“Follow the Child” is a key philosophy of the Montessori method of education. Maria Montessori (visionary leader, doctor, founder of the first Montessori school in 1907) observed children in their natural environment and discovered that all children instinctively follow a similar developmental path, albeit at their own pace. The key was to identify where the child was and to provide the right resources that child needed at that particular time.
The fundamental reason that children thrive in authentic Montessori classrooms is that they benefit from a highly personalized learning environment that meets their needs, where they are. Professionally trained teachers are skilled to recognize various planes of development and are certified to teach the specific lessons each child needs in order to truly comprehend certain concepts. Learning by rote memorization is not a teaching technique in a Montessori classroom.
A challenge for us teachers and parents then is to become keenly aware of our children’s needs. Their needs are like clues telling us what they are drawn to and developmentally ready to learn. Adults can easily fall prey to comparing children (siblings, classmates, etc.) and to push children to learn before a child is truly ready. Likewise, we can miss an opportunity that a child is ready to learn a concept because we never thought he/she had the ability to learn it due to maturity or age.
