From the pupil’s point of view

At the International Montessori School Berlin (IMS) we strengthen and support the children’s natural curiosity. The enjoyment of freely chosen learning content and the materials that are accessible at all times are the ideal motivation to learn persistently and attentively. In classes that span different years, the children work on different topics and tasks, alone or in groups, depending on their interests and learning level. In Montessori education, this is called “free work”.

“With us, the teacher doesn’t tell us what to learn. Here we get to choose for ourselves when we do German or maths. “

(a pupil, learning group 1-3, 8 years)

“I like the fact that I can work with my material wherever I want: at the window, on the carpet, at the table…”.

(a pupil, learning group 4-6, 10 years)

“Freedom and discipline are two sides of the same coin”

(Maria Montessori).

Our learning environment allows for free work. This means that pupils have:

• the free choice of the object/material they want to work with,
• the free choice of workplace, inside and outside the classroom,
• the free choice of the time they devote to a specific topic within the given framework, as well as
• the free choice of the partner with whom they work on a task.

Freedom includes structures and boundaries:

• The learning environment prepared by the teacher is adapted to the size, strength and needs of the children.
• With house and class rules that are uniform and transparent for all, we enable an atmosphere in which children and adults feel comfortable.
• With a weekly class council, we promote the reflection of one’s own behaviour as well as the exchange about it in the group and thus support the respectful treatment of other people and the material.
• The school year is divided into several sections, each of which focuses on one of Maria Montessori’s “great stories”. These stories are, for example, about the origin of the earth or the origin of man and offer interdisciplinary learning stimuli.
• Children and teachers agree on the next learning steps and use workbooks (compilation of learning content), weekly plans and individual reflection meetings for this purpose.

Why is learning in Montessori education particularly successful?

• Each child gets the individual support that he or she needs. Because not all children do the same thing at the same time, no one is over- or under-challenged.
• Children work on the topic that interests and moves them. Positive emotions increase the willingness to make an effort and make it easier to internalise and remember what they have learned.
• The Montessori material and the method of free work ensure a “polarisation of attention”, as Maria Montessori calls it. Children immerse themselves in their task and work with high concentration for a long time. The proportion of time in lessons during which children are cognitively highly active increases.
• Children enjoy coming to our school. This is the most important prerequisite for success at school. With us, they do not learn for grades, but are allowed to occupy themselves with what is close to their hearts. They experience themselves as competent.

The success of our pedagogy is evident:

• the excellent results achieved by our pupils in nationwide comparative studies in which IMS voluntarily participates, especially VERA 3.
• average 95 % Gymnasium recommendations for our graduates in grade 6
• in the feedback that our graduates and their parents give us about their successful start at secondary school.
• Study on social learning success in Montessori schools

Alexander Delport, Headmaster

Only what I myself find meaningful, what makes me curious, will I keep in the long term. My school creates the conditions for this