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Maria Montessori was the first woman to earn a medical degree in Italy. She used this degree to examine the science of education, learning to the development of The Montessori Method. She believed that education should prepare children for adulthood. She wanted her students to grow as a student and as a person.

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What is Montessori Education?

Montessori is a method of education named after Dr. Maria Montessori. She was the first woman in Italy to obtain the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Because she was a doctor, Maria Montessori looked at education from a scientific level. She believed that education should prepare a person for all aspects of life. She designed materials and techniques that would promote a natural growth of learning in students. They are common to all Montessori classrooms. Working with these materials and techniques forms a pattern that children carry over naturally to reading, writing, and mathematics. Each skill is developed to interlock with another.

From The American Montessori Society:

The Montessori Method of education, developed by Dr. Maria Montessori, is a child-centered educational approach based on scientific observations of children from birth to adulthood. Dr. Montessori's Method has been time tested, with over 100 years of success in diverse cultures throughout the world.

It is a view of the child as one who is naturally eager for knowledge and capable of initiating learning in a supportive, thoughtfully prepared learning environment. It is an approach that values the human spirit and the development of the whole child-physical, social, emotional, cognitive.

Montessori education offers our children opportunities to develop their potential as they step out into the world as engaged, competent, responsible, and respectful citizens with an understanding and appreciation that learning is for life.

Each child is valued as a unique individual. Montessori education recognizes that children learn in different ways, and accommodates all learning styles. Students are also free to learn at their own pace, each advancing through the curriculum as he is ready, guided by the teacher and an individualized learning plan.

Beginning at an early age, Montessori students develop order, coordination, concentration, and independence. Classroom design, materials, and daily routines support the individual's emerging "self-regulation" (ability to educate one's self, and to think about what one is learning), toddlers through adolescents.

Students are part of a close, caring community. The multi-age classroom-typically spanning 3 years-re-creates a family structure. Older students enjoy stature as mentors and role models; younger children feel supported and gain confidence about the challenges ahead. Teachers model respect, loving kindness, and a belief in peaceful conflict resolution.

Montessori students enjoy freedom within limits. Working within parameters set by their teachers, students are active participants in deciding what their focus of learning will be. Montessorians understand that internal satisfaction drives the child's curiosity and interest and results in joyous learning that is sustainable over a lifetime.

Students are supported in becoming active seekers of knowledge. Teachers provide environments where students have the freedom and the tools to pursue answers to their own questions.

Self-correction and self-assessment are an integral part of the Montessori classroom approach. As they mature, students learn to look critically at their work, and become adept at recognizing, correcting, and learning from their errors.

Given the freedom and support to question, to probe deeply, and to make connections, Montessori students become confident, enthusiastic, self-directed learners. They are able to think critically, work collaboratively, and act boldly-a skill set for the 21st century.

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Montessori Philosophy / What is Montessori Education?

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What is Montessori Education? Montessori is a method of education named after Dr. Maria Montessori. She was the first woman in Italy to obtain the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Because she was a doctor, Maria Montessori looked at education from a scientific level.

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Play has been studied for many years by numerous child psychologists. While specific theories may differ slightly, a commonality is the significant influence that the act of play has on the development of a young child. The theories of Maria Montessori, Jean Piaget, and Lev Vygotsky contribute to our understanding of the value of play during the early childhood years.

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Canadian Play-Based Education: Loose Parts

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Canadian Play-Based Education: Loose Parts

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Why Finland's schools outperform most others across the developed world | 7.30

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Canada is similar to Finland in the sense that intentional play is prioritized and viewed as the foundation for students' "future learning, health, and well-being." The article below outlines how play is supported in multiple ways, including by science, experts, parents, and children themselves. Play is a child's natural response their environment; it also has been proven to advance neural pathways in the brain, develop social-emotional skills, and promote language and culture within a family. Educators in Canada see the intrinsic value in play and its direct relationship with the learning process. Play stimulates creativity, imagination, innovation, and high self-esteem. Canadian schools incorporate intentional play in their classrooms in order to foster healthy, well-rounded students who are excited to learn.
https://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/282/play-based-learning_statement_EN.pdf

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Math and Movement
- A kinesthetic and multi-sensory approach to teaching math and reading.  It employs children's natural love for active or play-based learning through the use of games and mats. It is a perfect program for young, energetic learners who are excited to try out new educational approaches.  Math and Movement will put the joy back into learning, which is desperately needed in America's education system.
The Genius of Play
- Their mission is to raise awareness about the vital role of play in child development.
- A panel of experts at the Children's Museum of Manhattan have come together to address the problems faced with play-based learning in the U.S. in order to provide guidance to parents and caregivers.
https://mathandmovement.com/finland-education-system/
https://www.toyassociation.org/App_Themes/tgop/pdfs/research/state-of-play.pdf

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Russian child psychologist Lev Vygotsky is best known for his research related to young children and their development. He believed the act of play to be the foundation of emotional, social, physical, language, and cognitive development. He theorized a link between imaginative play and self-regulation. He observed that the creation of imaginary scenes and the following of social rules appeared to be large factors in children learning through their environment. They utilize knowledge learned from the classroom and implement it in their play, which is a form of absorbing knowledge. A lot of Vygotsky's research centers around self-regulation and the child's ability to manage their emotions. He theorized that the environment plays a significant role, and it is through play that a child becomes familiar with their surroundings.
https://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/282/play-based-learning_statement_EN.pdf
https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/play-based-learning/according-experts/role-make-believe-play-development-self-regulation

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The article, "Play-Based Learning: What It Is and Why It Should Be a Part  of Every Classroom" discussed Jean Piaget's theories on play-based learning. Piaget was quoted in his later years saying, "Our real problem is what is the goal of education? Are we forming children that are only capable of learning what is already known? Or should we try developing creative and innovative minds, capable of discovery from the preschool age on, throughout life?" Instead of prioritizing high test scores and grades as the primary goal of education, Piaget advocated for helping students understand learning in a joyful and discoverable way. Learning in this way correlates directly back to the concept of play-based learning.

Check out the full article below!

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Renowned psychologist and child development theorist Jean Piaget was quoted in his later years as saying "Our real problem is - what is the goal of education? Are we forming children that are only capable of learning what is already known? Or should we try developing creative and innovative minds, capable of discovery from the preschool age on, throughout life?"

No doubt, Piaget didn't have to deal with standardized assessment-and he would be at odds with those officials who prioritize test high scores and good grades as the primary goals of education. Instead, Piaget would advocate for helping students understand learning as a lifelong process of discovery and joy. Why do we question the value of this approach?

Being a kid is critical. We see the signature of early childhood experience literally in people's bodies: as this study from the Harvard Center on the Developing Child shows, positive early experiences lead to longer life expectancy, better overall health, and improved ability to manage stress. Plus, long-term social emotional capabilities are more robust when children have a chance to learn through play; form deep relationships; and when their developing brains are given the chance to grow in a nurturing, language-rich, and relatively unhurried environment.

This is something that as educators we understand in our souls but often find it difficult to implement given the restraints and restrictions of the modern classroom and accountability environment. But, it's critical to address this disconnect directly in order to make progress. So, let's talk about why students need play and how we can bring it into our own classrooms-even if we have to sneak it in, and even if we are working with kids who are not so little anymore.

Defining a Play-Based Approach to Learning

Play is the defining feature of human development: the impulse is hardwired into us and can't be suppressed. It's crucial that we recognize that while the play impulse is one thing, understanding the nuts and bolts of actually playing is not always so natural, and may require careful cultivation.

That's why a play-based approach involves both child-initiated and teacher-supported learning. The teacher encourages children's learning and inquiry through interactions that aim to stretch their thinking to higher levels. There are other foundational thinkers who have built from Piaget's theories that support this; educators like Montessori and Stanley Greenspan have recognized that the way to teach a child is through their own interests and developed concrete strategies to do so.

For example, while children are playing with blocks, a teacher can pose questions that encourage problem solving, prediction, and hypothesizing. The teacher can also bring the child's awareness towards mathematics, science, and literacy concepts. How tall can this get? How many blocks do you need? Can you BLOW the house down? Who else does that? These simple questions elevate the simple stacking of blocks to application of learning. Through play like this, children can develop social and cognitive skills, mature emotionally, and gain the self-confidence required to engage in new experiences and environments.

Understanding the Value of Play

When children engage in real‐life and imaginary activities, play can challenge children's thinking.

Children learn best through first-hand experiences-play motivates, stimulates and supports children in their development of skills, concepts, language acquisition, communication skills, and concentration. During play, children use all of their senses, must convey their thoughts and emotions, explore their environment, and connect what they already know with new knowledge, skills and attitudes.

It is in the context of play that children test out new knowledge and theories. They reenact experiences to solidify understanding. And it is here where children first learn and express symbolic thought, a necessary precursor to literacy. Play is the earliest form of storytelling. And, it is how children learn how to negotiate with peers, problem-solve, and improvise.

It is in play that basic social skills-like sharing and taking turns-are learned and practiced. Children also bring their own language, customs, and culture into play. As an added benefit, they learn about their peers' in the process.

Involvement in play stimulates a child's drive for exploration and discovery. This motivates the child to gain mastery over their environment, promoting focus and concentration. It also enables the child to engage in the flexible and higher-level thinking processes deemed essential for the 21st century learner. These include inquiry processes of problem solving, analyzing, evaluating, applying knowledge and creativity.

Finally, play supports positive attitudes toward learning. These include imagination, curiosity, enthusiasm, and persistence. The type of learning processes and skills fostered in play cannot be replicated through traditional rote learning, where the emphasis is on remembering facts.

Play-Based Learning and Executive Function

Children are naturally motivated to play. A play-based program builds on this motivation, using it as a context for learning. In this framework, children can explore, experiment, discover, and solve problems in imaginative and playful ways. They also expand their executive function skills by practicing their ability to retain information-like where the butterfly was in the spread of memory cards, who had the "4" in Go Fish, and what color card they have and need for in UNO.

When students play games that involve strategy, they have an opportunity to make plans, and then to adjust those plans in response to what happens during gameplay. This engages other critical executive function skills like inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. Think Battleship, checkers, tick-tack-toe, or Hide-and-Go-Seek; these games have children develop a plan and adjust on the fly in response to the other player.

Teachers can provide opportunities for students to build their executive function skills through meaningful social interactions and fun games-including activities as common as checkers, Simon Says, and I Spy. Harvard's Center on the Developing Child offers lots of great ideas for children at different ages.

Play and the Value of Active Learning

Play-based learning is an important way to develop active learning. Active learning means using your brain in lots of ways. When children play, they explore the world-and build on their understanding of the natural and social environments around them.

On the physical level, kids work on both gross and fine motor development through play. Students working in a play-based classroom explore spatial relationships and hone these important motor capabilities. In fact, it is before the age of 7 years-traditionally known as "pre-academic" age-when children desperately need to have a multitude of whole-body sensory experiences daily in order to develop strong bodies and minds. This is best done outside where the senses can be fully engaged, and young bodies are challenged by the uneven and unpredictable, ever-changing terrain-but a well-equipped, thoughtfully set-up classroom can be just as effective.

Developing Soft Skills Through Cooperative Play

Children build language skills while developing content knowledge. Plus, cooperative experiences provide children the opportunity to cultivate social skills, competencies, and a disposition to learn.

Play also builds self-esteem. Children are most receptive to learning during play and exploration and are generally willing to persist in order to learn something new or solve a problem. The experience of successfully working through something new or challenging helps kids gain the self-confidence required to engage in new experiences and environments.

And a big winner in play is Social development. Interpersonal skills like listening, negotiating, and compromising are challenging for 4- and 5-year-olds (as well as older kids and adults). Through play, children get to practice social and language skills, think creatively, and gather information about the world through their senses. Think about the games that students come up with on their own-they are creative, often intricate, and their "rules" always have to be negotiated.

Games and Gamification

Some educators regard the time kids spend socializing with their friends while gaming online as the salvation during the COVID-19 pandemic, or in any scenario where a child might experience barriers to in-person socialization. In addition to the social connections, there is an increased understanding that video games can actually improve kids' remote learning. As educators we know that using student's passions to engage them in learning is critical and kids love games. Done right, gaming and gamification of games can engage both intrinsic (pleasure and fulfillment) and extrinsic (recognition and rewards) motivation.

How Teachers Can Encourage and Promote Play-Based Learning

Teachers help enhance play-based learning by creating environments in which rich play experiences are available. The act of being a teacher is recognizing the goals of education, understanding how learning works, and figuring out how to apply all this to each student, one at a time. Teaching children how to learn is a strong basis for every grade level.

It is pretty clear that students learn through play. Every child. Some use play to explore their world, others to gain language, and on and on and on. In fact, we have also seen that it is a natural impulse-like getting hungry, or crying when upset, children play. So why not lean into it? Find ways to increase the time spent on play in your class. Whether you create centers for dramatic play, bring in costume boxes, explore problem solving with board games, or design your own multiplication board game or even better, have your students design that game, lean in. Use what is part of a child's fabric to enhance instruction and learning.

Looking for additional ideas to make your classroom a more hands-on learning environment for your young students? Check out this blog post on Exploring CTE at the Elementary Level Through Play for more outside-the-box inspiration!

Interested in learning more about play-based learning? Check out our OnDemand webinar where we explore this topic in-depth!
This post was originally published October 2019 and has been updated.

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Play-Based Learning: What It Is and Why It Should Be a Part of Every Classroom

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Renowned psychologist and child development theorist Jean Piaget was quoted in his later years as saying "Our real problem is - what is the goal of education? Are we forming children that are only capable of learning what is already known?

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From continued research and conversation into the topic, children are ultimately losing play time. U.S. research is limited, however it suggests there was a 25 percent decline in time spent playing amongst the six to eight year olds between 1981 and 1997 (the most recent statistic).
The crowded schedules, increase in parent involvement and competitive culture, increase in screen time, along with the decrease of recess in schools in America are all contributing factors to the decline in play.  https://www.toyassociation.org/App_Themes/tgop/pdfs/research/state-of-play.pdf

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Finland is known as one of the happiest countries in the world, so it is no surprise that it has also had the best education system for over 20 years. A distinguishing characteristic of Finland's system is that play is viewed as an effective method of learning, and is therefore prioritized during the school day. The act of playing is directly linked to the feeling of joy, which is valued and understood as a natural and normal part of learning. Finland's education model also recognizes that movement positively contributes to learning. Students perform better when they are active and interested in their learning. The well-being of the child is truly the main concern in Finnish classrooms. Standardized tests and assessments are not nearly stressed enough as they are in the United States. Children are evaluated authentically in a realistic setting, almost always centered around play. The culture in Finland is so unique and different from many other countries. They view play as the work of children.
https://mathandmovement.com/finland-education-system/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-really-learn-our-children-need-the-power-of-play-11565262002

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The article, "What is play-based learning?" discussed Maria Montessori's ideas in relation to play-based learning. Montessori once said, "Play is the work of the child." This correlates to the ideas behind play-based learning because through play, children can decide how they want to explore and use their imagination. The Montessori teaching method centers around the child in the same way that play-based learning does.

Check out the full article below!

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Play-based learning is the concept of learning while at play. Play is a child's way to explore and make sense of the world around them. It is a natural instinct, therefore it is student-initiated and driven by interests. Children are intentional when they play; they practice fine and gross motor skills, they ask questions, they use their imagination, they problem solve, and they incorporate academic material in their own way. Social and self-regulation skills are also developed, which can be an indicator of future academic success. Young students enjoy learning when it is through play, and therefore maintain a positive outlook on their time at school.

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The video below explains Montessori's theory of education. In the video, look at the classroom shown and notice all the toys and materials you see that promote and encourage play-based learning.

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What is the Montessori method of teaching?

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Multimodal Learning/Integrated Curriculum in Relation to Play-Based Learning

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Multimodal Learning/Integrated Curriculum in Relation to Play-Based Learning

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As we discussed in class, multimodal learning and integrated curriculum incorporate different learning styles to benefit each student's preferences. This can be implemented in a classroom setting by creating different stations for students to explore throughout the lesson. Integrating curriculum with social-emotional standards will help students develop social skills. This connects to play-based learning because through play, students will enjoy the learning process and develop an understanding of themselves and the various aspects of the curriculum.