Control of Error

During all of her time with children, Maria Montessori discovered that children would much rather correct themselves, or discover something new themselves, rather than have an adult move in.  Because of this, she developed many of her materials with a built in 'control of error'.  This means that children can self correct and notice an imperfection themselves while working.  This control of error is built into the physically prepared environment and allows children to use their reasoning and problem solving skills.  It also gives them quick feedback on their work, rather than having to wait for an adult to evaluate what they have done. Some examples of this are:

*Furniture in the classroom is light weight enough to be moved without adult help and will also be knocked over if a child is not carefully controlling their body. 

*Objects in the classroom are breakable which teaches them to handle things carefully to avoid damage or breakage.

*Sometimes in many of the matching or sorting works, a small dot will be placed on the back of the picture/word card so children can check their work.  So, if a child is sorting land/air/water pictures, they may complete the work, then turn over all the cards and see that all the land cards have a brown dot, all the water cards have a blue dot and all the air cards have a white dot.  This indicates to them that they have sorted correctly. 

*Knobbed Cylinders-there is one space for each cylinder and they all fit perfectly-if a child is working with this material, they will notice that if a piece doesn't fit exactly, there is not space for all cylinders.  We have observed on many occasions children focusing and working until getting it right. We have also seen this material be returned to the shelf with some cylinders out of place which just indicates that a child is practicing with this material and has not yet developed the visual discrimination skills to see the imperfections.

*Many of the Sensorial materials have a built in control of error-the Red Rods, the Pink Tower, and the Brown Stair show an imperfection in how a child sees them.  With the Red Rods, they are grading the rods from longest to shortest. When the rods are graded on the rug, the child may notice they have graded incorrectly if the rods are out of order.

*Sorting works will have the same number of objects so if the child sorts, but doesn't have the same number of objects for each row, they will know to go back and check for a mistake.  For example, if a child is sorting items according to how they feel (rough vs. smooth) and they end up with 6 items under rough and 4 items under smooth, they will need to go back and check the work to see where they made a mistake.

Making sure that all materials in the classroom are prepared and ready for a child to work with them is another important part of how teachers prepare the classroom.  Each day teachers tend to the materials and works-refill, straighten, count, clean and prepare so that children are drawn in and attracted to the works.  Part of why a Montessori classroom functions so beautifully is because there are so many wonderful things for children to engage in.  They love being at school, they love their friends, and they love how the environment makes them feel~respected, cared for, capable and empowered!

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