Montessori pedagogy emphasizes the importance of a child's interaction with their immediate surroundings. The method is based on hands-on experiences, active learning, and self-direction where children explore and learn through direct interaction with their environment. In contrast, pretend play creates a distance between the child and the reality of their environment. Montessori believes that pretend play can limit children's real-life experiences and encourage a disconnection from their immediate surroundings. Hence, Montessori discourages pretend play to encourage children to engage in and learn from real-life experiences.
Montessori Education focuses on the development of real-life skills and experiences. It believes that pretend play does not provide enough opportunities for children to learn from real-life experiences. Montessori education emphasizes the importance of real-life, hands-on experiences to stimulate a child's learning process. The approach engages children naturally with real-life tasks and gives them the freedom to discover and explore at their own pace. Therefore, the Montessori approach does not promote pretend play, as it does not effectively contribute to children's learning and development. Instead, Montessori encourages real-life experiences that foster independence, creativity and promote the development of life skills.