by Regan Becker

“It is well to cultivate a friendly feeling toward error, to treat it as a companion inseparable from our lives, as something having a purpose – which it truly has.” – Dr. Maria Montessori

In using a scientific approach, Dr. Montessori created hands-on, didactic materials for children in the Montessori primary classroom. In most traditional classrooms, didactic materials are often not used until at least secondary school. Dr. Montessori recognized that very young children have Sensitive Periods for language, movement, order, use of small objects, and music. In Montessori classrooms, children learn with concrete manipulatives, which allow them to act independently and without the aid of adults or peers.

“The fundamental help in development, especially with little children of 3 years of age, is not to interfere. Interference stops activity and stops concentration.” – Dr. Maria Montessori

The Montessori method is child-led, rather than adult-directed as in most traditional educational approaches. After a guide gives a lesson to a child, that child may practice the work until their intrinsic motivation is satisfied and their concentration is exhausted. Montessori materials contain an inherent control of error which allows the child to auto-educate and self-correct. Through use of the Montessori materials, the child receives instant feedback and can recognize, adjust, and learn from an error without adult intervention. The self-esteem and self-motivation that children experience while working with Montessori materials enhances their joy of learning.

“Not upon the ability of the teacher does education rest, but upon the didactic system. When the control and correction of errors is yielded to the materials, there remains for the teacher nothing but to observe.” – Dr. Maria Montessori

The four curricular areas in a Montessori primary classroom — Sensorial, Practical Life, Language, and Math — all contain control of error. In the Sensorial area, for example, the Knobbed Cylinders each fit only in a certain slot. When a child removes all of the Knobbed Cylinders and attempts to put them back together, they see their own mistake if not all of the cylinders fit in the base. The same happens with the Bells, whose tone indicates to the child that the scale is out of sequence. In this way, gradations of difference are internalized through experience with the materials. The Knobbed Cylinders activate the visual and spatial senses, while the Bells activate the auditory sense.

“The control of error through the material makes a child use his reason, critical faculty, and his ever increasing capacity for drawing distinctions. In this way a child’s mind is conditioned to correct his errors.” – Dr. Maria Montessori

The Pink Tower and the Brown Stair are Montessori Sensorial materials which strengthen visual and spatial gradations of measurement. Children perceive any mistakes in their construction by themselves, often rebuilding until the Montessori materials are in proper sequence. This action satisfies the primary age child’s developmental love for order.

“The child’s individual liberty must be so guided that through his activity he may arrive at independence.” – Dr. Maria Montessori

In the Montessori Math area, the Spindle Boxes contain a control of error, as there are only enough spindles for each numbered slot. If a child runs out of spindles, they will recognize, adjust, and learn that a mistake has been made. The child will then re-count the number of spindles in each slot, find the mistaken amount, and correct the work all by themselves. This action builds self-confidence and self-reliance.

“We must help the child to liberate himself from his defects without making him feel his weakness.” – Dr. Maria Montessori

In the Montessori Practical Life area, for example, the Dressing Frames demonstrates a control of error revealed by the number of snaps matching the number of snap fasteners. In the Montessori Language area, the Metal Inset frames show control of error by a child keeping the pencil in place; the direct feedback of the contrasting blue Metal Inset reinforces the intended use of this material.

“The environment itself will teach the child, if every error he makes is manifest to him, without the intervention of a parent or teacher – who should remain a quiet observer of all that happens.” – Dr. Maria Montessori

Dr. Montessori believed that adults should not intervene when a child is engaged with learning. Any interaction – whether intended as approval or correction – interrupts the natural flow of a child’s own discovery and focus. A common Montessori classroom agreement is the preservation of a student’s concentration. The cognition of noticing when something doesn’t fit demonstrates a human’s internalized understanding of order.

“The teacher can destroy the good impulse of children by intervening, or at least her intervention will cause the real ‘ego’ of the child to withdraw within himself as a snail into its shell.” – Dr. Maria Montessori

The control of error with the Montessori materials:

correlates with the child’s intellectual and physical development,
motivates children to try new things and take risks,
insures a child’s self-confidence in the process over perfection,
supports a child’s independence and learning at their own pace,
increases problem-solving and deduction skills,
improves self-discipline and intrinsic motivation, and
encourages repetition as an aid to competence.

“(Self-) Discipline is born when the child concentrates his attention on some object that attracts him and which provides him not only with a useful exercise but with a control of error. Thanks to these exercises … the child becomes calm, radiantly happy, busy, forgetful of himself and, in consequence, indifferent to prizes or material rewards.” — Dr. Maria Montessori

Control of Error

by Regan Becker

Supporting Inclusivity

Spontaneous Activity