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| Montessori is good enough for Prince George
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| But what exactly is it?
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photo © Duchess of Cambridge
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Prince George has started attending a Montessori school nursery close to William and Kate's Norfolk home.
If you're not up on educational methods, or haven't come across this style of teaching before, let us enlighten you on what Montessori is all about and how it's fit for a future king.
Montessori schools have actually been around for more than a century, with the first "casa dei bambini" in San Lorenzo, Italy, launched in 1907 by its founder and the first Italian female physician, Dr. Maria Montessori.
Montessori spent her career studying the way children, particularly those with special needs, learn and develop and her education principle is based on her key conclusions about children and learning.
Her teaching methods were the opposite of the then Victorian style of highly disciplined and formal teaching methods, because the Montessori approach instills a sense of freedom, and promotes learning in a prepared, but unstructured environment, where classes are not divided into subjects and children are taught in multi-age classes.
The emphasis is on observing a child's abilities, readiness and individual needs, without instructing or correcting them. It's about self-teaching. The teachers are just there to prepare and observe and to help a child when required, rather than to be a constant presence or to give children specific activities.
For this reason, the method can still be fairly polarising: For those who prefer structured learning and have children who thrive in more of a regulated or routine based environment, the method is seen to be rather wishy-washy; whereas those who favour learning through play, exploration and experience and more of an organic, natural approach to education absolutely love the Montessori method.
According to those who teach it, the Montessori approach fosters children's love of learning and encourages independence by providing an environment of activities and materials which children use at their own pace.
This style of education aims to build self-confidence, self-esteem and inner discipline. It's designed to provide children with a foundation for positive social behaviour that will last them through their lifetime.
The Montessori method may not suit all children, particularly those who need structure and routine, or who have specific learning difficulties. Those who have autism spectrum disorder, may not be suited to this style of teaching, as the lack of routine and structured classes can add to their anxiety and stress.
Those who don't favour this style of teaching worry that the unstructured environment may mean that children have difficulty in adapting to the structure of senior school.
That said, Montessori is still one of the fastest growing education systems in the world, and millions of people all swear by the Montessori method, believing it to be hugely beneficial, particularly in early years, when a child's personality, confidence levels, ability to absorb, desire to learn and creativity are at their most powerful.
Find out about Montessori in detail HERE.
For other information, the following links may be useful:
Montessori Australia
Montessori Foundation
International Montessori Index
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