The Montessori Way

Snapshot A Montessori Children's House may look different from the classroom parents remember. Children pour water, build towers, trace letters, arrange number beads, study maps, and care for plants. Are they playing or learning? Often, they're doing both. Behind...

How to Look Beyond Progress Reports and Understand Your Child's GrowthA calm conversation helps parents and teachers share what they have observed. Snapshot Fall parent conferences offer far more than an update on academic progress. They are a chance to learn how your...

Your three-year-old insists on having the same cup at breakfast every morning. Your five-year-old becomes upset when you take a different route to school. Your eight-year-old asks repeatedly whether Grandma is still picking them up this afternoon. Why do children...

Looking through family photographs can open the door to stories children will want to hear. Snapshot Last week, in "Beyond Halloween: What If We Celebrated Children Instead?", we proposed that Montessori schools consider an International Children's Week at the end of...

A Montessori Perspective on Halloween, and an Invitation to Celebrate International Children's Week Snapshot Halloween can be great fun, with costumes, neighborhood gatherings, and imaginative play. But some aspects of modern Halloween give us pause, especially for...

Why families choose to invest in their children's education, and why many stay the course through the elementary years and beyond A family sits around the kitchen table with the household budget spread out in front of them. Another year of Montessori tuition will...

Snapshot Why do Montessori children learn the sounds of letters before their names? Why do they trace sandpaper letters, build words with a movable alphabet, and sometimes begin writing words before they can read them? Montessori's approach to language follows a...

Why Montessori takes a different approach to turn-taking, patience, and respect Two children are playing in the living room. One has spent the last twenty minutes carefully building a tower of blocks. The other walks over, reaches for the blocks, and says, "I...

Why children need quiet, unhurried time in a busy world It's Saturday morning, and your child has barely finished breakfast. "What are we doing today?" You explain that there's no special plan; you're just staying home. Your child looks genuinely disappointed. "But...

Understanding the two sides of your child You sit down for your child's parent conference, and the teacher smiles. "Your daughter is doing beautifully. She's independent, responsible, and wonderful with the younger children." You listen with growing amazement....