectives (“the lazy lamb,” “the confident farmer”, etc.), they needs to be reading quite fluently. To be successful with the farm materials one should be reading phonetically as well as reading many phonograms (like the “y”=ee  in lazy, and the “er” sound in farmer), otherwise it would be frustrating rather than fun.

            Lastly, there is a sequence that many lessons are designed to follow which is meant to lead each child from the foundational thinking of Primary through abstract problem solving of the Elementary years. CFMS is an AMI (Association Montessori International) certified school and each of our teachers are trained to give lessons according to the standards that they have put forth. The order of the lessons revolves around which information is relevant for the intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and physical developmental stage that the child is in, which corresponds very loosely with their age. The children will not all come to writing at precisely 5, or counting at precisely 4, they may come earlier or later but when they do my goal is to notice and offer them activities that support their practice and encourage them toward the next challenge.