The Lead Teacher at ZSH demonstrates, in total silence, how to fold.
As the little girls observes intently and with full concentration, she is then encouraged to try this herself, on her own. This is how, with time and practice, she learns how to work independently.
In a Montessori classroom movement is vital. The whole layout is designed so that the children can move around freely from one activity to the next. This means that teachers get a lot of one-to-one time with the children, guiding them such as with this demonstration, observing their progress without interfering and supporting them when they need it. Rather than have the teacher stand at the front of the class and teach all the children in the same way as with traditional schools and nurseries, in Montessori, each child is treated as an individual whose development progresses at a different pace to that of the next child, because that’s how human beings are.
