East Meets West Preschool Program
It is during the early periods of development of a child that he or she has the highest ability to adapt to different kinds of environment (Banks, 2009). In addition, it is also during this period that a child can easily master particular learning skills. According to Maria Montessori philosophy, children will have mental powers since their birth that will assist in their individual development. Completion of the task of self-construction can only be through purposeful exploration, movement, and discovery of people and things around them (adjacent environment). Per se, at this age introducing different cultures to them at such an early age would beneficial. Practices such as yoga and meditation will help in both mental and physical development of a child. Furthermore, tolerance of the new values learnt and their incorporation to children activities is easier given the fact that such children are still in their learning phase
Integration of the west and eastern education will facilitate the provision of high quality and comprehensive education curriculum, which has an advantage of hefty research on different faculties (Morgan, 2007). Montessori philosophy suggests that it is the responsibility of a teacher to recognize individual phases of development in individual children and avail the necessary materials in the classroom environment in each phase (Beck, 2009). Accordingly, teachers should introduce activities such as martial arts. Such activities that are predominantly from the east will assist children to understand the new culture and in the process develop respect for their own culture. Given that Montessori education gives room for age differentiation, it will allow for determination of various levels of culture comprehension. Teaching culture to children at different levels will be essential in monitoring the success of the program and in addition, assist in understanding its impact on the preschoolers.
Through the merging, the school should be able to accommodate different classes and cultures of children. According to study, the rift between the eastern and western cultures has been widening. Montessori philosophy is adamant on the differentiation of different classes. This will assist in the teaching of preschoolers from the western world eastern culture. The consequence of this is that as they grow they will learn to tolerate different cultures. Currently, the two major cultures of the world are from east and west (Mayesky, 2011). Teaching children eastern techniques will be detrimental in closing the gap. As such, there will be a more united world in the future reducing the current tensions. Montessori philosophy has the capability of incorporating children from the east to participate in such activities (Slentz, 2010). As a result, preschoolers from the two divides of culture will learn the importance of embracing different cultures.
Maria Montessori in her philosophy maintains that education is not artificial but rather a natural process that individual will undergo not only through listening to words but also by experiencing their environment (Beck, 2009). Teaching yoga, meditation, and martial arts will be an additional to their class work that will cement their experience. It is obvious that a child that has grown up experiencing two different cultures has adequate preparation of the society. As such, this will benefit them given that any specific society constitutes of different types of people having cultures. As such, tolerance is an important virtue because a child’s major occupation is creating the individuals that they will become in the future. Thus, an environment exposing a child to different cultures helps in enhancing their integration and cohesion skills.
References
Slentz, K. L. (2010). Early Childhood Education: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. London: Taylor & Francis Publishers.
Morgan, H. (2007). Early childhood education: history, theory, and practice. New York: Rowman &Littlefield Publishers.
Mayesky, M. (2011). Creative Activities for Young Children. California: Cengage Learning.
Beck, V. (2009). Teaching Young Children in Multicultural Classrooms: Issues, Concepts, and Strategies. California: Cengage Learning.
Banks, J.A. (2009). Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons Publishers.
