Child’s Work | Montessori Foundation | MFA

Making Lunch

by Cheryl Allen | Child's Work, Empowerment, Health / Nutrition, MFA, Mixed Ages, Montessori Family Life, Montessori Parenting, Practical Life, TC Feb 2022, Tomorrow's Child

One of the most challenging parts of having children in school is making lunches. With some guidance, children can make their own lunch. It then becomes a win/win situation. You do not need to make lunch daily, your child gets to practice practical life skills, and...

The Importance of the Kindergarten Year

by Tim Seldin | Child's Work, Kindergarten, MFA, Montessori Education, Montessori Parenting, Primary (3-6), Re-enrollment, TC Feb 2022, Tomorrow's Child

Every year in January, one of us will write an article about the importance of children who are turning five completing the three-year cycle of the Montessori Early Childhood program. We do this because this is a decision that is truly important for any child who has...

Raising Helpers

by Theresa | Child's Work, Emotional Intelligence (EQ), Empowerment, Family Resources, Grace and Courtesy, Infant-Toddler (0 to 3), MFA, Montessori Family Life, Montessori Parenting, Practical Life, Primary (3-6), TC Feb 2022, Tomorrow's Child

by Theresa of Montessoriinreallife.com One of the most wonderful things about toddlers is how they so inherently want to help. They are eager to be involved, be near us, and participate in our day-to-day activities. What we deem “chores,” toddlers see as what they...

Messy Spaces for Art and Hobbies

by The Montessori Foundation Staff | Child's Work, Family Resources, Imagination, MFA, Montessori Family Life, Practical Life, Prepared Environment, TC Feb 2022

by Tim Seldin and Lorna McGrath An excerpt from Montessori For Every Family, published by DK Press, 2021 In most families, there are hobbies, interests, and activities that can be messy, need to be left in place to continue to work on later, or where special tools and...

Faces of Normalization

by Dorothy Harman | Child's Work, Children with Exceptionalities, Emotionally Healthy Children, Montessori Curriculum, Prepared Environment, Primary (3-6), TC Feb 2022

Normalization is a term that Montessori teachers exhaust at the beginning of each school year. “The children are normalizing.” “Normalization is a delicate process.” “We’re almost normalized.” But what is normalization? Dr. Montessori described normalization in this...

Some Of Our Favorite Supplies For An Art Area In Your Home

by Cheryl Allen | Child's Work, Family Resources, MFA, Mixed Ages, Montessori Family Life, Montessori Grandparenting, Montessori Parenting, Practical Life, Prepared Environment, Primary (3-6), TC Feb 2022

“As well as being part of our history and a way of understanding other people’s experiences, art is also a form of personal expression, like poetry, song, dance, and telling stories. It is a form of human connection that can evoke feelings, thoughts, and hopefully...

Montessori Grandparenting: We Are All Stewards of the Earth

by Margot Garfield-Anderson | Challenging Behaviors, Child's Work, Family Resources, MFA, Montessori Education, Montessori Family Life, Montessori Grandparenting, Montessori Parenting, Montessori Teachers, Parent Education, Tomorrow's Child, Tomorrow's Child Online Issue

Have you been observing this young student from Sweden? Greta Thunberg is a teenager who is credited with raising global awareness of the risks posed by global warming/climate change, and with holding politicians accountable for their lack of action on the climate...

Helping Children to Be Successful: Developing Grit

by Rachel Buechler | Child's Work, Family Resources, Infant-Toddler (0 to 3), MFA, Montessori Education, Montessori Family Life, Montessori Parenting, Montessori Teachers, Parent Education, Primary (3-6), Toddler (18 months-3 years), Tomorrow's Child, Tomorrow's Child Online Issue

by Rachel Buechler A little girl sits at the table with the Snap Dressing Frame. She has picked it up several times before today and quickly returned it to its stand after a short attempt. Today she picks it up and places it on the table. She tries the first snap; it...

If iPad Will I Touch Tablets? Montessori and Technology

by Paul Epstein, PhD | Child's Work, Computers in the Classroom, Educational Program Coordination, Montessori Education, Montessori Family Life, Montessori Parenting, Online Learning, Parenting on the Same Page, The International Montessori Council, Tomorrow's Child

What are we (as Montessori educators and parents) to do with this new reality? What will Montessori be in an ever-changing future? We now live in an ever-changing future, and our Montessori goals are necessary preparations for children who need to learn how to adapt. We’ve been citizens in this kind of future for […]

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Encouraging Risk Taking

by Peter Pizzolongo | Child's Work, Empowerment, Health / Nutrition, MFA, Montessori students, Parent Education, Practical Life, TC September 2021

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What You Will See In A Great Montessori School

by Julia Volkman | Child's Work, MFA, Mixed Ages, Montessori Education, Montessori Materials, Parent Education, Prepared Environment, Primary (3-6), TC September 2021

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Workbooks – Is there a place for them in Authentic Montessori

by Sharon Caldwell | Child's Work, Educational Program Coordination, Effective Boards, Lower Elementary (6-9), Montessori Curriculum, Montessori Education, Montessori Materials, Montessori Middle School, Montessori Secondary / High School, Montessori Teachers, Prepared Environment, Primary (3-6), School Leadership, The International Montessori Council, Upper Elementary (9-12)

Download PDF of Article: Workbooks – Is there a place for them in Authentic Montessori Education?

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Portfolios of Children’s Work

by Tim Seldin | Child's Work, MFA, Montessori Education, Montessori Teachers

Portfolios of children’s work can make it much easier for parents to get a sense of their children’s progress. Parents often feel frustrated with Montessori because, with no text and workbooks, they feel like they haven’t a clue what their child may, or may not, be learning in school. American parents don’t like to experiment […]

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Free Chosen Activity means Freely Chosen All the Time

by Sharon Caldwell | Child's Work, Family Resources, MFA, Montessori Education, Montessori Family Life, Montessori Parenting, Montessori Teachers, Parent Education, Parenting on the Same Page

It makes no sense to me that a pedagogical approach based on spontaneous activity and free choice in the classroom would presume to dictate what a child should be doing at home. The idea of assigning homework is appropriated from the conventional schooling paradigm – sometimes because Montessori teachers have insufficient faith in the child […]

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Understanding the Three-Hour Work Cycle

by Maren Stark Schmidt | Child's Work, Early Adolescence (12-15), Emotional Intelligence (EQ), Later Adolescence (15-18), Lower Elementary (6-9), MFA, Mindfulness, Montessori Education, Montessori Teachers, Upper Elementary (9-12), Young Adults

Tired and agitated, Sara got ready for bed. What had happened to the day? She had woken up fresh that morning, ready to have a productive day. During breakfast, Sara’s assistant had called to alert Sara that she wouldn’t be in to copy the reports for the next day’s meeting. When Sara went to make […]