The Montessori Method – Process Precedes Content

The Montessori Method is fundamentally about instilling a “process” for doing everything. Process precedes content. If a student is given the proper lesson up front on how a job can be done, they will be able to duplicate the steps and experience the satisfaction of using the materials effectively. As Montessori students receive lesson after lesson where the emphasis is on process, they begin to feel the underlying message of “when work is done in this order, in this manner, the greatest experience can be drawn from the materials and the lesson at hand.”

Concentration is a natural byproduct of using a learning format in an intentional and repetitive way. Not only is a technique learned and a greater sense of independence is felt by the student, but an overall sense of peace and wellbeing flows from a mind fully engrossed in their work at hand. It takes a steady awareness on the part of the teacher (and the parent at home) to keep the course and gently, but firmly, redirect the child back to the process and not be swayed by their natural enthusiasm to get to the end results without doing the vital steps in between.

Once the process is secured in the mind of the student, then the variations or extensions of the work can be introduced. At that point, the student has a “place” in their mind where to store the new information. Then when the need arises to recall the steps or retrieve a more abstract fact, the student has a well trodden pathway in their memory upon which to draw upon. Mastery of process then makes mental storage of facts easier and allows the student to participate more fully in the lessons they are learning. An engaged student is one who is building upon their abilities to function effectively in the classroom, to absorb more and more abstract information, and then to eventually be able to synthesize and analyze the data learned.

At every grade level, hands on use of materials is an intricate part of the Montessori learning experience. Each job has its specific form and process for use. Elementary students are far better equipped to handle higher math functions, when they have have used the golden bead and stamp game materials and have a three dimensional impression of what place value really looks like. Similarly, when Montessori language symbols have been used to define parts of speech, there is tactile memory of each part allowing students the extra benefit of visualizing the part of speech in a more concrete manner.

“Free choice is one of the highest of all the mental processes. The child who cannot yet obey an interior guide is not that free being who sets out to follow the long and narrow path toward perfection. He is still a slave to superficial sensations which leave him at the mercy of his environment.”Dr. Montessori observed that students who were clearly guided in the process of using materials began to internalize the proper steps and then in time were able to duplicate those steps independently. A template of learning was being created; and ”manhood is born within him when his soul becomes aware of itself, when he sets himself a task, finds his way and chooses.”*

*”The Absorbent Mind”, Dr. Maria Montessori