Traditional vs. Montessori Education
In the traditional approach to education, as the child begins his/her educational journey, the child is given individual concrete’s and abstractions with no tie to a unifying principle. Because of this disconnectedness, the child has a more difficult time understanding the concepts being presented. In the Montessori elementary classroom, the child is first presented with a universal view. Then information is broken down further and more and more detail is provided.
By integrating information at every stage with a universal view, a context is provided to the child so that he can more easily absorb each new lesson. For example, when a child studies the concept of gravity, she can relate back to previous lessons studying the solar system and the forces keeping the planets, moons and other bodies in their orbits. This unifying concept can be found throughout the curriculum in the Montessori classroom.