The Bigger Picture

When Dr. Montessori first began her Casa Dei Bambini she had huge classes of children (close to 40 or 50 children) that would never be allowed in schools today. And for that I am grateful. The classroom I currently work in has 32 children and 3 adults in it and we are plenty busy.

Now let's take a step back and think about what this large class size actually means.There are 32 children between the ages of 2 (almost 3) and 6. They are all at varying levels of skill (both physical and mental) and a wide spread of interests and personalities. It is extremely difficult for both adults and children to all gather together for any lesson as a entire group. Instead, over the course of 3 hours in the morning these children are all basically free to move around the classroom, choosing whatever activity they want (provided they have been shown how to use it). Some choose to work with others, some by themselves, and others to do nothing at all. While we really try to discourage them from doing nothing (mainly because it ends up becoming a distraction) it does happen.

So 32 individuals (35 if you count the adults) engaged in different activities, sounds like chaos right? Not as much as you think. While things are not always running perfectly smooth in our classroom as hoped (we're getting there!) there are some key rules that keep it running smoothly. 

Probably the biggest one is that a child can work with a material as long as they like, but when they are done it needs to be returned to the shelf for the next person. Returning the material also means restocking it (such as paper for art activities) or drying objects that may have gotten wet. A perfect example right now is our stamping activity. Yes, we trust children at age 3 to work without direct supervision and not poison themselves on the ink pad! We also trust them (after a demonstration) to get a new piece of paper from the stack on the counter and place it on the tray with the ink pad and stamps for the next child. 

Now I won't try to pretend that this always happens, and often one of the teachers ends up replacing the paper, but it is becoming less and less frequent as the school year progress. By independently allowing the children to prepare the tray we adults lessen the burden on ourselves. Other than the obvious effect of not having to keep the tray stocked we can also say when a child brings us the empty tray "Oh, it looks like someone forgot to get a new piece of paper. You can find a piece for yourself on the counter." And believe me, when there are 32 students busy at work, saving yourself that extra minute or two to dig a piece of paper out of the cupboard will add up!

Other basic classroom rules include-

• Not taking a material out until you have been given a presentation on how to use it
• Respecting the work of other children (usually by not touching their materials)
• Generally being kind to others
• Maintaining safe control of ones body (ex. not hitting, pushing, etc.)

All of these add up at a classroom community that may be busy and look quite chaotic until you take a few minutes to observe and see that the buzz of activity is purposeful and productive. Here is one of the main differences between Montessori and standard daycare. The children are taught to be responsible for their own behavior and actions, rather than being enforced by an adult. Hence why we can have only three adults in a class of 30+ children, and not worry about a mutiny!