Important New Book Published

Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius

By Dr. Angeline Stoll Lillard

An important new book has just been released by Angeline Stoll Lillard, daughter of Paula Polk-Lillard, the world-famous Montessori educator who has authored several outstanding books describing the Montessori experience in depth. Dr. Lillard has made a major contribution with this scientific exploration of how the Montessori model best prepares children in several inter-related ways to succeed in school and later life. The book carefully demonstrates how ongoing brain research and studies about child development support the validity and effectiveness of the Montessori approach.

Dr. Lillard is eminently qualified to meet this challenge. She is a Research Psychologist at the University of Virginia and has been recognized worldwide for her research in child development. As a young professional, she has already received two prestigious American Psychological Association awards, including the Outstanding Dissertation Award and the Boyd McCandless Award for Distinguished Early Career Contribution. She has also been asked to deliver keynote addresses to the Developmental Psychology societies of Great Britain, Japan, and Italy.

Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius is the first book published in America to explain the modern day science behind this education technique developed nearly a century ago. It discusses what happens in carefully prepared Montessori environments and shows why the method works so well when used correctly. Parents, Montessori educators, and anyone else who is seriously interested in Montessori education will find this book to be a valuable contribution to the world of education.

The book’s release, by happenstance, follows closely on recent media attention given to the success of the Montessori method following the Barbara Walter’s end of year interview with the young billionaires Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who co-founded the Google web search engine, and the earlier Fortune magazine interview with Jeffrey Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, each of whom credited their Montessori Education as the foundation of their success. The link between these very visible success stories and the growing body of scientific evidence is galvanizing the attitude of many who were formerly unfamiliar with or misinformed about the vitality and relevance of the Montessori approach.

The core principles of Montessori education revolve around the full development of human beings from an early age onward. As every Montessori parent knows, Montessori classrooms allow children to explore and learn freely in a specially prepared environment. Montessori is far more than simply an educational approach; it is, to quote the Association Montessori Internationale, "an international educational and social reform movement with a distinguished past and a dynamic, relevant future."

We should all thank Oxford Press for bringing us this important new volume and the Association Montessori Internationale for their encouragement and support of work of this caliber. And I want to send our warmest congratulations to Dr. Lillard and her entire family. This is a book that should be in every Montessori school library and read by every parent of a Montessori student who wants to see evidence that validates the simple fact that Montessori works extraordinarily well!

Tim Seldin
President
The Montessori Foundation

PS: The first chapter of Angeline Lillard's new book will appear in Tomorrow's Child in two installments beginning with the March issue.