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Kerry Ferris

Early Childhood Curriculum

September 2014

Introduction and Rationale

My Pre-School Curriculum is Montessori
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In deciding
upon a curriculum when my pre-school opened in 2006, I wanted to provide a holistic
experience and education for the children, offering them a range of activities, social
interactions and quality pre-school education
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I am observant of the Siolta Standards and Regulation 5, Child Health Welfare
and Development
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Montessori “Work” in the areas of Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Maths,
Culture
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Respect for the child

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The Absorbent Mind

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Sensitive Periods

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Prepared Environment

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Auto Education

My own values in relation to teaching and learning in an early childhood setting are similar to
those of Maria Montessori
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Kerry Ferris

Early Childhood Curriculum

September 2014

positive early years education and experience
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It is therefore critical that we
provide positively for this
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An important aspect of teaching is observing the children to ensure we are meeting their
needs and providing activities and experiences to suit the age and stage of the childs
development
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To be able to give children rich learning experiences I believe that the environment needs to
be orderly , and prepared, accessible to the children thus promoting independence and self
help for the children
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Regulation 5 Child Health,
Welfare and Development – Mobility, free movement of children
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I am going to draw comparisons and
differences between the curriculums of Maria Montessori and Rudolph Steiner
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From this I will
reflect upon my own curriculum and be open to different approaches and methods in
providing a quality curriculum
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Kerry Ferris

Early Childhood Curriculum

September 2014

The Theories and Values of Montessori and Steiner

Maria Montessori 1870 – 1952
Maria Montessori started her career as a doctor in the poor areas of Rome
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From her earlier career in medicine she had a great knowledge
and experience of working with children with learning difficulties
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Respect for children

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Absorbent Mind – Children absorb knowledge directly from the environment
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By simply living the child learns to speak their “Native Tongue”, they
are born to learn and are thinking beings
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Timing varies for each child and she describes that through observing
children we can detect these sensitive times and provide an education accordingly
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The materials were made accessible and
presented in an orderly manner
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Auto-Education – Through the freedom of choice in the environment and in choosing
their own work the children are educating themselves
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pg
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It was filled with natural objects and the children were
exposed to the real and natural world whenever possible
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Children of differing ages were together in one classroom where the younger children learnt
from the older ones
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She saw
children as active learners who learnt best through structured play and exploration of their
environment
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“To let the child do as he likes when he has not yet developed any powers of control is to
betray the idea of freedom” – Maria Montessori – www
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php

Her theory states that children are at their highest level of learning when they are focused,
silent and absorbed in a task, she refers to this as “Polarisation of the Attention”
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The children are encouraged to work alone and be
responsible for their own work
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She took her
inspiration for this from Froebels gifts
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The materials encouraged dexterity and went from simple to complex in their
teaching
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The materials are initially introduced to the
child one to one
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“Appearing deceptively simple but represented a sophisticated approach to child
development” – www
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com
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pg
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Montessori’s materials would encourage
this
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Emphasis was placed on social skills over reading and
writing as she felt these skills would come once the child was socially and emotionally
developed and ready
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The content of her Curriculum was delivered using 5 areas :
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Practical Life – Use of real tools to replicate those found in the home
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Sensorial – Materials to refine the senses, classification, teaching of size, shape,
texture and temperature to mention a few
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The use of Sandpaper Letters
to form the shape of the letter and a large moveable alphabet
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The
spindle box and numbers and counters to aid counting
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Lifecycles and the different cultures
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Kerry Ferris

Early Childhood Curriculum

September 2014

Rudolph Steiner 1861 -1925
Ruldoph Steiner born in Austria, opened his first school in Stuttgart Germany in 1919 to
provide an education for the children of working class families
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His schools served the private sector
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His
approach was Humanistic and it was his aim to educate the mind, body, soul and spirit
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The
Aistear Curriculum Framework Ireland Birth to 6 years would strongly support this under
their Well Being Theme as they believe that children should develop as Strong, healthy,
creative and spiritual beings
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They would stay with the same teacher for the duration of their education
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This is supported by Regulation 5, Child, Health, Welfare and
Development – Relationships – Provision should be made for children to form and sustain
secure relationships with adults and peers
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The
appearance of peaceful mood colours and calming music would be evident in the classroom
alongside a richness for poetry and drama
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Siolta National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education -Siolta Standard
2 – Enriching Environments

Steiner aimed to develop all aspects of the child giving a Holistic approach to child
development
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The children were free to choose to play alone or together
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Teachers were encouraged
pg
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Steiner identified
four different temperaments within the child:
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Sanguine – Cheerful and Confident

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Phlegmatic – Unemotional

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Choleric – Bad Tempered

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Melancholic – Irritable

He also believed that there were “Three Phases of Childhood” and that these presented
themselves in 3 cycles of 7 year stages, each stage having their own specific needs and
learning, lending themselves to the child learning with his Head, Hands and Heart:
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The Will – 0 to 7yrs – Where the Spirit fuses with the body

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The Heart – 7 to 14yrs – Rhythmic beat of the heart and breathing, time of feelings
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imhoffwaldorf
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Children are encouraged to focus on make believe, faries and the arts, and
fantasy play would be very much a part of the curriculum
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Early learning would be group work and academics would not be introduced
until around the age of 7yrs
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pg
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Steiner encouraged a vegetarian diet and placed importance on the balance between rest and
activity
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Both opened their first schools to serve the children of working class families
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The “Holistic Child” was apparent in the work of both Montessori and Steiner
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The children had the freedom to choose their own activities
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The children stayed with the same teacher for a long period of their education

There were also some differences between the two Educators :
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Montessori implemented a structured curriculum and had a clear aim that here
materials and activities would serve a purpose, whereas Steiner had a more play based
approached to learning where imagination when using the materials was encouraged
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In the Montessori classroom the children work independently and alone
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Academics are introduced at an early age by Montessori
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pg
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Montessori would
have children of differing ages within the same group, and Steiner would keep his
groups of children to the same ages
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To treat all children with the respect and care that they deserve and to recognise the
individual needs of each child, through careful observation and planning to help them to
progress in their learning and development to the best of their ability in a safe and secure
environment
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They need to know their subject thoroughly, only then can they deliver quality care and
provide an appropriate curriculum within the classroom
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The
materials need to be kept in an orderly manner and the children introduced to them according
to the Montessori Curriculum
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The ability to be
passive and step back when a child is working to allow them time to discover for themselves
is an important value in a Montessori Teacher
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This will allow the child to draw their own conclusions and direct
the own learning at their own pace
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A
pg
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The adult must be able to evaluate the effectiveness of the work she does with the children,
and to implement a reflective practise
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The ability to observe and record that there are different types of learners within children,
Visual, Kinsethic and Audio will help the adult to plan better for individual children
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The role of the adult in the Steiner “Waldorf Education System”, would be similar to that of
the Montessori Teacher, but would be perhaps require the adult to be more creative, artistic
and spiritual in line with the theories and principles of this type of environment and education
practise
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A Steiner Teacher would need to be committed to long term teaching and to keeping the same
children with her for their whole time during that specific education period
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pg
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In reflecting on my own practise I
feel that I am already combining a lot of Steiner with Montessori, however if I were to be
running a more rigid Montessori Curriculum then I would incorporate the following aspects
of the Steiner approach into it :
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I would like to make time for breathing and relaxation exercises with the children as
he feel it would be of overall benefit to their well being
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I would agree with Steiner in that the classroom be run with children of the same age
groups, grouped together as opposed to mixed ages
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I wouldn’t be keen on having the same teacher for the duration of the childs early
education
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My Montessori setting already has imagination play in it, however Montessori as a
rule doesn’t encourage this
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The Steiner Curriculum does not encourage academics before the age of 7 years
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Montessori introduces them from an early age and through more
structured activity, this may not be suitable for all children
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Steiner encourages the free exploration
of materials and this would be an element of his Curriculum that I would incorporate
into my own setting
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pg
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Moving forward I will now be more open to change within my own curriculum as I can see
that a curriculum can be tailor made to suit each individual setting
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In todays society in Ireland due to many
regulations we at times have to follow what is “expected” of a pre-school setting as opposed
to us getting to know the children and then providing a curriculum that will help them to
learn to their best ability
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That is what I have learnt from this research
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In looking at the Steiner
approach and allowing imagination to flow within the setting and through play and materials
I would be more inclined now to allow this to happen
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The importance of observation is still evident throughout this research even back in those
times observation was encouraged and planning came from it, I feel this is the way forward if
we want to provide a quality curriculum for the children in our care
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I feel that the
benefits of learning through play, provide a relaxed atmosphere and give to a more
productive learning experience for the child
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Kerry Ferris

Early Childhood Curriculum

September 2014

I have taken more notice of the sensitive periods that Montessori incorporates since starting
this assignment and this has been influenced by Steiner as he believes that academics should
not start until nearer the age of 7 years
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The layout of the environmnent is of great importance
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Giving the
children a rest and relaxation area as influenced by Steiner would be something I would like
to incorporate
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References
www
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org/home-page/steiner-philosophy-2/
www
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org/montessori
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education
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montessoritraining
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ie/2013/07/comparing-montessori-waldorf
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froebelgifts
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