“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 even when these are not material or apparent to the senses.”



DR. MARIA MONTESSORI

A characteristic of all material in the Montessori classroom is that we refer to as the Control of Error. It is a quality imbedded in each material. The control of error as it is referred is how the child performs the work without adult intervention. It helps the child to know if he is doing something correctly or needs to make a change. It’s something that shows or tells the child if he’s done something correctly or with error. The control of error is built in to each material, so that the child uses his own deductions and reasoning to ‘figure out’ the work. The adult does not need to correct the child if there is a mistake; the child, based on the specific control of error, will see it, if it is visual or mechanical; or hear it, if it is auditory, for example. This is a factor that aids in the development of the child, as the child learns best from his own mistakes as well as shows the child the challenge in the material.