Stimulating a Child’s Holistic Growth - Designing spaces through the Montessorian Way
An educational philosophy revolving around a child’s complete development, allowing a child to be self-reliant in the process of acquiring knowledge is how one can define ‘Montessori Education.’ Three core parameters, namely; the child, the conscious adult, and the prepared environment, coalesce together to create a positive and enriching learning experience for young ones.
Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, anthropologist, educator, and the pioneer behind this educational philosophy, keenly observed the behaviour of young children with special needs. She observed the innate curiosity and desire for knowledge that young children naturally possess. Years of observation, experimentation, and research, done during the 20th century, led her to the establishment of these educational philosophies. They are driven by a child’s innate hunger for knowing things, a trained adult’s apt guidance in the right direction (without dominating the natural process of a child’s learning), and a prepared environment that offers the right atmosphere for self-directed learning.
Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, anthropologist, educator, and the pioneer behind this educational philosophy, keenly observed the behaviour of young children with special needs. She observed the innate curiosity and desire for knowledge that young children naturally possess. Years of observation, experimentation, and research, done during the 20th century, led her to the establishment of these educational philosophies. They are driven by a child’s innate hunger for knowing things, a trained adult’s apt guidance in the right direction (without dominating the natural process of a child’s learning), and a prepared environment that offers the right atmosphere for self-directed learning.
The core principles of the Montessori approach include:
1. Respect for the child - The philosophy demands a sense of respect for children and their uniqueness. Their ability to self-explore an environment is encouraged in a Montessori setup, which allows them a freedom of choice.
2. The Absorbent Mind - The first six years of a child’s life is one of the most crucial phases for physical and mental growth. Constantly exploring their surroundings through their senses, by touching, feeling, tasting, and smelling, young children absorb a tremendous amount of information about their physical world. The ‘Unconscious Absorbent Mind’ is the developmental phase of toddlers within age zero to three years old, whereas the ‘Conscious Absorbent Mind’ is the growth phase of young children falling in the age group of three to six years.
3. Sensitive Periods - Toddlers tend to stumble across a particular skill while exploring their surroundings, for example, specific movements like crawling and trying to stand up. A sensitive period is a particular phase where the child tends to repeat the discovered skill trying to learn it entirely. As parents and educators, we need to identify these phases and accordingly make the enriched environment available to the child.
4. The Prepared Environment - It is essential to design and create an organized and approachable environment that allows young children to explore on their own and choose as per their will. The ‘Prepared Environment’ is created on the ideology of ‘order in environment and mind’ and translates into a well-organized child-centered space that is engaging and promotes self-exploration.
5. Auto Education - Toddlers and young kids are capable of exploring and discovering things on their own, provided the right learning stimulus is created for them. It becomes important to create a space where young children can comfortably continue to engage all their senses while playing with different materials.
1. Respect for the child - The philosophy demands a sense of respect for children and their uniqueness. Their ability to self-explore an environment is encouraged in a Montessori setup, which allows them a freedom of choice.
2. The Absorbent Mind - The first six years of a child’s life is one of the most crucial phases for physical and mental growth. Constantly exploring their surroundings through their senses, by touching, feeling, tasting, and smelling, young children absorb a tremendous amount of information about their physical world. The ‘Unconscious Absorbent Mind’ is the developmental phase of toddlers within age zero to three years old, whereas the ‘Conscious Absorbent Mind’ is the growth phase of young children falling in the age group of three to six years.
3. Sensitive Periods - Toddlers tend to stumble across a particular skill while exploring their surroundings, for example, specific movements like crawling and trying to stand up. A sensitive period is a particular phase where the child tends to repeat the discovered skill trying to learn it entirely. As parents and educators, we need to identify these phases and accordingly make the enriched environment available to the child.
4. The Prepared Environment - It is essential to design and create an organized and approachable environment that allows young children to explore on their own and choose as per their will. The ‘Prepared Environment’ is created on the ideology of ‘order in environment and mind’ and translates into a well-organized child-centered space that is engaging and promotes self-exploration.
5. Auto Education - Toddlers and young kids are capable of exploring and discovering things on their own, provided the right learning stimulus is created for them. It becomes important to create a space where young children can comfortably continue to engage all their senses while playing with different materials.
Creating the Prepared Environment
For a child to feel free to work at his own pace, the ‘prepared environment’ needs to be created with utmost care and thoughtfulness. With every object having a purpose and a specific place, the mindful segregation of the space is of utmost importance for clearly defining different zones. For example, placing a medium-sized rug and two floor cushions in a quiet corner of the space, with a hanging light above, can clearly define the area as a contemplation or meditation zone.
The conscious design of the learning environment needs to stimulate self-reliance, freedom, and explorative discovery in the minds of the young children. Understanding a few considerations in planning such a space can help significantly in creating a thoughtful learning atmosphere:
1. A modest and clear design - Keeping the space simple and straightforward, without any unnecessary distractions, can result in a calming and inviting environment. Some strategies to achieve this are, light-coloured (beige or white) walls, light pastels shades of upholsteries and blinds, and the use of warm wood furniture elements. The elimination of bright colours can lead to lesser distractions among the young kids. Incorporating minimal furniture, which is movable, can result in a flexible, multifunctional space that is well suited for the dynamic movements of young children.
2. Defining different zones - An optimal learning environment has many zones meant for various types of activities. As designers, it becomes our responsibility to create a separation between these activities without actually dividing up the space. The use of different sizes of floor rugs and indoor plantations can help in defining activity zones while maintaining a clear and continuous flow of space.
3. An Approachable Environment - Young children are bound to explore a space on their own, by crawling, walking, and running. For them to be able to access everything around them, it becomes crucial to plan furniture, shelves, washroom fixtures, and kitchen platforms as per child anthropometry, so as to encourage them to perform personal tasks independently. To ensure the safety of the child, when he roams freely in this space, the edges of the furniture need to be rounded and the use of floor rugs can be quite helpful.
4. Eliminating distractions - Ideally, a child works and plays better in an environment that is silent and peaceful. Such an atmosphere enables a child to efficiently finish whichever task he or she is engaged in. The location of the space plays an important role in determining the level of calm and silence that can be achieved. Selecting an area away from the outside commotion, preferably away from the main road, can prove to be beneficial. In the current scenario, where children are quite easily distracted by technology and electronic gadgets, removing such devices from the learning environment can significantly reduce unwanted distractions.
5. Controlled exposure to abundant daylight - Taking in abundant amounts of daylight adds positivity and soothing brightness to the interiors. Natural daylight has the potential of livening up the moods of young children, making them feel optimistic and happy. Large windows, skylights, and lightwells are few of the elements that can naturally light up the prepared environment.
6. Embracing Nature - Leafy green plantations are known to have a calming effect on young children as well as adults. Incorporating lush indoor plants can help in connecting the children to nature and making them realize the importance of taking care of our natural environment. Observing adults as they water the plants, the feeling of care and respect for trees and fauna can be mirrored in the minds of young kids. Windows, balconies, and courtyards further connect the children visually with their surrounding landscape.
For a child to feel free to work at his own pace, the ‘prepared environment’ needs to be created with utmost care and thoughtfulness. With every object having a purpose and a specific place, the mindful segregation of the space is of utmost importance for clearly defining different zones. For example, placing a medium-sized rug and two floor cushions in a quiet corner of the space, with a hanging light above, can clearly define the area as a contemplation or meditation zone.
The conscious design of the learning environment needs to stimulate self-reliance, freedom, and explorative discovery in the minds of the young children. Understanding a few considerations in planning such a space can help significantly in creating a thoughtful learning atmosphere:
1. A modest and clear design - Keeping the space simple and straightforward, without any unnecessary distractions, can result in a calming and inviting environment. Some strategies to achieve this are, light-coloured (beige or white) walls, light pastels shades of upholsteries and blinds, and the use of warm wood furniture elements. The elimination of bright colours can lead to lesser distractions among the young kids. Incorporating minimal furniture, which is movable, can result in a flexible, multifunctional space that is well suited for the dynamic movements of young children.
2. Defining different zones - An optimal learning environment has many zones meant for various types of activities. As designers, it becomes our responsibility to create a separation between these activities without actually dividing up the space. The use of different sizes of floor rugs and indoor plantations can help in defining activity zones while maintaining a clear and continuous flow of space.
3. An Approachable Environment - Young children are bound to explore a space on their own, by crawling, walking, and running. For them to be able to access everything around them, it becomes crucial to plan furniture, shelves, washroom fixtures, and kitchen platforms as per child anthropometry, so as to encourage them to perform personal tasks independently. To ensure the safety of the child, when he roams freely in this space, the edges of the furniture need to be rounded and the use of floor rugs can be quite helpful.
4. Eliminating distractions - Ideally, a child works and plays better in an environment that is silent and peaceful. Such an atmosphere enables a child to efficiently finish whichever task he or she is engaged in. The location of the space plays an important role in determining the level of calm and silence that can be achieved. Selecting an area away from the outside commotion, preferably away from the main road, can prove to be beneficial. In the current scenario, where children are quite easily distracted by technology and electronic gadgets, removing such devices from the learning environment can significantly reduce unwanted distractions.
5. Controlled exposure to abundant daylight - Taking in abundant amounts of daylight adds positivity and soothing brightness to the interiors. Natural daylight has the potential of livening up the moods of young children, making them feel optimistic and happy. Large windows, skylights, and lightwells are few of the elements that can naturally light up the prepared environment.
6. Embracing Nature - Leafy green plantations are known to have a calming effect on young children as well as adults. Incorporating lush indoor plants can help in connecting the children to nature and making them realize the importance of taking care of our natural environment. Observing adults as they water the plants, the feeling of care and respect for trees and fauna can be mirrored in the minds of young kids. Windows, balconies, and courtyards further connect the children visually with their surrounding landscape.
Dr. Maria Montessori dedicated her entire life to the formulation, experimentation, and implementation of a new and positive educational system across the world. Her philosophies are based on her personal experience of dealing with children, understanding their behaviour, and igniting their innate qualities to transform them into well-rounded grown individuals.
As architects, we can delve deep into the planning of schools to understand how each of our design decisions can affect the growth and learning of children. Our detailed research and our conscious planning can help children in feeling safe, comfortable, and motivated in a well-planned learning environment. Today’s children can become tomorrow’s leaders, provided we offer them the right learning atmosphere through our mindful design choices.
As architects, we can delve deep into the planning of schools to understand how each of our design decisions can affect the growth and learning of children. Our detailed research and our conscious planning can help children in feeling safe, comfortable, and motivated in a well-planned learning environment. Today’s children can become tomorrow’s leaders, provided we offer them the right learning atmosphere through our mindful design choices.