The Six Principles of the Montessori Prepared Environment

Maria

Montessori’s

idea

of

the

prepared

environment

was

that

everything

the

child

came

in

contact

with

would

facilitate

and

maximize

independent

learning

and

exploration.

This

calm,

well-ordered

environment

has

a

lot

of

movement

and

activity.

Children

are

free

to

choose

and

work

on

activities

at

their

own

pace.

Here,

they

experience

a

combination

of

freedom

and

self-discipline,

as

guided

by

the

environment.

There

are

generally

six

aspects,

or

principles,

to

the

Prepared Environment:

Freedom, Structure and Order, Beauty,

Nature and Reality, Social Environment,

and Intellectual Environment.

Learn

more

about

each

of

these

aspects,

and

why

the

prepared

environment

is

so

important

to

the

success

a

child

experiences with Montessori education!

1. Freedom

Montessori

believed

that

a

child

must

be

free

to

explore

and

follow

his

own

natural

impulses,

thus

developing

his

potential

and

increasing

his

knowledge

of

the

world

around

him.

Within

the

prepared

environment,

the

child

must

experience

freedom

of

movement,

freedom

of

exploration,

freedom

to

interact

socially,

and

freedom

from

interference

from

others.

This

freedom

ultimately

leads

to

a

greater

freedom: freedom of choice.

2. Structure and Order

While

Structure

and

Order

seem

counter-intuitive

to

the

aforementioned

freedom,

nothing

could

be

further

from

the

truth.

Structure

and

Order

in

the

Montessori

classroom

accurately

reflect

the

sense

of

structure

and

order

in

the

universe.

By

using

the

Montessori

classroom

environment

as

a

microcosm

of

the

universe,

the

child

begins

to

internalize

the

order

surrounding

him,

thus

making

sense

of

the

world

in

which

he

lives.

Montessori

stated

that

there

is

a

sensitive

period

for

order, which occurs between the ages of 1 and 3 years of age.

This

is

when

the

child

begins

to

draw

conclusions

of

the

world

around

him.

If

there

is

not

order

to

his

environment,

the

child’s

sense

of

reason

may

be

off,

since

he

will

not

be

able

to

validate

his

findings.

This

is

not

to

say

that

routines

or

classroom

set-up

or

ways

of

doing

things

can’t

change.

However,

it

does

mean

that

change

should

be

carefully

considered.

Is

this

change

for

the

good

of

the

children?

If

so,

it

should

be

done

carefully

and

its

after-effects should be observed to ensure that it is of benefit to the children.