The Montessori classroom is a living room for children. Children select their work from among self-correcting materials displayed on open shelves; they are able to work in specific work areas choosing materials that are age appropriate and interesting to them. Over a period of time, the children develop into a “normalized community” working with high concentration and very few interruptions.

Normalization is the process whereby a child moves from being undisciplined to self-disciplined, from disordered to ordered, from distracted to focused, through work in their environment. The process occurs through repeated work with materials or “jobs” that captivate the child’s attention. For some children this inner change may take place quite suddenly, leading into deep concentration.

In the Montessori classrooms we continue to encourage the children to master the skills that they have been working on and to challenge them with new materials that will fulfill their natural curiosity to learn. Repetition with the materials is how children master various tasks and lesson that they have been working on.