When Less is More: A Case for Giving Fewer Lessons

by Letty Rising

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One of the unique challenges of being a Montessori guide is deciding how many lessons to present on any given day. What is the ideal number? 4? 7? 10? And what constitutes a “lesson” to be included in this number? And what about how many lessons each child should receive? Is there a magic number, or a sweet spot, for that?

In teacher training, we learn that there isn’t a prescribed number of lessons we are expected to present, and for the person who is hoping for a recipe or formula, the lack of explicit direction on this can be unsettling. However, there are numerous reasons for there not being a specified number!

First, all teachers have their own pacing and style, and while some teachers move quickly through lessons, others take a bit more time. In addition, in order to facilitate a prepared environment that is responsive to the needs and interests of all students, there will be days when more lessons are needed, and other days that call for fewer lessons. Sometimes you will deliver more lessons if:

It is the beginning of the year
You have a classroom filled with new students
The classroom isn’t yet normalized
You have an especially large class
You have a lot of children requesting new lessons from you
Your observation and reflection practices reveal that the class is functioning optimally with more lessons

As teachers, our mental models are constructed around the idea that we should be doing “more.” The education system, particularly for the elementary years and beyond, has been centered around performance-based metrics, and this goes for both students and teachers. In our quest for high-quality, high-fidelity environments where we offer the ideal, we can fall into the mindset that “more” is often equated with “better.” But that isn’t often the case!

If a metric indicates that a student isn’t performing well, the solution has often been to give “more.” More lessons, more assessments, more oversight, more accountability, more one-on-one support. We’ve been operating under the assumption that if we want more…more student achievement, and more completed products, we need to do more. While holding the notion of more = better, many have failed to consider the idea that sometimes the solution might involve giving less.

Giving fewer, more productive lessons is good for all parties concerned.

When a conscious effort is made towards delivering fewer presentations throughout the day, it opens the door for other things to emerge. After all, nature abhors a vacuum! Empty and unfilled spaces give rise to new opportunities. For example, when teachers give fewer lessons, they will have more time to observe their classroom. Observation offers valuable information and can help to identify who needs what kinds of presentations based on the interests and capabilities that you observe in your students.

In your observation, you may notice a child you were planning to invite to a math lesson has already mastered the concept by learning from another student, and that child has progressed further with a material or skill than you were aware of. Time is precious, and we want to minimize the time that we waste giving a child a presentation on information or skills that they have mastered. Conversely, we also want to minimize the time we waste preparing to deliver a lesson to a child or group of children who are not yet ready for it.

Observation helps you hone in on who needs what and helps you customize and personalize the lessons you give. In order to do this, teachers should be dedicating time to observe their classroom for at least 10 minutes a day, and that is a minimum! Finding times for longer chunks of observation will go a long way in supporting teacher planning and instruction. If you give fewer lessons, you can make space for this valuable observation time, which helps you inform your future planning.

Quality Over Quantity

When teachers give fewer lessons, they are able to dedicate time to giving quality lessons. Especially for new teachers, keeping 10-12 lessons at the forefront of your mind and ready to deliver each day can be overwhelming. This can, in turn, lead to discouragement and a general lack of motivation. It’s hard to feel successful with an overwhelming “to-do” list, and a long list of undelivered lessons is no different.

Focusing on fewer presentations will boost your confidence, and also allow you to take more time with each of your small groups without feeling rushed. The extra time gives you the opportunity to sit with your students a bit longer and help them get started with their follow-up work or offer them some “guided practice” time where they can sit and work with the materials with your immediate support so that by the time they leave you, they will be confident in knowing how to use a material or do a skill independently.

Unscheduled Lessons Count!

Another case for giving fewer lessons is that you are likely giving more lessons than you realize! Throughout the day you are giving numerous impromptu, spontaneous lessons that you might not be aware of because they feel more like a conversation or an answer to a question. While you might have 6 lessons planned on a day, you may give an unscheduled mini-lesson on letter formation, using a semicolon, or quickly re-teaching a lesson on how to turn an improper fraction into a mixed number after a long break. These lessons are born from organic needs that arise during the work cycle, and they are an essential component of the day. These mini-lessons are a part of Cosmic Education as well!

You will have many students who need material presented to them more than once, and re-teaching a previously demonstrated lesson counts as a lesson. It’s important to look at your planning tool and review the lessons you’ve given. If you see that every single lesson is a new one, you might want to consider which students can benefit from a repeated lesson in order to master a piece of content, a concept, or a skill, and include repeat lessons into your planning.

If you have too many scheduled lessons, then you aren’t leaving room for giving some on-the-spot and very much-needed mini-lessons or review lessons that often help children continue with their independent work. If you have a line of students waiting to talk to you, it could be a sign that you need to lighten your lesson load and find some moments to observe, circulate, and be available.

Furthermore, don’t forget ALL of the social and emotional lessons you give to your students on a daily basis! Montessori education is about Cosmic Education, and when we give children Cosmic Education, we are giving them the universe. So when we consider the lessons to give during a day, our plans should include lessons such as:

Navigating conflicts with peers
How to collaborate in a group work project
How to use “I” statements when expressing one’s thoughts and emotions
How to give a compliment
How to introduce yourself to a new person
How to make a phone call to set up a “going out”

These social and emotional lessons are comprised of valuable information that supports the classroom community in developing independence and communication skills.

When considering the impact of fewer lessons on the students, there are numerous positive outcomes that result in operating from the assumption that “less is more.” When students have fewer scheduled lessons to attend, this gives them the opportunity to focus more of their time and attention on follow-up work and independently chosen work. This allows them to dive more deeply into their work than if they are expecting to be interrupted for several lessons a day.

Longer lengths of uninterrupted time result in students becoming laser-focused on work that is often very meaningful to them. And if we subscribe to the notion that children construct themselves through meaningful work, then we need to extend the time, space, and opportunity to do so. Because of this, delivering 1 or maybe 2 lessons for each child per day is ideal so that they have time to practice work from other lessons they’ve received, and to spend quality time developing products they are proud of that result from their various follow-up work and passion projects.

So how many planned lessons should we expect to give?

While there is no prescribed number, a range as wide as 4-10 lessons a day can be the norm. Personally, I have found the sweet spot to be around 6-7 lessons per day. 4 in the morning and 2-3 in the afternoon worked well for me…and that included literature circles, PE classes, art lessons, music, etc. Don’t get stuck on thinking of math, language, history, and science as the “real” lessons and discount topics such as art, music, or practical life!

The idea is not to get to the point where you are giving one or two lessons a day, although there might be some days when that is the case! Maybe the entire class is deeply focused on their work, and calling anyone for a lesson would disrupt a magical moment. Maybe you are conferencing with students on Fridays, and won’t be giving formal presentations on that day.

The amount of lessons we give is also in some ways influenced by the structure of the school day. Some schools have afternoon “specials” a couple of days per week, which would mean that the lessons given on those days will be fewer. Resist the idea of trying to cram 6 lessons into a morning because you want to ensure that you cover everything in your plan. Remember that your plans are not set in stone and that you can be responsive and adjust according to the needs of the moment and the variables in place.

There are certain variables that could come into play that might give rise to a “no lesson” day. However, for your average typical day, a lighter schedule might be 3-4 lessons, and a heavier schedule might be 9-10 lessons. If you have a class of 8 students, the number of lessons you present will be less than if you have a class of 30 students.

Final Thoughts

The variety of variables and possibilities to consider is why an exact number can’t be given. As with questions that come up in regard to a responsive Montessori environment filled with organic, spontaneous activity, the answer is “it depends.” You, as the guide, will have your own rhythm and flow, and strike a balance between offering presentations and protecting long blocks of time for students to engage deeply in the work that matters to them.

Letty Rising

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Letty Rising has been involved in Montessori education for over 15 years. She holds a B.A. in Sociology, a California State Teaching Credential, and an AMI elementary diploma for ages 6-12 and an M.Ed from Loyola University in Maryland. She has held positions as a Homeschool Education Specialist, Montessori Elementary Teacher, School Director, Principal, Montessori Coordinator, and Consultant in several public and private Montessori school communities throughout the years. Letty currently supports schools around the world through professional development offerings, consulting, and mentoring.