Independence in Montessori

Independence in Montessori
By Children’s House teacher Carolyn Thomas

Independence develops when the child has the liberty and freedom to act and learn within a structured and prepared environment. This prepared environment has Montessori materials, opportunities, and occasions for children to interact with the materials in an educative way.

“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed”

~Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori writes that a child “wants to acquire a knowledge of his own, to have experience of the world, and to perceive it by his own unaided efforts.” This process starts the moment the child is able to do things for themselves, it is a natural urge for the child to be independent and sometimes, says, “I can do it by myself.”  Dr. Montessori said it is the adults’ job to “help the child to act for himself, will for himself, think for himself.” Giving the child the gift of independence lets them know we value and know they are capable and we support the effort of independence by giving the children practical life skills in a prepared environment that is safe and encourages discovery and concentration. 

A key component of the Montessori environment  that supports the development of Independence is freedom of movement. Dr. Montessori wrote that, “movement helps the development of mind, and this finds renewed expression in further movement and activity,” (The Absorbent Mind, page 142). The goal of independence and freedom is to help the child fall in love with the process of focusing their complete attention on something and solving that activity regardless of the level of difficulty with enthusiasm and joy.    

A child needs independence and freedom in order to grow and learn, the freedom in the Montessori classroom is always freedom within limits. The children have the freedom to move, freedom of choice, freedom to repeat, freedom of time, freedom to make mistakes, and freedom to communicate. The limitations on these freedoms are they must have respect for themselves, others, and the environment.

Independence is not given, it is developed, independence builds on specific abilities and every new ability makes new levels of independence possible. We can’t give independence, we give the liberty to acquire the skills to become independent.

Independence is important because it promotes confidence and self esteem as well as motivation and perseverance, it fosters self-reliance, it gives them the freedom to experience life fully, allows them to become good decision makers, develops other necessary qualities such as patience, concentration, self-discipline.

Here is a list of age appropriate ideas for chores that aid in developing independence.

“Independence is not a static condition; it is a continuous conquest, and in order to reach not only freedom, but also strength, and the perfecting on one’s powers, it is necessary to follow this path of unremitting toil.” ~Maria Montessori