Parents and educators know that self-esteem is essential for the success of students. Beginning in Montessori pre-school, children start to build their self-esteem in the Montessori classroom and continue to do so in the lower and upper elementary programs. For Montessori students, self-esteem is cultivated through activities that foster leadership and meaningful self-education. Here a few examples of what that can look like in the classroom or at home. Self-esteem through ownership of the learning process
The foundation of the Montessori elementary school curriculum is a student-driven approach to educational topics. While learning is organized around overarching subjects, such as the Five Great Lessons, how students engage and explore those topics depends on the student and their interests. By allowing individual curiosity to drive and motivate a student as they learn language, math, history, science, and other topics, students also learn to take ownership of their education and seek the mastery of skills on their own terms. Teachers and parents can encourage this experimentation by allowing students to learn through trial and error. In the classroom, this means students choose the activities and topics they engage each day, with teachers offering guidance and different learning tools to meet their needs. At home, this can look like celebrating not only when children find a solution, but also when they have found a pathway that doesn’t work and correct themselves. This approach emphasizes the learning process as the goal, and so fosters self-esteem as children gain mastery over the “how” of learning, instead of focusing only on the “what.” Self-esteem through the many ways to be a leader In Montessori schools, students are in mixed-age groups and stay in the same classroom for three years. This arrangement allows students to learn leadership skills and take on leadership roles that help to build self-esteem. As a student progresses from their first year to their third year, they have the opportunity to be both mentee and mentor to their classmates. Whether they are learning a new activity from an older student, teaching a younger student how to navigate the classroom, or observing the many ways their peers teach and learn from each other, Montessori students get a unique education in the diverse qualities of a leader. And with such a range of opportunities to guide and help their classmates, students gain not only the esteem of their peers, but also self-esteem. Comments are closed.
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