The Montessori Education & Development Centre (MEDECE™) in Kuala Lumpur
offers early childhood education courses accredited by the Australian Montessori
Society Inc (AMS). It is a centre for quality and excellence in education with resources
to support the courses and anyone interested in early childhood education. The AMS is
an Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) recognised entity and a Registered
Training Organisation. (RTO code 0295). Classes meet as outlined by the course
schedule and include:
FORMAT
The in-house courses consist of lectures and demonstrations during which students
take notes followed by supervised practice with the materials/apparatus. With the help
of their notes students compile illustrated albums/handbooks and make materials for
their future classrooms. This is the classic, visual, tactile and kinaesthetic method of
transmission by Mario Montessori, the son of Dr. Maria Montessori. A workplace
practicum of a set amount of hours in a Montessori classroom is required before the
student can be certified and issued with a qualification.
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Montessori Philosophy
In this course we enter into the study of Dr. Montessori's philosophy that concentrates
on her beliefs about child development and education; the method and its principles
that everything on this planet is interdependent – and with everything that exists in the
universe. It is the foundation of Cultural and Cosmic Education.
Montessori Psychology
You will study the Montessori Psychology, called the Formation of Man. It explores the
subjects of Early Childhood Development, Child in the Family and Child in Society,
plus Dr. Montessori's concepts of child development from birth to 18 years, including
the Absorbent Mind, Sensitive Periods and the Tendencies of Man.
Child Development
You will study and gain an overall understanding of the general development of the
child – physical, cognitive, social, emotional and spiritual.
Safety, Health & Hygiene
Safety, Health & Hygiene are very important matters in a child’s developing stages and
his/her environment. You will study how to create and maintain a safe, healthy &
hygienic, and as equally as important, a stimulating, caring and nurturing, environment
for the child. This all forms part of the prepared environment.
Observation
Maria Montessori as a doctor was a keen scientific observer. Through her ability to
observe factually she was guided by the child discovering its own abilities, struggles
and needs. With those observations she created the prepared environment so that the
child could develop independently, appropriate to its developmental stage.
Practical Life and Sensorial Materials
The exercises of Practical Life help children coordinate their motor movements,
learning to take care of themselves and their immediate environment without adult
help, thus gaining genuinely positive self-esteem. The exercises of Grace and
Courtesy introduce children to cooperative, non-competitive social behaviour, laying the
groundwork for the experience of peaceful co-existence. The Sensorial Materials were
designed by Dr. Montessori to make children aware of their senses and to refine them
in order to bring more stimuli to the child's brain, enhancing creativity, and developing
the mathematical mind. Art and Music complement the activities.
Cultural Subjects and Peace Education
The colourful interactive materials of the Cultural Subjects lead children to discover the
interdependence of subjects such as geography, history, biology and anthropology,
providing them with a broad knowledge of their culture and the world. Combined with
peace-making and peace-keeping skills these experiences form the basis of Peace
Education.
Language
Dr. Montessori believed that language has to be closely related to reality, to something
experienced. Consequently, she provides the child with many interesting experiences
in all the subject areas mentioned above, then provides the correct vocabulary for the
child's self-expression and classification. By making children aware of phonics they
progress easily from writing to reading.
Mathematics
Arithmetic, geometry and fractions become irresistible games and learning
experiences with the beautiful manipulative Montessori maths materials. The concepts
of quantity, symbol, arithmetic operations, geometry and fractions are introduced as
concrete, interactive experiences from where children can progress to the abstract
understanding of the concepts.
