A work cycle normally lasts 2.5-3 hours long, and there can be one in the morning, and one in the afternoon in a Montessori setting. These are the lesson times. Seem long? They probably do to be honest, and most people I speak to are shocked to learn that this is the length of lessons. However, there is a BIG difference... Within each work cycle, children can do many different things... They can:
- Be presented lessons on a 1-to-1 basis by the teacher
- Practice those lessons as long as they want to (so they are not rushed to finish something to move on to something else, they can carry on as long as they need to, and sometimes this can be for hours!)
- Practice lessons they have already been taught - they independently choose to do this from the materials on the shelves which are always available.
- Have a group lesson on a particular subject
- Help themselves to a snack and drink when they want to (children are not always hungry or thirsty when break time comes around at school - this way they can regulate their own needs)
- Be talking to friends or watching other children working
- Teaching a younger child how to do something
- Resting or sleeping
- Taking a toilet break
This means that in a 3 hour period, a child may have done maths, language work, art work, geography, science, history, had a snack, read a book, had a rest and been involved in some group work. Another child may have spent the whole time practising his or her maths skills!
I love the idea of work cycles - they give children something mainstream schools don't give - time. Time to learn, to digest, to ask questions, make mistakes, correct mistakes and practice what they learn. If they need more time to learn something, they can have it. They do not have to move on when the rest of the class does, or when it is dictated to them. If they need to do multiplication over and over and over, they can. And particularly with the maths materials, children get so engrossed in using them, I once taught a child who used the Montessori bead material (I will get round to explaining this at some stage) to practice skip counting and his times tables for the WHOLE DAY! He loved it, was so proud and happy with what he had done, and so excited to tell his mum, who then brushed off his amazing achievement as 'oh that's nice'... (charming!)
Anyway, yes, the work cycles allow for that time, they allow the children to choose what they will do next, they create their own learning paths, under the direction and constant observation of the teacher (who makes sure they get a good variety and are always getting introduced to new things when they are ready to learn them)...
