Prepared Environment: Difference Between Montessori and Traditional Education

At Montessori Children’s House, the prepared environment is a critical step in teaching children. One visit to our classrooms is all it takes to see the prepared environment in action and observe how it differs from traditional schools. Some of the key benefits of a prepared environment are listed here, but there is a lot more to it than we can relate briefly.

Designed for Success

There is a place for everything, and everything is in its place in a prepared environment. Comparably, traditional schools force children to conform to the subject of the moment, with every child using the same textbook and fixed on the same page. A prepared environment makes it possible for children to learn about different things at their own pace, spending more time where it is needed and moving on when a lesson has been mastered.

Child Oriented Learning

Traditional schools focus the educational process on the teachers, who provide a set of instructions in a prescribed order. In Montessori schools, the focus is on the children, and the prepared environment is designed to encourage children to enjoy learning about new things. The classroom itself is a prepared environment centered around children.

Child-Centered Classrooms

Our school’s name, Montessori Children’s House, is based on Maria Montessori’s insistence that the classroom should be designed to fit the children, not the adults who are guiding them. Furniture, decorations, and learning stations are all scaled down to fit children, with the intent of making them feel more comfortable and willing to apply themselves.

Building Self Esteem

A prepared environment makes it easy for children to move from one learning station to another, and the play-based lessons are designed to easily fit into multiple lesson types. The idea is to provide children with a sense of accomplishment and build their self-esteem, providing positive reinforcement for their learning activities.

If you really want to get an idea of how the prepared environment stands apart from “regular” schools, you need to visit a classroom. Seeing the prepared environment in action will answer most of your questions and provide excellent examples of how and why our educational method works. Contact the Montessori Children’s House today to schedule a tour.