몬테소리는 한마디로 아동기의 교육을 중요,시하는 교목 사상가로서 자연주의적인 자유주의에 바탕은 두되 감각으로부터 관념이 형성되는 교육원리를 활용한 실천가로서 확고한 위치를 갖는 사람이다. 한국의 유치원은 비롯한 초등교육에서 몬테소리 이름이 자주 거명되고 있으며 교구 제작과 교육방법, 학교 운영 측면에서도 몬테소리 이름이 자주 등장하고 있지만 실지로 몬테소리 교육을 적용함에 있어 혼합연령집단이 단일연령집단보다 교육적 효과가 훨씬 더 높다. 그럼에도 불구하고 현 실정에서는 혼합연령으로 구성되어 몬테소리수업은 진행하는 유치원보다는 단일연령집단으로 구성되어져서 수업이 이루어지고 있는 유치원이 훨씬 많다. 따라서 본 연구는 몬테소리 유치원에서 혼합연령집단으로 구성된 유치원과 단일연령집단으로 구성된 유치원의 어머니들은 혼합연령집단 구성에 대해 어떻게 인식하고 있는지를 알아보고자 한다.

The purpose of this study is to survey and compare the opinions of different mothers to Montessori educational activities within a mixed age group, insofar as the Montessori kindergartens are composed of mixed age groups and same age groups. The research questions of this thesis are focused on the followings: 1. What are the different opinions about the Montessori educational activities, according to the mixed age group composition, between mothers whose children go to kindergartens composed of the mixed age groups and same age groups. 2. What are the different opinions about the mixed age group composition between the mothers based on the pros and cons of the mixed age group composition. The study used the questionnaire method. For the study, 135 of 240 questionnaires were given to the mothers whose children belong to the mixed age group, and the rest to the mothers having children in the same age group in the Montessori program kindergartens in the urban area of Kumi. The response rate was 95.4%. The chi-square test was performed for the questions with nominal variable using the Statistical Product & Service Solutions (SPSS) package for the analysis. The results of the analyses can be summarized as follows: 1. In the mixed age group composition, the mothers of those children are more positive about their classroom activities, thinking those are effective for early children`s social and self development, acceptance of individual difference, decrease of competitive spirit, etc than mothers of children in the same age group. 2. According to their different view based on the pros and cons of the mixed group composition, mothers agreeable to it think that children can help one another by taking care of younger ones and can benefit from learning activities with the older ones, which, likewise is considered a shortcoming by the mothers who don`t agree with it. This shows the difference of opinion between mothers, that is, those who think mixed age group composition is desirable for children`s social development and the others who think it is harmful to children in each age.