Maria Montessori Speaks to Parents: A Selection of Articles
Written by Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori spent the vast majority of her professional life working with teachers, developing her innovative educational method. She devoted most of her energy to writing about the Method for teachers. However, she also spent some time during her courses and lectures to address parents. Within the pedagogical archives of Maria Montessori’s original work, several articles were found that have a style and content that was certainly written for parents. It is possible, and even likely, that these articles were written in 1931.
This book contains eleven short articles to help parents understand, in broad strokes, Montessori’s views on how children learn and the role that parents play in supporting their children’s development. It is an interesting collection of articles with clear and exact messages to parents. When I read each one, I had to put the book down and really contemplate her meaning and message. Maria Montessori’s style of writing is different from writers in the 21st century, but her message about children absolutely holds true today. This book is available through Amazon.
We would love to publish reviews of your favorite books. Send book reviews to Lorna at: lornamcgrath@montessori.org
Why Physical Play Must Be Part of the Formula When Kids Head Back to School
By Preston Blackburn
What began abruptly as a stay-at-home mandate two springs ago settled in for significantly longer than any of us expected. Fortunately, with vaccines, we are trending back toward normalcy. One of the brightest spots we are seeing is children returning to their classrooms in person.
As we get ready for a school year in the classroom rather than virtual, many educators are considering how to make up for suspected learning losses that may have occurred during a year of virtual school (Pearson, 2021). From an adult perspective, the first reaction might be to buckle down and power through as much curriculum content as possible to bridge any gaps in acquired knowledge. But is this the right answer? I would argue emphatically, no.
Play is the way kids wring out their brains. The brain is like a sponge. Once it is full, it cannot continue to absorb until it has been wrung out. As adults, we instinctively take breaks when we are working. We grab a coffee, head to the water cooler, or take a peek at social media. These breaks give the brain time to wring itself out.
Play is the way kids wring out their brains. Play is a time for resetting and relaxing their focus, so that their brains are more alert when it is time to go back to the desk. Students’ play was already being restricted before the pandemic. Reports found 44 percent of school administrators had already reduced recess and PE time to increase academics, despite studies proving that more time in recess leads to bigger gains in the classroom (Reilly, 2017). Coming back to school post-shutdown, we must remember to include play-based breaks. It is play that helps kids build strengths and motor patterns needed for classroom success, and it is play that helps kids develop social skills needed for lifetime success.
How Play Leads to Physical Skills and Strength, Leading to Classroom Success
Kids need strength in their arms, legs, necks, and core to sit at a desk, hold and move a pencil, or keep their bodies still so they can pay attention. Children build strength in play when they run, climb, and swing.
Kids need to know where their bodies end and begin, so they can transfer that information to the page as they learn to write. How much space does a letter, or a sentence take up? What direction are they moving their pencil when they write? Children learn these skills in play when they hide under the bed in a game of hide and seek or shimmy through a fence to explore what lies beyond.
Kids need to master rhythm so they can internalize patterns, which help them understand the rhythm of language, the sequence of writing, the patterns of math, the order of logic and reasoning. They develop rhythm in play while jumping, throwing, and skipping.
In addition, children’s aerobic activity releases chemicals in their brains that enhance cognition, behavior, and memory; thereby, having a direct impact on their learning trajectory. Kids get aerobic in big physical play.
These skills and strengths can only be built in movement. And children move best when they are engaged in big physical play. While some children were able to get outside and engage in big, body play during virtual schooling, many did not, spending more time on screens than ever before. As we look to bridge the academic development gap, we need to also bridge the physical development gap that grew for some of our most vulnerable students.
And we know that recess works. Consider Finland, a country known for scoring in the top levels of international academic exams. Finnish children get 15 minutes of outdoor recess in every hour of classroom time. Outdoor play allows them to explore with their bodies and gives their brains that crucial reset, helping them achieve academic success. Here in the U.S., Eagle Mountain Elementary School in Fort Worth, Texas decided to apply this theory by tripling their recess time to 60 minutes every day. Teachers worried that they would not be able to maintain their academic schedule, but by winter break, every single class was ahead of the academic schedule despite 40 fewer minutes of class time each day.
How Play Develops Social and Emotional Skills
There are the crucial social and emotional skills that can only be developed in play. When humans engage in self-directed, unstructured play, we learn how to socialize, collaborate, and read body language. We learn assertiveness, boundary setting, sharing, and restraint.
Imagine a playground filled with children engaged in play. The first thing you might notice is the sound. It is usually joyous and loud. Evolution and biology designed us to enjoy this kind of big, body, physical play. It builds key physical strengths and skills, like those listed above. It also helps children build lifetime social skills.
It might look like this: One child initiates a play idea, maybe a new idea or the continuation of a previous game. Another friend may join and suggest a modification, sending the play in a new direction. Over and over, new ideas and new alternatives surface as the play evolves. Inevitably, conflict will arise and possibly one player will become aggressive. When this happens, the other player may pull back, giving signs of displeasure with this sort of play. Or a player may have his idea dismissed and take exception, or there may not be enough equipment or material to continue the play as planned. Whatever the challenge, the players have a choice: Find a solution or the play will come to an end.
Play is the way kids wring out their brains.
How can this kind of play be woven into a child’s day?
These exchanges demonstrate the power of unstructured play. Children want the play to continue. They take ownership of the play. They are in charge of the game, they make the rules, and they have a vested interest in continuing the game. Out of this fundamental ownership grows a wealth of learning and development. And, for many children, this sort of interactive, conflict-resolving play was missing from their days during the pandemic shutdown. Many children missed out on a year of the give-and-take of listening to the ideas of peers, of sharing scarce materials, of finding a way to make the game work. The social and emotional learning that comes from this play is just as essential—maybe even more essential—as any academic skills missing from their repertoire.
How can this kind of play be woven into a child’s day? Through both structured and unstructured play. Structured play is adult-directed and designed, while children direct unstructured play. Children need both. Finding time for play in the school day is crucial for making a dent in any learning losses from the past year.
To start with, children should have unstructured play at recess every single day, for at least 30 minutes, but the more the better. There is really no excuse for eliminating this break in the day. Removing recess only makes the school day more challenging for everyone, putting stumbling blocks in front of learning.
Structured play is also crucial to children’s development. It takes place in PE but can move beyond the gym and into any learning environment with a little creativity and planning. Using play and movement in teaching helps kids secure neural connections in their brains, anchoring new knowledge. Whether it is adding physical movement to a memorization task or doing pushups to answer math problems, movement in learning helps children retain what they have learned. Believe it or not, something as simple as spelling practice can be active, sweaty, and fun. An example game can be seen above (Spelling Frenzy Relay).
Children can do these games at home, as well, with siblings or on their own.
There are many ways to add physical movement to academics. Do long division with sidewalk chalk and make it a dance. Use action words to practice rhyming. Hop down a giant number line. When students move, they learn.
All of us want children to be successful in all aspects of life. We want them to be strong students, with strong bodies, and strong friendships. These crucial skills suffered during virtual learning. We cannot further jeopardize students’ physical, social, and emotional development in the quest for checking off boxes on an academic curriculum. Play-based skills make us better people from the classroom to the boardroom. These are not skills that can be learned from an app, a computer, or flashcards. These skills are only developed in play—play that must be in every school day. •
Spelling Frenzy Relay
Work on spelling, practice teamwork, and get aerobic
Set-Up: Children are divided into teams of 2–4 children each. Each team has a set of three-letter words with one letter missing from each one (e.g., H _ T, _ I E, S E _). Scattered on the floor are cards with letters that could complete the words. The first team member finds a letter to complete one word, runs to the opposite side of the room around a cone or chair, comes back to complete the word, and tags the next teammate. Play continues until the team’s words are complete.
Pearson, C. 2021. 1/11/21. “Experts Predict What School Will Look Like Next Fall.” Huffington Post retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/expertspredict-what-school-will-look-like-nextfall_l_5ffc916cc5b66f3f79601ffe
Reilly, K. 10/23/17. “Is Recess Important for Kids or a Waste of Time? Here’s What Research Says.” Time. Retrieved from https://time.com/4982061/ recess-benefits-research-debate/
Wong, A. 11/15/16. “Why Kids Need Recess.” The Atlantic
Preston Blackburn created Pop, Hop& Rock™ in 2000, when her children were preschoolers. What started as an exercise program has evolved into one that focuses on creating opportunities for children to hone fundamental motor skills, which allows them to develop physical literacy and foundational strengths, proven to help them find success socially, emotionally, behaviorally,and cognitively in the classroom and beyond.www.pophopandrock.com
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 your children are more likely to eat their lunches. As with all new skills, it may take more time initially, yet the work and time will benefit both of you for years to come.
How can a young child prepare their lunch each day? Preparation of the environment, the necessary tools, and a lesson will all be necessary.
Preparing the Environment:
• Make appropriate food for lunches available at child height. This may mean reserving space on a low cabinet and low shelf in the refrigerator for lunch materials. At our house, we used colored baskets in the cabinet and refrigerator to quickly designate which items were for lunches.
• If needed, divide the food into servings before lunches are made. Your child can help you do this after school or over the weekend. If five baby carrots are an appropriate serving for your child, make a few bags with five carrots in each.
• Make sure your child can open and close any containers used and manage their lunch box.
• Consider when lunch should be prepared. If your child has trouble getting out of the house in the morning, make lunch the night before and store it in the refrigerator if needed. If your child is usually ready early, the morning is a great time for this job.
The Necessary Tools:
• Have utensils your child can use to make lunch, such as: a knife for spreading and cutting; a cutting board; containers that your children can open and close; and lunch boxes that allow them to pack easily.
• A list of ideas in written or picture form may be helpful for your child.
• Decide what you expect for lunch. What constitutes a main meal? What is a snack? Do you have a guideline of how many fruits or vegetables need to be included?
A Lesson or a few lessons):
• Discuss the plan with your child.
• Show where the tools and materials for making lunch are.
• Talk about what should be included in lunch and why, i.e., you need energy for growth and your day; these foods are not allowed at school for allergy or other health reasons; these items do not transport well. Share the reason for the guidelines.
• Work with your child the first few times and discuss what you are doing and checking: e.g., “I don’t see any fruit in here. Would you like to add a fruit or another vegetable?”
• Show your child how to clean out their lunch box at home before just adding to it.
Follow Up:
• Peek inside the lunches that are going to school. Do they meet nutritional needs as you expect?
• Discuss options and ideas with your child before grocery shopping.
• If you have leftovers from dinner, ask if your child would like some for lunch and plan together how to make that work.
• Let your child’s teacher know that your family is making this change. Your child may be pleased and possibly even distracted by the lunch they made at first, so letting the teacher know means they can help with these changes.
Enjoy the small break this gives you and the independence it gives your child.
Cheryl Allen is the Associate Coordinator of the Montessori Family Alliance and is also a parenting educator and a Montessori consultant with the Montessori Foundation. Cheryl attended Montessori school as a child. After sometime as a traditional Secondary teacher, she worked in Montessori classrooms, 3-6, 6-9,and 9-12, earning certifications from both AMS (3-6 and 6-9) and IMC (6-12). She is a teacher educator, workshop presenter, and member of IMC accreditation teams. Cheryl’s two children attended Montessori from age two through high school graduation.
The NewGate School, Global Campus Students, Research Their Place on Earth and Weave a Story to Share
By Amy Kremer-Treibly and Elizabeth Hale
The NewGate School’s Global Campus is composed of students in seventh through twelfth grades who live in Canada, the US, the Caymans, and Tanzania. These students are the first cohort of the Global Campus, and they work together with a dedicated faculty for humanities, math, science, and Spanish academic courses, as well as working in their home communities on creativity, physical wellness, and service.
Adolescents seek answers to key questions: Who am I? Where am I? What’s happening?
In order to gain insights and impressions of where each student resides, they set out as investigators of their own backyard, town, city, and country, with special attention to who inhabited the land first, including animals, plants, and humans. Students have been sharing their stories as presentations to the community in Opening Meetings held each morning of the week. This project offers a rich opportunity for students to explore the question of where do I find myself living right now?
During this process, students access local historical societies and talk to family and neighbors about generational memories of the place. Some students highlight developments, such as industry and railroad access. Others brought names of indigenous tribes to our attention, as well as the plants and animals that have thrived in the past and either do or do not live now. Overwhelmingly, the students learn more about where they call home. In addition to acquiring knowledge of place, by pausing and giving attention to the land that supports our lives, the people who have come before, and the bounty that nourishes us, we all grow in our appreciation and gratitude for home.
It has been said that to love a place and show true care for it, one must spend time, look with earnestness for the hidden treasures to be revealed, and then we can fully celebrate our home. Indigenous wisdom embodies connection and relationship, and for that reason, we like to include the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Greeting, which we read aloud in turns during Council before Thanksgiving. •
Amy Kremer-Treibly, M.A. earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology at Loyola University where she also enjoyed studying Spanish during a study abroad term in Quito, Ecuador, and learning about world religions as her minor. She began her teaching career in a refugee resettlement program teaching ESL to adult students from around the world followed by teaching Spanish at the elementary level. While teaching at a Great Books Foundation high school in Arizona, she earned her Master’s Degree in Experiential Education at Prescott College with a focus on building schools and learning experiences to promote engagement, eco-literacy, and stewardship.
Elizabeth Hale teaches Humanities and other courses with NewGate School’s Global campus. She spent the last 13 years developing Heartmoor Farm Education Centre in central Virginia teaching Literature, Humanities, and Mindfulness to adolescents while nurturing her connection with the natural world specifically through contemplative practices, the stewardship of plants, and formal study of Western Herbalism. With 24 years of teaching experience, in classroom environments from Oregon and Ohio to Virginia, she has worked with families through all stages of their children’s development.
There are some things that even money can’t buy, and one of the most valuable contributions that families make to a school is the gift of their time and expertise. Parents, grandparents, and friends of the school are often found helping in the office, assisting in the classrooms, serving as field-trip drivers, offering a special class, planning the next special event, coaching, or serving on parents’ associations or school committees.
Parents play a crucial role in Montessori. Our schools are communities of parents and educators (many of whom will also have children enrolled at the school). Our ideas and input often help to shape the school. Montessori schools are normally very responsive to suggestions and concerns.
Most Montessori schools encourage families to participate in the broader life of the school through social and educational activities. Although many parents spend considerable amounts of time as volunteers, except for parent cooperative schools, there is normally no expectation for a set-time commitment.
Parents and grandparents, who give of their time and talent, share with their children special memories of experiences and friendships that endure well beyond their graduation.
A few ways in which you might be able to help your school:
• Volunteer a few hours a week to help in the office
• Lend your time and support to our fundraising efforts
• Help out in the library
• Volunteer to be an Ambassador Family to parents new to the school
• Serve on one of the school’s committees
• Help put together the school newsletter
• Help the teachers organize field trips or special lessons
• Join in at open houses to meet prospective families
• Help organize special events
• Volunteer your time to help the school prepare major mailings
• Teach a special course
• Help students work in the garden
• Share your talents and special interests, such as a musical instrument that you play, a second language that you speak, a craft that you enjoy, or a field that you’ve studied
• Volunteer your time to coach a team or after-school club
• Serve as a class parent
• Help to organize a reunion for former students and their families
Like all schools, Montessori schools blossom when parents are generous with the gift of time, talent, and expertise.
We, as parents, love to see our children become independent and self-sufficient as they grow and age. But sometimes, we may need help to get them to that point. We can do so by implementing the Montessori Method into their lives. Montessori emphasizes teaching children to be self-regulating and to be able to learn the concepts of independence. It is a great tool to help your children be more confident in their abilities. Indeed, independence is the best gift we can give to our children, as it enables them to be self-sufficient and know how to take care of themselves.
Today, we live in a time when there is a lot of pressure on children at home, school, or work. The idea behind the Montessori Method is to teach children that being themselves will give them the ability to succeed in life. Children need to feel confident, capable and become more independent so that they can defend their ideas, thoughts, and feelings against pressure from others. But the question now is how this Method helps children become independent. Well, that’s what you are going to learn in this article. But first, let’s understand what the Montessori Method is.
WHAT IS THE MONTESSORI METHOD?
It is an educational method that Maria Montessori developed. It has been implemented globally and has helped children develop learning skills for independence, self-regulating, and creativity. The Montessori Method uses a hands-on approach, where children learn through experiences to find their way of learning.
THE MONTESSORI METHOD WILL HAVE THE CHILDREN LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO KEEP LEARNING, BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT PERFECT IN EVERYTHING.
How can the Montessori Method help your child to be independent?
The Montessori Method is designed to be flexible and adaptable to meet each child’s needs. It allows children to be exposed to different learning environments and solve problems by themselves. The Montessori Method emphasizes making lessons fun-filled and interesting to capture the child’s attention and develop their thinking skills.
Here are four ways that Montessori helps your child become independent:
ONE
The Montessori Method encourages children to become more independent, through a stress-free environment.
The Montessori Method is a great tool to help children become independent by giving them a stress-free environment. It helps children become less dependent, because they need not rely on parents or teachers for help. It teaches kids how to solve problems by themselves.
For example, when you are doing your work, it is certainly stressful to stop your work and ask for help from another person if you do not know how to do something. The Montessori Method teaches us that we must not stop what we are doing until we have finished it. It is an excellent tool to teach children how to do their work without disruptions, but to only stop if necessary. It teaches children that they only need to pause when they are stuck on something or need help.
TWO
The Montessori Method encourages children to learn how to solve problems.
Learning how to deal with problems is one of children’s most rewarding experiences. The Montessori Method gives children opportunities to learn on a broad scope of different topics to develop their problem-solving skills; they will not need to rely on others for help.
For instance, if a child is trying to understand how to use a slow cooker, he is expected to figure it out by himself. Even if you want to teach him how to use it, the child must remember what you taught him. The Montessori Method allows children to take an active role in their education and figure out most problems on their own. It seems easy at first, but doing this will develop their problem-solving skills and increase their independence.
THREE
The Montessori Method helps children become more respectful of their ability.
The Montessori Method positively impacts children’s self-confidence and self-esteem, because it helps them appreciate what they are accomplishing. It helps them become better learners by giving them more confidence in their learning ability. The Montessori Method is a great tool to encourage children to learn more about what they have and who they are.
For example, if a child is having trouble learning how to play the violin, it may affect her self-worth and self-esteem. Children may think that they cannot learn or do not have what it takes to become good violinists, so they give up. But the Montessori Method will have the children learn from their mistakes and encourage them to keep learning, because they are not perfect in everything. As a result, this will teach them how to accept their capability for learning new things.
FOUR
The Montessori Method helps children to be independent by reinforcing self-confidence.
The Montessori Method helps children become more confident by giving them opportunities to learn new things and feel proud about themselves when they accomplish something great. This Method gives children the opportunity to learn new things and achieve something great by themselves. Therefore, they are more confident in believing that they are independent, because they know how to solve their problems without depending on other people’s help.
For example, let’s imagine that your children decide to ride a unicycle for the first time.
They are not ready yet, but they still want to try. By doing this, they will understand that even though it is not easy, there is a way that they can overcome challenges with riding a unicycle and challenges in life. This develops self-confidence. As they learn how to approach new challenges, they will be able to do more and more for themselves.
HOW CAN PARENTS HELP ENCOURAGE CHILDREN’S INDEPENDENCE AT HOME?
We should encourage our children to be increasingly independent right from the start, but they need guidance and coaching. They need to learn the basics: proper hygiene and the daily habits of independent living when they are older. Help them learn to do things carefully with confidence.
Though more children today can be considered self-sufficient, learning through experiences and making mistakes will help them develop a sense of responsibility and become more self-reliant later in life. Even with care, mistakes happen. Let’s help them to learn from their mistakes with patience and calm.
If we allow our children to do tasks independently, we will witness steady growth in their capability.
For example, let children:
• Place foods on their plate: You can give them advice, but let children learn how to pick up and put things onto their plates.
• Wash their hands: You can talk with them about the importance of washing hands, but let them learn how to scrub, wash, and rinse themselves.
• Brush their teeth: This is another task you can do with your child but let them do it alone after you’ve given instructions on how to brush, what part of the mouth to use the toothbrush, and when to spit out afterward.
• Pick out clothes they want to wear: In case you don’t have enough time to lend a hand in picking, let your children select the clothes they wish to wear, once they have learned the basics of choosing outfits on their own, using simple instructions from you, such as, “Choose a shirt that has long sleeves.”
• Choose their toys: Let your children choose the toys they want to play with, but make sure you don’t allow them to play with dangerous items like knives or scissors.
These simple steps will help your child feel comfortable when they start to face challenges on their own and help them understand the importance of independent living.
Final Thoughts
Children develop their independence in different ways as they grow and learn about the world. The Montessori Method is an effective way for children to learn how to be independent with their own decisions and find new ways of solving their problems on their own. The Montessori Method is the best way for children to develop skills that will help them cope with anything they encounter. •
Andrea Gibbs was born, raised, and still lives in New York. She is a work-at-home mom with a background in business development, strategy, and social media marketing. She contributes to a blog at the Montessori Academy to motivate and educate other parents about how they can get their children ahead of the game in school. montessori-academy.com/why-the-montessori-method-works
Over the years, it’s quite common for parents to come to us to say that, since their child is so advanced academically, they worry that the class they are in now is not sufficiently challenging. It is not unusual for parents to ask the school to move them up a year early next term.
There’s no one response that schools offer, but I think there are a few things to consider.
Typically, parental fear of their child being disadvantaged by being the most advanced in a Montessori classroom is based on a misperception.
Unlike traditional schools, where the pace of education is based upon the norm of the class, the Montessori curriculum follows an international model rather than what is commonly taught in American schools. In general, Montessori programs are more sophisticated and individualized in many ways.
In the United States, in the first three grades (kindergarten through second grade), it is fairly common to teach children number recognition and simple mathematical operations with one or two-digit quantities. Math can be very abstract, and some children memorize answers but may or may not understand what they’re doing.
Likewise, with reading, many children are asked to read from simplistic texts or workbooks that have more to do with spelling and vocabulary than with really giving them a love of the written word, no less a desire to express themselves in writing.
While there is a real concern about math education in the United States, many students are not culturally literate in history, geography, economics, science, civics, and our cultural heritage found in the arts and literature.
Like most schools that follow European tradition, Montessori places a huge emphasis on what some people call the ‘cultural subjects.’ These topics include, science; technology; history; geography; international studies; the foundations of industry and trade; architecture; engineering; and so much more. Montessori’s breadth of curriculum tends to produce young people who have far more knowledge of their country’s history, government, and heritage than most Americans.
So, we have three basic issues. The first is that in Montessori, children don’t learn at a preestablished pace. They are not only able to choose the things that most interest them but to learn in ways that they find most appealing. Children are different. Some learn best by listening to someone else talk; others learn by observing, and many need to directly experience to understand and remember. There are so many variations in the way children learn, and it’s challenging to know what’s right for an individual child.
The second issue is that no teacher can work with each child every moment of the day. That’s the beauty of Montessori’s prepared learning environment. It allows children to find meaningful work without having to depend on a teacher telling them what to do throughout the day.
Another consideration is that most of us learn best not by simply receiving a lesson; repeated experiences along with the opportunity to help (or teach) other children solidifies the skill or concept. The best teacher of the typical student is usually not the adult with a master’s degree in education; rather, it is often other students who have a grasp of the material and are willing to share their understanding with a fellow student.
The third point is that a child who remains in a Montessori multi-age class is surrounded by other students (younger and older) who have their own gifts and talents to share. They stimulate each other. The beauty of the Montessori experience is that the class is a community, not simply a group of children who are focused on the lesson that the teacher happens to be giving. This ongoing set of relationships builds a sense of safety and security for most children, both with their peers and with the adults in their lives. As parents, we need to understand how incredibly valuable that is.
So, the trade-off to having a child move up a year early is not so much that the child will get lessons that they couldn’t get in the younger class, as much as that they would be moving up into a class, where the age range is going to be three or four years beyond their current level.
Every child is different and there are times when moving a child up early actually is worth considering. In my experience, I never followed a hard and fast rule. We always try to explore with the family why they feel this is a good idea? Here are some points parents and educators should consider:
• Is it accurate that the current class really can’t meet the child’s intellectual and academic needs?
• Do the parents feel a strong urge to push their child ahead more quickly? If so, why? What do they hope to gain? What are the pros and cons?
• Or is it fear that their child will miss opportunities that they would have at the next level?
These are all legitimate questions, but we must weigh them against the advantage of stable, continuing relationships. Having been one of those students, who was moved up a year early at one point along my journey, I found it difficult to be a year younger than the youngest child in the classroom. So, if you ever come to the conclusion that, perhaps, your child might do well to move up, try to really think it through with the school and weigh the pros and the cons.
Montessori is based on the idea that each child follows her own pace and that education is a journey, not a race.
Montessori classes are not only about academics. The focus is social and emotional, as well. While a five-year-old may be reading like a six-year-old, this same child may socially and emotionally be better suited to remaining in a class with familiar children. Being among the oldest and most advanced creates the possibility of becoming a leader. Don’t undervalue how wonderful that experience can be.
Montessori is based on the idea that each child follows her own pace and that education is a journey, not a race.
Other than saving a year’s tuition if your child attends a private Montessori school, there are few (if any) benefits for a child who finishes high school early. Beginning university younger than the other students in their class may again present same social, emotional, and academic challenges, depending on the student.
Appreciating Montessori’s ability to meet children at their intellectual level is one of the greatest gifts of Montessori education. I always recommend that parents follow their hearts, but I do advise every parent to be thoughtful and careful before leaping to a decision.
Try to find the best path for your child, and always remember that it’s important to ask them what they really want to do. Listen carefully to their reasoning. Sometimes the reasoning makes perfect sense; sometimes it doesn’t make any sense at all. Weigh your conclusions and follow your parental instincts. That’s all any of us can do. •
Editor’s Note: Families have been inspired by Montessori to home-school their children for years. The trend seems to be expanding. Something new grew out of the pandemic: online education at the adolescent level that is consciously based on Montessori guidelines. One of those schools is the Bridgemont International School. Another is a branch of the Montessori Foundation’s Lab School, The NewGate School’s Global Campus. We understand that others are being organized as well. While most students attend schools in person, we feel that these new models should be of interest to Montessori families anywhere in the world. If you have a student who is thriving in Montessori, but there is no adolescent program where you live, these online schools may be an option to consider.
In the fall of 2020, the leadership of the Center for Guided Montessori Studies asked the question, “What would an authentic Montessori middle school look like if it were online?” This question was especially pertinent at the time, because we were all adjusting to “forced” online learning resulting from the COVID pandemic. The question that we asked ourselves was, “Can we build an adolescent Montessori program and community online?”
That winter, we decided to plan for a soft launch of what became the Bridgemont International School. We began with just one class of seventh- and eighth-grade students, all living within the time zones of the continental United States, led by certified and experienced Montessori Adolescent Guides.
Our plan is to add one grade a year, extending through high school over the next four years. We also plan to open additional cohorts in North America and other parts of the world as interest grows. As we have from the start, our goal is not to grow quickly, but rather with slow, careful steps to ensure that we establish programs that are excellent and sustainable.
The first question that we reexamined was, “What makes a Montessori adolescent (middle and high school) program authentically Montessori?” Even though we have been involved with Montessori programs at this level for years, there is (at this point) no one model for adolescent programs. Dr. Montessori died before she was able to define the “model” of what a secondary program looks like. Rather, there are a series of lectures and discussions that other Montessori educators have interpreted, leading to vastly different models of Secondary education.
Many are familiar with the farm-school model of Montessori Adolescent Education (Erdkinder), while others may be familiar with the curricular outlines of other Montessori Secondary training programs. While there are many different models, there are key components of Montessori for the student in the third plane.
Curriculum: Students need to learn! They should be culturally literate and develop the academic skills they will need if they decide to pursue post-secondary education. Even within this component, there are different definitions of what that means. I would suggest that students need to know basic information. What makes Montessori distinct at this level is the balance between helping students through the challenges of adolescence, while covering an excellent course of study. For us, a particular focus is helping teens to discover that what they learn in school is real, relevant, and interesting. We want to encourage their interests, help them to see the big picture, and think critically about what they study and how it relates to their own lives.
The core of our academic program is the Montessori educational syllabus, which consists of ‘integrated academic components’ in three overarching areas: self-expression; emotional development; and preparation for adult life.
Within these areas, Bridgemont offers rigorous coursework in a variety of academic subjects, experiential learning, and in-the-field experiences; a range of seminars and collaborative learning projects; training in organization and personal responsibility.
Even though our curriculum is highly integrated, courses have titles that are familiar to colleges and other schools including math, language arts, sciences, humanities, Spanish, health, arts, and electives.
Here is an example of a simple 7th- and 8thgrade science experiment that we did recently.
Is “earth-friendly” laundry detergent actually safe for the environment?
For this experiment, we planted radish seeds in potting soil. In Dish #1, we watered the seeds with a mixture of water and regular detergent. In Dish #2, we watered the seeds with a mixture of water and earth-friendly detergent. In Dish #3, we simply used regular tap water.
After 10 days, only one dish had germinated seeds. Can you guess which one???
The dish that used regular tap water was able to grow radish seeds. The other two dishes? Nothing.
In Dish #1, the regular detergent solution left a heavy film over the soil and seeds.
In Dish #2, the earth-friendly detergent solution did not leave as heavy a film; however, no seeds germinated.
Conclusion: “Earth-friendly” may not be all it is advertised to be; however, it certainly is “friendlier” in appearance.
Valorization: This is such a wonderful term that Dr. Montessori gave us. It is the key challenge of adolescence: the formation of a clear sense of identity, a moral compass, and feeling validated and valued for their contribution as an individual. As children transition from childhood through the teenage years, and then into the adult world, they need to feel a sense of responsibility and worth that leads them to confidence and independence. This can be accomplished in many ways; however, it is probably the single most important component of Montessori at this level.
Community: Community is, directly and indirectly, related to curriculum and valorization. Part of the work of adolescents is to discover their own strengths, style, and role in the community. This is done through deliberate and unexpected avenues. A most basic statement is that adolescents desire to be part of a community.
So, back to the question at hand; how does one create this from an online platform?
How can we deliver a rich curriculum that is more than mere memorization, create opportunities for students to feel valued and value in their work, and create a sense of community, when most of them have never actually met in person?
The students at Bridgemont spend approximately four hours a day in real-time engagement in a variety of activities, including (but not limited to) direct instruction, Socratic dialogue, independent and small-group work with peers, presentations, guest lecturers, working out, doing art, and the occasional Harry-Potter-themed “butter beer” parties.
So, can Montessori at this level be done from an online platform? YES!
A prepared environment at the Secondary level is much more about experiences rather than the materials and physical environments of the Early Childhood and Elementary levels. Can the Montessori guides create opportunities for authentic interaction, sharing, and developing a real sense of caring about one another? Can this be done while also helping students become culturally literate and explore their open passions? Again, YES!
Online learning gives students the space to comfortably participate and voice their opinions, which can ultimately help build confidence and positively reinforce their self-esteem.
At the half-year point, the discussion among the students and Montessori guides turned to gratitude. To our delight, what the students were most grateful for was the sense of community, greater than they had felt in their brick-and-mortar schools. What was our greatest concern, had become our greatest strength.
Community, in the case of the Bridgemont students, guides, and administrators, means kind, empathetic, interested young adults that are not just saying that they care, but honestly care about each other and are interested in the world in which they exist. While doing so, they are also being held to a high level of academic expectations that support each student’s progress and independence.
SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Is Bridgemont accredited?
As Bridgemont International School is licensed in the state of Florida, it adheres to the graduation requirements of the State of Florida. (We teach the same courses; however, they are taught very differently.) The school plans to pursue accreditation by the International Montessori Council (IMC) and Cognia.
How does Bridgmeont address service learning, Erdkinder, etc.?
At Bridgemont, we recognize the importance of the “Montessori experience.” We intend to include each of these experiences; however, they will be different in that the students will have more responsibility in designing their experiences with the support of our Montessori guides. Rather than being provided with experiences, students will be actively involved in the design of the experiences that satisfy their requirements in their own communities.
Is it all online?
A goal for the near future is to have two live in-person experiences a year. The school year would start with a whole-school orientation, which would change from year to year and is meant to be a team-building and orientation program. The second experience is meant to be student-designed and will look different from year to year. This will be budgeted, designed, planned, and based on student feedback and student work. (COVID-19 has made this difficult, but it is a goal for the 2022-2023 school year, if possible).
How are time zones addressed?
Our courses and schedules are deliberately designed to meet the needs of students in the continental United States. With WIN (What I Need) hours scheduled on both sides of the “Core” curriculum, students from all parts of the United States can work together at times that are convenient and in line with best practices in adolescent psychology.
As the school grows, there will be timezone-specific cohorts. These will be times that are more specific to time zones and regions; however, there will be shared times with all available time zones to include students from other countries, continents, etc.
In summary, Bridgemont International School is an authentic Montessori School, where students from all over the United States and around the world have the opportunity to become what they are meant to be and have the fortitude, confidence, and support to go after it. •
Robin Howe, Ed.D. is a Montessori kid, a Montessori certified teacher (at all levels except infants), and a Senior Consultant for the Montessori Foundation.
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 grown up, thus far, in a Montessori program.
We understand how tempting it is, for parents who have their children enrolled in a non-public Montessori school, to make the switch at Kindergarten to avoid another year of tuition. However, having invested in Montessori thus far, the long-term benefits of staying, at least through the third year, if not beyond, cannot be stressed often enough.
The third-year is critical in the Early Childhood Montessori program. This is the year when children’s earlier experiences are normally internalized and reinforced and when children begin to take the first steps of moving from very concrete learning to learning that is more abstract. When children leave Montessori for traditional Kindergarten, much of what they have been learning fades away because they have not yet made the passage to abstract understanding.
The advantages of using the local schools often seem obvious, while those for staying in Montessori are often not at all clear. When you can use the local schools for free, why would anyone want to invest thousands of dollars in another year’s tuition?
It’s a fair question, and it deserves a careful answer. Obviously, there is no one right answer for every child. Often the decision depends on where each family places its priorities and how strongly parents sense that one school or another more closely fits in with their hopes and dreams for their children.
Naturally, to some degree, the answer is also often connected to the question of family income as well; although, we are amazed at how often families with very modest means, but who place a high enough priority on their children’s education, will scrape together the tuition needed to keep them in Montessori.
Most five-year-olds have been waiting for the longest time to be one of the ‘big kids.’ The experience of playing the leadership role does wonders to reinforce the five-year-olds’s sense of autonomy and self-confidence.
So here are a few answers to some of the questions parents often ask about Montessori for the Kindergarten-age child.
In a nut shell, what would be the most important short-term disadvantage of sending my five-year-old to the local schools?
When a child transfers from Montessori to a new Kindergarten, she spends the first few months adjusting to a new class, a new teacher, and a whole new system with different expectations. This, along with the fact that most Kindergartens have a much lower set of expectations for five-year-olds than most Montessori programs, severely cuts into the learning that could occur during this crucial year of their lives.
As children begin their third year in Montessori, their understanding of the decimal system, place value, mathematical operations, and similar information is usually very sound. With reinforcement, as they grow older, these concepts become internalized and a permanent part of who they are. When they leave Montessori before they have had the time to internalize these early concrete experiences, their early learning often evaporates because it is neither reinforced nor commonly understood.
What would be the most important advantages of keeping my five-year-old in Montessori?
Montessori is an approach to working with children that is carefully based on what we’ve learned about children’s cognitive, neurological, and emotional development from more than one hundred years of research. Although sometimes misunderstood, the Montessori approach has been acclaimed as one of the most developmentally appropriate models by America’s top experts on early childhood and elementary education.
One important difference between what Montessori offers the five-year-old and what is offered by many of today’s Kindergarten programs has to do with how it helps the young child learn how to learn.
Educational research has increasingly shown that students in many schools don’t really understand most of what they are being taught. As Howard Gardner, leading educational psychologist and advocate of school reform, wrote: “Many schools have fallen into a pattern of giving kids exercises and drills that result in getting answers on tests that look like they understand.
Most students, from as young as those in Kindergarten to students in some of the finest colleges in America, do not understand what they’ve studied, in the most basic sense of the term. They lack the capacity to take knowledge learned in one setting and apply it appropriately in a different setting.”
Montessori is focused on teaching for understanding.
In an Early Childhood Montessori classroom, three- and four-year-olds receive the benefit of two years of sensorial preparation for academic skills by working with the concrete Montessori learning materials. This concrete sensorial experience gradually allows the child to form a mental picture of concepts, such as: How big is a thousand? How many hundreds make up a thousand? and What is really going on when we borrow or carry numbers in mathematical operations?
The value of the sensorial experiences that the younger children have had in Montessori has often been underestimated by parents and educators. Research is very clear that young children learn by observing and manipulating their environment, not through textbooks and workbook exercises. The Montessori materials give the child concrete sensorial impressions of abstract concepts, such as long division, that become the foundation for a lifetime of understanding.
But won’t my five-year-old spend her Kindergarten year taking care of younger children instead of doing her own work?
No, not at all! When older children work with younger students, they tend to learn more from the experience than their ‘students.’
Experiences that facilitate development of a child’s independence are often very limited in traditional schools.
Five-year-olds are normally the leaders and role models in the Primary Montessori classroom. They help to set the tone and serve as an example of appropriate behavior for the class. They often help younger children with their work, actually teaching lessons or correcting errors.
Most five-year-olds have been waiting for the longest time to be one of the ‘big kids.’ The experience of playing the leadership role does wonders to reinforce the five-year-olds’s sense of autonomy and self-confidence.
Five-year-olds are beginning to reflect upon the world. They pay closer attention, notice more details, ask more questions, and begin to explain the world in their own terms. The Kindergarten year is a time when the child begins to integrate everything she learned in the first few years.
Academic progress is not our ultimate goal. Our real hope is that they will feel good about themselves and enjoy learning. Mastering basic skills is a side goal.
The key concept is readiness. If a child is developmentally not ready to go on, he or she is neither left behind nor made to feel like a failure. Our goal is not ensuring that children develop at a predetermined rate, but to ensure that whatever they do, they do well and feel good about themselves as learners. •
I think my life will be a roller-coaster of emotion and experiences. I will never forget the beginning of my amazing ride at Beach Park, the Montessori school that I attended from preschool through eighth grade.
When I look back on those days, all I can think is that these are the moments that shaped me. They created the groundwork for who I am as a person. They also left me with stories that make others ask, “Did that really happen?” and all I can say back is, “yes, it did.” Many of my moments at my Montessori school shaped me, but what has shaped me the most is what the school practiced: Montessori.
I know that Montessori has a well-defined definition. Still, the only accurate way to describe how it affected me is to offer my own explanation. I think that Montessori allows for kids to grow into themselves. When I was in preschool, I chose my own work throughout the day and genuinely loved the work I was doing. Montessori allows students to learn what they love and have the resources to pursue it even at a young age. Through those experiences, I have discovered my love of mathematics. Montessori also allows students to grow at their own pace.
I remember in Lower Elementary, being allowed to choose my own daily work but still have specific things to accomplish by the end of the week. This gave us our own time and ability to decide what to do and when. It let each of us learn how to take charge and manage our own time. I remember when my sister first started college. She told my mom that almost no one around her knew how to self-plan without their parents, but she could come up with her own schedule and prepare her workload for that week. I genuinely believe that that skill came from her years in Montessori.
I had a special connection to the school and the people in it. I left Beach Park with only three other students, which was that year’s graduating class. Those three other people probably know more about me than any other people I know to this day. But it wasn’t just the students to whom I grew close; it was also my teachers and faculty. The school faculty were indeed the people who have had the most significant impact on me. Whether it be my eighth-grade teacher, Ms. Summer, who pushed me to my limits while preparing me for high school, my Upper Elementary teacher Mr. Greg who taught me the beginning of Algebra, or my PE teacher Ms. April whose son was one of my best friends; all of them have shaped me in ways that I cannot even begin to describe.
That tiny little school shaped me. Although those memories on the playground of Beach Park School are long behind me, I still look back on them fondly. The years that I spent in that small school prepared me in so many ways to take the next step into college. And even after finishing this wild ride through high school, I can’t help but look back to where it started, at a small school called Beach Park Montessori.
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 are: meaningful contributions to our family or community.
After toddlerhood, we often notice a shift. Children seem less intrinsically motivated to help and view helping more as a chore. This is a natural part of development: they are more independent and focused on their own work and play. They are discovering who they are and where their own interests lie, which is a beautiful thing. It also doesn’t mean it’s the end of helping!
How do we continue to foster this motivation and raise helpers beyond the toddler years? Here are a few tips that I’ve been keeping in mind in our own home lately. These can be incorporated in toddlerhood and well beyond!
Help Our Children
Our children learn how to help through us helping them. When we respond to their requests for help, they are more likely to do so in return. Helping doesn’t mean doing a task for them, but rather offering just enough help to get them through a tough spot.
Model It
Not only should we think about how we are offering help to our children, but how can we offer help to our partner, a friend, or our community? The more our children see us being helpers, the more likely they will want to be a helper too.
Talk About It
“In our family, we help each other.” This is a phrase that we repeat often at home. The more we say and hear this, the more ingrained it becomes and the more natural it feels to be a helper in the family. Importantly, this phrase is said in a gentle way, not as a command.
Make It Part Of The Routine
When we make helping a part of our daily rhythm, it becomes natural. In our family, certain tasks are the kids’ responsibility every day: putting shoes and coats away, setting the table, feeding the dog, wiping up spills, tidying toys, etc. These tasks aren’t rewarded but rather just part of the routine.
Don’t Force It
Inviting doesn’t guarantee our children will help. Even when these tasks are part of the daily (or weekly) routine, everyone has off days. We can offer grace and let it go. Often, the next day, or at a different time, they are ready to help again.
Offer Opportunities
Sometimes we move so quickly through our own chores, we forget that we could involve our children. As much as possible, I try to do chores in front of the children so that they have the opportunity to join in and help. Often, what we consider mundane tasks are satisfying for our children. Having cleaning tools that are appropriately sized for our children makes them feel especially capable.
Accept It As Is
When our children do help, we may find that they’re ‘help’ doesn’t lead to the outcome we desire. The dishes might not be as clean, or the laundry might not be folded in a neat stack. When this happens, we can thank them for helping and appreciate the effort that went into it. Rather than correct them at the moment, we can model again another time, and try to be patient, as every skill takes time.
How can your child help today? •
Theresa is a mom to two, a former Montessori guide, and the founder of the blog Montessori in Real Life(www.montessoriinreallife.com). Prior to momming and blogging, she went to graduate school for developmental psychology and earned her Montessori infant/toddler guide certification. Since transitioning from teaching to motherhood, Theresa found a new passion sharing her love of Montessori with parents,while continuing to implement the Montessori philosophy in her own home.
Grace and courtesy is often used to mean either rules or manners, or mannerly following of the rules. There are many lists out there about the grace and courtesy lessons that should be presented in the beginning of the year, making it seem to be a “one and remind” lesson. Yet, with not much thought we can see that grace and courtesy lessons need to be given throughout the year, need to be role modeled always, are presented based on observation, and fall into different categories. Dr. Montessori reminded us that, “social grace, inner discipline, and joy. These are the birthright of the human being who has been allowed to develop essential human qualities.” The Secret of Childhood (1966, xvii).
To help our students and our children develop the inner-discipline Dr. Montessori spoke of, grace and courtesy lessons need to be given throughout the year and in a multitude of ways. We start the year with a list of basic lessons, which need to be presented so that we may function as a group, and we present them again when there is going to be a change. In the beginning of the year, we present how to knock on the door and wait for an answer if the bathroom door is closed; this helps the class or family function with greater comfort. If we are going to see a live performance, a series of lessons would be given on entering the performance area, showing respect during a performance, and how to show your appreciation of the performance. What is sometimes forgotten is that in between these events, we should be regularly presenting lessons that build upon those we previously presented.
When a child pulls a third chair up to a two-person table to work with one friend, and the third child complains, you have the perfect opportunity for a grace and courtesy lesson rather than a reminder. It is easy to say, “Chair Mover, do we move a new chair for a table in this class?” A new lesson involves working with the left-out child. Starting with an acknowledgement, “I see it bothers you that Chair Mover is working at the table. What is happening?” When the child tells you the others are talking too much, or taking up the workspace, or simply that the chair doesn’t belong there, you may help them figure out how to speak to the other students. Asking, “What could you say to them to let them know how you feel?” You can help the child figure out a courteous way to ask the other children to help solve the concern. Admittedly, this is the slow way it would be faster to remind Chair Mover that this is a two-person table. Pressing our own personal pause button can help us slow down and take the long view when opportunities to present grace and courtesy lessons occur. With a reminder, the table is back to two people with everyone having space for their work. With a grace and courtesy lesson and practice opportunity, a child has practiced a way to respectfully speak up about a perceived injustice, and two children have learned to work with another to solve a concern that one of the three people feels is important.
Grace and courtesy needs to be role modeled by the adults in the school or home for it to become important to all the people involved. Before I had children of my own, I had friends that were interviewing to enroll their son in the only Montessori school on the island we all lived on. They rode their bikes to the interview and a car came close to my friend’s bike, while his son was on the back of the bike. Obviously, he was scared and angry, and he shared this with the driver, calling him some choice names. They got to the interview, and you can guess what the child shared when the Montessorian asked him what he saw on the way to the school. She was just trying to engage the child; instead, she got to present a grace and courtesy lesson. She asked Dad if he had been scared and angry and hinted to him to apologize for his outburst. Dad did and the child learned that they could all learn from mistakes. Being a role model does mean that we consider not sitting on tables or walking around eating unless this is common practice for all in the room; more importantly, it means taking the time to acknowledge actions that we did not want to role model and to change that behavior.
GRACE AND COURTESY DO NOT END AT THE CLASSROOM, OR SCHOOL DOOR, IT SHOULD BE A PART OF OUR LIVES IN ALL AREAS.
All grace and courtesy lessons should be presented from observation. Sometimes it is developmental, such as our beginning the year whole class grace and courtesy lessons, sometimes they are based on “in-the-moment” needs, and they should also be based on whole-group observation. My teaching partner and I gave a couple of well-received individual grace and courtesy lessons around speaking in a way that respects classmates’ feelings. Yet, as we observed the class and discussed with each other, we noticed that teasing that one person thought was fun and acceptable, was happening regularly throughout the classroom. In more casual conversation with students, rather than formal lessons, we began to talk about the way we talk to others. In our weekly group team-building time, we played some games and did some projects that brought attention to the way our words could help or hurt another person, with or without us meaning the hurt. The multi-pronged approach helped us, as a class, find a balance between joking and inadvertent hurting; yet, without observation for grace and courtesy skills we would have been managing one person at a time, probably never reaching the same balance.
Grace and courtesy are so much more than a set of rules and the manners we demonstrate when we follow those guidelines. It is noticing and caring for the environment, which is one of the first places students can begin to see how their actions affect others. It is helping children become aware of how they are feeling, what is going on inside them and developing language to express these feelings. It is working to develop social awareness, thinking about how your actions affect others and the environment around you, and finding the willingness to give grace to others when their actions affect you negatively. It is using kind and respectful language to express your own feelings and needs to communicate with others. It is bringing the grace of physical action to awareness, how one’s actions affect themselves, others, and the environment. It is being aware of those who may need you to be an advocate or help them take action, in your immediate community and the community at large.
Grace and courtesy do not end at the classroom or school door; it should be a part of our lives in all areas. At home, my time has been allocated differently in the past couple of years. One thing I have been able to do is tend to the roses in my garden with more regularity. I do not trim them, water them, or fertilize them for a greater length of time than I did previously. I just have smaller amounts of time to spend on them more often. Grace and courtesy in the school, classroom, or home works the same way. You don’t need more time over the year, you just need to be more consistent with your time. My roses bloom much more often than they did a couple of years ago, there is nearly always at least one rose in bloom, which I love to see as I walk out the door. With regular attention to grace and courtesy, you will probably find at least one bloom of kindness and consideration every day, most likely a whole bouquet’s worth. •
Cheryl Allen is the Associate Coordinator of the Montessori Family Alliance and is also a parenting educator and a Montessori consultant with the Montessori Foundation. Cheryl attended Montessori school as a child. After some time as a traditional Secondary teacher, she worked in Montessori classrooms, 3-6, 6-9, and 9-12, earning certifications from both AMS (3-6 and 6-9) and IMC (6-12). She is a teacher educator, workshop presenter, and member of IMC accreditation teams. Cheryl’s two children attended Montessori from age two through high school graduation.
Editor’s Note: Montessori schools within the same community often have little or no contact with one another. This is unfortunate. There is strength in numbers. They can look for opportunities for families and their children to participate in joint events, such as the one described in the article below. We’ve always encouraged Montessori schools to look for ways to build a larger network of families and their children and hold such events, whether it be a 5K race as these two schools did in Florida, or a community-wide art show, talent show, athletic event, fall festival, or even a lighthearted contest that we call “Are you smarter than a Montessori Kid?” That’s where teams of parents go up against a team of multi-aged Montessori students from the elementary level and beyond to test their knowledge of cultural literacy, such as identifying the capitals of countries, the names of countries, or the names of botanical leaf, or geometric shapes. These are topics Montessori children typically learn and which parents may have either never learned or have long ago forgotten. Let us know if your school does something of the sort. It’s a story we would love to tell.
On the small island of Key West, located at the southernmost tip of Florida, there are two Montessori schools that happen to be less than a half-mile from each other on the same street, which is coincidentally named United Street. This year they partnered to co-host their 5K race.
Founded in 1972, Montessori Children’s School is Key West’s oldest Montessori school. It is a private, non-profit school, and its programs educate children eighteen months to sixth grade.
May Sands Montessori School is Monroe County’s first charter school. It serves students in Key West and the Lower Keys from kindergarten through eighth grade.
The two schools are accustomed to having students and staff transfer from one school to the other. In addition, several families have children at both schools. The schools also get together each year for their annual International Day of Peace walk. However, this is the first year they have teamed up for a fundraising event.
There is so much energy and expense put into fundraising, so having the two schools split both of these was a great way to lighten the load. Not only did the number of registrants increase, but profits increased as well. Each school secured its own sponsorships but split the race registration proceeds and the expenses.
Often, private and public schools see themselves as being in direct competition with one another. Each school has its own fundraising events and tries to garner the most participants. By coming together as one, we are not only providing Montessori families at different schools the opportunity to get to know one another, but we are also celebrating our individual and shared experiences.
A few years ago, the company that records race times of the individual 5K’s suggested combining the races to save money. Both schools had been hosting their own 5K’s for many years. As the weather in Key West is beautiful almost all year round, fitness is a huge part of life here. In addition, it’s a popular destination point for out-of-towners who love a warm place during cold winters. Running, biking, swimming, and water sports are quite popular in the Florida Keys. Years ago, when there were just a handful of fitness events, the turnout at individual events was much larger. As more and more events were scheduled, participation at each event began to dwindle.
Due to COVID, both schools canceled their 5K events last year. This year seemed like a great year to experiment with a combined race. We couldn’t have been more pleased with the way this year’s race turned out. Seeing all the families together, uniting for one great cause, was truly gratifying for all involved. Perhaps there will be more shared events in the future. In true Montessori fashion, collaboration wins over competition every time. •
Amy O’Connor, Executive Director of Montessori Children’s School of Key West, has been involved with Montessori in some capacity almost her entire life. Her parents helped found the school in 1972. Amy’s three children attended Montessori schools in Essex, Vermont, and Key West, Florida. Amy has her Primary Montessori teaching certification as well as her BA in business.
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 supplies can be kept on hand and are easily found as needed. A messy space like this could be a spare room in your house, in the basement if you have one, or in your family garage.
It could be a craft and art studio for sculpting or making pottery or an area for woodworking with a workbench with tools arranged on shelves or hanging from a pegboard. It might be a room where you keep your paints and an easel, a photography or video studio with lighting and backdrops, or a space for tools to work on your cars or bicycles.
Keeping order in mind as you plan and organize the space is key to reducing frustration when you can’t find a tool you need or something you’ve just created gets knocked over. When there is clutter and disorder, accidents are more likely to happen and safety to be compromised. It also becomes more difficult to concentrate on the project at hand.
In a Montessori-inspired home, we want to think about what kind of space is needed for your interests or hobbies with all members of the family in mind. Your children are likely to want to be around you as much as possible, as well as needing a space where they can do the things that they prefer. So the idea is to think about the activities that your family members enjoy and consider which ones can be done in the same space.
Many families do not have a spare room, a basement, or even a garage that could be turned into a messy room. What are you to do then? Of course, everything depends on the ages and interests of your children, which may be very different from child to child, but the basic concepts remain the same. Our goal is to allow children to do activities that may be too messy to allow in their bedrooms, the kitchen, or the living room. When you live in a small apartment or home, you have to think outside of the box. You may make an exception to the general rule, and create a small area in the child’s bedroom where you lay down a protective heavy plastic covering on the floor and allow your child to paint, work with clay, glue models together, and other things using a washable covering to protect the surface of the kitchen table. The goal is to encourage children to feel that they can explore hobbies and interests while having your house (or backpack) become a mess.
Real-life story: When Jennie first went to school, she was fascinated with the art materials in her Montessori class. She loved to paint and draw with the beautiful beeswax crayons and colored pencils that were part of the classroom environment. When she would come home, she would often ask her mom if she could have an art studio. Jennie and her mom bought her a set of simple water paints and brushes, a small tabletop easel, and a stack of water-paint paper. They set up a little art studio with tile on the floor that could be easily cleaned if any paint spilled. Mom also bought some picture frames made from matte board so Jennie could hang her favorite paintings. As time went by, Jennie moved from water paints to charcoal and pastels and finally tempera and oil paints. but her interest in drawing and painting never faded away. Today, Jennie has grown up and has a career in science, but she still enjoys painting and loves going to art galleries.
Real-life story: I started noticing my son’s school backpack was full of what I considered trash. Broken rubber bands, the inner ring from a roll of tape, bits of string, etc… for and he just said that he needed them. Then, I started noticing items moving from the recycle bin to his bedroom. Egg cartons, milk jugs, cardboard boxes of all sizes…..it was looking like a recycling center in his room. I would ask him what they were. He kept saying he “needed” it all, so I walked out, took a deep breath, and went with it when what I really wanted to do was put it all back in the trash and have a clean house! Then, one day, he emerged from his room with a giant “smoothie shop” that served all types of smoothies (made out of cardboard and “trash”). This shop was so amazingly detailed and each bit of “trash” served a thought-out purpose. He used amazing grace and courtesy to take our orders and serve us smoothies. We all drank some delicious smoothies that day, and I silently thanked all of his Montessori teachers for teaching me to follow his interests… even when those interests looked like “trash!” —Tara, mother of John 9 years old
Lorna McGrath, M.Ed., is Director of IMC School Accreditation, Program Director of the Montessori Family Alliance, and Senior Consultant of The Montessori Foundation. Lorna has 41 years of experience in the field of education, teaching children from 18 months through 6 years old and from 12 through 18 years old in both public schools and independent Montessori schools. Lorna is a Montessori teacher educator, conference presenter, and school consultant. She can be reached at lornamcgrath@montessori.org.
Tim Seldin is President of the Montessori Foundation and Chair of the International Montessori Council. His more than40 years of experience in Montessori education includes 22years as Headmaster of the Barrie School in Silver Spring, Maryland, his alma mater from toddler through high school graduation. Tim was Co-Founder and Director of the Institute for Advanced Montessori Studies and the Center for Guided Montessori Studies. He earned a B.A. in History and Philosophy from Georgetown University, a M.Ed. in Educational Administration and Supervision from The American University, and his Montessori certification from the American Montessori Society. Tim Seldin is the author of several books on Montessori Education, including How to Raise An Amazing Child, The World in the Palm of Her Hand, and his new book, Montessori for Everyone, co-authored with Lorna McGrath.
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 way: “And in these qualities of the child, she sees man as he ought to be: the worker who never tires, because what drives him on is perennial enthusiasm. She sees one who seeks out the greatest efforts because his constant aspiration is to make himself superior to difficulties; he is a person who really tries to help the weak, because in his heart there is the true charity which knows what is meant by respect for others, and that respect for a person’s spiritual efforts is the water that nourishes the roots of his soul. In the possession of these characteristics, she will recognize the true child, who is father of the true man.” (p. 257).
These are some of the faces of ‘normalization.’ The children are demonstrating independence, perseverance, repetition, and concentration to the exclusion of all the sights, sounds, sensations, and activity around them, because they have a greater task at hand. The children are constructing their own learning; they are shaping their own personalities; and they are building the adults that they are yet to become.
Anika places a large pink cube atop a small pink cube and the cubes fall. She removes the large cube and chooses another somewhat smaller cube. This cube also falls. She removes the small cube and replaces it with a larger cube. She places the smaller cube atop and, later, the smallest cube at the top of the tower. She sits back, observes her balanced tower, and her eyes sparkle as she smiles. one who seeks out the greatest efforts because his constant aspiration is to make himself superior to difficulties; he is a person who really tries to help the weak, because in his heart there is the true charity which knows what is meant by respect for others, and that respect for a person’s spiritual
To the onlooker, it appears that the children are cleaning, building, and working on skills. They appear to be manipulating letters, numbers, and tablets of color. They carry long red rods, stack pink cubes, and lug heavy brown pieces of wood to awaiting throw rugs. These observations are accurate; however, the process of normalization involves a great many skills, some that are visible and some that are less obvious. These children (and others like them) are learning, growing, and developing in a specially prepared environment that fosters the love of activity, concentration, self-discipline, and sociability. This process is facilitated by a sensitive adult, who has prepared the environment with order, consistency, warmth, and the removal of obstacles that could prevent this development.
Martin enters his classroom, says hello to a few friends, and walks directly to the shelf that contains the materials necessary for the parts of the tree puzzle. First he retrieves and unrolls his rug with attention to its position and smoothness. Then he gathers his puzzle and places it on the rug. He builds, disassembles and rebuilds his puzzle without fatigue, but with joyful energy.
Dr. Montessori’s discovery of the “secret of the child,” i.e., their hidden potential, had yet to be revealed and understood by adults. Dr. Montessori’s skills in observation and the circumstances that placed her in the company of children in need of a place to call their own (the slums of San Lorenzo, Rome) found a fertile place for the revelation to occur. She shared with her adult students at the second Indian Montessori training course, that the children came “undernourished, dirty, and uneducated.” “And these very small children, from three to six, did wonderful things. They had wonderful revelations. All these revelations of how to learn to write and to read by themselves at such a young age (and in the midst of joy) resulted in a transformation of their character.”
Liam is building the triangles with deep concentration. Somewhere in the room a tray falls, a child coughs, and an adult walks past. Outdoors a horn sounds and a truck rumbles past. Meanwhile, he continues the assembly of the triangles, the triangles that he has constructed many times before, without interruption.
Then and today, children enter Montessori settings with capabilities that suit them for the work and activity they will encounter. They bring bodies designed for purposeful movement, coordination, grace, and stamina. Their hands and senses serve them by allowing them to interact with and come to experience their environments. They are equipped with a mind that absorbs impressions from all around them; a mind that organizes, problem solves, adapts, remembers, is curious, is capable of long periods of attention and concentrates with little effort and without fatigue. When the body and the mind are satisfied, the true character of children is disclosed. They are peaceful, joyful, sociable, helpful, self-disciplined, satisfied, and their inquisitive and loving souls are made evident. ¢
Montessori, M. and Claremont, C. A. (2019). The Absorbent Mind. Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company.
Dorothy Harman is an AMS Early Childhood credentialed Montessori guide. She holds a BA in Early Childhood Education and a M. Ed in Curriculum and Instruction with an Emphasis in Creative Arts. Dorothy Harman serves as a Montessori consultant and Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Nebraska- Kearney. She serves as a Field Consultant for the Center for Guided Montessori Studies and was a 2018 recipient of an AMS Peace Seed Grant. She is the author of Intentional Connections: A Practical Guide to Parent Engagement in Early Childhood and Lower Elementary Classrooms, published through Parent Child Press.
Your day can be ruined when your child tells you that something upsetting happened at school. Maybe a friend wouldn’t play with your child, or a classmate called your child a name, or any number of possible scenarios. The first thing your gut tells you to do is immediately call and complain to someone. The first thing we should do is pause. This is a time to listen and ask questions, not to solve the problem.
First, ask your child to tell you more. “Tell me more about that”, is encouraging in so many situations and perfect when dealing with an upset. Ask about their feelings, then ask how they think the other child may be feeling. You may even want to ask them, what they would have liked to have happened. Pause before you reach out to other adults or try to solve the problem for your child.
Statements and Questions to find out more about an upset:
“Tell me more about that.”
“What was happening before (problem)?”
“How did it make you feel?”
“How do you think (other person) felt?”
“What do you think (other person) is saying about this?”
“If you could have a do-over, what would you do differently?”
If you do need to contact an adult at the school, begin with the guide who was in the space. Through the appropriate communication channels for your school, let the guide know that your child was upset and your child’s version of the event. Be open to the fact that you are hearing only one angle, and work in partnership with your school if you need to provide any assistance in finding a solution.
One time, my older child came to me and said, “T pushed me!” When we asked her about it, she said she did push him. When we began to work with her to think of another way she could have managed rather than pushing, she responded, “Tell him not to jump on my foot.” We realized we had not filled up on what happened before she pushed. So, we received honest but incomplete information from our son. The real help they needed was discussing a different concern that led to standing on a foot and pushing him off. I needed to ask, “Tell me more about that.” •
Cheryl Allen is the Associate Coordinator of the Montessori Family Alliance and is also a parenting educator and a Montessori consultant with the Montessori Foundation.
Cheryl attended Montessori school as a child. After some time as a traditional Secondary teacher, she worked in Montessori classrooms, 3-6, 6-9, and 9-12, earning certifications from both AMS (3-6 and 6-9) and IMC (6- 12). She is a teacher educator, workshop presenter, and member of IMC accreditation teams. Cheryl’s two children attended Montessori from age two through high school graduation.
A Fast, Clear, and Fun Explanation of the Economics You Need for Success in Your Career, Business, and Investments
Written by Richard J. Maybury Edited by Jane A. Williams
From Bluestocking Press
There is an entire series of interesting books in the Uncle Eric collection. I particularly enjoyed sharing this clearly written, award-winning book about economics. In it, the author offers a clear and easily grasped explanation of the origin of money, investment cycles, inflation, market cycles, recessions, and much more.
As another reviewer put it, “Maybury’s forte is explaining economics in an interesting, logical, and easy-to-understand manner. This is no small achievement in economics pedagogy. Equally important, the economics in Whatever Happened to Penny Candy makes such good sense. When government’s economic policies make us say ‘uncle,’ let’s hope it’s ‘Uncle Eric,’ Maybury’s letter writer and alter ego.” – John G. Murphy, Ph.D., President,
National Schools Committee for Economic Education
“This book is must reading for children of all ages. Its presentation of some of the fundamentals of economics is lucid, accurate, and above all highly readable.”— Michael A. Walker, Executive Director, The Fraser Institute, British Columbia, Canada
Pyramid
Written & Illustrated by David Macaulay
From HMH Books for Young Readers
This is another series of excellent books published in the 1980s that is still available and should be in every school and family library. David Macaulay is an award-winning author and illustrator, whose books have sold millions of copies in the United States, alone, and his work has been translated into a dozen languages. Our children and I loved every one of his books. The series explored how famous buildings and structures were built, from the Pyramids to modern skyscrapers. The illustrations and detailed descriptions are fascinating to children (and adults) of all ages, but especially from seven to fourteen.
Our Vanishing Landscape
Written & Illustrated by Eric Sloan
From Dover Books on Americana
Eric Sloan is absolutely one of my favorite authors. Over his long career, he produced many compelling books that celebrate the traditions of early America and remind us that history is all around us, if we take time to look and understand. His work is a celebration of America. Eric Sloane was a prolific artist, which make his books come alive. This particular volume is just one of many. He wrote of the traditional life of the American farm and countryside. Just a few include Once Upon a Time: The Way America Was, Diary of an Early American Boy: Noah Blake 1805, The Seasons of America Past, The Cracker Barrel, The Little Red Schoolhouse, and many more. These books will not immediately grab the attention of the average young reader. I suggest that you get ahold of a few, and try to go through them together with a child of nine or older. Reading the Diary of an Early American Boy aloud together and looking at the pen and ink drawings may be a great beginning. Once you and your children realize how the evidence of the past surrounds us, you may see the place where you live and the places that you visit with new eyes. I love these books!
Healing Breath: A Guided Meditation through Nature for Kids
Written by William Meyer Illustrated by Brittany R. Jacobs
Mr. Meyer wrote this book to help children release anxiety in general and more specifically about the condition of the planet through meditation. The illustrations are colorful and calming and they bring the author’s words to life. I would suggest that this book be presented to children during the elementary years, as these are the years of great imagination. They will need to use their great imaginations to picture the ideas and places in the meditation. They will also need to have had enough life experiences to use as a basis for this imagining.
If I were going to present this meditation to students or to one of my own children, I would definitely start them off with a shorter meditation or with practicing the Silence Game that we often use in Montessori schools. Depending on their comfort and skill levels, I would read the book aloud with children or let them read it to me. Seeing the illustrations and hearing the words will help children imagine the scenes when they actually go to meditation, close their eyes, and visualize the scenes the author describes. I would also read the author’s words out loud, alone, before leading the meditation with children. Practicing this way will help me become familiar with the language, set my tone of voice, and determine the pace of reading.
This is a beautiful meditation and I think that elementary children will relax and enjoy this quieting practice.
Where Are You? A Child’s Book about Loss
Written by Laura Olivieri Illustrated by Kristin Elder
Where Are You? is written by a wife and mother of a three-year-old after her husband passed away. Her purpose in writing this book is to offer support for parents who may be struggling to answer their young child’s question about their missing parent. The author delicately describes how young children think and experience life and death in terms of ‘real’ things through their senses. After the child in this story experiences the loss of seeing, touching, and hearing his loved one, he begins to remember. He realizes that memories are held in the heart and that is where his parent is now. This book could be helpful for children ages three through eight years old, who are experiencing loss and searching for an answer to “where are you?”
Maria Montessori Speaks to Parents: A Selection of Articles
Written by Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori spent the vast majority of her professional life working with teachers, developing her innovative educational method. She devoted most of her energy to writing about the Method for teachers. However, she also spent some time during her courses and lectures to address parents. Within the pedagogical archives of Maria Montessori’s original work, several articles were found that have a style and content that was certainly written for parents. It is possible, and even likely, that these articles were written in 1931.
This book contains eleven short articles to help parents understand, in broad strokes, Montessori’s views on how children learn and the role that parents play in supporting their children’s development. It is an interesting collection of articles with clear and exact messages to parents. When I read each one, I had to put the book down and really contemplate her meaning and message. Maria Montessori’s style of writing is different from writers in the 21st century, but her message about children absolutely holds true today. This book is available through Amazon.
How to Change the World in 12 Easy Steps
Written by Peggy Porter Tierney Illustrated by Marie Letourneau
This delightful book was inspired by Eva Mozes Kor, a child survivor of Auschwitz. During her life, Eva encouraged children to make a positive difference in the world by doing everyday things that show kindness, acceptance, support, and care for the environment.
The author put ideas into simple terms on how we can all “be the change” we would like to see in our world; small things like tidying your room; giving your parents a hug and a kiss; picking up trash where you see it; inviting a new student to sit with you at lunch; getting an education; and being creative can make a huge difference. The illustrations are realistic, fun, and relatable.
At the end of the book, the author tells a brief story of Eva’s life after Auschwitz. You and your child (or students) can watch a documentary about Eva Mozes Kor by filmmaker Ted Green – Eva A-706. Great for children 4-8 years old. It can be purchased on amazon.com.
One Green Apple
Written by Eve Bunting Illustrated by Ted Lewin
Moving anywhere can be an adventure or a journey at any age but moving to a new country with unfamiliar customs and a language you don’t speak or understand can be very challenging for a child. In One Green Apple, Eve Bunting tells the story of a child from South Asia on her second day of school in the US, who goes on a class field trip to an apple orchard. Here, she learns the names of two new friends and adds her green apple to all the red apples to make a delicious cider. This is a story of acceptance, connection, and adjustment in new surroundings. The illustrations are realistic, sensitive, and beautifully done. I highly recommend this book for elementary age children.
A Warm Winter
Written by Feridun Oral
This is a story about friendship, sharing, and survival in a beautifully illustrated book that children will enjoy reading over and over for years to come. The author uses forest animals to tell the story of how a mouse struggles to provide the necessities of life for others in his family. Along the way, the mouse enlists the help of friends (a rabbit, a fox, and a bear) to move the fire starters to the mouse’s nest. This was quite an unlikely team to be sure, and maybe there’s a conversation to be had about that as you read the story. As luck would have it, a fierce winter snowstorm thwarted their efforts, and the very large bundle of twigs and pinecones came undone and scattered. They took shelter together until the blizzard passed. What do you think they decided to do with the twigs and pinecones that had scattered? When you read this book, you’ll find out how it turned out to be a warm winter after all. It will be most appealing to children from age four to seven.
Calling all teachers, parents, & children!
We would love to publish reviews of your favorite books. Send book reviews to Lorna at: lornamcgrath@montessori.org
“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 appreciation and understanding. Montessori encourages families to expose children to as many forms of art as possible. Encouraging your child’s interest in art and giving them room to be creative provides them with experiences that will endure.” — Excerpt from Montessori for Every Family by Lorna McGrath & Tim Seldin
The new book, Montessori For Every Family: A practical parenting guide to living, loving, and learning, by Lorna McGrath and Tim Seldin, shares some ways to encourage an enjoyment of art and to set up a space to create. We have searched out materials to help you set up an inviting art space in your home.
A child-sized wooden table can be your art area for years. Look for a sturdy table and chairs that fit under the table. If you do not have space for a separate art table, consider a coffee table with storage nearby.
Pictures by different artists can be chosen by you or your child if you visit an art museum, or ordered from art.com. Also consider a piece of wood with clips attached and a variety of postcards for a changing display.
You may want a paper roll so you can create different sized pieces of paper.
The MÅLA
Paper roll holder with storage is a good choice. It is available from several vendors, including Amazon. Here is a link to one from IKEA: tinyurl.com/ mrxfc27e
MÅLA Apron
Keeping clothes neat during art exploration is difficult for some of us, so a smock can be a beneficial part of any art set up. tinyurl.com/2zzsetah
Stockmar Beeswax Crayons
Beeswax crayons allow for layering of colors and draw smoothly. They also last longer than traditional crayons. tinyurl.com/289usjem
Eco Finger Paint
Changing out art materials for different ages can help keep their interest up. Young children enjoy the opportunity to finger paint; this finger paint is made with food-grade materials, so you do not need to worry too much when painty fingers go into mouths. ecokidsusa.com/ eco-finger-paint/
Watercolor Pencils
Older children may like the many different ways to draw with watercolor pencils. tinyurl.com/2p9a6d5n
This all-natural, set of opaque watercolors has magnetic pots of color, so just a few can be used at a time. tinyurl.com/3ruhf9yu
Honeysticks
For younger children, who may even like to taste their paints, Honeysticks is a set made from food-grade ingredients. tinyurl.com/bdfjy9w9
Beeswax or Soft Dough
Younger children may find beeswax or soft dough easiest to use. Stockmar modeling beeswax warms up in your hands and smells delicious. tinyurl.com/mws8axc3
Include a container or two, to collect items for collage and sculpture making. Egg cartons, confetti, rubber bands, pom poms, whatever could be reused and is appropriate for their use, can go in the containers for building and creating. Be creative, and follow your child’s interests. Have fun with these ideas and supplies, and add your own art area in your home.
