| Montessori |
Traditional |
| Emphasis on cognitive and social development |
Emphases on social development |
| Teacher has unobtrusive role in classroom |
Teacher is center of classroom as "controller" |
| Environment & method encourage self-discipline |
Teacher acts as primary enforcer of discipline |
| Mainly individual instruction |
Group and individual instruction |
| Mixed age grouping |
Same age grouping |
| Grouping encourages children to teach and help each other |
Most teaching done by teacher |
| Child chooses own work |
Curriculum structured for child |
| Child discovers own concepts from self-teaching materials |
Child is guided to concepts by teacher |
| Child works as long as he feels the need on a chosen project |
Child generally allotted specific time for work |
| Child sets own learning pace |
Instruction pace usually set by group norm |
| Child spots own errors from feedback of material |
If work is corrected, errors usually pointed out by teacher |
| Child reinforces own learning by repetition of work and internal feelings of success |
Learning is reinforced externally by repetition and rewards |
| Multi-sensory materials for physical exploration |
Fewer materials for sensory development |
| Organized program for learning care of self & environment. (Polishing, cleaning the sink, etc.) |
Less emphasis on self-care instruction |
| Child can work where he chooses, move around and talk at will (yet not disturb work of any others); group work is voluntary. |
Child usually assigned own chair; encouraged to participate, sit still and listen during group sessions |
| Organized program for parents to understand the Montessori philosophy and participate in the learning process |
Voluntary parent involvement-which is not always welcome. |
