Compare Montessori And Foebel

“to learn a thing in life through doing is much more developing, cultivating, and strengthening than to learn it merely through the verbal communication of ideas”-The Education of Man (1826), this is the belief in which both Maria Montessori and Friedrich Froebel live by, within their approach on how to educate children. Maria Montessori and Fredrick Froebel will be the two educational theorists on which I will evaluate and compare within this essay and I will also be reflecting on my own attitude and beliefs on which theorist I agree with the most and why. Maria Montessori, born near Aricona, Italy on August 31st 1870, built her philosophy on the idea that each child is unique and that they think and develop differently from adults, that …show more content…
Froebel like to have “gifts” for the children when they entered the classroom, these gifts were various objects such as a wooden box, knitted balls, wooden cylinders, and various geometric shapes. He liked to give the children these gifts to allow them to use their imagination. Often he would give the children clay and paper, so that they could create new beings by moulding the clay or repeatedly fold the paper to see what shapes that they could create out of them. He liked to use these objects as he felt that they helped to increase the children’s fine motor skills and attention spans. However Montessori was more interested in teaching the children more about self-care and responsibility as she would give the children didactic apparatus materials each with their own specific purpose, such as a broom, dish sets and cleaning materials like brushes, sponges and cloths. She liked to teach children by using their senses, for example, when teaching children about the different letters and numbers, she would use a cut out of sand paper in the shape of numbers and letters. She liked to teach her children more about self-mastery and through that, become more confident. Although Montessori and Froebel agreed that teachers should let children become creative thinkers and learn on their own, they implemented theses method in different ways. Froebel believed that teachers should observe the children and become more like a guide for them and that they shouldn’t interfere with their creative process. However Montessori believed that teachers should be instead known as a “directress” as instead of teaching, teachers should just direct a child, and let them learn at their own pace. Within a Montessori the play area is much more of an open floor plan for the toys and materials and that each individual should have access to all of the