What you won’t see in my classroom

Today I wanted to spend some time talking about a misconception about Montessori and its view on fantasy. Some people may think that since there is no dress up in my classroom that I am stifling my students’ creativity. In truth I am just giving them the chance to express their creativity in different ways.

When Maria Montessori opened her first school in Italy she had it filled with dolls and other make believe toys. She observed that when given the chance to use and participate in real life activities such as cleaning, preparing food or taking care of the classroom the students lost interest in the toys and gravitated to the real life work.

When you enter my classroom you will not see any children dressed as vets; what you will see are children working with our real animal helping to provide for its everyday care. You will not see any of my students dressed as a cook, you will see children preparing their own snack, squeezing their own orange juice and helping to set the tables for lunch. These real life activities are giving my students the chance to learn about animals and food in a realistic manner rather then playing with stuffed animals and plastic food.