Art in the Montessori Classroom cont.

Maria Montessori instructed teachers to hang real works of art in the classroom environment. They should be hung at the child's eye level and changed frequently. She believed the rooms should be well kept, clean and organized. The children can decorate the classroom with fresh flowers, plants, and other objects found in nature such as driftwood, rocks, and shells.

The aim of art education in Montessori classrooms is to develop the hand as a tool of the mind. The Montessori method in general emphasizes the training of the hand. There is no drawing or modeling lesson, there are exercises of practical life that are artistic in nature. These are activities that include cutting, weaving, sewing, use of stationery tools, stencils, etc. Children are free to select the materials from the art shelf. They have the responsibility to manage and care for the material and their work environment. Children are encouraged to research and prepare their work independently. A group project may be placed at a workstation for a period of time and children are free to add to it as they feel like it.

Maria Montessori believed that a child would engage in the activities that she need it and was ready for, otherwise she would get distracted or tired of it.

"The development of character (is) a natural sequence of events resulting from the child's own individual efforts, which have no reference to any extraneous factors, but depend on his own creative energy" (The Absorbent Mind)

The child is to work with no interference so not to interrupt her inner drive for expression. Pictures can be completely expressive and abstract; there is no need for verbal explanations.

"The teacher can find a very good model for her behavior in the way a good valet looks after his master. He keeps his master's dressing table tidy, puts the brushes in place, but he does not tell his master when to use the brushes" (The Absorbent Mind)

Some Montessori schools do not display the children’s work because the child might feel that the work is complete and will stop the exploration. The teacher does not need to say anything to the child unless it is technical such as would you like me to show you how to clean up or would you like to do another collage?

Famous paintings can be introduced to children as young as two years old through a collection of postcard sized prints. They can touch them and pass it around, match and recognize styles and techniques, and explore freely without adult commentaries. Discussions include questions such as "Where is that road going?" "Why do the trees at the top look so small compared to the ones at the bottom?" "Where would you like to be in this painting?" "How does it make you feel?" "Does it look the same close up as it does far away?"

A diverse array of styles should be available so as to exemplify to children that art has personal expression and help free a child from anxieties about their own work.