Design in Education
I am trying to re-do my house again to fit our Montessori environment as our fourth is now already 2. It sometimes feel like I have always been doing this. Trying to have your child learn using the Montessori method, it finally struck me after all this years, is an interesting exercise in synergising learning and design, as in physical design.
The environment, apart from the directress, materials and the child, is a key component in Montessori education. It is supposed to facilitate learning and allow the child to gain independence, physically at first and then intellectually, in my opinion.
As such materials are arranged so the children can easily get them themselves. Furnitures are small yet sturdy to fit the child and be easy to move around. There is also an order of materials used going from the left to the right. Order brings assurance, stability and confidence. This will be reflected within the child and in the child's perspective of the world. All this was the product of Montessori's observation of the children at the Children's House.
When you are trying to fit an environment into your home, it brings up a whole new set of challenges- unless you have that extra space of course. How do you harmonise your family life with your homeschooling?
I don't have the luxury of an extra room with four kids and a 118 sq m flat. There are days when the laundry seem to take over the house and others when I just want everything out of sight.
My first issue is the need for the materials to be seen by the children because they are to 'call out' to them, which is why Montessori materials are so beautifully designed and made (well at least now particular brands of them). It is a beautiful concept but sometimes you just don't want to see the materials throughout your day. I do also notice my children getting tired of them.
You can of course, rotate the materials, you do change them as your child progresses after all. However, having all those things out there sometimes make your home look cluttered, and full of 'things'.
It will be nice then, if you can have them covered when you are done for the day. Having one of them sliding doors would be ideal, like those TV cabinets where the doors can be slid to the sides. Unfortunately, carpentry is not really something I have knowledge about nor is it something common here.
The other best alternative I have seen so far is Ikea's Besta sliding TV unit. I envisioned the TV closed during the day and the materials exposed at the side cabinets and when we are done the area with the TV is exposed and the materials are covered. In short, use sliding-door cupboards.
Then again, a normal sliding-door cupboard can mean having only one-side exposed at any one time. I guess you win some and you lose some. This can be an interesting design challenge.
Another alternative is to have the doors of your cabinet opened during school and closed up when done. I do have an issue with the doors jutting out though, especially with younger children. You can of course train your children to be careful but it is a risk that you have to calculate yourself.
A vintage idea I did before was placing curtains that I will slide open for school. Hooks can be tricky but you can try finding something that has a blunt edge for safety. It might not however go with your decor so that's a minus point.
Another direction you can go is putting away "non-Montessori" materials in closed cabinets and labelling or putting a picture of the items inside on the cover. In this way, you minimise the number of items you have "out there". You can also do this when your child grows older.
If space is an issue for you, like me, you can even try to spread out the different activity shelves. Have practical life in the kitchen, language in the study and culture in the balcony, for example.
Maybe one day, apart from those renovation shows always shown on TV, we can have an Education and Design show that explores how design can enhance learning anywhere. Hmm, this is very interesting. I wonder if there is such an area of study as design in education, apart from the Prussian system we are all too familiar with.
The environment, apart from the directress, materials and the child, is a key component in Montessori education. It is supposed to facilitate learning and allow the child to gain independence, physically at first and then intellectually, in my opinion.
As such materials are arranged so the children can easily get them themselves. Furnitures are small yet sturdy to fit the child and be easy to move around. There is also an order of materials used going from the left to the right. Order brings assurance, stability and confidence. This will be reflected within the child and in the child's perspective of the world. All this was the product of Montessori's observation of the children at the Children's House.
When you are trying to fit an environment into your home, it brings up a whole new set of challenges- unless you have that extra space of course. How do you harmonise your family life with your homeschooling?
I don't have the luxury of an extra room with four kids and a 118 sq m flat. There are days when the laundry seem to take over the house and others when I just want everything out of sight.
My first issue is the need for the materials to be seen by the children because they are to 'call out' to them, which is why Montessori materials are so beautifully designed and made (well at least now particular brands of them). It is a beautiful concept but sometimes you just don't want to see the materials throughout your day. I do also notice my children getting tired of them.
You can of course, rotate the materials, you do change them as your child progresses after all. However, having all those things out there sometimes make your home look cluttered, and full of 'things'.
It will be nice then, if you can have them covered when you are done for the day. Having one of them sliding doors would be ideal, like those TV cabinets where the doors can be slid to the sides. Unfortunately, carpentry is not really something I have knowledge about nor is it something common here.
The other best alternative I have seen so far is Ikea's Besta sliding TV unit. I envisioned the TV closed during the day and the materials exposed at the side cabinets and when we are done the area with the TV is exposed and the materials are covered. In short, use sliding-door cupboards.
Then again, a normal sliding-door cupboard can mean having only one-side exposed at any one time. I guess you win some and you lose some. This can be an interesting design challenge.
Another alternative is to have the doors of your cabinet opened during school and closed up when done. I do have an issue with the doors jutting out though, especially with younger children. You can of course train your children to be careful but it is a risk that you have to calculate yourself.
A vintage idea I did before was placing curtains that I will slide open for school. Hooks can be tricky but you can try finding something that has a blunt edge for safety. It might not however go with your decor so that's a minus point.
Another direction you can go is putting away "non-Montessori" materials in closed cabinets and labelling or putting a picture of the items inside on the cover. In this way, you minimise the number of items you have "out there". You can also do this when your child grows older.
If space is an issue for you, like me, you can even try to spread out the different activity shelves. Have practical life in the kitchen, language in the study and culture in the balcony, for example.
Maybe one day, apart from those renovation shows always shown on TV, we can have an Education and Design show that explores how design can enhance learning anywhere. Hmm, this is very interesting. I wonder if there is such an area of study as design in education, apart from the Prussian system we are all too familiar with.
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