Determining Knowledge

Lesson of the Week

Determining Knowledge

Montessori classrooms are known for their lack of tests. It is rare for the children to sit with a piece of paper and explain everything they know about a subject, and when it does happen, the guides (teachers) tend to take that information with a grain of salt. It is rare that the test shows the sum of what a child actually knows about the subject. As a result, one really common question parents have is how do we know what each child knows? I want to talk about what the teachers do, but not just to explain future Montessori classrooms if you end up choosing one - this is also a really useful tool to use at home yourself for raising confident children.

First, for any given topic, we do not assume a child knows something if they have not been taught, no matter how simple it feels to us. That means we focus first on teaching. If we want to say, “What color is this block?” we stop ourselves and ask, “Have I ever taught him this color?” If not, then that’s where to begin.

“This is yellow.”

“You put the yellow block on the tower!”

“Whoops, the yellow block fell down.”

If we know we have taught it, we spend the vast majority of the time in this level of questioning and seeing how they respond:

“Can you hand me the yellow block?”

“Can you put the yellow block on top of the tower?”

“Can you put the yellow block in the basket?”

Notice that at no point have I said, “What color is this?” I don’t need to! If I asked for the yellow block, and they handed me a red block, then I have my answer - we need to go back and practice at the “this is yellow” stage first.

For example, there is a little pop toy in the classroom, with the four colored pegs that bounce out if you push them down correctly. Every time a child does it, I watch to see if they match the peg color to the container. A child just beginning to notice colors will remove a peg to get it in the right spot most of the time, and that is my sign they might be interested in practicing the names! We will still start with teaching (“This is yellow”) and games (“Can you hand me the yellow peg?”) and not quizzing (“What color is this?”).

When we are able to determine their knowledge without quizzing them, we are able to practice what we are learning for much longer. They are more inclined to keep working with you than if they keep hearing the “No, it’s actually red” while you work. When they do make a mistake, you address it by providing the correct information. “Oh, you handed me the red block!”. Errors are your sign to go back to teaching. “This is red.” No quizzing required.