Tim Seldin &Paul Epstein Ph.D.

The Montessori Way

An Education for Life

he Montessori Foundation is a nonprofit

organization dedicated to the advancement of Montes-

sori education around the world. Its mission is to nur-

ture, inspire, and support the development of strong, successful

Montessori schools throughout North America. The Foundation

is committed to promoting Dr. Montessori’s dream of a world-

wide community of children and adults working together to

teach peace and global understanding, cooperation rather than

conflict, and to celebrate the universal values of kindness, com-

passion, and nonviolence.

The Montessori Foundation

works with the international

Montessori community, pro-

viding programs, services,

resources, and lines of communications among parents, educa-

tors, and schools who are interested in learning more about the

insights, research, and approach pioneeered by Dr.Maria

Montessori.

The Montessori Foundation’s programs include:

Tomorrow’s Child magazine, an international journal enjoyed

by Montessori parents and educators around the world.

The Foundation’s Publication Center offers hundreds of diffi-

cult-to-find books and other resources of interest to Montessori

teachers, parents, and heads of schools.

The Montessori Leadership Institute offers a broad program of

in-depth and practical courses in Montessori leadership on a

wide range of topics — from school design to fundraising,

recruitment, internal communications, and curriculum develop-

ment.

The Montessori Academy for Peace and its program of retreats,

workshops,and symposia on issues specifically connected to the

development of Peaceful Children, Peaceful Families, and

Peaceful School Communities.

The Foundation’s Montessori School Consultation Service pro-

vides a wealth of knowledge and experience when schools need

more intensive on-site counsel. We work with boards, Heads of

Schools, and faculties for Montessori programs, fundraising, capi-

tal campaigns, the search for corporate and foundation support,

public relations and recruitment, and assistance in program and

curriculum development.

The Montessori Foundation inspired the development of the

International Montessori Council, a membership organization

for Montessori schools, parents, and educators around the world.

The Council was formed to offer accreditation to Montessori

schools, programs in professional development, school self-

assessment and improvement, parenting centers, and to assist

with the development of Montessori Councils at the state/provin-

cial and grassroots level. The Council publishes Montessori

Leadership, a magazine written specifically for heads of schools,

educational coordinators, key parent leaders, and trustees.

The Montessori Way

is a publication of

The Montessori Foundation1001 Bern Creek LoopSarasota, Florida 34240

Phone: 941-379-6626/800-655-5843Fax: 941-379-6671www.montessri.org

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© 2003 All rights reserved. Printed in the United States

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Reproduction of any part of this publication in any manner is strictly

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ISBN: ########

The Montessori Way – 1st ed

Cover Photo by Larry CannerTaken at the Oneness Family School,

Bethesda, MD

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The Montessori Foundation

T

Tim SeldinPaul Epstein, Ph.D.

The

Montessori

Foundation

Press

TheMontessori Way

ver since we first estab-lished The Montessori Founda-

tion, we have said to one another thatone day we would write a book thatintroduced Montessori as clearly as thearticles in our magazine, Tomorrow’sChild.

Thanks to an extraordinarily generouscontribution by Tony Low-Beer, a won-derful man who has become very sup-portive of our work at the Foundation,this book has been made possible. Theauthors wish to express their deepestappreciation to Mr. Low-Beer and hisfamily. We also wish to extend our com-mitment to the role that TheMontessori Foundation continues toplay around the world in helping tospread the insights and approach toeducating the world’s children that wasdeveloped by Dr. Maria Montessori.

The authors have contributed all rightsto this book to The Montessori Founda-tion. We hope that, in addition to help-ing to spread the word of theMontessori approach to parents andeducators around the world, the proceeds from the sales of The Monte-sori Way will help to ensure theFoundation’s future.

AcknowledgmentsIn addition, we would like to express our deepappreciation to everyone who helped to bringthis book to life. This loyal band of colleaguesand friends includes: Dr. Ann Epstein for herexcellent chapter on Children with Excep-tionalities; David Kahn of the North American Montessori Teachers Association(NAMTA) for his description of the HersheyMontessori Farm School and his essay on therole of imagination in Montessori Elementaryeducation; Marta Donahoe of the ClarkMontessori High School for contributingdescriptions of their Secondary Programs;Susan Tracy for her assistance in preparingthe chapter on Infants and Toddlers; MelodyMosby of the Athens Montessori School for her description of their MontessoriMiddle School; and Eileen Roper Ast of theAmerican Montessori Society for her helpproofreading this publication.

We also want to thank the teachers and children of A Love of Learning MontessoriSchool (Columbia, MD); Athens MontessoriSchool (Athens, GA); Montessori School ofAnderson (Anderson, SC); Lake NormanCountry Day School (Huntersville, NC);Oneness Family School (Chevy Chase, MD); Chiaravalle Montessori School(Evanston, IL); Henson Valley MontessoriSchool (Camp Springs, MD); MontessoriSchool of Raleigh (Raleigh, NC); New GateSchool (Sarasota, FL); Montessori Children’sCenter at Burke (White Plains, NY); Mater

EAmoris School (Ashton, MD);Montessori Educational Center(Alexandria, LA); Raritan ValleyMontessori School (Bridgewater, NJ);Montessori Children’s House (Dunedin,New Zealand); Westwood MontessoriSchools (Dallas, TX); WashingtonMontessori Charter Public Schools(Washington, NC); Century HouseMontessori School (Tortola, BVI); andRenaissance School (Oakland, CA) forallowing us to capture the magic of theirclassrooms on film.

We owe special thanks to Larry Cannerfor his excellent photography and toMargot Garfield-Anderson, JoannaVoultsides, and Chelsea Howe, staffmembers of The Montessori Founda-tion, for their tireless work every step ofthe way. In addition, many thanks toRodney Lackey, who gave us shelter fromthe storm when Hurricane Isabelle tookdown power lines at the worst possiblemoment! And finally, we want to thankTim’s lovely and multi-talented wife,Joyce St. Giermaine, Executive Directorof The Montessori Foundation, who, aseditor and designer, brought TheMontessori Way to life.

Paul Epstein Tim SeldinEvanston, IL Sarasota, FL

Dedicationy involvement with The Montessori Foundation and The Montessori Way project stems from

two sources. Looking back, it is clear that my children, Susanna and Nick A., could have bene-fited greatly from a Montessori education; because of my ignorance and stubbornness when they wereyoung, I regrettably did not provide them with the opportunity. It took my wonderful friend and businesspartner, Dominique Lahaussois, and her son, Pierre Alexander, as well as two other dear friends, PeterCherneff and Rachel Lorentzen, to open my eyes. It is to these four people I love so dearly, that this bookis dedicated.

— Tony Low-Beer

M

October, 2003

Forewordhat is education for? How we answer this question is critical for the future of our children,

our nation, and our world. Yet all too often it gets lost in debates about standards, testing, andother procedural reforms that treat education as something to be done to children rather thanfor and with them.

The Montessori Way shows that we can, and must, go back to basics – to the real purpose of education asdrawing forth from each one of us our full human potential. It is a highly practical book. But it is much morethan that. It describes a way of life – a way of thinking about the nature of intelligence, talent, and the poten-tial for goodness and greatness among all people, a way to nurture and inspire the creativity, curiosity, lead-ership, love, and imagination that lies within us all. It reminds us that the child is the mother/father of the woman/man she or he will one day become, and that the most important human taskis to nurture and educate children.

Based on the pioneering work of Maria Montessori, as well as more recent knowledge about how childrendevelop, learn, and access their full humanity, The Montessori Way embodies what I call partnership education. It is designed not only to help young people better navigate through our difficult times, but also tohelp them create a more peaceful, equitable, and sustainable future.

Rather than relying on a paradigm of domination and submission, of winning and losing, of externalrewards and punishments, of top-down rankings, fear, manipulation, indoctrination, and pressure to conform, The Montessori Way presents an education that focuses on partnership, independence, mutualtrust, and respect, on both individual achievement and collaboration, while developing our minds and hearts.

Explicitly or implicitly, education gives young people a mental map of what it means to be human. Muchof what young people worldwide learn through both their formal and informal education holds up a distorted mirror of themselves. When their vision of the future comes out of this limited world view, they can-not develop their full humanity or meet the unprecedented challenges they face.

In The Montessori Way, Tim Seldin and Paul Epstein offer sound guidelines, practical tools, and inspiring real-life stories of how, working together teachers, children, parents, and others can create learning communities where everyone can feel safe and seen for who we truly are, where our essentialhumanity and that of others shines through, lifting our hearts and spirits, empowering us to realize our high-est intellectual, emotional, and spiritual potentials.

In her unshakable faith in the human spirit and her fearless challenge to traditions of domination, MariaMontessori is one of my role models. Her legacy, as expanded and enriched by countless others, is the gift ofthis wonderful book.

— Riane Eisler is author of Tomorrow’s Children: A Blueprint for Partnership Education in the 21st Century, The Power of Partnership, and The Chalice and The Blade.

W

1SECTION

THE MONTESSORI WAY

Introduction 8A Typical Montessori Day 11

The Montessori Way 16

History of the Montessori Movement 18The San Lorenzo Discoveries 21

Montessori’s Legacy 25

Montessori’s Philosophy 30Core Values 30

Intrinsic Motivation 31Independence and Movement: Acquiring Self-Discipline 31Respectful Communities of

Mixed-Age Groups 32The Prepared Environment 33

The Control of Error 36The Three-Period Lesson 36

Certified Montessori Teachers 38

CONTENTS

2SECTION

3SECTION

4SECTION

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

CLOSING THOUGHTS

APPENDIXES

The Planes of Development 42

Sensitive Periods 46

The Method of Observation 51

The Normalized Child 53

A Guided Tour of theMontessori Classrooms 55

Montessori for the Kindergarten Year 109

Elementary Programs 115

Secondary Programs 147

Infant-Toddler Programs 175

Montessori in the Home for Young Children 191

Montessori for Learners withExceptionalities 199

Preparing Children for the Real World: Reflections on a Montessori

Education 213

The Montessori Way 221

Brief Answers to QuestionsParents Often Ask 228

Finding the Right School 237

Standards 243

Bibliography 260

Resources 266

Index 270

1SECTION

THE MONTESSORIWAY

INTRODUCTION

HISTORY OF THE MONTESSORI MOVEMENT

MONTESSORI’S PHILOSOPHY

CERTIFIED MONTESSORI TEACHERS

8

THE MONTESSORI WAY

IntroductionIn 1907, an Italian physician was invited to open a child-carefacility for fifty preschool-aged children in a section of Romethat was avoided and neglected because of its oppressivepoverty and crime. The children’s parents worked sixteen or

more hours a day. In the absence of adult supervision, these childrenwere vandalizing recently renovated housing. Years later, Dr. MariaMontessori recalled her experience of personal transformation in which she discovered something previously unknown about children:*

“What happened will always remain a mystery to me. I have tried since then to under-stand what took place in those children.Certainly there was nothing of what is to befound now in any House of Children. Therewere only rough large tables.

I brought them some of the materials whichhad been used for our work in experimentalpsychology, the items which we use today assensorial material and materials for the exer-cises of practical life. I merely wanted to studythe children’s reactions. I asked the woman incharge not to interfere with them in any way,as otherwise I would not be able to observethem. Someone brought them paper and col-ored pencils, but, in itself, this was not theexplanation of the further events. There was noone who loved them. I myself only visited themonce a week, and during the day, the childrenhad no communication with their parents.

The children were quiet; they had no interfer-ence either from the teacher or from the par-ents, but their environment contrasted vividlyfrom that which they had been used to; com-pared to that of their previous life, it seemedfantastically beautiful. The walls were white,there was a green plot of grass outside, though

no one had yet thought to plant flowers in it, butmost beautiful of all was the fact that they hadinteresting occupations in which no one, no one atall, interfered. They were left alone, and little by lit-tle, the children began to work with concentration,and the transformation they underwent wasnoticeable. From timid and wild as they werebefore, the children became sociable and commu-nicative. They showed a different relationship witheach other, of which I have written in my books.Their personalities grew and, strange though itmay seem, they showed extraordinary understand-ing, activity, vivacity and confidence. They werehappy and joyous.

This fact was noticed after a while by the motherswho came to tell us about it. As the children hadhad no one to teach them or interfere with theiractions, they acted spontaneously; their mannerswere natural.

But the most outstanding thing about these strangechildren of the St. Lorenz Quarter was their obviousgratitude. I was as much surprised by this as every-one else. When I entered the room, all the childrensprang to greet me and cried their welcome.Nobody had taught them any manner of goodbehavior. And the strangest thing of all was that although nobody had cared for them

I

* Maria Montessori (1942), How It All Happened; http://www.montessori-ami.org/ami.htm (January 4, 2003)

(Above) Dr. Maria Montessori, c. 1934.

9

physically, they flourished in health, as if theyhad been secretly fed on some nourishing food.And so they had, but in their spirit. These children began to notice things in their homes: aspot of dirt on their mother’s dress, untidiness in the room. They told their mothers not to hangthe washing in the windows but to put flowersthere instead. Their influence spread into thehomes, so that after a while these also becametransformed.

Six months after the inauguration of the House ofChildren, some of the mothers came to me andpleaded that as I had already done so much fortheir children and they themselves could do noth-ing about it because they were illiterate, would Inot teach their children to read and write?

At first I did not want to, being as prejudiced aseveryone else that the children were far tooyoung for it. But I gave them the alphabet in theway I have told you. As then it was somethingnew for me also. I analyzed the words for themand showed that each sound of the words had asymbol by which it could be materialized. It wasthen that the explosion into writing occurred.

The news spread, and the whole world becameinterested in this phenomenal activity of the writ-ing of these children who were so young andwhom nobody had taught. The people realizedthat they were confronted by a phenomenon thatcould not be explained. For besides writing, thesechildren worked all the time without being forcedby anyone to do so.

This was a great revelation, but it was not theonly contribution of the children. It was also theywho created the lesson of silence. They seemed tobe a new type of children. Their fame spread and,in consequence, all kinds of people visited theHouse of Children, including state ministers andtheir wives, with whom the children behaved gra-ciously and beautifully, without anyone urgingthem. Even the newspapers in Italy and abroadbecame excited. So the news spread, until finallyalso the Queen became interested. She came to

that Quarter, so ill famed that it was consideredhell’s doors, to see for herself the children aboutwhom she had heard wonders.

What was the wonder due to? No one could state itclearly. But it conquered me forever, because it pen-etrated my heart as a new light. One day I looked atthem with eyes which saw them differently, and Iasked myself: ‘Who are you? Are you the same chil-dren you were before?’ And I said within myself:‘Perhaps you are those children of whom it was saidthat they would come to save humanity. If so, I shallfollow you.’ Since then, I am she who tries to grasptheir message to follow them.

And in order to follow them, I changed my wholelife. I was nearly forty. I had in front of me a doc-tor’s career and a professorship at the University.But I left it all, because I felt compelled to followthem and to find others who could follow them, forI saw that in them lay the secret of the soul.

You must realize that what happened was some-thing so great and so stirring that its importancecould never be sufficiently recognized. That it willnever be sufficiently studied is certain, for it is thesecret of life itself. We cannot fully know its causes.It is not possible that it came because of my method,for at the time my method did not yet exist. This isthe clearest proof that it was a revelation thatemanated from the children themselves.

INTRODUCTION

(Below) A meal at the Montessori School in the Convent of theFranciscan Nuns, Rome, c. 1912.

THE MONTESSORI WAY

10

My educational method has grown from these,as well as from many other revelations, given bythe children. You know, from what I have toldyou, that all the details included in the methodhave come from the efforts to follow the child.The new path has been shown us. No one knowsexactly how it arose; it just came into being andshowed us the new way.

It has nothing to do with any educationalmethod of the past nor with any educationalmethod of the future. It stands alone as the contribution of the child himself. Perhaps it is thefirst of its kind, which has been built by him, stepby step.

It cannot have come from an adult person; thethought, the very principle that the adult shouldstand aside to make room for the child, couldnever have come from the adult.

Anyone who wants to follow my method mustunderstand that he should not honor me, but fol-low the child as his leader.”

Maria Montessori discovered that whenyoung children concentrate and investigate aset of purposefully designed activities, theytend to develop self-control; their move-ments become ordered, and they appearpeaceful. Their demeanor towards othersbecomes kind and gentle.

These characteristics and other discoveriesmade with the children of San Lorenzo in1907 were quickly replicated, as newMontessori schools opened throughoutEurope and around the world. Children inElementary and Secondary Montessorischools displayed tremendous enthusiasm asthey explored and studied topics in greatdetail. Their learning achievements were pro-found. The overall Montessori experience,however, is deeper than an academic courseof study. Because the Montessori process fullyengages children’s natural learning poten-tials, Montessori students learn about them-selves, develop self-confidence, communicateeffectively, and work well in groups.

Today’s Montessori schools incorporate thediscoveries of Maria Montessori as well asrecent understandings of how learning anddevelopment take place. Montessori schoolsare now found in private, public, and home-school settings in the United States andabroad. The educational programs located inthese schools range from infant care to high school students.

Many of these schools are affiliates of, or are accredited by, one of a dozen nationaland/or international Montessori organiza-tions. Teachers receive Montessori teacher cer-tification after completing rigorous courses ofstudy. Many teachers describe their own expe-riences of personal transformation as they,too, witness in children astounding capabili-ties. From a family’s perspective, becomingpart of a Montessori school could be thoughtof as adopting a natural lifestyle we call TheMontessori Way.

(Below) Students at the Montessori School in the Convent ofthe Franciscan Nuns, Rome, c. 1912.

A TYPICAL MONTESSORI DAY

11

A Typical Montessori Day

t is dark at 7:45 A.M.on this mid-winter’smorning when Jeanne

Saunders pulls up to thedrop-off circle at the Mon-tessori school her threechildren have attendedsince they were two yearsold.

Jeanne has made this tripso often over the years thatthe school feels like hersecond home. Jeanneworks in town and typicallycannot leave work untilafter 5:00 P.M. Her husband,Bill, teaches in the localpublic school and is offmuch earlier. He will pickup the children from theafter-school program at4:30 P.M., but if he’s late, heknows that they’ll be fineuntil he arrives. The schoolprides itself on being “family friendly.” Workingfamilies appreciate itsextended-day and summer-camp programs.

Imani, Justin, and Madi-son definitely think of theirMontessori school as theirsecond family. Madison isone of those children who,after eleven years in Mon-tessori, speaks about theschool with affection andconviction. Visitors oftenfind her coming up withouta moment’s hesitation togreet them and offer thema cup of coffee before theystart the campus tour.When people ask if shelikes it in Montessori, shesmiles and says, “Sure!How could anyone not loveit here? Your teachers areyour best friends, the workis really interesting, and theother kids are my friends,too. You feel really close toeveryone.”

II

THE MONTESSORI WAY

12

Madison walks her five-year-old sister, Imani, to her morning supervi-sion room. Seven-year-old Justin goesahead on his own. After dropping offImani, Madison walks into the middleschool wing, where she is a seventhgrader. She joins two of her friends inthe Commons, and they sit and talkquietly, waiting for class to start at 8:30A.M.

Imani’s morning supervision takesplace in her regular classroom. Afterhanging up her coat, she walks over toJudy, the staff member in charge of herroom, and asks if she can help. Judyasks Imani to look over the breakfasttable and provide any missing napkinsand spoons. Imani does this, and whenthe table is finally ready, she makesherself a bowl of cereal. Imani addsmilk and walks to a breakfast table toeat. Children and their parents driftinto the room every so often; gradual-ly the number of children in the early-morning program grows to aboutfifteen.

After eating her breakfast, Imanibrings her bowl and spoon to a dish-washing table. Bowls and spoons arestacked in a bin. Later in the morn-ing, several children will choose thedish-washing activity. All items will becompletely cleaned and sterilizedafterwards by the dishwasher locatedin the classroom.

Next, Imani walks to the easel andbegins to paint with Teresa, a little girlof just three, who has only joined the

class over the last few weeks. Theypaint quietly, talking back and forthabout nothing in particular.

Eventually, Imani tires of paintingand cleans up. For a moment, she istempted to walk away and leave theeasel messy; instead, she carefullycleans up and puts the materials away,as she has learned from more than twoyears in Montessori.

At 8:30 A.M., Imani’s full-day teacherand her assistant arrive, along with several more children.Other children follow overthe next few minutes untilall twenty-four students andthe two adults quietly moveabout the room. During thenext several hours, Imaniand her classmates willchoose learning activitiesand will involve themselvesindividually, as well as insmall groups. They will have a variety of lessonsfrom their teachers. Someare demonstrations, duringwhich their teachers showthem how to use the learn-

ing materials. Other lessons are in theform of direct instruction on, for exam-ple, the phonetic sounds of letters oron names for numerals, geometricshapes, and geographic terms for land-forms, continents, and nations.

In another part of the school, Justinand his classmates begin their lower-elementary day (for children betweenthe ages of six and nine) with a writingprompt: “Wisdom is ...” As each childcompletes the writing prompt, the

(Above) Montessori empowers children to take care of their basic needs.

(Right) Most Montessori schools haveart materials in the classroom for

use throughout the day. Someschools have art specialists whoinstruct the children as part of

their weekly curriculum or extended-day program.

A TYPICAL MONTESSORI DAY

13

teachers meet with students to reviewthe progress of their work plans. Thismorning, Justin will join a small groupfor an introductory lesson on how to usethe science discovery boxes. The focusof the lesson will involve asking inves-tigative questions.

The middle school students start theirday with “sharing,” one of several com-ponents of their morning meeting. Byspeaking about something that hastaken place during the past twenty-fourhours, students come to know oneanother better and build trust.

Afterwards, they will break into mathgroups. Madison, along with two of herclassmates, will present a lesson demon-strating the predictive power of a linearequation. Following math, the studentswill regroup into smaller teams. Eachteam is completing research for multi-media presentations based on severaltopics from their global studies.

Imani, with one of her friends, is alsoworking to construct and solve a mathe-matical problem: 2,346 + 1,421. Thisactivity reflects their learning accom-plishments during the past two years.Each child has used other materials tobuild an understanding of number andplace value. Today, they use a set ofnumeral cards to make the first addend:2,346. The cards showing the “units” 1 to9 are printed in green. The cards show-ing the “tens” numerals from 10 to 90are printed in blue. The “hundreds”from 100 to 900 are printed in red, andthe cards showing 1,000 to 9,000 areprinted in green again, because they rep-resent units of thousands.

Imani and her friend look through thecards and find a green 6, a blue 40, a red300, and a green 2,000. They place thesenumeral cards across the top of a wood-en tray and carry it to the “bank,” a cen-tral collection of golden bead materials.They place their tray on the floor, andthey gather 6 “unit” beads.

Next, they count out 4 bars of “ten”beads, which will represent 40. Thisprocess is repeated until their tray is

filled with the correct number of “hun-dred” squares, and “thousand” cubes.They walk back to their work spaceand unroll a rug on the floor. The twogirls then place their numeral cardsacross the top of the rug. They placethe “unit” beads under the green 6card; 4 bars of “ten” beads each underthe blue 40 card; 3 squares of “hun-dred” beads each under the red 300card; and 2 cubes of “thousand” beadseach under the green 2,000 card. Thegirls now fill their empty tray withcards to form the numeral 1,421.Walking to the “bank,” they againselect the correct quantity of beadmaterials and return to their work rug.They build 1,421 under the 2,346.

The two addends are combined inan addition process: the “unit” beadsare combined and placed in the lower-right corner of the rug. The bars of“ten” are combined and placed to theleft of the “units.” This process contin-ues for the “hundred” squares and“thousand” cubes. Their movementsmimic the pencil and paper process.Beginning with the “units,” the chil-dren count the combined quantities todetermine the result of adding the twotogether. In this example, the result is7 “unit” beads. They find a green 7 cardto represent this partial sum. If theiraddition resulted in a quantity of tenbeads or more, the children wouldstop at the count of 10 and carry the 10“unit” beads to the “bank,” where theywould exchange the 10 “unit” beadsfor 1 “ten” bar: 10 “units” equals 1 unitof “ten.” This process of counting andlabeling quantities is repeated for the“tens,” “hundreds,” and “thousands.”

To complete this activity, Imani andher friend collect pieces of math paper,and green, blue, and red pencils. Theycopy their problem on their papers:2,346 + 1,421 = 3,767. They put theirpapers in their cubbies and they returnthe pencils, numeral cards, bead mate-rials, and tray to their proper places.Finally, they roll up their work rug and

The Stamp Game is not really a game at all — it is a set of concrete materials thatallows young children to solve four-digitmath problems; it is a next step on the road to abstraction in the Montessori Mathcurriculum.

(Above) The Stamp Game

THE MONTESSORI WAY

14

return it to the rug holder. This is, asthe children proudly say, a “big work.”

It is now almost 10:00 A.M. andImani is hungry. She moves to thesnack table and prepares severalpieces of celery stuffed with peanutbutter. She pours a cup of apple juice,using a little pitcher that is just theright size for her hands. When she isfinished, Imani takes the cup to thedish-washing table and wipes theplace mat. As with the breakfast dish-es, dish washing is a real-life activity;the children will wash their own dish-es and learn to take care of their ownneeds. (Dishes and utensils will gothrough the dishwasher before thenext morning.)

Montessori children are usuallyenergized by “big work.” Cleaning upfrom her snack has put Imani in themood to really clean something.Younger children will direct theirenergies into a table-washing activity.

Five-year-old Imani has anotherplan. She finds her friend Chelsea, andthe two girls begin talking about apuppy named Sam. They begin tolaugh as their story becomes increas-ingly elaborate. Their teacher, Ann,acknowledges their creativity and sug-gests they write a story. This lessoninvolves a work rug, a box of woodenletters called the Moveable Alphabet,pencils, paper, and writing tables. Likethe earlier math work, it reflects enor-mous achievements in language learn-ing. They have already learned thephonetic sounds of letters and howto blend sounds together to write andread words. This activity also reflectsenormous achievements in develop-ing focus or concentration and self-dis-cipline. Imani and Chelsea use thealphabet to compose a story about adog named Sam.

Throughout the morning, Imani’sclassmates have completed learning

activities involving sorting andsequencing objects, identifyingnames for nations, arranging geomet-ric shapes, and exploring scientific properties.

In a very real sense, Imani and her classmates are responsible for the care of this child-sized environ-ment. Older children show younger children how to use the materials.When the children are hungry, theyprepare their own snacks by cuttingraw fruits and vegetables. They go tothe bathroom without assistance.When something spills, they helpeach other clean up. They also enjoysweeping, dusting, and washing windows. They set tables, tie theirown shoes, polish silver, and steadily grow in their self-confidence andindependence. Noticing that theplants need water, Imani carries thewatering can from plant to plant,barely spilling a drop.

A TYPICAL MONTESSORI DAY

15

Children move freely around theclass, selecting activities that capturetheir interests. Imani and her class-mates have demonstrated self-suffi-ciency. They are developing an innersense of order, a greater sense of independence, and a higher ability toconcentrate and follow a complexsequence of steps.

Imani’s day continues and she eatsher lunch with the class at 11:45 A.M.,after which she goes outside with herfriends to play. After lunch, the Spanishteacher comes into the room andbegins to work with small groups ofstudents.

Throughout their day, Imani and herclassmates make responsible choicesregarding which learning activities todo next. Each activity engages the children in a number of movementpatterns that form a foundation forneurological development. The hands-on learning materials are also concretemodels for thinking processes andabstract concepts.

Young children are also comparativethinkers. They learn things are bigwhen something else is small; thingsare loud when something else is soft.Young children are problem solvers.They can group objects together thatare congruent; other objects arearranged sequentially by one or moreproperties of size and color. Repeateduse of the materials allow young stu-dents to build a clear inner image of,for example, place value: How big is athousand as compared with hun-dreds, tens, and units?

The design of the learning materials– their sizes, shapes, colors, textures,and weights – holds the interest andattention of Imani and her classmatesfor long periods of time. Concen-tration is normal; these young childrenexplore and discover differences andsimilarities between the objects.

As these children engage in longperiods of concentration with thelearning materials, they also develop

and display self-discipline. Theirmovements are orderly. Childrenact with grace andcourtesy; they areconsiderate andrespectful towardsone another. At the same time,children are ener-gized by their discoveries and in-vestigations. Self-discipline involveslearning to chan-nel their energiesby choosing newactivities.

During the af-ternoon Imani be-comes occupiedwith an art activity,listens to selec-tions from a re-cording of theNutcracker ballet,writes the namesof shapes takenfrom the geomet-ric cabinet, andcompletes a puz-zle map of theUnited States.

When the dayis over, Imaniwill have com-pleted ten to fif-teen different activities, most repre-senting curriculum content quiteadvanced for someone who, afterall, just turned five two months ago.But when her dad picks her up at4:50 P.M., her response to the usualquestion of, “What did you do inschool today?” is no different frommany children: “Stuff. I did a mapand, oh, I don’t know.” Madison andJustin will furnish similar responses,focusing instead on what might hap-pen during the evening at home.

The Saunders explain a typicalschool day in this way: “Our chil-dren are very happy in Montessori.They are excited about coming, andthey can’t wait to get here. Theirteachers genuinely care for our chil-dren; more than that, they knowour kids. When we describe whatour kids are learning, our friendsand family are amazed. Our neigh-bors tell us their children are notlearning anything like what our kidsdo here.”

The design of the learning materials — their sizes, shapes, colors, textures, and weights — holds the interest and attention ofMontessori students. Above is a set of the Metal Insets, one of thematerials children use to develop eye-hand coordination.

MONTESSORI’S LEGACY

25

Montessori’s Legacy

“It was January 6th (1907), when the first school was opened for small, nor-mal children of between three and sixyears of age. I cannot say on my meth-ods, for these did not yet exist. But in theschool that was opened my method wasshortly to come into being. On that daythere was nothing to be seen but aboutfifty wretchedly poor children, rough andshy in manner, many of them crying,almost all the children of illiterate par-ents, who had been entrusted to my care.

They were tearful, frightened children, soshy that it was impossible to get them tospeak; their faces were expressionless,with bewildered eyes as though they hadnever seen anything in their lives.

It would be interesting to know the origi-nal circumstances that enabled thesechildren to undergo such an extraordi-nary transformation, or rather, thatbrought about the appearance of newchildren, whose souls revealed them-selves with such radiance as to spread alight through the whole world.”

— Dr. Maria Montessori

ithin the next year, news of Dr. Montessori’s workstirred interest around the

world. Literally hundreds of peoplebegan to travel to Rome to see for themselves the school in whichyoung children — children of thedeepest poverty and ignorance —taught themselves how to read, write,do mathematics, and run their ownschoolhouse with little or no adultsupervision.

In her book about educationalreform, The Schoolhome (HarvardUniversity Press, 1992), Dr. JudithRowland Martin writes that she was notvery impressed when she first encoun-tered Montessori education.

“I understood that Montessori schoolsplaced children in multi-age classroomsand used manipulative learning materials, which may have been unusual during Dr. Montessori’s lifetime

but has long since been incorporated intomost early childhood and many elemen-tary classrooms thanks to the OpenClassroom movement of the 1960s.”

However, Dr. Rowland Martin’sunderstanding of the value of theMontessori approach was profoundlyshaken when she came across a state-ment in one of the very first bookswritten about Dr. Montessori’s work inthe United States (A MontessoriMother, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher,Henry Holt and Company, New York,1913). “The phrase, Casa dei Bambini,is being translated everywhere nowa-days by English-speaking people asThe Children’s House; however, itscorrect meaning, both linguistic andspiritual is The Children’s Home” (orChildren’s Community, ed.). CanfieldFisher insisted upon this rendering,which she felt of-fered a much moreaccurate and com-plete insight in-to the character of the Montessoriclassroom.

Rowland Martinreflected:

“This misreading ofthe Italian wordcasa as house haseffectively cut offtwo generations ofAmerican educa-tors from a new andintriguing vision ofwhat school canand should be. Ifyou translate theword casa as house,your attention willbe drawn to the

child-sized furniture, the Montessorimaterials, the exercises in Practical Life,the principal of self-education.

But if you translate the word casa ashome, you will begin to perceive a moraland social dimension that transformsyour understanding of Montessori’s ideaof a school. Once I realized that Dr.Montessori thought of school on themodel of a home, the elements of her sys-tem took on a different configuration.Where before I had seen small childrenmanipulating concrete learning materi-als, I now recognized a domestic scenewith its own special form of social lifeand education.”

Rowland Martin realized that whatMontessori had established was notsimply a classroom in which childrenwould be taught to read and write. TheCasa dei Bambini represented a socialand emotional environment, where

WW

(Right) Students workingin the garden of the

Montessori School in theConvent of the Franciscan

Nuns, Rome, c. 1912.

41

2SECTION

MONTESSORI

PROGRAMS

THE PLANES OF DEVELOPMENT

SENSITIVE PERIODS

THE METHOD OF OBSERVATION

THE NORMALIZED CHILD

A GUIDED TOUR OF EARLY CHILDHOOD & ELEMENTARY MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS

MONTESSORI FOR THE KINDERGARTEN YEAR

ELEMENTARY PROGRAMS

MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMS

INFANT-TODDLER PROGRAMS

MONTESSORI IN THE HOME FOR THE YOUNG CHILD

LEARNERS WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

42

Montessori Programsuring a typical Montes-sori school day, chil-dren’s developmentalneeds and learning

characteristics are met while theyengage in their learning activities.Montessori noted through herresearch that children’s needs, inter-ests, and abilities group into specific“planes of development.”

A plane of development is a specif-ic growth phase. Montessori taughtteachers to design school classroomsto meet the needs and interests ofchildren in each growth phase.Montessori also taught teachers to“follow the child” through carefulobservation. Through observation,teachers attend to each child’s learn-ing approaches, strengths and weak-

DDBecause the specific characteris-

tics of each plane is different fromthe others, Montessori referred to achild’s development as a series of“rebirths,” and she believed thatschools should not be divided bygrades (kindergarten, first, second,and so on) but according to eachplane. For this reason, Montessorischools consist of mixed-age groupings divided into early child-hood, elementary, and secondaryprograms.

Dr. Montessori’s study of chil-dren led her to conclude that childdevelopment is not linear. Childrendo not, in other words, develop in a

The Planes of Development

A plane of development is a specificphase of growth. Montessori educatorstypically talk about the first, second and third planes of development, cor-responding to the ages birth to six; six to twelve; and twelve to eighteen. Afourth plane of development, from age eighteen to twenty-four years of age,is not of direct concern to this book but comprises the last stage of the journey from birth to adult maturity.

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

nesses, and interests and anxieties. Theteacher next uses this information toprepare learning environments andlearning activities that facilitate thedevelopment of each child’s potential.

(Below) An Early Childhood Montessoriclassroom.

43

continual progression; instead,there are predominant years ofattainment (as indicated by the ris-ing line on the diagram) followed bypredominant years of refinement(indicated by the falling line) withina period of approximately six years.However, the diagram should notbe interpreted to mean that chil-dren do not attain new understand-ings and capabilities during periodsof refinement. Instead, Montessoriproposed that there is an overalltendency for attainment during thefirst three years followed by a ten-dency for refinement during thesecond three years.

Montessori educators teach inpartnership with children. It is apartnership based on a guidingtrust – a trust that each child willshow us when she or he is ready to

PLANES OF DEVELOPMENT

learn the next skill or concept. The factthat children are only ready when theyare ready is well known by parents.Unless there is a developmental chal-lenge, parents are usually not con-cerned with the particular day their sonsor daughters first learned to walk andtalk. If walking happened on a Monday,instead of a Wednesday, during the ninthmonth, rather than the tenth, parentsmay be proud.

Learning to read, however, can be adifferent matter. Parents may have anexpectation for their children to beginreading before they turn five. It would bemuch simpler to educate children iflearning to read, write, and computearithmetic took place according to aspecific schedule such as “in kinder-garten,” “in first grade,” and so on.Children do, however, follow their ownschedule. Despite national, state, and

local performance standards andrequirements for teacher accounta-bility, learning to read, write, andcompute arithmetic will occur onlywhen the child is ready. Learning tobalance and ride a two-wheelbicycle will only occur when thechild is ready.

A fundamental Montessori princi-ple is to respect each child as a realperson. Respect includes expressingregard and esteem. Respect alsoinvolves honoring each child’sreadiness for learning. Children donot usually tell us when they are ready; instead, children respondto specially prepared learning environments. Montessori teachersare trained to prepare these environments and to observe for developmental signals that indicatereadiness.

The First Three Planes of Development

Birth

Age 3

Age 6

Age 9

Age 12

Age 15

Age 18

Independence

Coordination

Concentration

Order

Imagination

Socialization

Moral Justice

Trust

Self-Expression

Analytical Thought

Commitment &

Responsibility

III

II

I

50

Montessori teachers workwith three powerful tools:

The first is their knowl-edge of child developmentand the sensitive periods.

The second is knowinghow to prepare the class-room environment so that each sensitive period is satisfied.

The third is knowing how to observe.

Montessori Teachers Use Several Principles toPrepare a Classroom Environment ...

The Principle of Freedom: Children freely choose their own “work” — learningactivities — based on their currently active inner sensitive period. But freedom isnot a free-for-all. Instead, the principle here is that of freedom within limits. TheMontessori teacher understands that for young children, freedom is an accom-plishment of the development of inner self-discipline. Self-discipline is understoodto be a result of succeeding independently of others. In other words, adults mustnever do for the child anything that the child can learn to perform for him or her-self. Instead, the adult must protect each child’s choice by ensuring that the childwill be able to work with the chosen learning materials without interruption orinterference from other children.

Beauty: Each learning activity is complete; everything needed is present and ingood repair. Objects placed in the classroom are attractive and elegant, designed toattract the child’s interest and attention.

Contact with Nature and Reality: The classroom objects also represent reality andnature. Children use real sinks and refrigerators instead of play ones. Because inreal life everyone does not have the same thing at the same time, there is only onepiece of material instead of multiple sets. Dr. Montessori taught that a child’s directcontact with nature results with understanding and appreciating order and harmo-ny. The Montessori classroom environment is a place of life. Children learn to takecare of plants, animals, and fish. Magnifying glasses, microscopes, and simpleexperiments are available for children to observe and learn from nature.

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

54

plined inner city children of her firstChildren’s House began to respond tothe new environment.

“What followed seemed incredible evento Dr. Montessori, for the deprived chil-dren blossomed under this freedom,and the possibility of doing work suitedto their needs. They revealed to her notonly their enormous capacity for intel-lectual accomplishment but a strangecharacter of sweetness and serenity.

They displayed a truly uncorruptedspirit, scorning rewards and punish-ment, and finding their joy in theprodigious work which involved them.They came from these labors refreshed,as from a creative experience, and asthey worked, they grew in inner disci-pline and peace.

The sight of these children, who displayed the truly ‘normal’ character-istics of childhood, was the force whichmotivated Montessori for the remain-der of her life. This secret of childhoodshe pursued with all the vitality of thegenius who found her raison d’etre, andfrom her tireless observations andefforts, evolved her perception of thechild’s psychic personality.

As she traveled from country to coun-try, lecturing, training teachers, help-ing to establish school after school, thissame phenomenon was observed wher-ever conditions promoting its growthwere perfectly realized.

This normalized child is the imagewhich Montessori teachers keep upper-most in their minds. This is what weare striving for, what we hope toachieve. However, this child will appearonly if we conscientiously prepare our-selves and our classrooms and if wecan build on the proper preparation in the child’s home.”

55

A GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS

A Guided Tour of Early Childhood & Elementary Montessori Classrooms

ogether we are

going to go on

a tour of sever-

al Montessori classes.

Along the way, we’ll

stop and take a look at

children doing all sorts

of things. We are going

to focus most of our

visit on classrooms of

children age three

through six; what Mon-

tessori schools com-

monly call the “Primary”

or “Children’s House”

level (in Canada it is

commonly called the

“casa” level). However,

we will also look in on

the elementary classes

to get a sense of how

the Montessori curricu-

lum extends upward at

the higher level.

We wish to extend a

very special thank you

to the many Montessori

schools that have pro-

vided us access to their

classrooms over the

years. Without their

help, we would never

have been able to com-

pile the many excellent

photos in this section.

TT

56

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

Practical Life

57

uccess in school is directly tied to the degree to which

children believe they are capable and independent

human beings.

As we allow students to develop a meaningful degree of

independence and self-discipline, we also set a pattern for a life-

time of good work habits and a sense of responsibility. In

Montessori, students are taught to take pride in their work.

Independence does not come automatically as we grow older;

it must be learned. In Montessori, even very small children can

learn how to tie their own shoes and pour their own milk. At first,

shoe laces turn into knots, and milk ends up on the floor.

However, with practice, skills are mastered and the young child

beams with pride. To experience this kind of success at such an

early age is to build up a self-image as a successful person and

leads the child to approach the next task with confidence.

SS

The hand movements needed to transfer liquids with a baster helps prepare the child for a wide range of later tasks.

(Above and below) Transferring Materials

(Far right) Many activities isolate oneparticular skill, allowing the young

child to master it one step at a time.This young student is using a little

spoon to transfer beads carefully fromone bowl to another.

The childrenlearn to pourfrom one container toanother with-out spilling asingle drop.

Pouring

(Right) This three-year-old is learningto transfer dried peas from one bowl to

another with a large spoon.

More Transferring Exercises ...

A GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS — PRACTICAL LIFE

CHAPTER NAME

58

“The essence of independence

is to be able to do something for

one’s self.” — Montessori

(Background) The abilityto control one’s body andmove carefully and grace-fully around the room,often carrying things thatmust not be dropped, is animportant aspect of thePractical Life lessons.

The children walk along aline on the floor, heel totoe, carefully balancingwhile carrying small flags,cups, or Montessori materials.

(Above) Children love to polishbrass and silver, moving on tolearning how to polish their own shoes.

(Above) In a very real sense,Montessori children are responsi-ble for the care of this child-sized environment, which is why Dr.Montessori called it a children’s“house” or “community.”

(Above) They sweep, dust, andwash mirrors and windows.

59

(Above) Young children work with theDressing Frames to master the dressingskills that classically challenge them as theybegin to take their first steps toward independence: buttoning their clothes,working on a zipper, tying their shoe laces,and so on.

(Left) To wash this table,these young studentsmethodically gather thebucket, little pitcher, sponges,scrub brushes, towels, andsoap and proceed to scrub asmall table slowly andmethodically. When they arefinished, they will returneverything to its storageplace.

These lessons in PracticalLife skills do much morethan help children learn towash tables. The processhelps them develop an innersense of order, a greatersense of independence, anda higher ability to concen-trate and follow a complexsequence of steps.

First steps towards independence ...

Table washing ...

Cleaning up ...

A GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS — PRACTICAL LIFE

60

Children learn to wash small polishing cloths and napkins. Once the cloths are dry, they learnto iron and fold them using a special low-temperature children’s iron. Think of the pride thatthese young children take in doing real things, rather than pretending to help around thehouse.

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

(Above) Washing and Ironing

(Left) Food Preparation

Eating together ...Eating together ...

When the children are hungry, they prepare their own snacks. They pour themselves a drinkfrom a little pitcher that is just right for their small hands. When finished they clean up andwash their dishes. When something spills, they help each other carefully clean up. In Montessoriclassrooms, you will find small children cutting raw fruit and vegetables.

Older Montessori students learn all sorts of everyday living skills, from cooking to balancing acheckbook. They plan parties, learn how to decorate a room, arrange flowers, garden, and do simple household repairs. Montessori builds many opportunities into the curriculum for students to learn from hands-on experiences. They learn to cook, set tables, eat together in apeaceful atmosphere, and steadily grow in their self-confidence and independence.

61

A GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS — PRACTICAL LIFE

“Adults work to finish a task, but the child works in order to grow and is working to create the adult,

the person that is to be.” — Montessori

By learning how to sew, children not only learn a Practical Life skill,they also develop fine-motor skills.

Children learn to care for the small animals being raised in or out-side the classroom.

(Above) Sewing

(Above and right) Gardening in and outside the Montessori classroom

(Above) Animals in the Montessori environment

A sense of beauty is a key element of Montessori. This young student, picturedabove, is planting flowers in the class garden, which will later be cut to place in the bud vases on each table in her classroom. The boy to the right is helping to care for the plants in his indoor environment.

62

Lessons in Grace, Courtesy, & Community Service

earning

how to work and

play together with

others in a peace-

ful and caring

community is

perhaps the most

critical life skill

that Montessori

teaches.

The Silence Game helps children develop a much higher level of self-discipline along with a greater aware-ness of the sounds around us that most people take forgranted. In this group activity, the teacher will get the children’s attention either by ringing a small bell or byhanging up a sign with the command “Silence.” The chil-dren stop where they are or gather on the line, close theireyes, and try to remain perfectly still. The children sit stillwith their eyes shut and wait to hear the teacher whispertheir name. When they hear it ever so softly spoken, theysilently rise and join the teacher.

Sometimes the teachers will vary the Silence Game bychallenging the children to carry bells across the room without allowing them to ring, or they may use the calmatmosphere to introduce the children to guided visualiza-tion. At first, the younger children may not be able to holdthe silence for more than twenty or thirty seconds, but grad-ually their ability to relax, listen, and appreciate the perfect-ly calm environment increases. In many classes, the SilenceGame is an important daily ritual. Montessori schools arealmost always close-knit communities of people living andlearning together in an atmosphere of warmth, safety, kindness, and mutual respect. Teachers become mentorsand friends. Students learn to value the different back-grounds and interests of their classmates.

(Above) The Silence Game(Right)Community

Service

Community

service is an

important

element in most

Elementary and

Secondary

Montessori

programs. These

girls, along with

their teachers,

spend part of

their week

delivering food to

older people, who

dearly appreciate

not only the meal

but the warmth of

their company.

LL

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

A GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS — LESSONS IN GRACE, COURTESY & COMMUNITY SERVICE

63

(Right) Teaching Peace

The Peace Table plays animportant role in Montessoriclassrooms. Two children having a disagreement willnormally decide to retreat tothe Peace Table to solve theirproblem. Sometimes, childrenmay not remember, and thesuggestion might come from theteacher. When classmatesobserve an ongoing disagree-ment, somebody might bringthem a peace rose with thereminder to solve their problemat the Peace Table.

Once arrived at the table, thechild who feels wronged placesher hand on the table, indicat-ing that she wants to have hersay without interruption. Theother hand she places on herheart, indicating that she speaks the truth, from the heart. She thenlooks the other in the eye, speaks her name, “Lisa,” and proceeds tostate how she feels, “Lisa, I feel very angry ...” and continues to statewhy she feels that way, “ ... because you didn’t let me play with youand Lily!” She states how she wants to resolve the conflict: “And I don’twant you to do that ever again if you want to be my friend!” Now thatshe has stated her case and opened the door for further discussion, shewithdraws her hand from the table and from her heart and gives Lisaa chance to respond.

Lisa proceeds that same way. She places her hands on the table andher heart, looks Eleanor in the eye, and responds:

“Eleanor, I feel unhappy that you are angry, I did not mean to hurtyour feelings. However, Lily is a good friend of mine also, and thegame we played can be played by only two participants. Had I beenplaying it with you, nobody else could have joined us either. So, yousee, it’s just one of those things. I want to remain your friend.”

With that, Lisa is finished and withdraws her hands. Now it isEleanor’s turn to agree or disagree. In any case, they continue the dia-logue until they reach some kind of agreement, even if that means thatthey disagree. At least they are talking, without yelling, screaming, andblaming. They want to solve the problem. When they have reached anagreement, they ring the bell to let the others know. In case they can-not come to a positive conclusion, they may ask for a mediator. This

may be one of the older children, who has been trained to beimpartial and to listen well.

However, if the problem or conflict is too involved, then one ofthem may ask for a “pow-wow.” During a “pow-wow,” the entireclass, or a large part of the class sits in a circle, listens to firstone, then the other person’s side of the story. The class memberscontribute what they can, either as facts of what they have seenor heard, as ethics (right and wrong), or in perspective to classrules upon which all have agreed previously. It is wise for theteacher to observe and monitor the entire process from the side-lines.

The core experi-ence the studentsgain from theseprocedures is thatit is necessary tosolve disturbanceshonestly and withgood will tomaintain a har-monious andcooperativeatmosphere in the community.

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

64

(Left) Teaching Courtesy

Learning how to greet someone graciously isone of the first acts of courtesy learned in theMontessori classroom.

Everyday kindness and courtesy are vitalpractical life skills. Even the youngest child istreated by her teachers and classmates withdignity and respect.

Montessori students come to understand andaccept that we all have responsibilities toother people.

These children learn how to handle new situations that they will face as they becomeincreasingly independent.

They develop a clear sense of values andsocial conscience and absorb everyday ethicsand interpersonal skills from the earliestyears.

When we say that Montessori is not only afine preparation for college but for life, wearen’t exaggerating. Many Montessorischools teach elementary children how tocare for infants, and some even train thosewho are interested to assist in the school’sinfant and toddler environments. The lessons of the heart that these children learn lasts a lifetime.

(Above) Learning to Care for Others

Helen Keller, inspired by Montessori, wrote:

“I believe that every child has hidden away somewhere in hisbeing noble capacities which may be quickened and developedif we go about it in the right way, but we shall never properlydevelop the higher nature of our little ones while we continueto fill their minds with the so-called ‘basics.’ Mathematics willnever make them loving, nor will accurate knowledge of thesize and shape of the world help them to appreciate its beau-ties. Let us lead them during the first years to find their great-est pleasure in nature. Let them run in the fields, learn aboutanimals, and observe real things. Children will educate them-selves under the right conditions. They require guidance andsympathy far more than instruction.”

Montessori proposed that we could accomplish world peace byhealing the wounds of the human heart and by producing a childwho is independent, at peace with herself, and secure. Montessorienvisioned her educational reforms as essentially leading to a recon-struction of society. Montessori schools are different but notbecause of the materials that are used in the classrooms. Lookbeyond the maps, science charts, and geometry materials. Eachclassroom is a place where children really want to be because it feelsa lot like home. Montessori schools give children the sense ofbelonging to a family and help children learn how to live with otherhuman beings.

65

What’s inside?Children use theMystery Box tohelp develop theirsense of touch.

child interacts with thephysical world through hersenses. From birth, she will

look, listen, touch, taste, pick up,manipulate, and smell almost any-thing that comes into her grasp. Atfirst, everything goes into themouth. Gradually she begins toexplore each object’s weight, texture, and temperature. She maywatch something that catches herattention, such as a butterfly, withinfinite patience. The sensorial cur-riculum is designed to help thechild focus her attention morecarefully on the physical world,exploring with each of her sensesthe subtle variations in the proper-ties of objects.

At first, the child may simply beasked to sort among a preparedseries of objects that vary by onlyone aspect, such as height, length,

AA

The Sensorial ExercisesA GUIDED TOUR OF THE MONTESSORI CLASSROOM — SENSORIAL

or width. Other exercises challengeher to find identical pairs or focuson very different physical proper-ties, such as aroma, taste, weight,shades of color, temperature, orsound. These exercises are essen-tially puzzles, and they tend to fas-cinate the children because theyare just difficult enough to repre-sent a meaningful challenge. Eachhas a built-in control of error thatallows the child who is observantto check her own work.

The Sensorial exercises includelessons in vocabulary, as the chil-dren master the names of every-thing from sophisticated plane andsolid geometric figures to the partsof familiar plants and animals. As the Inuits demonstrate to uswith their many different words forsnow, we observe that as the chil-dren learn the correct names for

things, the objects themselves takeon meaning and reality as the childlearns to recognize and namethem.

Why is it so important to edu-cate the young child’s senses? We certainly don’t believe that wecan improve a child’s hearing orsight through training. However,we can help children to pay atten-tion, to focus their awareness, and to learn how to observe andconsider what comes into theirexperience. In a way, the Sensorialcurriculum accomplishes some-thing like a course in wine tastingor music appreciation; one learns to taste, smell, or hear what is ex-perienced with a much deeperawareness and appreciation. These exercises can help children under-stand and appreciate their worldmore fully.

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

66

Working with theGeometric Solids

67

A GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS — SENSORIAL EXERCISES

Some people have heard that in Montessori, children are taught that there is only one way to work with each material. In truth, the childrenexplore and discover all sorts of creative ways to work with them. For example, students will construct the Tower horizontally, or line up twoedges to create a vertical stairway. The children will also build the Pink Tower in various combinations with the Brown Stair (described on page 68), along with some of the other Sensorial materials.

The Pink Tower is one of the Sensorial materialsthat children enjoy working with early in theirMontessori experience. The Pink Tower, or“Tower of Cubes,” is composed of a graduatedseries of ten wooden cubes. The largest cubehas a square section of 10 centimeters per sideand is 10 centimeters high. Thus, it measures10 x 10 x 10 centimeters. The square sectionand height of each of the succeeding cubesdecreases by 1 centimeter down to the smallestcube which measures 1 x 1 x 1 centimeter.

Children carefully carry the Tower, cube bycube, to the little rug that defines their workarea. They carry each cube comfortably at waistheight as they take the cubes and place them inrandom order upon the carpet.

As they manipulate the cubes and carrythem across the room, the children get a verystrong impression of size and weight. When allthe cubes have been carried to the rug, thechild looks for the largest one and begins tobuild the Tower, one cube at a time. At eachstep, he looks through the cubes that have notyet been added to the Tower to find the largest.As each is placed on the Tower, the child con-trols his movements to place the cube gentlydown right in the center of the larger cube onwhich it is rested. Once the Tower has beenconstructed, the child carefully takes it downand either begins again or returns the cubes,one by one, to their proper place on the shelf.

(Above and right) The Pink Tower

91

History, Geography, & International Culture

(Right) The Big Bang

Here is one student’s artistic interpretation of the Big Bang.

e are all members of thehuman family. Our rootslie in the distant past,

and history is the story of our com-mon heritage. Without a strongsense of history, we cannot beginto know who we are as individualstoday. Our goal is to develop aglobal perspective, and the study ofhistory and world cultures formsthe cornerstone of the Montessoricurriculum.

With this goal in mind, Montes-sori teaches history and world cultures starting as early as agethree. The youngest students workwith specially designed maps andbegin to learn the names of theworld’s continents and countries.

WW Physical geography beginsin the first grade with astudy of the formation ofthe Earth, the emergenceof the oceans and atmos-phere, and the evolutionof life. Students learnabout the world’s rivers,lakes, deserts, mountainranges, and natural re-sources.

Elementary students be-gin to study world culturesin greater depth: the cus-

Montessori’s integrated thematiccurriculum allows a broad scopeof study in the areas of history,geography, and international culture.

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toms, housing, diet, govern-ment, industry, the arts, his-tory, and dress. They learn totreasure the richness of theirown cultural heritage andthose of their friends.

The children also studythe emergence of humanbeings during the old andnew stone ages, the develop-ment of the first civilizations,and the universal needs com-mon to all humanity. Forolder elementary students,the focus is respectively onearly man, ancient civiliza-tions, and early-American history.

Montessori tries to pres-ent a sense of living history at every level through directhands-on experience. Stu-dents build models ofancient tools and structures,prepare their own manu-scripts, make ceremonialmasks, and re-create all sortsof artifacts of the everydaylife of historical eras. Experi-ences such as these make itmuch easier for Montessorichildren to appreciate histo-ry as it is taught throughbooks.

While Montessori schools are communities apart fromthe outside world, in whichchildren can first begin todevelop their unique talents,they are also consciouslyconnected to the local,national, and global commu-nities. The goal is to leadeach student to explore,understand, and grow intofull and active membershipin the adult world.

Field trips provide oppor-tunities to explore the world outside the classroom.

MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

Younger elementary children often use simplified research card material and charts in their studies.

The Imaginary Island Puzzle introduces students in elementaryclasses to thirty-eight land andwater forms. They study vocabularyand definitions of such words asisthmus, butte, tributary, archipelago,bight, lagoon, and more.

Children also learn to plot longi-tude and latitude and analyze theflora and fauna of a region. Withthe use of eighty-four puzzle pieces,students are able to create an infinite variety of islands of theirown design, modifying them at will,and reinforcing vocabulary words during the process.

(Left) The Imaginary Island Puzzle

(Above) Research Card Materials

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ForeignLanguages

As part of the International

Studies program, most

Montessori schools

introduce a second

language to even their

youngest children. The

primary goal in a Foreign

Language program is to

develop conversational

skills along with a

deepening appreciation

for the culture of the

second language.

(Right) International studiescontinue at every age level

in Montessori education.The curriculum integrates

art, music, dance, cooking,geography, literature, andscience. Children learn toprepare and enjoy dishes

from all over the world.They learn traditional folk

songs and dances in musicand explore folk crafts in

art. In Language Arts, theyread the traditional folk tales

and research and preparereports about the countriesthey are studying that year.

Units of study often culminate in marvelous

international holidays and festivals that serve

as the high points of theschool year.

The student pictured here is researching colonial America.

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MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

This student is working with the Land and Water Forms, a set of three-dimensional modelsthat represent, in very simple terms, the nature of basic geographic features. This is also a pouring exercise, as the child adds water to the tray to create a higher level of sensoryimpression. Here she explores the idea that an island is a body of land surrounded by water,while a lake is a body of water surrounded on all sides by land.

The children learn to name each form, match the model with a photo of a real lake or island,place the correct printed label underneath each form, then prepare their own labels. They alsolearn the definitions of each form, continue to learn about the largest lakes or islands in theworld, and research facts about specific places.

The first set includes such geographic forms as an isthmus, peninsula, cape, bay, and strait.Advanced exercises introduce more complex geographic features, such as mountains, mountainranges, volcanoes, archipelagos, foothills, cliffs, mesas, prairies, river valleys, and river deltas.

Before a child can begin to understand history, she needs to begin to grasp the concepts of time. This child is learning to tell time, along with the other concepts of thepassage of time, such as: How long is aminute, an hour, a day, a year? How old are the people that I know?

(Above) The Land and Water Forms

(Above) The Teaching Clock

A lower-elementary student at work with theTime Line of Life on the Earth.

A set of clay “cuneiform” tablets made by a class of elementary students who arestudying ancient history.

(Above) “Cuneiform” Tablets

(Left) Time Lines

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A GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS — HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, & INTERNATIONAL CULTURE

Working with asection of theTime Line of Lifeon the Earth

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(Below) Puzzle Map of the Continents & Continent Globe

(Above and below) Puzzle Maps

(Left) Pin Maps

Primary children love to work with Puzzle Maps. At the beginning, they don’t understand them to bemaps of the Earth’s surface; they are simply lovelypuzzles. Gradually the children are taught thenames of each continent and can identify a greatmany countries, states, and provinces. As theylearn to read, they begin to label each piece.

The student above is using a Puzzle Map to draw amap of North America.

The Pin Maps challenge the upperelementary children to master thenames of the countries, capitalcities, and flags of the countries ofseveral continents. Each label isprinted on a card attached to a pin,which is placed in the appropriatehole on the map. A set of controlcharts allows these elementary children to check their own work.

These children are beginning to grasp that flatmaps, such as the Puzzle Map of the Continents, represent geographical features on a world that is asphere. They note that the same color coding is usedto show the continents on the Continent Globe andthe Puzzle Map.

Montessori Maps & Globes

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Hands-On Science the Montessori Way

The elementary students shown above are working with the Clock of Eras.This more advanced exercise presents the great geological eras of the Earth’shistory as a pie graph or clock face. The children label each geological era,from the formation of the Earth to the present day. In earlier exercises, they’vebegun to study what was happening on the Earth’s surface during each era.

cience is an integral element of theMontessori curriculum. Amongother things, it represents a way of

life: a clear thinking approach to gather-ing information and problem solving.The scope of the Montessori Science cur-riculum includes a sound introduction tobotany, zoology, chemistry, physics, geol-ogy, and astronomy.

Montessori does not separate sciencefrom the big picture of the formation ofour world. Students consider the forma-tion of the universe, development of the planet Earth, the delicate relationsbetween living things and their physicalenvironment, and the balance within theweb of life. These great lessons integrateastronomy, the earth sciences, and biology with history and geography.

The Montessori approach to sciencecultivates children’s fascination with theuniverse and helps them develop a life-long interest in observing nature and discovering more about the world inwhich they live. Children are encouragedto observe, analyze, measure, classify,experiment, and predict and to do so with a sense of eager curiosity andwonder.

In Montessori, science lessons incor-porate a balanced, hands-on approach.With encouragement and a solid founda-tion, even very young children are readyand anxious to investigate their world, towonder at the interdependence of livingthings, to explore the ways in which the physical universe works, and to project how it all may have come to be.

For example, in many Montessorischools, children in the early elementarygrades explore basic atomic theory andthe process by which the heavier ele-ments are fused out of hydrogen in thestars. Other students study advancedconcepts in biology, including the sys-tems by which scientists classify plantsand animals. Some elementary classesbuild scale models of the solar systemthat stretch out over two miles!

SS

(Above) The Clock of Eras

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A GUIDED TOUR OF MONTESSORI CLASSROOMS — SCIENCE

This eight-year-old is workingwith a model that depicts the lifecycle of a star. This material is actually an introduction to thestudy of the chemical elementsand how the more complex elements are “cooked up” in thenuclear furnace of the star’satomic fusion.

(Above) The Life Cycle of a Star

Using this simplemoving model,

elementary studentsstudy the orbital

relationships of the planets

as they revolvearound the sun.

“The secret of good teaching is to regard the child’sintelligence as a fertile field in which seeds may besown to grow under the heat of flaming imagina-tion. Our aim is not only to make the child under-stand, and still less to force him to memorize, butso to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to hisinnermost core. We do not want complacent pupilsbut eager ones. We seek to sow life in the childrather than theories, to help him in his growth,mental and emotional as well as physical, and forthat we must offer grand and lofty ideas to thehuman mind. If the idea of the universe is present-ed to the child in the right way, it will do more forhim than just arouse his interest; it will create inhim admiration and wonder, a feeling loftier thanany interest and more satisfying.”

— Maria Montessori

(Right) Model of the Solar System

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MONTESSORI PROGRAMS

These two elementary students are constructing models of common molecules,using wooden spheres to represent different elements.

Working with this unique teaching version of Mendelev’sPeriodic Table of the Elements, elementary childrenbegin to learn about the more complex elements, their symbols, and how various elements are grouped togetheraccording to their properties. At the same time, childrenare looking for examples of common elements in theirdaily environment and beginning to research informationabout the characteristics and uses of the elements.

(Above) Constructing Molecules

(Above) Mendelev’s Periodic Table of the Elements

This elementary student is exploring

the elements. He is constructing

models of the atomic structureof one element,

placing protons and neutrons in the

nucleus and electrons in the

outer shells.

(Right) Exploring theElements

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Joyful Scholars: Montessori for the Elementary Years

s children near the end of their kindergarten year in Montessori, manyparents struggle with the question of whether or not to keep their children in Montessori for the elementary program. On the one hand, the

typical Montessori five-year-old’s self-confidence and love of learning makes manyfamilies ask: “Why tamper with something that is clearly working?” On the otherhand, since the children will be moving on to another class one way or the other,many parents feel that the first grade seems to be the logical time to make thetransition from Montessori.

For many families, a major consideration will be the ability to save thousands ofdollars a year by taking advantage of the local public schools. Others wonder if amore highly structured and competitive independent school would give theirchild a better preparation for college.

Although each family will analyze the issues in their own way, the family’s finaldecision will involve an investment in their children’s future. All of us want thebest for our children, and the often unspoken concern of many parents is: “WillMontessori prepare my child for the real world?”

The answer, by the way, is yes! Montessori works! It has worked for years inthousands of Montessori schools around the world. Montessori has enjoyed thesupport of some of the leading personalities of our time, including PresidentWoodrow Wilson, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, MahatmaGandhi, Helen Keller, Sigmund Freud, Buckminster Fuller, Bertram Russell, JeanPiaget, Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, Anne Frank (who was a Montessori student),and David Elkind, just to name a few. One elementary teacher responded to herparents’ fears by describing “the Montessori Way” as follows:

“Many parents express the concern that Montessori at the elementary level may not preparethem for the ‘real world.’ I’m not exactly sure what that means. Is it that their PrimaryMontessori experience was too secure, too child-centered, too accepting? Surely, those qual-ities cannot be seen as negatives. Is it that there is a sneaking suspicion that all thisMontessori stuff is fine up to kindergarten, but now it’s time to face math tests and text

AA

uring the early childhood yearsin Montessori classrooms, par-ents watch as their young

children learn to read, write, and explorethe world around them. The learningprocess seems painless and incrediblyeffective. It is both. What it is not is simple.The Montessori Method has been perfectedover many decades, and it takes many yearsof dedication to become a Montessoriteacher.

Montessori parents who are thrilled withtheir young children’s progress often urgeMontessori schools to expand their pro-gram to include the elementary years.

The Elementary Montessori program hasalso been proven to be painless and effec-tive. Establishing a new elementary pro-gram, however, is not simple. It is notmerely an extension of what came before. Itis exciting, complex, and different!

Elementary Montessori teachers becomecertified after a rigorous course of studylasting a full year or longer. QualifiedMontessori teachers at this level are in greatdemand and are often hard to find. Olderstudents are also physically larger, requir-ing more classroom space. In addition tothe Montessori materials that students atthis level will continue to use, new researchand teaching materials, such as encyclope-dias, computers, and microscopes becomeexciting, necessary, and expensive educa-tional tools.

Then there’s the issue of accountability.This is the level when parents become in-creasingly focused on how their childrencompare to other students of the same agewho have experienced a non-Montessorieducation. Issues of grading, test scores,and homework are raised much moreoften.

While these challenges should be carefullyconsidered before expanding an existingprogram to include the elementary years, itis important to remember that Montessoriat the elementary level works! It is theimportant next step in the lives of the“renaissance” adults we hope our childrenwill someday become, and it is well worththe effort that it takes to produce a qualityprogram.

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books, standardized curricula and a real school? I suppose it is aquestion of examining one’s own values regarding education. Theobservable fact is that the majority of children in ElementaryMontessori programs achieve high-level academic standardsbecause they are highly motivated and have been exposed to anextremely broad and integrated curriculum.

They may not have a weekly math test on which their grade is based,but they can prove to you that ‘the answer in division is what oneunit gets.’ No, they won’t have a multiple-choice quiz on Chapter 2of their science or geography textbook. Rather, they can independ-ently research topics using an encyclopedia, atlas, reference books,maps, microscopes, or magnifying glasses. Real school shouldengender a love of learning and an acceptance of personal respon-sibility for intellectual growth as well as social interaction. Realschool attempts to shape long-term attitudes and concrete skills nec-essary not just to move up to the next grade, but to ‘move up to’ asuccessful and happy life.”

Elementary children face new developmental challenges. Aspecially prepared learning environment is just as importantnow as it was before during the early childhood years if chil-dren are to fulfill their complete learning potential. More thanschool achievement test scores are at stake. Learning to iden-tify, pursue, and communicate deep interests in the worldleads children to self-mastery and to habits of lifelong learn-ing.

Elementary Montessori students themselves are often themost compelling argument for the value of an ElementaryMontessori education!

What makes Elementary Montessori different?

When you observe an Elementary Montessori class at work,you may find it difficult to get a sense of the big picture. Overhere some students are working on math, some are reading,while others are working on science. In the corner, a teacheris giving a lesson to a small group of children, while occa-sionally glancing up to keep an eye on the rest of the class.The elementary classroom may appear to be unstructured,but these seemingly random, yet obviously purposeful activi-ties, are basic to the independent learning and self-directedactivity of the Montessori approach.

While there is a vast range in the level of curriculum onwhich the children are engaged, each child is considered asan individual. Montessori teachers strive to challenge eachaccording to his or her developmental needs and abilities.

Authors’ Note: For this chapter, we have drawntogether some of Dr. Maria Montessori’sthoughts about the foundation of education atthe elementary years from three of her books, ToEducate the Human Potential, From Childhoodto Adolescence, and Spontaneous Activity inEducation. In a few places, we have taken someliberty with the original translation for the pur-pose of clarity.

“The passage to the second level of education is the pas-sage from the sensorial, material level to the abstract.The need for abstraction and intellectual activitymakes itself felt around the seventh year.

Before age seven, the child focuses himself on a sensor-ial exploration and classification of the relationshipsamong concrete objects — not exploration on the intel-lectual plane. The three- to seven-year-old generally iscontent to know what something is, along with a simplistic explanation of its function. The older child is oriented toward intellectual discovery andinvestigation.

In the second period, the child needs wider boundariesfor his social experiences. He needs to establish socialrelationships in a larger society and the traditionalschools, as they have been conceived for so long, can nolonger be sufficient for him. He feels the closed envi-ronment as a constraint, which is why children of thisage may no longer go to school enthusiastically. Heprefers to catch frogs or play with his friends withoutadult supervision. An education that suppresses thetrue nature of the child is an education that leads to thedevelopment of unhappy and socially immature adults.

It is at age seven that one can note the beginning of anorientation toward the judgement of acts as right orwrong, fair or unfair ... This preoccupation belongs to avery special interior sensitivity – the conscience. Theseven-to-twelve-year-old period, then, constitutes one ofparticular importance for moral education ... The adultmust be aware of the evolution that is occurring in themind of the child at this time and adapt his methods toconform with it.

These three characteristics — the child’s felt need toescape the closed environment, the passage of the mindto the abstract, and the birth in him of a moral sense —serve as the basis for a scheme at the elementary level.”

— Dr. Maria Montessori

Please keep in mind that, while Dr. Montessori developed avery specific model, individual Montessori schools and class-rooms differ. These components, however, are typically foundin most programs.

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“Montessori Elementary gives childrenthe opportunity to continue to progress attheir own pace in an environment thatnurtures a love of learning. Children takeresponsibility for their own learning andhave daily opportunities to make deci-sions and choices in a child-centeredclassroom. They are exposed to manycomplex concepts at an early age throughthe use of wonderful concrete learningmaterials.

It is not unusual to see seven-year-olds ina Montessori classroom constructingatomic and molecular models. Nine-year-olds analyze the squares of trinomi-als, while ten-year-olds solve algebraicequations and twelve-year-olds computethe square root of large numbers.

What parent who has watched her chil-dren thrive both intellectually and social-ly in the Children’s House would notwant this to continue in the elementaryyears?”

— Judi Charlap Elementary Montessori Teacher

The New Gate School, Sarasota, Florida

Basic Components of theElementary MontessoriProgram

Multi-Age Class Groups

Elementary Montessori classes con-tinue to bring children of differentage levels together. Normally, classes will span three age/grade levels, withthe common divisions being ages six to nine (grades one to three in the United States) and ages nine to twelve (grades four to six). Someschools may follow a somewhat dif-ferent scheme of grouping theirchildren. There are many reasonswhy Montessori classes group chil-dren of several grade levels togeth-er:

■ Since Montessori allows children to progress through the curricu-lum at their own pace, there is no academic reason to group children according to one gradelevel.

■ In a mixed-age class, children canalways find peers who are workingat their current level.

■ To accommodate the needs ofindividual learners, Montessoriclassrooms have to include cur-riculum to cover the entire span ofinterests and abilities up throughthe oldest and most acceleratedstudents in the class. This creates ahighly enriched learning environ-ment.

■ In multi-level classrooms, youngerchildren are constantly stimulatedby the interesting work in whichthe older students are engaged.

■ At the same time, in multi-levelclassrooms older students serve astutors and role models for theyounger ones, which helps themin their own mastery (we learnbest when we teach someone else)and leaves them with a tremen-dous sense of pride.

■ By working with children for threeyears, teachers get to know themextremely well.

■ And, finally, there is a strong senseof continuity in the ElementaryMontessori class, because two-thirds of the children return eachyear for either their second orthird year with the sameteacher(s). Most of the childrenknow one another and understandthe culture of the class. This makesit much easier to orient new chil-dren into the group.

Friendships and Community

One of the things that you will normal-ly see when you enter an elementaryclassroom is joy, excitement, andenthusiasm. These are not children

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who are given worksheets over andover again. These are children who areengaged.

Montessori schools are normallysmall close-knit communities of chil-dren, teachers, and parents. They are like an extended family. Everyoneknows everyone else. Children be-come close and remain friends withtheir teachers and both younger andolder classmates. They grow up andstudy together for many years. Whilethere may not be as many other chil-dren in the school as they would findin a larger school, their friendships willtend to be closer.

Elementary Montessori students can move around. They don’t have to sit at a desk all day long. Studentswork together most of the time, eitherhelping one another master skills andinformation or on group projects.

Parents are normally very involved atthe elementary level as partners in supporting their children’s educa-tion. They may come in to teach les-sons, take small groups out into the

community for field trips, and helpwith celebrations and performances.

Elementary Montessori TeachersServe as Mentors, Friends, andGuides

The Elementary Montessori educatoris not so much a “teacher” in the tradi-tional sense as a “guide.” In more andmore schools, this title is actually usedto describe their role.

The Elementary Montessori curricu-lum is very broad and requires theteacher to have a broad and thorougheducation of his or her own. With les-sons that range from the history ofmathematics to the physics of flight,mineralogy, chemistry, algebra, geome-try, and literature, to name just a few,the average teacher would be lost.

The best Elementary Montessoriteachers are “renaissance” men andwomen; individuals who are equallyinterested in mathematics, the sci-ences, the arts, architecture, literature,poetry, psychology, economics, tech-

nology, and philosophy. Beyond this,the Elementary Montessori educatorneeds patience, understanding, re-spect, enthusiasm, and a profoundability to inspire a sense of wonder andimagination. Such teachers are veryrare, but they are absolutely magical!

Becoming an Elementary Montes-sori teacher requires a year of graduatestudy and student teaching and count-less hours of hard work to gather orcreate the curriculum materials thatconstitute a prepared ElementaryMontessori environment.

Academics

The Elementary Montessori classroomoffers an environment in which chil-dren tend to blossom! This may soundlike propaganda, but it’s true!

Dr. Montessori was convinced thatchildren are born curious, creative,

(Right) Elementary students often prefer towork on the floor with their friends.

(Above) Students participate in a lesson on the geological folding of the Earth’s crust.

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Homework should never become abattleground between adult and child.One of our goals as parents and teach-ers is to help children learn how to get organized, budget time, and followthrough until the work is completed.Ideally, home challenges will give parents and children a pleasant op-portunity to work together on pro-jects that give both parent and child a sense of accomplishment. They areintended to enrich and extend the curriculum.

Montessori challenges children tothink, explore, and pursue tangibleprojects that give them a sense of satisfaction. Homework is intended to afford students the opportunity to practice and reinforce skills intro-duced in the classroom.

Moreover, there is a certain degreeof self-discipline that can be developed

within the growing child through theprocess of completing assignmentsindependently.

For example, many elementary class-es will send home a packet of “At-Home Challenges” for each age groupin the class. The children have anentire week, through the next week-end, to complete them. The followingMondays, teachers sit down with thechildren to review what worked, whatthey enjoyed, and what they found dif-ficult or unappealing.

Depending on the child’s level,assignments normally involve somereading, research, writing, and some-thing tangible to accomplish. Theymay be organized into three groups:

1. Things to be experienced, such as reading a book, visiting amuseum, or going to see a play;

2. Things to learn, stated in terms ofskills and knowledge, such as Seeif you can learn how to solvethese problems well enough sothat you can teach the skill to ayounger student; and

3. Products to be submitted, suchas a play, essay, story, experiment,or model.

When possible, teachers will nor-mally build in opportunities for children to choose among severalalternative assignments. Sometimesteachers will prepare individuallynegotiated weekly assignments witheach student.

Whenever students voluntarilydecide to learn something, they tendto engage in their work with a passionand attention that few students will

ere are just a few examples ofassignments that students andfamilies have found to be bothinteresting and challenging:

✺ Perform an act of charity or extraordi-nary kindness.

✺ Plan and prepare dinner for your family with little or no help from yourfolks.

✺ Plan and prepare a dinner for yourfamily typical of what the ancientGreeks might have eaten.

✺ Read together books that touch thesoul and fire the imagination. Discussthe books that the children are read-ing in class on Fridays.

✺ Visit a church or synagogue of a differ-ent faith than yours. Meet the rabbi,

priest, or minister and learn as much asyou can about this other faith.

✺ Go to a boatyard and learn what you can about different kinds of boats, their purpose, cost, advantages and disadvantages.

✺ Buy some stock and follow its courseover time. Pretend that you have a thou-sand dollars to invest ... ten thousand, a million.

✺ Calculate how many square feet of car-pet it would take to cover your entirehouse. Convert this number into squareyards. Call two carpet dealers. Whatkinds of carpet do they offer and whatwould it cost to carpet your house?

✺ Build a model of the floor plan of yourhouse out of cardboard, one floor at atime. Be as careful and exact as you can.

✺ Develop a pen pal in another Montes-sori school.

✺ Prepare a list of all the things that youwould like to do with your life: career,cities to visit, mountains to climb,things you want to learn, etc.

✺ Teach your dog a new trick.

✺ Build a model of the Parthenon, anaqueduct, or some other historicalstructure.

✺ Plant a garden, tree, or some bulbsaround your house.

✺ Write a play and perform it with somefriends for your class.

✺ Make puppets with your folks, builda puppet theater, and put on a perform-ance.

Homework ... Montessori Style

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✺ Learn about magic and master anew trick.

✺ Build a bridge out of popsicle sticksheld together with carpenter’s gluethat will span a three-foot chasmand support several bricks.

✺ Interview your grandparents abouttheir childhood. Write a biography or share what you learn with yourclass.

✺ Using one of the better books onchildren’s science projects, selectan experiment or project, carry itout, and prepare a report that documents what you did.

✺ Build a model sailboat using differ-ent types of sail plans. Race themon a pond with your class.

✺ Select a city somewhere in theworld where you have never traveled. Find out everything thatyou can.

✺ Learn something new and teach it tosomeone in your class.

✺ Meet a real artist and visit her studio.

✺ Learn first aid.

✺ Prepare a time line of the presidents of theUnited States, along with picture cards,name tags, and fact cards. Study until youcan complete the timeline on your own.

✺ Make your own set of constructive trian-gles, golden beads, or some other familiarMontessori material.

✺ Using 1 cm. as a unit, build out ofclay, wood, or cardboard pieces tomake up units, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundredthousands, millions up to one billion.

✺ Prepare a scale model of the solar system in which the distance fromthe sun to Pluto will be two miles.Prepare carefully measured modelsof the planets and sun and calculatethe distance that each will need tobe placed on the scale away from thesun.

(Above) An Elementary Montessori student taking her weekly spelling test.

ever invest in tasks that have beenassigned.

Providing Structure: Setting High,Individually Tailored Expectations

Individually tailored expectationsdoesn’t mean that students can dowhatever they want academically. Theycannot elect whether or not to learn toread. Montessori students have to livewithin a cultural context, which for usinvolves the mastery of skills andknowledge that we consider basic.

Montessori gives students the op-portunity to choose a large degree ofwhat they investigate and learn, as wellas the ability to set their own scheduleduring class time

Montessori children normally workwith a written study plan for the day orweek. It lists the basic tasks that they

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need to complete, while allowing themto decide how long to spend on eachand what order they would like to fol-low. Beyond these basic individually tailored assignments, children exploretopics that capture their interest andimagination and share them with theirclassmates.

Tests

Montessori children usually don’tthink of our assessment techniques as“tests” so much as “challenges.”

Early Childhood Montessori teach-ers observe their children at work orask them to teach a lesson to anotherchild to confirm their knowledge andskill.

Most Elementary Montessori teach-ers will give their students informalindividual oral exams or have the children demonstrate what they have learned by either teaching a lesson to another child or by giving a formal presentation. The childrenalso take and prepare their own written tests to administer to theirfriends.

Rather than being graded using astandard letter-grade scheme, studentsare normally working toward mastery.

Standardized Tests

Very few Montessori schools test chil-dren younger than the first or secondgrades; however, most Montessorischools regularly give elementary stu-dents quizzes on the concepts andskills that they have been studying.Many schools ask their older studentsto take annual standardized tests.

While Montessori students tend toscore very well, Montessori educatorsfrequently argue that standardizedtesting is inaccurate, misleading, andstressful for children. There are manyissues, including how well a given testcaptures a sense of someone’s trueskills and knowledge.

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Any given testing session can be pro-foundly affected by the student’s emo-tional state, attitude, and health, and to a large degree, what they really demonstrate is how well a student knows how to take this kind of test. Montessori educators furtherargue that formal tests are unneces-sary, since any good teacher whoworks with the same children for threeyears and carefully observes theirwork, knows far more about students’progress than any paper-and-penciltest can reveal.

The ultimate problem with standard-ized tests in our country is that they have often been misunder-stood and misinterpreted in otherschools. Tests can be fairly useful whenseen as a simple feedback loop, giv-ing both parents and school a general sense of how students are progressing.

Although standardized tests may notoffer a terribly accurate measure of achild’s basic skills and knowledge, inour culture, test-taking skills are justanother Practical Life lesson that chil-dren need to master.

Reporting Student Progress

Because Montessori believes in indi-vidually paced academic progressand encourages children to exploretheir interests rather than simplycomplete work assigned by theirteachers, we don’t assign grades orrank students within each classaccording to their achievement.Parents, students, and guides giveand receive feedback in several dif-ferent ways:

Student Self-Evaluations: At theelementary level, students willoften prepare a monthly self-evaluation of their previousmonth’s work. When completed,they meet with the teachers, whowill review it and add their com-ments and observations. Studentsalso prepare self-evaluations of the past three month’s work: whatthey accomplished, what theyenjoyed the most, what theyfound most difficult, and whatthey would like to learn in thethree months ahead.

Some final thoughts in closing ...e invite you to take a close look at the kind of person your child has become today at four or five and

ask yourself how would you like her to be when she’s eighteen? By what set of values do you hope she

will live? Do you hope that she will still love school and be excited about learning? If so, then you have laid the right

foundation by sending her to Montessori thus far. Like our families and so many millions of others like us, you’ve

taken the first step. And now the question is what’s next? We invite you to follow those of us who have gone before

down the Montessori path. We have discovered it to be the best decision that we could have made for our children.

What your son or daughter has experienced thus far is just the first step in the journey, and the best is yet to come.

W

Portfolios of Student Work:In many Montessori schools, two or three times a year, teachers (and at the elementarylevel, students) and sometimesparents go through the stu-dents’ completed work andmake selections for their portfo-lios.

S t u d e n t / P a r e n t / Te a c h e rConferences: Once the stu-dents’ three-month self evalua-tions are complete, parents, stu-dents, and teachers will hold afamily conference two or threetimes a year to review their children’s portfolios and self-evaluations and go through theteachers’ assessment of theirchildren’s progress.

Narrative Progress Reports:Typically once or twice a yearMontessori teachers will preparea written narrative evaluation ofthe student’s work, social devel-opment, and mastery of funda-mental skills.

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Montessori AtThe SecondaryLevels

our children have been inMontessori all their lives. Theylove school and learn enthusias-

tically. Montessori has been the perfect match, but your children areapproaching the age where they willhave to leave Montessori if their schooldoesn’t do something soon! And soyou ask, “Why aren’t there anySecondary Montessori programs in ourtown? What would it take to start amiddle school class at our school?”

Most Americans have the impressionthat Montessori is just for early

childhood. Even though Montessorischools have spread all over the worldduring the last century, most schools inthe United States stop after kinder-garten. Some schools run throughsixth grade, but Secondary Montessorischools are very rare. This is begin-ning to change as more and moreMontessori schools open elementaryclasses, and many have either openedor are exploring the possibility ofdeveloping middle school programs.

This is important to the entire Mon-tessori community because, unfor-tunately, in the eyes of many peoplearound the world, “real education”begins with high school. Just considerthe relative respect given to highschool teachers compared to the levelof respect given to those who teachpreschoolers. Consider the dollarscontributed annually to high schoolscompared to the relative pittancegiven to early childhood programs.

YY“The need that is so keenly felt for a reform of secondary schoolsis not only an educational but also a human and social prob-lem. This can be summed up in one sentence: Schools as theyare today are adapted neither to the needs of adolescence norto the time in which we live.”

— Maria Montessori

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Today, we know thatthis prejudice isillogical, as researchsupports the prem-ise that the mostimportant years of a child’s educationare not the years ofhigh school and col-lege but those ofthe first six years of life. This is thefoundation of every-thing that will fol-low.

Illogical as thisprejudice may be, itis a fact of life thatMontessorians havenot been able toescape. Parents in-variably look for evidence that Mon-tessori works, andthe evidence thatparents would findultimately compel-ling is a track recordof Montessori pre-paring students togain admission tothe finest collegesand universities.

For this reason, as Montessori edu-cation slowly develops at the highschool level, it will finally be able totake credit for those terrific youngmen and women that we have beensending off for generations to thefinest public and private high schools.Think back. Do most people give cred-it to the preschools and elementaryschools that they attended, or do theylook back fondly on their high schoolyears? For this reason alone, the expan-sion of Montessori at the high schoollevel is an important and essentialtrend in the future development ofMontessori around the world. Only theestablishment of successful Montessori

High Schools can validate the effective-ness of Montessori as a “whole” in theeyes of the average person.

The Emergence of SecondaryMontessori Programs

The first secondary schools organizedalong Montessori principles werefounded in Europe in the 1930s. AnneFrank, the young girl made famous byher poignant diaries, was a student inthe first Montessori high school inAmsterdam when it was closed by theNazis. At last count, there were eightlarge, highly regarded Montessori HighSchools in the Netherlands.

The first American secondary pro-grams influenced by Dr. Montessori’sideas, but not openly identified as“Montessori” began to appear in the1940s and 1950s. Co-author, TimSeldin, attended one of the first ofthese programs at the Barrie School inSilver Spring, Maryland, which estab-lished its upper school in the 1950s.

In the late 1970s, a small group ofMontessori leaders, interested in thedevelopment of an American Montes-sori secondary model, founded theErdkinder Consortium. This group’sdiscussions led to a consensus thatwhile Dr. Montessori’s vision of a resi-dential, farm-based learning com-

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munity would be a model to worktoward, schools interested in devel-oping a modified middle schoolprogram in the interim should be encouraged to do so. Theseschools became known as “urban-compromise” programs.

In the 1970s, a number of earlyadolescent programs openly identi-fied as being “Montessori influ-enced,” were established in theUnited States, including Near NorthMontessori in Chicago, the RuffingMontessori School in Cleveland,Ohio, and two that are no longer inoperation: the Montessori FarmSchool in Half Moon Bay, Californiaand the Erdkinder School nearAtlanta, Georgia.

In 1982, the Barrie School became the first Montessori Juniorand Senior High School programofficially recognized by the Ameri-can Montessori Society. That year,the Institute for Advanced Montes-sori Studies in Silver Spring,Maryland, and the Dallas Montes-sori Teacher Education Program inDallas, Texas, opened the first Mon-tessori Secondary teacher educa-tion programs.

During the 1980s, a number ofother programs for young adoles-cents opened in the United Statesand Canada, including the Francis-can Earth School in Portland,Oregon; the School of the Woodsin Houston, Texas; St. Joseph’sMontessori in Columbus, Ohio; theToronto Montessori School inOntario, Canada; and the AthensMontessori School in Athens,Georgia.

Today, perhaps half the Montes-sori schools in America stop afterkindergarten, while most of the rest extend to the third or sixthgrade. Montessori Middle and HighSchool programs, however, are stillvery rare. We estimate that there

“My vision of thefuture is no longer of people takingexams, earning a secondary diploma,and proceeding on touniversity, but ofindividuals passingfrom one stage ofindependence to ahigher, by means oftheir own activity,through their owneffort of will, whichconstitutes the innerevolution of the individual.”

— Maria Montessori

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are now more than two hundredMontessori Middle School programsin North America with numerous oth-ers in various stages of development.There are approximately twenty highschools openly identifying them-selves as Montessori, and a growingnumber under development.

Montessori’s Vision of the Erdkinder

Maria Montessori first proposed herideas for the reform of secondaryeducation in a series of lectures givenat the University of Amsterdam in January 1920. They were later published during the 1930s as part of her work From Childhood to Adolescence.

Dr. Montessori’s model of second-ary education is based on her under-standing of the developmental needsand learning tendencies of early ado-lescents. In addition to conceivingmany of the reforms incorporatedinto today’s most innovative pro-grams for early adolescents, Montes-sori added a unique idea: she recom-mended a residential school locatedin a country setting.

Montessori believed that by livingindependently of their families for afew years in a small rural community,young people could be trained inboth the history of technology andcivilization, while learning the practi-cal habits, values, and skills needed toassume the role of an adult in today’ssociety.

Envisioning a school where chil-dren would grow their own food andlive close to nature, she called herprogram the Erdkinder, which trans-lates from the Dutch as “the childrenof the Earth” or “children of theland.”

Dr. Maria Montessori proposed liv-ing and working on a residential farmschool as the best possible education-

al setting for young adolescents (twelve- to fifteen-year-olds) as theytransitioned physically, cognitively,socially, emotionally, and morally toadulthood.

Montessori believed the demandsof puberty warranted a holiday fromtraditional lecture-based instruction.Instead of confining students toclassrooms, she proposed a programthat would help them accomplishtwo key developmental tasks: be-coming psychologically and eco-nomically independent. Only then,she argued, would young adoles-cents escape from the pettiness oftraditional schooling and engageseriously in the realities of life insociety.

Montessori envisioned the Erd-kinder as a small community ofteenagers and adults located in arural setting. Here teachers and stu-dents would live and work togetherthroughout the year, growing muchof their own food and manufacturingmany of the things they would needfor life in the country, thereby devel-oping a deep sense of their connec-tion to the land and the nature andvalue of work.

She envisioned students, underadult supervision, managing a hostelor hotel for visiting parents. The stu-dents would sell farm goods andother products in their own store.These farm management and storeeconomics would form the basis ofmeaningful academic studies.

The Erdkinder curriculum wouldencourage self-expression throughmusic, art, public speaking, and the-ater. Students would also study languages, mathematics, science,history of civilizations, cultures, and technological innovations. TheErdkinder would possess a “muse-um of machinery,” where studentscould assemble, use, and repair theirown farm equipment.

For many years the idea of a residential farm school was ex-plored, but considered impractical.Montessori Secondary schools arenow found in urban and suburbansettings in the United States, withenrollments ranging from fewerthan ten students to public schoolprograms with more than 250 stu-dents.

The cost of organizing a residen-tial Erdkinder program has beenconsidered far too high for any one school to attempt; instead,Montessori Middle School pro-grams attempt to incorporate asmany Erdkinder components aspossible.

The Montessori community look-ed on with considerable interest in 2001 when David Kahn, Direc-tor of the North American Mon-tessori Teacher’s Association(NAMTA), opened the MontessoriFarm School in Huntsburg, Ohio in conjunction with the HersheyMontessori School. Serving stu-dents from ages twelve to fifteen,the Montessori Farm School is alovely facility and an exciting projectthat has attracted widespread atten-tion, including a substantial articlein the London Times.

Many leaders in Secondary Mon-tessori education believe that thefuture will lie primarily with non-residential programs. The openingof the Farm School, and others like it that may follow, provides anopportunity to test one of Dr.Montessori’s hypotheses. She pro-posed that the residential commu-nity, with its artificially created sociallaboratory, will prove to be of mostvalue in the completion of thedevelopment of mature, well adjust-ed young adults.

A piece prepared by David Kahndescribing the Montessori FarmSchool in greater depth follows.

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here is an ironic prejudiceabout education found in al-most every country: the older

the students are that one teaches, thehigher the pay and respect for theteacher. We take it for granted that aprofessor in a graduate school is amore prestigious position than that ofa high school teacher, which is, in turn,considered a more sophisticated posi-tion than teaching elementary and, ofcourse, both are far more respectablethan that of a nursery-school teacher.And no one in his or her right mindwould want to teach infants and tod-dlers, right? Yet research clearly showsthat the most important period in ahuman being’s educational and emo-tional development are not the yearsof high school and college but ratherthe first six years of life.

Human beings are a magical combi-nation of at least three factors: ourgenetic inheritance, our biologicaldevelopment, and our experiences.

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Montessori Infant-Toddler

Programs:

The Best Beginning

TT

Authors’ Note: We wish to thank SusanTracy, M.Ed., Director of the LearningTogether Parent Education Center inPalatine, Illinois, for her invaluable assistance in co-authoring and preparingthis chapter. We also thank the manyschools that welcomed us into their infant-toddler classrooms. In the case of K.T.Korngold of The Montessori Children’sCenter at Burke (White Plains, NY), we wishto extend a special thanks for allowing us toenter “Sarah’s world,” a beautiful at-homeMontessori infant environment that is pic-tured throughout this and the following“Montessori in the Home” section.

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Genetics play an enormous role. Inaddition to the more obvious issuessuch as our sex, eventual height, andthe color of our eyes, genetics deter-mine our special gifts and handicaps,predispositions, and many aspects ofour interests, talents, and personalitiesthat scientists are only now beginningto understand.

However, whatever potential or pre-dispositions we inherit from our par-ents, they will only be developed if ourbodies are allowed to develop normal-ly. A child who is malnourished in thecritical first six years of life, or who suf-fers a devastating disease or physicalinjury, will normally develop much lessof his or her potential as a humanbeing than one who enjoys goodhealth.

Equally important, and most rele-vant to this book, is the question of the

child’s early education. Of course thebrain is not a muscle, but like a muscle,the brain only develops through activeuse. This is especially true in the yearsof infancy and early childhood.

In the past, many people pictured achild’s mind as a blank slate on whichadults, through instruction, could“write down” the content of a goodeducation. Likewise, another commonmetaphor was that of an empty bowl,waiting to be filled with the contents ofthe school’s curricula. Montessoridemonstrated that both concepts areinaccurate.

The young child’s mind is more likethat of an acute observer or scientist,eager to learn, explore, try new things,and master new skills. But most impor-tantly, she recognized that with stimu-lation, the child’s ability to concen-trate, absorb, and master new ideas

and skills increases, and that the earli-er we begin a program of intellectual,physical, sensory, and artistic educa-tion, the more dramatic the result.

This is a time of great sensitivity tolanguage, spatial relationships, music,art, social graces, and so much more.If, during this period, the mind is stim-ulated by the child’s exposure to a richenvironment, the brain will literallydevelop a much stronger and lastingability to learn and accomplish. Inshort, while our culture may believethat preschool teachers are the leastsignificant educators our children willencounter, in reality the contributionthat they offer is of incredible impor-tance in a child’s education.

This is especially true of those whoteach infants and toddlers. So pleaseforgive us when we cannot hide ourfrustration when parents say things

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like, “Oh, for goodness sake, mychild is just in preschool! Educationduring these years is not all thatimportant! All she needs are teach-ers who are warm and kind.”

The Terrible Terrific Twos:Montessori for the Infant andToddler Years

The concept of a specific program for these very young children wasdeveloped by Adele Costa Gnocchiand Dr. Silvana Quattrocchi Montan-aro at the Centro Educazione Mon-tessori in Rome. This world-famousteacher education program awardsthe Association Montessori Inter-nationale’s Assistants to InfancyCertification, preparing Montessorieducators to work with childrenfrom birth through age three. Overthe last twenty years, other Montes-sori programs have developedinfant-toddler teacher educationprograms of their own.

Infant-toddler Montessori educa-tors are passionate about theirwork. Inspiring teacher educatorsCelma and Desmond Perry, VirginiaVarga, and Carole Korngold havetirelessly advocated the importanceof these programs and are slowlybeginning to convince Montessorischools around the world to devel-op them.

Montessori programs for childrenunder age three are not quite as rare as hen’s teeth; however, they areanything but common. Toddlerclasses are still fairly few and farbetween, and infant programs arestill so uncommon that parentswould be fortunate to find one intheir community. Where infant andtoddler programs do exist, theytend to be extraordinarily popular,and it may be quite difficult to findan opening unless parents begintheir search a year or more inadvance.

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Why don’t more schools offerinfant-toddler programs? Basicallythere are four major reasons.

The first is that there are very fewcertified Infant-Toddler Montessoriteachers.

Secondly, because only a handful of children are supporting thetrained teaching staff and classroom,these programs are more expensiveto run than the classes for three tosix-year-olds, and few schools feelthat they can ask parents to pay thetrue cost of operation. As a result,many schools lose money on thistype of program. The compensationis that the children who comethrough these programs will be

(Above) Young children enjoy constructing new shapes with a wide variety of blocks and connect-ing materials.

among their very best students in theyears to come because of their earlystart. In some cases, state regulationsmay prohibit schools from acceptingchildren under age three. Similarly, insome states, operating a program atthis age level may cause the school tobe classified as a child-care center,rather than as an educational institu-tion.

And finally, many Montessori admin-istrators wrestle with the concern thatif they accept children under agethree, prospective parents will viewthe school as a day-care center, ratherthan as a school, which some adminis-trators fear might cause their entireprogram to lose credibility.

The Four Common Types ofInfant-Toddler Programs

Parent-Infant Programs

These are primarily programs designedto educate the parent of very youngchildren in child development and the Montessori strategies for helpingparents to respond to the needs theyobserve in their infants. These pro-grams give parents an opportunity toobserve their children and, through dis-cussion, learn how they can bestrespond to their babies’ needs. Normal-ly, parent-infant programs will acceptchildren under eighteen months of age.Parents come with their children to ashort class normally lasting about nine-ty minutes, held once a week. Often,there will be a parent-teacher discus-sion held at another time during theweek. Topics always include parentquestions and concerns and a weeklytopic, such as: sleep, nutrition, homeenvironment, and infant and toddlerdevelopment. The staffing is commonlyone certified Montessori Infant-Toddlerteacher with the parents working in the

A Note on Staffing: A key issue with infantprograms is the adult-to-child ratio. Stateregulations vary, and the required ratios andmaximum group sizes will vary from onestate to another. The standard that we rec-ommend for this age is lower than moststates require – striving for a one-to-threeadult-to-infant ratio, or a small group ofnormally nine infants to one teacher andtwo adult assistants. This tends to makesuch programs more expensive, but due tothe low adult-to-infant ratio and the specialtraining needed, the quality is well worththe cost. It is especially important that staffturnover in these programs be very low, aseven the youngest infant tends to bonddeeply with the adult caregivers. Their con-sistency over time is very important to theprogram’s success.

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3SECTION

DOES MONTESSORI PREPARE

CHILDREN FOR THE REAL WORLD?

REFLECTIONS ON A MONTESSORI EDUCATION

THE MONTESSORI WAY

CLOSING

THOUGHTS

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213

DOES MONTESSORI PREPARE CHILDREN FOR THE REAL WORLD?

ontessori parents often hearstatements like these. Theyhear them from well-mean-

ing relatives, co-workers, neighbors,and just about anybody who knowsthat they have a child in a Montessorischool. When it comes to Montessori,it seems that everyone has an opinion!

Many parents of children enrolled inMontessori schools have heard the statement, “It takes courage to be aMontessori parent.” The first time Iheard that statement, I rememberwondering why anyone would thinkthat it takes courage to send childrento a Montessori school? I still wonder.

Maybe it’s because Montessori tendsto encourage children to think forthemselves and articulate their ownopinions. There are moments when itwould be a whole lot easier for parentsto live with a six-year-old, who blindlyand obediently accepts explanationsfor why you don’t create a recyclingcenter right in the middle of yourkitchen, rather than a righteousMontessori four-year-old who an-nounces that she knows where ham-

burger really comes from and she’snever – ever – going to eat it, or anyother animal, ever again. Period!

As children get older, many Montes-sori parents come to understand the“courage” statement in a whole differ-ent light. About the time that childrenhit the kindergarten year, parents mayfind themselves defending their choiceto keep their children in Montessori.The opinions of relatives are often themost difficult to discount, becausethey come from people who are legiti-mately concerned about the future of their grandchildren, nieces, andnephews.

The pressure can become intense.Most parents who continue withMontessori report that there weretimes when they were very tempted towalk away and put their children intothe capable hands of a more tradition-al school. “After all,” they rationalize,“we didn’t go to Montessori, and weturned out all right.” Or did we?

One characteristic that many Mon-tessori parents share is their concernover the manner in which society has

Does MontessoriPrepare Children

For the Real World?

MM

“Montessorihas no

structure!”

Does any of this sound familiar?

come to define “success.” Is a childwho grows up to become a doctor or alawyer any more successful than a car-penter or a musician or a teacher or ahomemaker? And on what basis can welegitimately fear that these bright andenthusiastic Montessori children ofours would be any less likely to earnprofessional degrees because of theirMontessori education than if we sentthem to some other school?

As the parent of two children, eachof whom spent ten years in Montes-sori, and as someone who has had anopportunity to observe the long-termdevelopment of my own children andthat of their Montessori peers, I knowthat Montessori students do well incollege and careers. I also know, how-ever, that many parents worry thatbecause Montessori looks different, itmay handicap their children in someway.

Most of us who choose Montessoriare comfortable with our children; weare confident in their intelligence,curiosity, and ability to make their wayin the world. I would like to believe

“Montessoriis too

structured!”

“Your children are STILL in

Montessori! You d owant them to go

to college ... don’t you?”

“Childrenhave to

grow up andface the

real worldsooner orlater!”

Reflections on a

Montessori Education:

Montessori Parents, Educators,

and Students

214

had significance to me for three rea-sons. First, the boy in the picture is myson, Robin, at age ten. I can assure youthat he did not look like that in reallife. Second, it was the first and onlytime I ever succeeded in getting himinto a tie and jacket at that age. Third,and most importantly, he and mydaughter’s friend, Leslie Tam, areposed as lawyers in the photo, and, asa young adult, I chose a career in lawfor all the wrong reasons.

I believed that becoming a lawyerwould give me prestige and wealth.What it gave me was an ulcer and thenagging feeling that I should be doingsomething different with my life. WhileI don’t dislike lawyers (well, at least notany more than anyone else), it justwasn’t the right career for me. As I nowtell my own grown-up children: Justbecause you can do something well, itdoesn’t mean you have to do it. There

CLOSING THOUGHTS

responsible, contributing members ofsociety, adults who will find satisfactionand fulfillment in their work, regard-less of their career path. I am hopefulthat my own adult children willapproach each day of their adult lifewith the same enthusiasm and eager-ness to grow that they experienced asyoung children in their Montessoriclassrooms.

At the same time, our children mustbe cable of accepting the challengesthat life will provide and have the abil-ity to adapt to new ideas and technolo-gy. If these are outcomes that otherparents share for their children, then Ibelieve that parents can feel confidentin their decision to keep their childrenin Montessori programs.

As Editor of Tomorrow’s Child mag-azine, I helped select the cover for ourfirst issue back in 1993 (shown at left).This somewhat controversial cover

that Montessori parents are less likelyto push their children (either con-sciously or unconsciously) into pursu-ing high-status careers, just becausethe social status of certain professionsis the standard by which the world hascome to measures success.

I hope that parents who chooseMontessori are most concerned thattheir children will grow up to be

he dichotomy inherent inyour question is false. Mon-tessori is the real world. The

Montessori classroom is very muchtrue to life. The child is pursuing aninterest in the context of many choic-es. Isn’t that what society is all about?

Montessori children see their owngrowth, constantly respond to theirown needs in relation to the multi-aged community around them. Theylearn to make individual choices thatconnect with their capabilities. Andthat may be different than making iton Wall Street or becoming a doctor,lawyer, or preacher.

The Montessori classroom allowsfor a diversity of individual expres-sions, personalities, and cultural ori-gins. We must broaden the images ofsuccess: carpenter, welder, automo-tive mechanic, beautician, poet —

the possibilities correspond to theuniqueness of each child.

Some say that Montessori class-rooms are devoid of competition and,therefore, not part of the “real world,”but competition, like cooperation, isnatural to life and, therefore, emergesnaturally in the Montessori class-room. There, children freely compareand contrast each other’s work.

Montessorians are careful not toexploit the natural competition butrather to note how children build orlose self-esteem in relation to the waythey perceive themselves or the wayothers perceive them. And while themulti-age grouping softens compari-son because of the variety of stagespresent in each classroom over athree-year age span, I would hardlyconsider the Montessori classroom ashelter from the real world.

— David Kahn, Executive Director of

The North American Montessori Teachers’ Association (NAMTA)

In the micro-society of the Mon-tessori classroom, these children willlearn a great deal about humannature and individual personality.They will learn tolerance and respectas modeled by the Montessori-trainedteacher; they will learn about fair-ness, about different approaches fordifferent needs, and about individual-ity in relation to group cooperation.

Success is in the eyes of thebeholder; it is largely formed private-ly, individually, and compassionatelyby the child and the family. Even theMontessori classroom cannot substi-tute for the parent’s faith in the childor the child’s faith in following his orher own star.

TT

Left: The first issue of Tomorrow’sChildMagazinepublished in 1993.

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y experience with students who leavethe Montessori classroom is that theykeep the Montessori philosophy with

them forever and use what they learned in life. Ihave received feedback from students, parents, and high schools that our students do well in high school, colleges, universities, and in their chosen job fields.

Academically, they are well prepared, know howto learn, and enjoy learning. Since Montessorioffers many different learning styles, students haveacquired the ability to use all modalities, whichallows many options and choices for them. Ourstudents are pursuing the math and science fieldsby winning high school awards and majoring inthese areas in college and universities. They cantake a long-term project and break it down into“do-able” parts, and they see assessments as feed-back and want to correct their test vs. just get agrade. Personally, they are self-confident and knowthemselves well — their strengths and weakness,which allows them to make knowledgeable deci-sions. They are not afraid to take calculated risks inpursuing new interests.

Socially, they care about others, know how towork well in groups, consider the opposite sex asfriends, are student leaders, start new serviceorganizations, participate in global projects, andare activists. They are the ones who organize peti-tions and are willing take a stand on moral issues— not only for their own particular causes but alsofor larger causes, such as discrimination and reli-gious preference, which may not affect them per-sonally. By doing what is best for students at eachplane of development, Montessori prepares themfor the future, because they have developed theability to be adaptable and flexible to what is next intheir life.

— Elisabeth Coe, Ph.D., Past-President of The American Montessori Society;

Faculty Member and Principal of School of The Woods, Houston, TX, and Executive Director of

The Houston Montessori Center

MMis nothing wrong with law, medicine, teaching, carpentry, orany other career, as long as it is what is right for the individ-ual.

If the answer to the question of whether or not Montessoriprepares children for the real world is to be judged bywhether or not great percentages of Montessori students pur-sue professional careers, then the answer is maybe. If theanswer to the question is to be judged by whether or notMontessori prepares children for life, then the answer isunequivocally yes.

As a parent I set very high expectations for my children. Iexpected them to be well prepared academically so that theywould be able to follow their dreams wherever that may takethem, but I also hoped that they would be able to makeresponsible choices. I also hoped that they would be able toretain the love of learning and creativity that Montessori nur-tured in them. Although I cared about academics, I felt certainthat my children would achieve similar results from any goodschool, Montessori or otherwise. For me, the true value of aMontessori education went beyond academics.

I have often wished that I had attended a Montessori schoolas a child. Things might have turned out differently. For onething, I might have saved a lot of money on law school. I real-ly do believe, however, that all learning experiences havevalue and that my years in law school were not wasted. Andmaybe a bit of Montessori did rub off on me after all. At theage of thirty-five, I quit the practice of law to pursue otherinterests that I find much more fulfilling — career paths Iprobably should have explored in the first place, if I had notbeen trying so hard to jam my “round-pegged” personalityinto a square professional hole.

When I announced that I wasn’t going to practice law anymore, the initial overwhelming response was, “What do youmean you’re not going to practice law? How do you thinkyou’re going to survive without a profession?” Sound familiar?

I hope that as parents we will have the courage to recognizeand continue to support the human values and life lessonsthat children learn in Montessori classrooms every day. Myown two children went to good colleges, are now in graduateschool, and seem destined to find satisfaction in their careersand adult lives. Our world could probably use a lot moreMontessori lawyers, politicians, and doctors who understandthat there’s more to life than being “book smart.” Above all,though, I think that as parents and educators, we must neveraccept the premise that our primary objective must be toteach children to survive life. Better we should help themlearn to celebrate it!

— Joyce St. Giermaine, Executive Director of

The Montessori Foundation and

Editor of Tomorrow’s Child Magazine

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action, not just a proper noun. I respect thenoun; I love the verb.

For fourteen years, I sent kids off to otherschools while working within and headingthe Whitby School (The American Montes-sori Center [est.1958]). I watched and collected data. After years of working in busi-ness and running two other schools, I’ve col-lected much information. Watching my ownchildren, grandchildren, neighbors, nieces/nephews, et. al, I can simply say thatMontessori allows and helps children to bephysicians, lawyers, business executives,educators, authors, film makers, mothers/fathers, computer experts, writers, musi-cians, politicians; survivors of college folly,parental divorce; and seekers of the myster-ies of life through faith, religion, nature orphilosophy. In brief, nothing in Montessoriguarantees success or the absolute avoid-ance of all of life’s follies and failures. It doesprovide many tools and, in most cases, toolsnot commonly exploited in many other edu-cational systems. Dr. Montessori was anexcellent physician and an even greater edu-cator. She was not, and is not, God; neitherare those who use and advance her Method.

But if you simply want children to enjoytheir education, use their senses, find usesfor imagination and inventiveness, andrespect natural timing, while also respond-

ing to fire drills and traffic signs;Montessori is a good bet. If you want me orothers to say it is the only way to educateor the best, we respond by saying, “... among great foods, we choose thisMontessori diet.” If you want guarantees,we caution you to watch out for snake-oilsalesmen. Montessori was not a hucksterand neither are we a hundred years later.Our students reveal their talents; we directtheir learning. God or nature, along withtheir mothers and fathers and their socio-economic realities, play roles as well.Montessori prepares children to use theirtalents, advancing their natural abilitiesand taking that development into an ever-changing world.

Montessori students are the best evi-dence of their preparation. Seek them out.Speak with them. Observe them. It is like-ly you have already noticed them, perhapseven hired them, and maybe you alreadylike them. What you did not know was thatthey were educated, in part, within aMontessori environment.

— John P. Blessington, Headmaster Emeritus of

The Whitby School; Currently ExecutiveProducer for Interfaith Religious

Programs for CBS Television

started learning aboutand teaching using theMontessori Method in

1960. It is now over forty years later. ThenI taught about it, ran a Montessori school,served on the AMS Board, and always hadto answer: “But will the children adjustto other schools and do well in life?”

To this question, I had flip answers,hope-filled replies, and much conviction;but now I have experience. Also, I havecomparisons, having run two non-Montessori schools. In addition, I’ve hada post-Montessori career in corporate life(CBS-TV) and have run a foundation,which raised funds for over six hundredindependent colleges. The simple answerto the question as to whether Montessoriprepares students to survive in otherschools is yes! To compete, yes! Prosper,yes! And these replies are not boasts —they are my pleasant reality.

First, children generally survive wellbeyond the expectations of parents andeducators. God, or nature made, they are built to endure and overcome.“Overcoming” Montessori is really easy,because it is like basic training for life; itengages the senses, acknowledges physi-cal mobility, and respects the need tomanage time. It follows the individualintellect, while providing an adequatedose of reality and Practical Life skills.

Most important is: How does the stu-dent think (s)he has done, “given theirgivens? Montessorians do not makegenes or create home environments —we run schools and help parents growalong with their children using a scientif-ically enlightened model and a practicalpsychology and pedagogy. Maria Montes-sori gathered the insights, time refinedthem, and time refines them still. This iswhat I call the verb — Montessori as

II

Does Montessori prepare children

for the “real” world? ...

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DOES MONTESSORI PREPARE CHILDREN FOR THE REAL WORLD?

oes Montessori prepare chil-dren for the real world? Ithink it does. In fact, I think

Montessori can help you be more suc-cessful in your career, perhaps even helpyou find a better career. Education isn’ta process that only takes place in aschool classroom. Forget fluffy notions ofwell-roundedness; in order to succeed inthe workplace you have to keep abreastof current events, trends, and skills.Unfortunately, I’ve met many adults whohave completely lost interest in learning,who would sooner watch reality televi-sion than read a non-fiction book aboutthe real world. These people are handi-capped in the marketplace.

What you learn in school isn’t nearlyas important as knowing how to learn on

DD lo and behold! the classroom had theschool’s first computer. I was enthralledby the huge silver contraption with thepassion that only a nine-year-old can have,and my teachers encouraged me in thispassion so that by the time I was ten-years-old I was programming in BASIC.Now a scientist for a Verizon subsidiary, Ido C++ programming every day, and Istill love it.

If I had gone to a traditional school, I might have ended up a programmer. Imight even hold the same position I donow. But it’s hard to imagine that a tradi-tional education would have allowed me todevelop the drive and enthusiasm to stayon top of my field.

— Marc SeldinFormer Montessori Student

your own, outside of an academic environ-ment. My impression is that most peoplenever learn to enjoy learning. School is apainful experience for many people, a placeof degradation and captivity rather than onewhere knowledge is passionately pursued.Montessori gave me a thirst for learning andthe confidence that I can teach myself any-thing I need to know.

An example: I was nine-years-old in1979. When I expressed an interest in get-ting a computer in the classroom, I wasn’tridiculed. No adult patiently explained insomber tones that computer science wasn’tin the lesson plan or the budget. Instead,my classroom teachers and I brainstormedways to raise the money, deciding on a raf-fle. My father donated a television to theschool to use as a prize, and a month later

oes Montessori prepare children forthe real world? Unequivocally yes!The purpose of education is to

enable the child to lead a productive and fulfill-ing life as an adult. Since Montessori takes intoaccount the nature of the child and how thechild learns, by providing an environment with-in which children create themselves, Montes-sori children are enabled with qualities of highself-esteem, self-directedness, leadership, self-discipline, self-confidence, a sense of responsi-bility, the ability to learn how to learn, an enjoyment of learning, a joy of life, the ability tothink, benevolence toward others, the capacityto get along with others, and so on.Montessorians know these qualities are alreadywithin the child, and the Montessori Methodallows them to blossom. These are the veryqualities needed to lead a productive and fulfill-ing life no matter what type of “real” world isencountered.

— John H. Davis, Ph.D.Father of Three Grown

Montessori Children

DD

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II

DD

know that Montessori educa-tion prepares children forthe real world, probably the

way that most parents know, andthat’s when they look at theirgrown children and observe theway in which those youngstershave become adults and faced theworld. Montessori gives childrenan ability to face both themselvesand the world in a particular way.

Both of my children who hadMontessori education as veryyoung children have a quality ofdaring and competence in theirown ability that has enabled themto approach new problems andchallenges with appropriate confi-dence, great enthusiasm, andfocus.

I believe that this is one of thedispositional outcomes of Montes-sori, which has never really beenmeasured, but which is palpablein most parents’ experience.

I think that most parents whohave had Montessori experienceswith their children at an early agewould agree that there is a qualityto these youngsters who are nowadults that is particular to theirMontessori experience, though itwould be difficult to describe ordefine.

— Nancy McCormick-Rambusch, Ph.D.

Noted American Educator, Founder & First President of

The American Montessori Society

II recently met a father of three grown children while waiting for my car to berepaired. When he learned I was affiliated with a Montessori school he said, “Oh,Montessori is great!” I inquired as to his experience, and it turns out his older

son attended Montessori. He said to me, “He is now twenty-five, and we can still seethe difference that his years in Montessori made.” It is this kind of intangible sensethat your child is more solid, centered, independent, or has a unique way of thinkingabout things that is so hard to quantify, yet makes all the difference in the world.

— Susan French-Lawyer, Admissions Director

Montessori School of Syracuse

oes Montessori prepare children for the real world? This is a question I hearall the time. And my reaction to this question is to ask another question:Whose world are you talking about? Are you concerned that we are not

preparing children for corporate America or for a world that does not offer freedom ofchoice, a world that is not interested in receiving a new productive, contributing mem-ber, one who cares about their fellow human beings, possesses a joy of learning, andis a clear thinking, creative, problem-solving, self-confident, compassionate humanbeing.

What world is out there that would not want or desire an individual prepared forbeing fully present in the way that was just described? I have often wondered what realworld would want anyone prepared in a lesser form.

— Melody Mosby, Program Director Athens Montessori School,

Athens, Georgia

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THE MONTESSORI WAY

r. Maria Montessori carried alarge vision for the purpose ofeducation — the establish-

ment of universal and lasting peace.Although she witnessed two worldwars and the unleashing of nuclearpower, Montessori evolved a living philosophy of education, child-studymethods, age-appropriate curriculaand instruction, and programs foradult teacher education. In 1940, shewrote:

“Man masters almost everything buthimself. He knows almost everything buthimself. He avails himself of the most hid-den treasures but does not use theimmense riches and powers that lie with-in himself.

This points to the great and urgent task ofeducation! No mobilization is as com-plete as that which can be realized by theschool. In the past, military service waslimited to men of a certain age group.Now more and more people are drawninto the service of war — even womenand children.

But if the school takes upon itself the taskof mobilizing the young for the achieve-ment of that perfect development thatbrings forward man as he can and is des-tined to be: conscious of the society hewill become part of; master, not slave, ofthe infinite means that civilization putsat his disposal; equally developed in hismoral and social powers as in his physi-cal and intellectual ones; aware of histask, which requires the collaborationand unanimous effort of the whole ofmankind—nobody will be overlooked.

Nobody will be rejected; nobody exempt-ed! The whole of mankind will beenrolled in this service, which is a servicefor peace. Thus, education will become atrue and invincible armament for peace!All human beings will grow to be ‘knightsof peace’ during that period in their lifewhen what is formed can never again be

shed or destroyed, because this is the peri-od of formation when the cornerstones ofthe human personality are definitelyfixed.”*

Here, in closing, we would like tocompare the Montessori Way to anAmerican political system determinedto substitute practices of adult account-ability for experiences of childhood. Webelieve that the national focus on chil-dren’s test scores as a measure ofteacher performance has too narrowlydefined the purpose of education andthe scope of learning experiences.

We argue, along with many others,that the current political determinationto install educational accountability willnot work. Despite considerable finan-cial investment, training of teachers,matching instruction to national, state,and local curricular standards, andteaching children how to test, childrennationally have show little test scoreimprovement. Sadly, accountability hasbrought fear into the learning environ-ment by imposing sanctions on schoolsthat do not meet targeted test scores.Sanctions include removing principalsand teachers from schools that do notperform.

In making this comparison, theMontessori Way finds new relevancyand importance to children and theirfamilies. The Montessori Way continuesalmost one hundred years after Mon-tessori’s initial insights in her firstschool in Rome. Montessori schoolstoday seek to help children becomeindependent and self-disciplined byassisting them with a full developmentof their unique individual potentials.Montessori teachers do this throughchild study and by fashioning classroomand outdoor environments in whichchildren find engaging activities thathelp them develop habits of lifelonglearning — for example, concentration,investigation, collaboration, problemsolving, and communication.

The Montessori Way, with its focuson children’s unique capabilities,stands in marked contrast to thedirections of national educationefforts. More than two decades ago(in 1981), the United States Depart-ment of Education established theNational Commission on Excellencein Education. Its purpose was to studythe quality of education in the UnitedStates and make recommendationsfor improvements.

The Commission’s findings werepublished in 1983. Their report, titled“A Nation at Risk: The Imperative forEducational Reforms,” alarmed thenation and set a course of action thatcontinues to dictate educational poli-cy twenty years later. Although theopening paragraphs of “A Nation atRisk” have been repeatedly reprinted,it is worth reading them again. Theemotional language stands in markedcontrast to the convictions we call theMontessori Way:

“Our nation is at risk. Our once unchal-lenged preeminence in commerce, in-dustry, science, and technological inno-vation is being overtaken by competi-tors throughout the world. This report isconcerned with only one of the manycauses and dimensions of the prob-lem, but it is the one that undergirdsAmerican prosperity, security, and civil-ity. We report to the American peoplethat while we can take justifiable pridein what our schools and colleges havehistorically accomplished and con-tributed to the United States and thewell-being of its people, the educationalfoundations of our society are presentlybeing eroded by a rising tide of medioc-rity that threatens our very future as anation and a people. What was unimag-inable a generation ago has begun tooccur — others are matching and sur-passing our educational attainments.

If an unfriendly foreign power hadattempted to impose on America the

The Montessori Way

DD

*Retrieved August 5, 2003, from the Association Montessori Internationale’s website http://www.montessori-ami.org/ami.htm

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mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well haveviewed it as an act of war. As it stands, we have allowed this to happen to our-selves. We have even squandered the gains in student achievement made in thewake of the Sputnik challenge. Moreover, we have dismantled essential supportsystems, which helped make those gains possible. We have, in effect, been com-mitting an act of unthinking, unilateral educational disarmament.”*

“A Nation at Risk” was a call for mobilization. Educational improve-ments since 1983 have included investments in new curriculum,increases in salaries, incorporating technology into daily instruction,and the implementation of national, state, and local curriculum andassessment standards. Despite studies of the human brain and newunderstandings of optimal learning conditions, the focus of schoolreform has, in our opinion, been largely misdirected. Instead ofaccomplishing the comprehensive educational reforms that Montes-sori called for in 1940 — creating schools based on partnership, com-munity, and a joyful, natural approach to learning — during the pasttwo decades, teachers and school administrators are now heldaccountable for their students’ learning, which is increasingly meas-ured by their performance on high-stakes tests. Twenty years later, testscores have minimally improved, despite new understandings for howchildren learn and, based on these understandings, new methods ofinstruction.

The nation’s landscape drastically changed during this same historicperiod. Today’s schools must educate children from numerous linguis-tic and cultural traditions, include children with a large range of learn-ing challenges and styles in regular classrooms and keep terrorismaway from the classroom door. Education reforms during the pasttwenty years have also included efforts to teach children how to reasonand understand, identify and solve problems, work in teams, and com-municate effectively.

These skills, rather than simple memorization, are said to help pre-pare children for their adulthoods in an information-age twenty-firstcentury. Our children will face known problems with as yet unknownsolutions: dwindling, non-renewable energy supplies; environmentaldegradation, including the destruction of rain forests, the loss of top-soil, species extinction, and pollution. Other challenges facing our chil-dren include human migration; hunger; terrorism; and America’snational debt.

Given the urgent and demanding complexities of everyday living, wefind that the Montessori Way is more relevant today than ever before.Throughout this book we have used the term “Montessori” to refer toa person, a philosophy, an understanding of how children learn, aneducational method, a set of learning materials, and a way of life. Thisway of life is a philosophy for how human beings ought to live theirlives and treat one another. It is an attitude of respect and encourage-ment for each human being, no matter how young or how old. It is asense of partnership, rather than power and authority.

We argue that these are indeed the qualities of a fulfilled and happylife; these are the qualities of a person who is able to engage in today’spressing issues and challenges.

*Retrieved August 20, 2003, U.S. Department of Education web site: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html

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The Montessori Way recognizes that each child (and eachadult) has her or his own unique capabilities. Each child has, inother words, genius. A primary purpose for education is to helpeach child obtain her full potential. The adult’s task is to over-come her or his biases and prejudices and learn to see clearlythe possibilities within each child. We assist children by prepar-ing learning environments with carefully designed activities thatallow them to exercise and develop their capabilities.

The practice of testing children to evaluate adult performanceis wrong. The premise of supposing that test scores measurelearning is limiting.

Children learn in relationships that nurture and support.Learning is a community experience, and trust between peopleis essential. Threats of loss of funds and public embarrassmentelevate fear and lowers trust. The learning community becomesfragile. The classroom, rather than the nation, is now at risk.Teachers and principals are frightened by the loss of their jobs.Teachers pass on their fears and worries. Learners cannot en-gage in creative and critical-thinking skills when fear is present.As children become stressed, they cannot test well.

As American students’ scores on both international math andscience examinations and on local and state accountabilitymeasures showed minimal gains during the past twenty years,schools throughout the country responded by better preparingchildren to take tests. Teachers teach “to the test.” Students aredrilled; memorization, not learning how to identify and solveproblems, occupies lessons.

Time for this is found by eliminating instructional time for art,music, recess, and physical education. In some schools, time forhistory and science has been reduced, if not eliminated. Timefor test practice allows no time for students’ interests or authen-tic problems; no time to tune children into the challengingissues of their adulthoods.

Teaching “to the test” is based on a factory-model approach tolearning, a model that misunderstands and misuses children’slearning capabilities and promise. In a factory, controls areimplemented to assure a uniform and quality product. Whilethis process is important for material objects, it is inappropriateand wrong for children. Becoming the same is not the purposeof life.

A recent email adds an interesting perspective. It described acompany’s struggle to develop, market, and sell a unique prod-uct. As it happens, the concept design was very exciting, andthere was (and still is) a national need for this unique product.The marking plans were creative, innovative, and ready forrelease. According to the company’s strategic business plan,there should have been no problem with generating huge prof-its. They had a winner. Everyone was excited and enthusiastic.This was a great place to work. Problems soon arose, however,and the problems involved the manufacturing process. Thecompany was unable to make products that consistently meas-

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ured up to manufacturing standards.After careful study, the company’sleaders determined the source of theproblem was its work force. To correctthis situation, the company reformedits policies to hold all employeesaccountable for measurable goals.Failure to produce would result in ter-mination. For a while, more productswere acceptably produced. But fearwas rising. As leadership focused onfaulty products and dismissed workers,the quality of the company’s work-place culture continued to erode.

A new study was commissioned, andthe company realized its problemscame from the raw materials it had towork with. Because this was a uniqueproduct, no one vendor could supplyall of the needed raw materials. And,because many vendors had to beinvolved, the raw materials were notstandard. Consequently, the materialswould not have the same inherentproperties and would not respond toone manufacturing process.

Leadership was in a quandary. Theyknew multiple manufacturing proce-dures would be required. But thiswould require considerable training ofthe work force and an expensiveretooling process. Leadership decidedto cover up the results of its new study.They would focus, as before, on devel-oping stronger accountability stan-dards. The email concluded with iden-tifying the company and its uniqueproduct — American schools and theprocess of educating our children.While we are not aware of cover-ups,we are terribly aware of the costs ofnot paying attention to the uniquecapabilities and learning approaches ofeach child.

A test score, at best, indicates a spe-cific performance or the child’s re-sponse to specific test questions on agiven day, which is easily affected byhis or her health and emotional state.When it is finally reported weeks ormonths later, a test score is an artifact.

Caution should guide decisions andconclusions, if for no other reasonthan that children have continued tolearn and grow since the test date.Discus-sion about who they were andwhat they did masks who they are nowand what they are capable of today.

The Montessori Way is an alternativeto an approach to education that nowteaches and tests children for what toknow, and for how to know it, butwithout regard for when they under-stand. Children are, in other words,ready only when they are ready.

The Montessori commitment torespect each individual child honorsthe learning process each child mustfollow as he or she makes meaningfulsense of knowledge and skills. Learn-ing is taking place every day and everywaking moment. It happens uniquelyfor each child. More than beingresponsible for external and arbitrarycontent standards, Montessori teach-ers are also accountable for facilitatingthe growth of such qualities as charac-ter, grace and courtesy, kindness,respect, and the development of self-discipline.

Standards now exist in all states forachievement and accountability. Butdo the standards permit differences inlearning styles and approaches? Cul-tural and ethnic diversities? Genderdifferences?

Test score measures are too narrow;childhood and the experience of learn-ing are far more complex. MariaMontessori wrote:

“My vision of the future is no longer peo-ple taking exams and proceeding on tocertification . . . but of individuals pass-ing from one stage of independence to ahigher [one], by means of their ownactivity through their own effort of will,which constitutes the inner evolution ofthe individual.”

— Maria MontessoriFrom Childhood to Adolescence

In keeping with the principles of TheMontessori Way, we imagine childrengraduate from Montessori schoolsdemonstrating:

▲ A passion for learning;

▲ The ability to choose and engagefor long periods of time in workthat is personally fulfilling;

▲ The ability to identify a socialproblem and contribute to itssolution;

▲ The knowledge of how to respectand restore the natural environ-ment;

▲ An understanding of cultural andracial differences as a call for cel-ebration rather than a cause forfear; and

▲ The accomplishment of self-discipline and responsible choice.

This is hardly a completed list. Othercharacteristics would include “initiative,creativity, imagination, conceptualthinking, curiosity, effort, irony, judg-ment, commitment, nuance, good will,ethical reflection, or a host of other valu-able dispositions and attributes.”*

These qualities are consistent with theMontessori Way because learning, final-ly, is more than a test performance.Children require age-appropriatelydesigned classrooms and other environ-ments and relationships betweenhealthy and whole persons.

A child can only attend to reading,writing, and arithmetic when matters of health (nutrition, rest, and emotionalwell-being) are consistently assured.When unique capabilities and independ-ence are respected as a life-long methodof learning, education cannot be standardized and delivered as a onemethod teaches all, one test measuresall.

*Bill Ayers, quoted in England, C.M. (2003). “None of Our Business. Why Business Models Don’t Work in Schools.” pg. 8. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

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The Montessori Way understandsthat learning, not education, is theissue. Children are not taught, theylearn. Teachers do not teach. Theyshow, model, encourage, and createsituations and conditions for childrento investigate, inquire into, and discov-er. In sum, children, not teachers,build knowledge. And, children do notdevelop or learn uniformly at the samestandard pace.

Truthfully, children can only learnwhen they do. A child will talk, walk,and balance a bicycle only when she isready. A child will understand num-bers, operations with fractions, equiva-lencies between geometric figures,causes of historical events — onlywhen she is ready. A child will blendvisual symbols for language (“c” – “a” –“t”) and read only when she is ready.

In keeping with the Montessori Way,we honor and respect individual chil-dren for their particular approachesand styles of learning. We help chil-dren develop habits and skills of life-long learning with natural systems —curiosity, inquiry and exploration —without resorting to external rewards,threats, and competitions. Why dohuman children suddenly requirelearning goals in the form of measura-ble content standards to demonstratethat they learn? The argument, ofcourse, is more political and, there-fore, more controlling. It’s not a ques-tion of learning; it’s a question of whowants children to learn what.

Parents and teachers should accesstheir state and local content andachievement standards; these are avail-able on the websites of state depart-ments of education. These impressivelists of objectives hide the fact that reallearning does not follow a neat andorderly progression. The focus mustbe larger than what is learned andinclude understanding of how andwhen a child learns. In sum, we mustlearn to ask, “At this moment, who islearning what — and how?”

Montessori recognized this kind ofquestion and developed an approachto instruction called the “scientificpedagogy.” Montessori teachers act asresearch scientists and endeavor tounderstand the complete child inorder to help facilitate the processMontessori called “educating thehuman potential.” Children are natu-rally becoming; they naturally engagein a whole developmental process. Notknowing today (as measured by a lowtest score) is not the same as notknowing forever. Similarly, knowingtoday (a high test score) does notguarantee knowing always. Humans doforget.

Montessori discovered the require-ment of repetition in a child’s learningprocess. In her day, the schooling pro-cess involved recitation. Teachersspoke, and children recited back whatthey heard. In Montessori classrooms,children learn from repeated explo-

rations of materials. Children observeand study natural life and learningmaterials.

With repetition, children increasetheir understanding of particular con-cepts and improve their capabilitieswith particular skills. This is as true foryoung children learning to arrange andsequence a set of cylinders of varyinglengths and diameters as it is for sec-ondary students learning to researchand present a persuasive argument in awritten essay or a proposal for how toimprove local recycling efforts.

Education reform is as necessarytoday as it was at the start of the twen-tieth century. The directions of currentefforts are too narrow and, based onpolitical agenda rather than children’sdevelopment, too dangerous. Instead,each child deserves a complete educa-tion in which all of her or his uniquecapabilities are engaged; an educationwe call the Montessori Way.

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APPENDIXES

APPENDIXES

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4SECTION

BRIEF ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

PARENTS OFTEN ASK

FINDING THE RIGHT SCHOOL

STANDARDS FOR MONTESSORI SCHOOLS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

RESOURCES

INDEX

APPENDIXES

APPENDIXES

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229

PARENTS’ QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

ContentsWhy Do Montessori Classes Group Different Age Levels Together? 237

Why Do Montessori Classes Tend To Be Larger Than Those Found in Many Other Preschools? 238

Why Do Most Montessori Schools Ask Young Children to Attend Five Days a Week? 238

Why Is Montessori So Expensive Compared to Other Schools? 238

Why Do Most Montessori Schools Want Children to Enter at Age Three? 238

How Can Montessori Teachers Meet the Needs Of So Many Different Children? 238

Why Is A Montessori Classroom Called a “Children’s House?” 239

What Do Montessori Schools Mean by the Term “Normalization?” 239

Is Montessori for All Children? 239

Is Montessori Opposed to Homework? 240

Is Montessori Unstructured? 240

Are There Any Tests in Montessori Programs? 240

How Do Montessori Schools Report Student Progress? 241

Will My Child Be Able to Adjust to Traditional Public or Private Schools after Montessori? 241

Is Montessori Opposed to Competition? 241

Is It True that Montessori Children Never Play? 242

Is Montessori Opposed to Fantasy and Creativity? 242

What’s the Big Deal about Freedom and Independence in Montessori? 242

What If a Child Doesn’t Feel Like Working? 242

What about Children with Special Needs? 243

Wasn’t Montessori First Developed for Children withSevere Developmental Delays? 243

Is Montessori Effective with the Highly Gifted Child? 243

Isn’t Montessori Elitist? 243

Does Montessori Teach Religion? 243

Why do Montessori classes group different age levels together?

Sometimes parents worry that by hav-ing younger children in the same classas older ones, one group or the otherwill be shortchanged. They fear thatthe younger children will absorb theteachers’ time and attention, or thatthe importance of covering the kinder-garten curriculum for the five-year-oldswill prevent them from giving thethree- and four-year-olds the emotion-al support and stimulation that theyneed. Both concerns are misguided.

At each level, Montessori programsare designed to address the develop-mental characteristics normal to chil-dren in that stage.

▲ Montessori classes are organizedto encompass a two- or three-yearage span, which allows youngerstudents the stimulation of olderchildren, who in turn benefit fromserving as role models. Each childlearns at her own pace and will be ready for any given lesson inher own time, not on the teacher’sschedule of lessons. In a mixed-age class, children can always findpeers who are working at their cur-rent level.

▲ Children normally stay in the same class for three years. Withtwo-thirds of the class normallyreturning each year, the class-room culture tends to remainquite stable.

▲ Working in one class for two orthree years allows students todevelop a strong sense of commu-nity with their classmates andteachers. The age range also allowsespecially gifted children the stim-ulation of intellectual peers, with-out requiring that they skip agrade or feel emotionally out ofplace.

Brief Answers to Questions Parents Often Ask

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Why Do Montessori Classes Tend ToBe Larger than Those Found inMany Other Schools?

Many schools take pride in having verysmall classes, and parents often won-der why Montessori classes are somuch larger. Montessori classes com-monly group together twenty-five tothirty children covering a three-yearage span.

Schools that place children togetherinto small groups assume that theteacher is the source of instruction, avery limited resource. They reason thatas the number of children decreases,the time that teachers have to spendwith each child increases. Ideally, wewould have a one-on-one tutorial situ-ation.

But the best teacher of a three-year-old is often another somewhat olderchild. This process is good for both thetutor and the younger child. In this sit-uation, the teacher is not the primaryfocus. The larger group size puts thefocus less on the adult and encourageschildren to learn from each other.

By consciously bringing childrentogether in larger multi-age classgroups, in which two-thirds of the chil-dren normally return each year, theschool environment promotes conti-nuity and the development of a fairlystable community.

Why Do Most Montessori SchoolsAsk Young Children to Attend FiveDays a Week?

Two- and three-day programs are oftenattractive to parents who do not needfull-time care; however, five-day pro-grams create the consistency that is so important to young children andwhich is essential in developing strongMontessori programs. Since the pri-mary goal of Montessori involves creat-ing a culture of consistency, order, and empowerment, most Montessori

schools will expect children to attendfive days a week.

Why Is Montessori So Expensive Compared toConventional Schools?

Montessori programs are normallymore expensive to organize and runthan conventional classrooms due tothe extensive teacher education need-ed to become certified and the veryhigh cost of purchasing the education-al materials and beautiful furnitureneeded to equip each Montessoriclassroom.

Montessori is not always moreexpensive. Tuition costs depend onmany factors, including the cost of thevarious elements that go into runninga particular school, such as the cost of the buildings and grounds, teachersalaries, the size of the school,* theprograms it offers, and whether theschool receives a subsidy paymentfrom a sponsoring church, charity, orgovernment agency.

Why Do Most Montessori Schools Want Children to Enter at Age Three?

Dr. Montessori identified four “planesof development,” with each stage hav-ing its own developmental characteris-tics and developmental challenges.The Early Childhood Montessori envi-ronment for children age three to six isdesigned to work with the “absorbentmind,” “sensitive periods,” and thetendencies of children at this stage oftheir development.

Learning that takes place duringthese years comes spontaneously with-out effort, leading children to enterthe elementary classes with a clear,concrete sense of many abstract concepts. Montessori helps children to become self-motivated, self-disci-plined, and to retain the sense of

curiosity that so many children losealong the way in traditional class-rooms. They tend to act with care andrespect toward their environment andeach other. They are able to work attheir own pace and ability. The three-year Montessori experience tends tonurture a joy of learning that preparesthem for further challenges.

This process seems to work bestwhen children enter a Montessori pro-gram at age two or three and stay atleast through the kindergarten year.Children entering at age four or five donot consistently come to the end ofthe three-year cycle having developedthe same skills, work habits, or values.

Older children entering Montessorimay do quite well in this very differentsetting, but this will depend to a largedegree on their personality, previouseducational experiences, and the waythey have been raised at home.

Montessori programs can usuallyaccept a few older children into anestablished class, so long as the familyunderstands and accepts that somecritical opportunities may have beenmissed, and these children may notreach the same levels of achievementseen in the other children of that age.On the other hand, because of theindividualized pace of learning inMontessori classrooms, this will notnormally be a concern.

How Can Montessori Teachers Meet the Needs of So Many Different Children?

Great teachers help learners get to thepoint where their minds and hearts areopen, leaving them ready to learn. Ineffective schools, students are not somuch motivated by getting goodgrades as they are by a basic love oflearning. As parents know their ownchildren’s learning styles and tempera-ments, teachers, too, develop thissense of each child’s uniqueness by

* In general, larger schools tend to be more cost-effective to run than small ones.

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spending a number of years with thestudents and their parents.

Dr. Montessori believed that teach-ers should focus on the child as a per-son, not on the daily lesson plan.Montessori teachers lead children toask questions, think for themselves,explore, investigate, and discover.Their ultimate objective is to help theirstudents to learn independently andretain the curiosity, creativity, and intel-ligence with which they were born. Aswe said in an earlier chapter, Montes-sori teachers don’t simply present les-sons; they are facilitators, mentors,coaches, and guides.

Traditionally, teachers have told usthat they “teach students the basicfacts and skills that they will need tosucceed in the world.” Studies showthat in many classrooms, a substantialportion of the day is spent on disci-pline and classroom management.

Normally, Montessori teachers willnot spend much time teaching lessonsto the whole class. Their primary roleis to prepare and maintain the physi-cal, intellectual, and social/emotionalenvironment within which the chil-dren will work. A key aspect of this isthe selection of intriguing and devel-opmentally appropriate learning activi-ties to meet the needs and interests ofeach child in the class.

Montessori teachers usually presentlessons to small groups of children atone time and limit lessons to brief andvery clear presentations. The goal is togive the children just enough to cap-ture their attention and spark theirinterest, intriguing them enough thatthey will come back on their own towork with the learning materials.

Montessori teachers closely monitortheir students’ progress. Because theynormally work with each child for twoor three years, they get to know theirstudents’ strengths and weaknesses,interests, and personalities extremelywell. Montessori teachers often usethe children’s interests to enrich the

curriculum and provide alternateavenues for accomplishment and suc-cess.

Why Is a Montessori ClassroomCalled a “Children’s House?”

Dr. Montessori’s focus on the “wholechild” led her to develop a very differ-ent sort of school from the traditionalteacher-centered classroom. To em-phasize this difference, she named herfirst school the “Casa dei Bambini”orthe “Children’s House.”

The Montessori classroom is not thedomain of the adults in charge; it is, instead, a carefully prepared envi-ronment designed to facilitate thedevelopment of the children’s inde-pendence and sense of personalempowerment.

This is a children’s community. Theymove freely within it, selecting workthat captures their interest. In a veryreal sense, even very small children areresponsible for the care of their ownchild-sized environment. When theyare hungry, they prepare their own

snacks and drinks. They go to thebathroom without assistance. Whensomething spills, they help each othercarefully clean up.

Four generations of parents havebeen amazed to see small children inMontessori classrooms cut raw fruitsand vegetables, sweep and dust, carrypitchers of water, and pour liquids withbarely a drop spilled. The children nor-mally go about their work so calmlyand purposely that it is clear to eventhe casual observer that they are themasters in this place: The “Children’sHouse.”

What Do Montessori Schools Meanby the Term “Normalization?”

“Normalization” is a Montessori termthat describes the process that takesplace in Montessori classrooms aroundthe world, in which young children,who typically have a short attentionspan, learn to focus their intelligence,concentrate their energies for longperiods of time, and take tremendoussatisfaction from their work.

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In his book, Maria Montessori: Her Lifeand Work, E.M. Standing described thefollowing characteristics of normalizationin the child between the age of three andsix:

■ A love of order;■ A love of work;■ Profound spontaneous

concentration;■ Attachment to reality;■ Love of silence and of working

alone;■ Sublimation of the possessive

instinct;■ Obedience;■ Independence and initiative;■ Spontaneous self-discipline;■ Joy; and■ The power to act from real choice

and not just from idle curiosity.

Is Montessori for All Children?

The Montessori system has been usedsuccessfully with children from all socio-economic levels, representing those inregular classes as well as the gifted, chil-dren with developmental delays, and children with emotional and physical disabilities.

There is no one school that is right for all children, and certainly there are children who may do better in a smallerclassroom setting with a more teacher-directed program that offers fewer choic-es and more consistent external structure.

Children who are easily overstimulated,or those who tend to be overly aggres-sive, may be examples of children whomight not adapt as easily to a Montessoriprogram. Each situation is different, and itis best to work with the schools in yourarea to see if it appears that a particularchild and school would be a good match.

Is Montessori Opposed to Homework?

Most Montessori schools do not assignhomework to children below the elemen-

tary level. When it is assigned toolder children, it rarely involvespage after page of “busy” work;instead, the children are givenmeaningful, interesting assign-ments that expand on the topicsthat they are pursuing in class.Many assignments invite parentsand children to work together.When possible, teachers will normally build in opportunities forchildren to choose among sever-al alternative assignments. Some-times, teachers will prepare individually negotiated weeklyassignments with each student.

Is Montessori Unstructured?

At first, Montessori may look un-structured to some people, but it isactually quite structured at everylevel. Just because the Montessoriprogram is highly individualizeddoes not mean that students can dowhatever they want.

Like all children, Montessori stu-dents live within a cultural contextthat involves the mastery of skillsand knowledge that are consideredessential.

Montessori teaches all of the“basics,” along with giving studentsthe opportunity to investigate andlearn subjects that are of particularinterest. It also allows them the abil-ity to set their own schedule to alarge degree during class time.

At the early childhood level,external structure is limited toclear-cut ground rules and correctprocedures that provide guidelinesand structure for three- and four-year-olds. By age five, most schoolsintroduce some sort of formal sys-tem to help students keep track ofwhat they have accomplished andwhat they still need to complete.

Elementary Montessori childrennormally work with a written studyplan for the day or week. It lists the

tasks that they need to complete,while allowing them to decide howlong to spend on each and whatorder they would like to follow.Beyond these basic, individually tai-lored assignments, children exploretopics that capture their interest andimagination and share them withtheir classmates.

Are There Any Tests in Montessori Programs?

Montessori teachers carefully observetheir students at work. They givetheir students informal, individualoral exams or have the childrendemonstrate what they have learnedby either teaching a lesson to anotherchild or by giving a formal presenta-tion. The children also take and prepare their own written tests to ad-minister to their friends. Montessorichildren usually don’t think of assess-ment techniques as tests so much aschallenges. Students are normallyworking toward mastery rather than astandard letter grade scheme.

Standardized Tests: Very few Montes-sori schools test children under thefirst or second grades; however, mostMontessori schools regularly give ele-mentary students quizzes on the con-cepts and skills that they have beenstudying. Many schools have theirolder students take annual standard-ized tests.

While Montessori students tend toscore very well, Montessori educatorsare deeply concerned that manystandardized tests are inaccurate,misleading, and stressful for children.Good teachers, who work with thesame children for three years andcarefully observe their work, know farmore about their progress than anypaper-and-pencil test can reveal.

The ultimate problem with stan-dardized tests is that they have oftenbeen misunderstood, misinterpreted,

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and poorly used to pressure teachersand students to perform at higherstandards. Although standardized testsmay not offer a terribly accurate meas-ure of a child’s basic skills and knowl-edge, in most countries test-takingskills are just another Practical Life lesson that children need to master.

How Do Montessori Schools Report Student Progress?

Because Montessori believes in indi-vidually paced academic progress,most schools do not assign lettergrades or rank students within eachclass according to their achievement.Student progress, however, is meas-ured in different ways, which mayinclude:

Student Self-Evaluations: At the ele-mentary level, students will often pre-pare a monthly self-evaluation of thepast three month’s work: what theyaccomplished, what they enjoyed the most, what they found most difficult, and what they would like tolearn in the three months ahead.When completed, they will meet withthe teachers, who will review it and add their comments and observa-tions.

Portfolios of Student Work: In manyMontessori schools, two or threetimes a year, teachers (and at the ele-mentary level, students) and parentsgo through the students’ completedwork and make selections for theirportfolios.

Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences:Once the students’ three-month self-evaluations are complete, parents, stu-dents, and teachers will hold a familyconference two or three times a yearto review their children’s portfoliosand self-evaluations and go throughthe teachers’ assessment of their chil-dren’s progress.

Narrative Progress Reports: In manyMontessori schools, once or twice ayear, teachers prepare a written narra-tive report discussing each student’swork, social development, and masteryof fundamental skills.

Will My Child Be Able to Adjust toTraditional Public or Private SchoolsAfter Montessori?

By the end of age five, Montessori chil-dren are normally curious, self-confi-dent learners who look forward to goingto school. They are normally engaged,enthusiastic learners who honestly wantto learn and who ask excellent ques-tions.

Montessori children by age six havespent three or four years in a schoolwhere they were treated with honestyand respect. While there were clearexpectations and ground rules, withinthat framework, their opinions andquestions were taken quite seriously.Unfortunately, there are still someteachers and schools where childrenwho ask questions are seen as challeng-ing authority.

It is not hard to imagine an independ-ent Montessori child asking his newteacher, “But why do I have to ask eachtime I need to use the bathroom?” or,“Why do I have to stop my work rightnow?” We also have to remember thatchildren are different. One child may bevery sensitive or have special needs thatmight not be met well in a teacher-cen-tered traditional classroom. Other chil-dren can succeed in any type of school.

There is nothing inherent in Montes-sori that causes children to have a hardtime if they are transferred to tradition-al schools. Some will be bored. Othersmay not understand why everyone inthe class has to do the same thing at thesame time. But most adapt to their newsetting fairly quickly, making newfriends, and succeeding within the defi-nition of success understood in theirnew school.

There will naturally be trade-offs ifa Montessori child transfers to a tra-ditional school. The curriculum inMontessori schools is often moreenriched than that taught in otherschools in the United States. The val-ues and attitudes of the children andteachers may also be quite different.Learning will often be focused moreon adult-assigned tasks done moreby rote than with enthusiasm andunderstanding.

There is an old saying that if some-thing is working, don’t fix it. Thisleads many families to continue theirchildren in Montessori at leastthrough the sixth grade. As moreMontessori High Schools are openedin the United States and abroad, it islikely that this trend will continue.

Is Montessori Opposed toCompetition?

Montessori is not opposed to com-petition; Dr. Montessori simplyobserved that competition is an inef-fective tool to motivate children tolearn and to work hard in school.

Traditionally, schools challenge stu-dents to compete with one anotherfor grades, class rankings, and specialawards. For example, in manyschools tests are graded on a curveand are measured against the per-formance of their classmates ratherthan considered for their individualprogress.

In Montessori schools, studentslearn to collaborate with each otherrather than mindlessly compete. Students discover their own innateabilities and develop a strong senseof independence, self-confidence,and self-discipline. In an atmospherein which children learn at their ownpace and compete only against them-selves, they learn not to be afraid ofmaking mistakes. They quickly findthat few things in life come easily,and they can try again without fear of

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embarrassment. Dr. Montessori arguedthat for an education to touch chil-dren’s hearts and minds profoundly,students must be learning becausethey are curious and interested, notsimply to earn the highest grade in theclass.

Montessori children compete witheach other every day, both in class andon the playground. Dr. Montessori,herself an extraordinary student and avery high achiever, was never opposedto competition on principle. Her ob-jection was to using competition tocreate an artificial motivation to getstudents to achieve.

Montessori schools allow competi-tion to evolve naturally among chil-dren, without adult interference unlessthe children begin to show poorsportsmanship. The key is the child’svoluntary decision to compete ratherthan having it imposed on him by theschool.

Is It True that Montessori Children Never Play?

All children play! They explore newthings playfully. They watch some-thing of interest with a fresh openmind. They enjoy the company oftreasured adults and other children.They make up stories. They dream.They imagine. This impression stemsfrom parents who don’t know what tomake of the incredible concentration,order, and self-discipline that we com-monly see among Montessori chil-dren.

Montessori students also tend totake the things they do in school quiteseriously. It is common for them torespond, “This is my work,” whenadults ask what they are doing. Theywork hard and expect their parents totreat them and their work withrespect. But it is joyful, playful, andanything but drudgery.

Is Montessori Opposed to Fantasy and Creativity?

Fantasy and creativity are importantaspects of a Montessori child’s experi-ence. Montessori classrooms incorpo-rate art, music, dance, and creativedrama throughout the curriculum.Imagination plays a central role, aschildren explore how the naturalworld works, visualize other culturesand ancient civilizations, and searchfor creative solutions to real-life prob-lems. In Montessori schools, the Artsare normally integrated into the restof the curriculum.

What’s the Big Deal about FreedomAnd Independence in Montessori?

Children touch and manipulate every-thing in their environment. In asense, the human mind is handmade,because through movement andtouch, the child explores, manipu-lates, and builds a storehouse ofimpressions about the physical worldaround her. Children learn best bydoing, and this requires movementand spontaneous investigation.

Montessori children are free tomove about, working alone or withothers at will. They may select anyactivity and work with it as long asthey wish, so long as they do not dis-turb anyone or damage anything, andas long as they put it back where itbelongs when they are finished.

Many exercises, especially at theearly childhood level, are designed todraw children’s attention to the sen-sory properties of objects within theirenvironment: size, shape, color, tex-ture, weight, smell, sound, etc.Gradually, they learn to pay attention,seeing more clearly small details inthe things around them. They havebegun to observe and appreciatetheir environment. This is a key inhelping children discover how tolearn.

PARENTS’ QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

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Freedom is a second criticalissue as children begin to explore.Our goal is less to teach them facts and concepts, but rather tohelp them to fall in love with theprocess of focusing their completeattention on something and mastering its challenge with enthu-siasm. Work assigned by adultsrarely results in such enthusiasmand interest as does work that children freely choose for them-selves.

The prepared environment ofthe Montessori class is a learninglaboratory in which children areallowed to explore, discover, andselect their own work. The inde-pendence that the children gain isnot only empowering on a socialand emotional basis, but it is alsointrinsically involved with helpingthem become comfortable andconfident in their ability to masterthe environment, ask questions,puzzle out the answer, and learnwithout needing to be “spoon-fed”by an adult.

What if a Child Doesn’t Feel Like Working?

While Montessori students are al-lowed considerable latitude to pur-sue topics that interest them, thisfreedom is not absolute. Withinevery society there are culturalnorms; expectations for what a stu-dent should know and be able todo by a certain age.

Experienced Montessori teach-ers are conscious of these stan-dards and provide as much structure and support as is neces-sary to ensure that students live upto them. If for some reason itappears that a child needs time andsupport until he or she is develop-mentally ready, Montessori teach-ers provide it non-judgmentally.

What about Children with Special Needs?

Every child has areas of special gifts, aunique learning style, and some areasthat can be considered special chal-lenges. Each child is unique. Mon-tessori is designed to allow for differ-ences. It allows students to learn attheir own pace and is quite flexible inadapting for different learning styles.

In many cases, children with mildphysical handicaps or learning dis-abilities may do very well in aMontessori classroom setting. On theother hand, some children do muchbetter in a smaller, more structuredclassroom.

Each situation has to be evaluatedindividually to ensure that the pro-gram can successfully meet a givenchild’s needs and learning style.

Wasn’t Montessori’s Method First Developed for Children withSevere Developmental Delays?

The Montessori approach evolvedover many years as the result of Dr.Montessori’s work with differentpopulations and age groups. One ofthe earliest groups with which sheworked was a population of childrenwho had been placed in a residential-care setting because of severe devel-opmental delays.

The Method is used today with awide range of children, but it is mostcommonly found in settings de-signed for normal populations.

Is Montessori Effective With the Very Highly Gifted Child?

Yes, in general, children who arehighly gifted will find Montessori tobe both intellectually challenging andflexible enough to respond to themas a unique individuals.

Is Montessori Elitist?

No. Montessori is an educational philos-ophy and approach that can be found in all sorts of settings, from the mosthumble to large, well-equipped campus-es. In general, Montessori schools consciously strive to create and maintaina diverse student body, welcoming families of every ethnic background andreligion, and using scholarships andfinancial aid to keep their school acces-sible to deserving families. Montessori is also found in the public sector as magnet public school programs, HeadStart centers, and as charter schools.

Does Montessori Teach Religion?

Except for those schools that are associ-ated with a particular religious commu-nity, Montessori does not teach religion.Many Montessori schools celebrate holidays, such as Christmas, Hannukah,and Chinese New Year, which are reli-gious in origin, but which can be experi-enced on a cultural level as special days of family feasting, merriment, andwonder.

The young child rarely catches morethan a glimmer of the religious meaningbehind the celebration. Our goal is tofocus on how children would normallyexperience each festival within their cul-ture: the special foods, songs, dances,games, stories, presents — a potpourriof experiences aimed at all the senses ofa young child.

On the other hand, one of our funda-mental aims is the inspiration of thechild’s heart. While Montessori does notteach religion, we do present the greatmoral and spiritual themes, such as love,kindness, joy, and confidence in the fun-damental goodness of life in simple waysthat encourage the child to begin thejourney toward being fully alive and fullyhuman. Everything is intended to nur-ture within the child a sense of joy andappreciation of life.

APPENDIXES

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FINDING THE RIGHT SCHOOL

237

lthough most schools try toremain faithful to their under-standing of Dr. Montessori’s

insights and research, they have allbeen influenced by the evolution ofour culture and technology. Remem-ber, despite the impression many par-ents hold, the name Montessori refersto a method and philosophy, and it isneither a name protected by copy-right nor a central licensing or fran-chising program.

In many parts of the world, anyonecould, in theory, open a school andcall it Montessori with no knowledgeof how an authentic program is organ-ized or run. When this happens, it isboth disturbing and embarrassing forthose of us who know the difference.Many of these schools fail but oftennot before they harm the public’s per-ception of the integrity and effective-ness of Montessori as a whole.

Often, one sign of a school’s com-mitment to professional excellence is their membership in one of the professional Montessori societies,such as the Association MontessoriInternationale or the American Mon-tessori Society. They, along with sev-eral other Montessori organizations,such as the International MontessoriCouncil, also offer schools the op-portunity to become accredited aswell.

There are many other smaller Mon-tessori organizations as well, but thekey is to remember that there is norequirement that a Montessori schoolbe affiliated or accredited by any out-side organization. Quite a fewMontessori schools choose to remainindependent.

What should we look for whenwe visit Montessori schools?

The Montessori Learning Environment

▲ Montessori classrooms should bebright, warm, and inviting, filledwith plants, animals, art, music,and books. Interest centers will befilled with intriguing learningmaterials, mathematical models,maps, charts, international andhistorical artifacts, a class library,an art area, a small natural-sciencemuseum, and animals that thechildren are raising. In an elemen-tary class, you will also normallyfind computers and scientificapparatus.

▲ You should not find rows of desksin a Montessori classroom. Therewill not be a teacher’s desk andchalk board in the front of theroom. The environment will be set up to facilitate student discus-sion and stimulate collaborativelearning.

▲ Montessori classrooms will beorganized into several curriculumareas, usually including: languagearts (reading, literature, grammar,creative writing, spelling, andhandwriting); mathematics andgeometry; everyday living skills;sensory-awareness exercises andpuzzles; geography, history, sci-ence, art, music, and movement.Most rooms will include a class-room library. Each area will bemade up of one or more shelfunits, cabinets, and display tableswith a wide variety of materials onopen display, ready for use as thechildren select them.

▲ Students will typically be foundscattered around the classroom,working alone or with one or twoothers.

▲ Teachers will normally be foundworking with one or two childrenat a time, advising, presenting anew lesson, or quietly observingthe class at work.

Finding the Right School

“Why is there so much varia-tion from one Montessori

school to another? How can Iknow if I’ve found a ‘real’

Montessori school?”

AA

Pan American Montessori Society105 Plantation CircleKathleen, GA 31047Phone: 912-987-8866Email: montessori@worldnet.att.net

Canada

Canadian Association of Montessori TeachersP.O. Box 27567, Yorkdale Postal Outlet R. P. O. Toronto, Ontario M6A 3B8Canada Website: http://www.camt.orgEmail: amt@interlog.com

The Canadian Council of, Montessori Administrators (CCMA)Box 54534Toronto, Ontario M5M 4N5 CanadaPhone: 416-789-1334/800-954-6300 Fax: 416-789-7963Website: http://www.ccma.ca/ccmaEmail: tgorrie@ccma.ca

Montessori Teachers Association of North America723 Hyland Street, WhitbyOntario L1N 6S1CanadaPhone: 905-623-6722Email: netti723@idirect.com

Montessori Organizations Outside ofNorth America

Australia

Montessori Association of AustraliaWebsite: http://www.montessori.edu.au

APPENDIXES

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Montessori Organizations In North America

The United States

Association Montessori Internationale –USA (AMI-USA)410 Alexander St.Rochester, NY, 14607 Phone: 585-461-5920 Fax: 585-461-0075 Website: http://www.montessori-ami.orgEmail: info@montessori-ami.org

American Montessori Society (AMS)281 Park Ave.. S. 6th FloorNew York, NY 10010-6102 Phone: 212-358-1250Fax: 212-358-1256Website: http://www.amshq.org

International Montessori Council (IMC)& International Montessri CouncilSchool Accreditation Committee1001 Bern Creek LoopSarasota, FL 34240Phone: 941-379-6626/800-655-5843Fax: 941-379-6671Website: http:www.Montessori.orgEmail: timseldin@montessori.org

International Association of Progressive Montessorians (IAPM)500 Vista del RoblesArroyo Grande, CA 93420Phone: 805-473-2641

International Montessori Society (IMS)& Accreditation Council (IMAC)912 Thayer Ave.. #207Silver Spring, MD 20910Phone: 301-589-1127Web: http://trust.wdncom/ims/index.htmEmail: havis@erols.com

Montessori Accreditation Council forTeacher Education (MACTE)c/o Gretchen Warner, Ph. D.University of Wisconsin-Parkside Tallent Hall, Room 236900 Wood Road, Box 2000Kenosha, WI 53141-2000, Phone: 888-446-2283/262-595-3335Fax: 262-595-3332Website: http://www.macte.orgEmail: warner@MACTE.org

Montessori Institute of America (MIA)3410 S. 272nd, Kent, WA 98032Phone: 1-888-564-9556Web:http//www.montessoriconnections.com/MIA

Montessori Education Programs International (MEPI) PO Box 2199, Gray, GA 31032 Phone: 478-986-2768Website: http://www.mepiforum.orgEmail: mepi@alltel.net

Montessori SchoolAccreditation Commission (MSAC) 4043 Pepperwood Court, Suite 1010Sonoma, CA 95476Phone: 707-935-8499Fax: 707-996-7901Website: http://www.montessori-msac.orgEmail: montessorimsac@aol.com

Montessori World Educational Institute (MWEI)1700 Bernick Dr., Cambria, CA 93428Phone: 805-927-3240Fax: 805-927-2242Email: mwei@tcsn.net

North American Montessori Teachers Association (NAMTA)13693 Butternut RoadBurton, OH 44021Phone: 440-834-4011Fax: 440-834-4016 Website: http://www.montessori-namta.orgEmail: staff@montessori-namta.org

National Center for Montessori Education (NCME)4043 Pepperwood Ct., Suite 1012 Sonoma, CA 95476 Phone: 707-938-3818Fax: 707-996-7901. Website: http://www. montessori-ncme.orgEmail: montessorincme@aol.com

Resources

Note: We have listed several Montessori organizations outside North America..This is by no means a complete list. There are many Montessori

societies throughout the world — too numerous to mention in our limitedspace. For an up-to-date list please check The Montessori Foundation’s website:

www.montessori.org

RESOURCES

267

Manufactures and Suppliers of MontessoriClassroom Materials

Authors’ Note: There are scores of companiesaround the world that manufacture and sellMontessori materials, classroom furniture, artsupplies, musical instruments, and many otherproducts and services to Montessori schools, aswell as homeschoolers. This is a list of some ofthe leading suppliers in the United States andCanada. Our apologies to any companies thathave been inadvertently omitted. Contact infor-mation obviously changes over time. You canfind a current directory of Montessori suppliersin the United States and Canada at http://www.montessori.org

Bruins Montessori International USA655 W. Illinois Ave., Ste. 606Dallas, TX 75224 Phone: 214-941-4601/800-900-9012website: http://bruinsmontessori.comEmail: info@bruinsmontessori.com

Cabdev Montessori Materials3 Whitehorse Rd., Unit 6Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 3G8Phone: 416-631-8339Website: http://cabdevmontessori.comEmail: info@cabdevmontessori.com

Hello Wood ProductsPO Box 307, Rickman, TN 38580Phone: 931-498-2432/800-598-2432Website: http://hellowood.comEmail: hellowood@twlakes.net

Juliana Group 7 Drayton St. #208, Savannah, GA 31401Phone: 912-236-3779/800-959-6159Fax: 912-236-8885Website: http://www.julianagroupcomEmail: juliana@julianagroup.com

Kaybee Montessori 7895 Cessna Av. #KGaithersburg, MD 20879-4162Phone: 301-963-2101/800-732-9304Website: http://www.montessori-namta.org/generalinfo/sources.html

LORD Company103 Methodist St., Cecelia, KY 42724Phone: 207-862-4537Website: http://www.lordequip.comEmail: information@lordequip.com

New Zealand

Montessori Association of New Zealand (MANZ)PO Box 2305, StokesNelson, New ZealandPhone: 03 544 3273 Website: http://www.montessori.org.nzEmail: eo@montessori.org.nz

United Kingdom

AMI-UKc/o Maria Montessori Institute26 Lyndhurst GardensLondon NW3 5NW, EnglandPhone: 020 7435 3646Fax: 020 7431 8096Website: http://www.mariamontessori.orgEmail: montessori@amiuk.fsnet.co.uk

Montessori Centre International (MCI)18 Balderton StreetLondon W1K 6TG, EnglandPhone: 44-20-7493 0165Fax: 44-20-7629 7808Website: http://www.montessori.ac.ukEmail: information@montessori.ac.uk

Montessori Education UKPhone: 020 89464433Fax: 020 89446920London W1K 6TG, EnglandWeb: http://www.montessorieducationuk.orgEmail: meuk@montessorieducationuk.org

Montessori St. Nicholas Charity24 Prince’s GateLondon SW7 1PT, EnglandPhone: 44 (0) 20 7584 9987Fax: 44 (0) 20 7589 3764Website: http://www.montessori.ukEmail: centre@montessori.org.uk

Resource Centers (U.S.)

American Montessori Consulting(resources for teachers and home schoolers)P.O. Box 5062Rossmoor, CA 90720Phone: 562-598-2321Website: http://www.members.aol.com/moteacoEmail: amonco@saol.comAMCNEWS@aol.com

Centro de Informacion Montessori de las Americas (CIMLA ) Comité Hispano Montessori2127 35th Ave.Omaha, NE 68105-3131 Phone: 402-345-8810 Website: http://www.leonfelipe.com/cimla/

Christian Montessori Educators (CME)5837 RiggsMission, KS 66202, Phone: 913 362-5262

Christian Montessori Fellowship22630 East RangeSan Antonio, TX 78255Phone: 210-698-1911

Montessori Development Partnerships11424 Bellflower Rd. NECleveland, OH 44106Phone: 216-421-1905

Montessori Public School Consortium(affiliated with NAMTA) 11424 Bellflower Rd. NECleveland, OH 44106Phone: 216-421-1905 Website: http://www.montessori-namta.org

The Montessori Foundation1001 Bern Creek LoopSarasota, FL 34240Phone: 941-379-6626/800-655-5843Fax: 941-379-6671Website: http:www.Montessori.orgEmail: timseldin@montessori.org

Montessori Resource Center320 Pioneer WayMountain View, CA, 94041Phone: 415-335-1563Website: http://www.nienhuis.com/MRC1.htmlEmail: value@nienhuis-usa.com

Public School Montessorian Newspaper 2933 N. 2nd St.Minneapolis, MN 55411Phone: 612-529-5001 Fax: 612-521-2286Website: http://www.jolapub.com/psmcurrent.htmEmail: montessori@jolapub.com

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268

Materials Company of BostonPO Box 596 Goffstown, NH 03045Phone/Fax: 603-641-1339Web: http://www.TheMaterialsCompany.comEmail: MaterialCo@aol.com

Nienhuis Montessori USA320 Pioneer WayMountain View, CA 94041Phone: 650-964-2735/800-942-8697Website: http://www.nienhuis-usa.comEmail: value@nienhuis-usa.com

Suppliers of SupplementaryMontessori Teaching Materials

Authors’ Note: These are some of the primary sup-pliers of supplemental teaching materials to Montes-sori schools. These include early phonetic readers,supplementary teaching materials for many areas ofthe curriculum, art and music materials, and all thethings needed for Practical Life and cultural studies.Again, we offer our apologies to any companies thathave been inadvertently omitted.

Albanesi Educational Center1914 Walnut Plaza., Carrolton, TX 75006 Phone: 972-478-7798Fax: 972-478-9998Web: http://www.montessoriresources.comEmail: montessoriresources.com

Bivins Publishers/Montessori AssociatesPO Box 2319, Gray, GA 31032-2319Phone: 912-986-3992

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd AssociationP.O. Box 1084 , Oak Park, IL 60304Phone: 708-524-1210Fax: 708-386-8032Email: cgsusa@jps.net.

College of Modern Montessori(Distance Learning)PO Box 119, Linbro Park, 2065 South AfricaPhone: 27 (0) 11 608-1584Fax: 27 (0) 11 608-1586Web: http.//wwwmontessoriint.comEmail: modmont@global.co.za

Concepts To Go/KIR AssociatesPO Box 10043, Berkeley, CA 94709Phone: 510-848-3233/800-660-8646

Conceptual Learning Materials2437 Bay Area Blvd. #57 Houston, TX 77058Phone: 281-488-3252Fax: 281-480-1054Web: http://www.conceptuallearning.comEmail: dianneknesek@sbcglobal.net

Franklin Montessori Materials506 Franklin St., Fredricksburg, TX 78624Phone: 830-990-9550Email: info@506franklin.com

Great Extensions3745 S. Hudson, Tulsa, OK 74135-5604Phone: 918-622-2890Fax: 918-622-3203Email: greatext@undercroft.org

Houston Montessori Center Materials1331 Sherwood Forest Dr.Houston, TX 77043Phone: 713-464-5791Website: http.//www.houstonmontessoricenter.org

In-Print For Children 12 E. Glenside Ave.,Glenside, PA 19038Phone: 800-481-1981Email: inprintcj@earthlink.net

Insta-Learn(Spelling, Math, & Language Arts)Phone: 800-225-7837

Lakeshore Learning Materials 2695 E. Dominguez St.Carson, CA 90810Phone: 310-537-8600/800-421-5354Website: http://www.lakeshorelearning.com

Learning Tree Toys7646 North Western, Oklahoma City, OK 73116Phone: 405-848-1415Fax: 405-848-0240Website: http://www.learningtreetoys.com

Little Partners (Furniture)Phone: 800-704-9058Website: http://www.littlepartners.comEmail: mwdinfo@cox.net

Making Montessori EasyPO Box 201, Clawson, MI 48017Phone: 248-542-4159Website: http://makingmontessorieasy.comEmail: makemontessoriez@aol.com

Mandala Classroom Resources1001 Green Bay Rd. #190Winnetka, IL 60093-1721Phone: 847-446-2812

Memphis Montessori Inst. & Essentials3323 Windemere Ln., Memphis, TN 38125Phone: 901-748-2966

Michael Olaf65 Ericson Ct. #1, Arcata, CA 95521Phone: 800-429-8877Fax: 707-826-2243Website: www.michaelolaf.netEmail: michaelola@aol.com

Montessori Educational ComputerSystems (Educational software)13008 Rover Av. NEAlbuquerque, NM 87112Phone: 505-294-7097/800-995-5133Website:http://mecssoftware.com

Montessori HandmadePO Box 1182Manchester Center, VT 05255Phone: 800-426-3022/800-426-3022Fax: 802-362-5833

Montessori Made ManageablePO Box 172205Hialeah, FL 33017Phone: 954-389-6167Website: http.//mmm-inc.com

Montessori Matters /E-Z Learning Materials701 E. Columbia Ave.Cincinnati, OH 45215Phone: 513-821-7448

Montessori Printing2 Springhouse Square, Scarborough,Ontario, M1W 2X1, Canada Phone: 416-499-4568

Montessori Research & Development16492 Foothill Blvd.San Leandro, CA 94578-2105Phone:510-278-1115Website: http://www.montessoriRD.com

Montessori Services11 West Bourham Ave.Santa Rosa, CA 95407Phone: 707-579-3003Website: http.//montessoriservices.comEmail: infor@montessoriservices.com

269

My World DiscoveriesPO Box 12255, El Cajon, CA 92022Phone: 619-588-7015/800-631-0761Fax: 619-466-0093Website: http.//myworldiscoveries.comEmail: mwdinfo@cox.net

North American Montessori Center(Distance Learning and Manuals)13469 27th Ave. Surrey, BC V4P 1Z1, CanadaPhone: (Toll Free) 877-531-6665Fax: 619-466-0093Website: http.//www. montessoritraining.net

Paper Cuts Montessori Materials8371 Garden Gate PlaceBoca Raton, FL 33433Phone: 561-883-2959

Parent-Child Press PO Box 675, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648Phone: 814-696-7510Website: http.//www.parentchildpress.comEmail: infor@parentchildpress.com

Peg Hoenack’s Musicworks2815 W. Burbank Bvd., Burbank, CA 91505Phone: 818-842-6300Fax: 818-846-3757

Priority Montessori Materials3920 P Rd., Paonia, CO 81428Phone: 888-267-9289Fax: 9970-527-7590Website: http.//www.prioritymontessori.com

Shiller MathPhone: 888-556-6284Fax: 619-466-0093Website: http.//shillermath.com

Spring Valley Montessori Teacher Education Materials36605 Pacific Hwy. S.Federal Way, WA 98003Phone: 253-927-2557

United Montessori Association Independent(Distance Learning)15050 Washington Ave..Bainbridge Island, WA 98110-1112Phone: 866-UMA-1988 /Fax: (425) 952-9415 Website: http://www.unitedmontessori.comEmail: contact@unitedmontessori.com

A Handful of the BestMontessori Websites:

The Montessori Foundation; The International Montessori Council; and Montessori Online http://www.montessori.org

This website offers an extensive library ofresources on Montessori education aimed ateveryone from parents, educators, and the educa-tional leaders of large and small Montessorischools. It includes: a directory of Montessorischools around the world; information on teachereducation programs; The MontessoriFoundation’s Publication Center’s information onsubscribing to Tomorrow’s Child; TheInternational Montessori Council and its schoolaccreditation program; courses offered throughThe Montessori Leadership Institute; and confer-ences sponsored by The Montessori Foundation.

Montessori Connections:http://www.montessoriconnections.com

This is a large and comprehensive commerciallysponsored website offering a wide array of infor-mation and resources, including: an online shop-ping mall; an international directory of Montessorischools; teacher education centers; andMontessori organizations.

American Montessori Consulting:http://home.earthlink.net/~amontessoric/index.html

This organization offers a wide range of resourcesfor homeschoolers. It also provides an on-linemagazine and hosts on-line discussion groups.

The International Montessori Index:http://www.montessori.edu

This is a site set up by Susan Stephenson, one ofthe founders of Michael Oalf Company and a well-known Montessori educator. Primarily oriented tothe AMI perspective, it provides some excellentarticles and resources.

Michael Olaf Montessori http://www.michaelolaf.net

This is a sister website to Susan Stephenson’sInternational Montessori Index. It includes thetext from both of Michael Olaf Montessori’s excel-lent publications: The Joyful Child and Child of

the World. The articles are of great interest to par-ents. The Michael Olaf Company offers a wonderfularray of educational toys, games, books and learn-ing materials.

The Mammolina Project: http://www.mammolina.org

This project gathers a wide range of articles andresources from the international Montessori com-munity.

Montessori for the Earth:http://www.montessorifortheearth.com

This website offers online resources for parents andhomeschoolers, college students, and teachers whowant to learn about Montessori education in orderto incorporate it into their home, classroom, or col-lege studies.

Montessori Great Lessons Page http://www.missbarbara.net/montesso.html

This site was developed by a public Montessori ele-mentary school teacher to help other elementaryMontessori teachers support their students in usingthe Internet to follow up on the Great Lessons.*

Montessori Teachers Collectivehttp://www.moteaco.com/

This site was developed by an elementaryMontessori teacher to provide a wide range of valu-able resources and programs that are useful forteachers and others interested in Montessori cur-riculum.

North American Montessori Teachers’ Association http://www.montessori-namta.org

This site is aimed primarily at AMI-certified teach-ers. It provides information about NAMTA confer-ences and describes their programs and publica-tions.

Shu-Chen Jenny Yen's On-Line Montessori http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfsjy/mts/_link.htm

This site provides Montessori teacher albums forteachers of three-to-six year-old children.

RESOURCES

270

APPENDIXES

Health, Wellness, & PhysicalEducation 106, 137, 154, 255

Health-Care Policies/Procedures255–256

hearing impairments 199Hershey Montessori School 151-155hiring policies 249History, Georgraphy & International

Culture 91-97, 131Holland 28, 208home, Montessori in the 191-197homework 142, 232, 242Houston Montessori Center 165Humanities 126, 153Hundred Board 85Hundred & Thousand Chain 85

Imaginary Island Puzzle 92in-service professional development

250India 28, 29Individualized Education Program

(IEP) 203Individuals with Disabilities

Education Act (IDEA) 199, 202-203

inductive/deductive Reasoning 120-123

Infant & Toddler Programs 175-190all-day programs 180infant classroom environment182infant-care programs 179

Institute for Advanced MontessoriStudies 149

Institutional Advancement Plan 259insurance 254Integrated Montessori Curriculum

(integrated thematic approach)35, 126, 158, 248

Interdisciplinary Abstraction 121International Center for Montessori

Studies International Kindergarten Union 27International Montessori Council

(IMC). 237, 246international studies 91-97, 133internships 169intrinsic motivation 31, 124, 244,

247Itard, Jean Marc Gaspard 20

Junior Great Books Program 79, 124-127

Kahn, David 120, 121, 150, 214Kay Futrell 53Kazantzaki, Nikos 49Keller, Helen 64, 115Kilpatrick, William Heard 27kindergarten 109-113Knobbed & Knobless Cylinders 69Korngold, Carole 177Korngold, K.T. 175

abacus 89, 90, 130, 191absorbant mind 45Absorbent Mind, The 18, 29, 45accident reporting 254Addition Strip Board 89Adler, Alfred 18, 115administration 216, 252admissions 257adolescence 149-173advertising 257aggression 185American Montessori Center American Montessori Society (AMS)

28, 30, 38, 112, 149, 165, 243animals 61, 254applied learning 248art 105, 137, 154, 188, 192, 196assignment, ex. of a middle school 167-168Assistants to Infancy Certification 177Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) 26,

27, 38-39, 152, 177, 221asthma 199Athena Montessori College 156Athens Montessori School 149, 162-164atomic structure 100Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)199Authentic American Montessori School 243-247autism 199Ayers, Bill 224

Bank Game 83, 84Barcelona, Spain 28Baric Tablets 71Barrie School 148, 168bathroom 186, 196beds 182, 194Bell, Alexander Graham 23, 27, 115bells, Montessori 72Big Bang 91Binomial Cube 74Blessington, John P. 216Board of Trustees 257, 259Boehnlein, Mary Brandt, Ron Brisbane Montessori School 156Broad Stair 68Brown Stair 67, 68budget 259

Carnegie Hall 23Casa dei Bambini 21, 25, 231Centro Educazione Montessori 177cerebral palsy 207Certified Montessori Teachers 38Chart of the Plant Kingdom 101charter programs 211chemistry 102, 135Chiaravalle Montessori School 16Chiaravalle, Italy 19Child Find 202-209Children’s House 23, 55, 231choice, school Circle of Friends 207

citizenship 133City University of New YorkClaremont School 156Clark Montessori Secondary School

169-171classroom, size of 32Clock of Eras 98Coe, Dr. Elisabeth 165, 215Color Tablets 36, 70Colored Bead Bars 86Command Cards 78Community Service 139competition 243, 240, 247computers 128-129, 155, 217conferences 145, 233confidentiality 253, 258Constructive Triangles 74contact information 255Continent Globe 97control of error 36, 65corporal punishment 247Cosmic Curriculum 29Council for American Private Education

(CAPE) 203CPR 255creativity 234cribs Cuneiform Tablets 94curriculum 55, 119Cylinder Blocks 69

D’Nelian alphabet 75Dallas Montessori Teacher Education

Program 149Davis, John H. 217day-care centers 178decimal system 82, 121decoding printed words 75development, professional 216developmental delays 199Dewey, Dr. John 27diapers 181-182discipline 193, 247Discovery of the Child 26Donahoe, Marta 169Downs Syndrome 207Dressing Frames 59drugs 264

early-reading exercises 77earth children (see Erdkinder) 45Edison, Thomas 115Education and Peace 29Education for All Handicapped Children Act

202educational director 253Elementary Montessori 115-145Elkind, David 115-145Emergencies

communications 254exits 251, 253medical treatment 256, 257training 254

emotional disturbances 199employment agreements 249

encoding language 75enrollment 258Epstein, Dr. Ann 199Erdkinder 150, 158Erdkinder Consortium 148Erdkinder, The 28, 156, 165ERIC 221Erikson, Erik 18, 115Ethics, Code of 252evaluation 250Extension Days 166

facilities 250faculty 249fairy tales 124field trips 139, 258, 256finances 258financial aid 258financial records 259fine-motor control 183first-aid 265Fisher, Dorothy Canfield 21, 25Flat Bead Frame 90Ford, Henry 115foreign languages 93, 136, 155Fraction Materials 87

circles 87, 126, 130insets 130skittles 87, 126

Franciscan Earth School 149Franciscan Nuns, Convent of the 25Frank, Anne 115, 148Freud, Anna 18Freud, Sigmund 115Froebel, Friedrich 20From Childhood to Adolescence 116, 150,

153, 162, 224Fuller, Buckminster 115

Gandhi, Mahatma 115gardening 61, 101Gardner, Howard 110Gates Foundation, Bill and Melinda 169geography 91, 131Geometry

Geometry Cabinet 73Geometric Figures 90Geometric Stick Materials 90Geometric Solids 66, 73

Gnocchi, Adele Costa 177Golden Beads 82, 86-87, 90Golden Mat 129grading/grades 140-145Grammar Materials 78-79, 128Great Lessons, Montessori’s 120group lessons 238Guided Tour of the Montessori Classroom

55-107

Half Moon Bay 149head of school, qualifications 252Head Start 235

Index

A

B

C

D

F

E

G

I

J – K

H

271

INDEXES

Land & Water Forms 94, 132Language Arts 126, 188, 237language, receptive 184Large Bead Frame 130Lawyer, Susan French 218Learners with Exceptionalities 199Learning Together Parent Education Center

175legal counsel 253, 257library collection 247Life Cycle of a Star 99, 135line, walking the 33Literature and Research 79local education agency 203Long Bead Frame 90Long Division Racks and Tubes 37, 88, 130

MACTE Commission 38maps 97, 132marketing 257Martin, Dr. Judith Rowland 25Math 80-90, 154McClure’s Magazine 27McClure, C. W. 27Mckenzie, G. K. 169McNamara, Molly 122McNichols, Dr. John Chattin-medication management 255, 256, 257Mendelev’s Periodic Table of the Elements

100, 136mental retardation 199Metal Insets 15, 77Middle and Secondary Level 147-173Middle States Association of Colleges and

Schools 30, 243Milne, A.A. 52, 125mirrors 183mixed-age groups 32, 111, 117, 229, 238,

243, 246Montanaro, Dr. Silvana Quattrocchi 177Montessori Accreditation Council for

Teacher Education Commission(MACTE) 38, 165

Montessori Bells 72Montessori Children’s Center at Burke 175Montessori Educational Association 27Montessori Farm School 150-155Montessori Foundation, The 39, 160Montessori in the Gardens 16, 185Montessori, Maria 8-10Montessori materials (see also Guided Tour

of the Montessori Classroom) 34, 55-107,242

Montessori Method 22, 24, 51, 226, 227Montessori Method, The 52Montessori, History of the Movement 18-29Montessori School of Raleigh 141, 158, 161Montessori teachers, the role of 38, 245Montessori, Mario 29Mosby, Melody 161, 162-164 218Mother, A Montessori 21, 25Moveable Alphabet 14, 75, 76, 78, 127Multiplication

Multiplication Board 88

Multiplication Checkerboard 88, 129Multiplication Memorization Chart 89

music 105, 137, 188, 195Mussolini, Benito 28Myelinization 181Mystery Bag 70Mystery Box 65

narrative progress reports 145, 233National Commission on Excellence in

Education 221National Education Association 27Near North Montessori 149New Gate School 156-159Netherland, The (see also Holland) 28-29newborns 181Nienhuis Montessori USA, Inc. 121Nobel Peace Prize 18, 29nomenclature 37non-discrimination 246, 249, 258normalization 53, 241, 247Normalized Child, The 53North American Montessori Teachers’

Association (NAMTA) 150, 165Numeral Cards 83Numeral Cards and Counters 82

observation 51-52, 239, 245, 246, 258orthopedic impairments 199Orthophrenic School 20Panama-Pacific International Exposition

23, 27parent education 258parent-infant programs 178Parents Supporting Parents of Maryland

201Peace Education Curriculum 33Peace Table 63Pedagogical Committee 153peer counseling 169Perry, Celma and Desmond 177personnel policies 249Pestalozzi, Johann Heinrich 20Philosophy, the Montessori 30phonetic approach to reading 76phonograms 78Piaget, Jean 18Pin Maps 97, 132pincer grasp 183Pink Tower 19, 67Planes of Development 42-45playpens 182polishing 58portfolios 145, 158, 233post-partum depression 181Practical Life Curriculum 57-61, 138prepared environment 33, 50, 183, 186,

200, 213, 244, 248Programs

all-day toddler programs 180Elementary Montessori 115-145day-care center 178Infant & Toddler Programs 175-189,248

L

M

Infant-Care Programs 179Middle School 147-173parent-infant programs 178Secondary 35, 147-173

program evaluation 253progress reports 145Puzzle Maps 97, 132Puzzle Words 78puzzles 73

Racks and Tubes 37, 130Rambusch, Nancy McCormick 27, 30, 253Ratios 246, 250

adult-to-infant ratio 178-179Reading 75-79Real World, Does Montessori Prepare

Children 213-219Records 253, 257, 258Recruitment and Admissions 267, 268Red and Blue Rods 68, 80-82Research Card Materials 92Rome, University of 19Rough and Smooth Boards 70Rousseau, Jean Jacques 20Ruffing Montessori Schools 149Russell, Bertram 115

Samels, Marge 201San Lorenzo 21-24Sandpaper Letters 75-77Sandpaper Numerals 81Sandpaper Tablets 70Schoolhome, The 25School of the Woods 149, 156Science 98-103, 134-136, 153scientific pedagogy 51, 225Secret of Childhood, The 22, 49, 52Seguin, Edouard 20Seldin, Marc 217Secondary Montessori 35, 147, 159-173Secondary Montessori teachers 165self-evaluations 145, 233sensitive periods 20, 45-48, 51, 230Sensorial 65-71sewing 61Short Bead Frame 89Short Bead Stair 84, 86Short Multiplication & Division Boards 88, Silence Game 32, 62, 72Smelling Bottles 71Smith, Wendy 141smoking 254Snake Game 89Solar System, Model of the 99Sound Cylinders 72special needs 235speech impairments 199spelling 75Spindle Boxes 82spiritual development 51Spiritual Education 248Spontaneous Activity in Education 116Squaring and Cubing Material 86Sri Lanka 29

St. Giermaine, Joyce 215St. Joseph’s Montessori 149St. Lorenz Quarter 8, 46staff handbook 249staffing 178-179Stamp Game 13, 86, 128Standardized Tests 232Standing, E. M. 21, 53, 232Stoops, Dr. John 30, 243strategic planning 253substitute Teachers 250Supernature and the Single Nation 123surveys 258symbiotic period 181

table washing 59Tai Chi 138teachers 38-39, 238Teaching Clock 94technology 248Teens and Tens Boards 84television 196, 197Telluride Mountain School 172temperature 70tests 140, 144, 145Thermic Jars 71Thermic Tablets 71Thousand Chain 85Three-Part Cards 101Three-Period Lesson 36-37Time Lines 94, 95, 133To Educate the Human Potential 29, 52Toddlers 175-189toilet training 182Tone Bars 35Toronto Montessori School 149, 156Tracy, Susan 175traffic 252transferring exercises 57traumatic brain injury 199travel/study programs 168Trinomial Cube 36, 74tuition 258

Unified Mathematics 80, 127United States Department of Education 221University of Chicago 27Unschooled Mind, The 110upper-school house, design of 159valorization of the personality 26Varga, Virginia 177Vehicles 252, 254Verb Command Cards 78Vertebrate Cards 101visual impairments 199Washington Montessori Society 23Wheal, Jamie 172Whitby School 28, 216White House 23Wild Boy of Aveyron 20Wilson, Woodrow 115World Wars 24, 29,Zero Reject/Free 202

N

O – Q

R

S

T

U – Z

272

APPENDIXES

Notes:

aul Epstein, Ph.D. has been active in the field of Montessori

education since 1974 as an administrator, teacher, teacher educa-

tor, researcher and author. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Paul

earned his doctorate in cultural anthropology from SUNY Buffalo. He is

currently the Head of School at Chiaravalle Montessori School in Evanston,

Illinois

Paul is a Montessori teacher educator and was a director of Montessori

teacher education for early childhood and secondary level one programs.

As a classroom teacher, he taught in Montessori early childhood, middle

and high school programs. In addition, Paul was an associate professor at

Transylvania University and is currently an adjunct professor at Northwest-

ern University. He holds Montessori teacher certification in early childhood

and secondary levels one and two from the American Montessori Society.

Paul presents a research based observation program to titled, “Observing

Children Well, Practicing the Arts of Reflective Teaching.” This program

draws upon his background and doctorate in Cultural Anthropology. He

is also a frequent presenter at Montessori conferences and author of

articles appearing in Montessori journals.

Paul’s immediate family includes his wife Ann, author of this book’s chapter

addressing children with exceptionalities. Ann, currently a visiting assistant

professor at Roosevelt University, earned her doctorate in early childhood

special education. She is also a Montessori teacher educator. They have two

children.

im Seldin is the President of The Montessori Foundation and

Chair of The International Montessori Council. His more than

thirty years of experience in Montessori education includes twenty-

two years as Headmaster of the Barrie School in Silver Spring, Maryland,

his own alma mater (age two through high school graduation). He has

also served as the Director of the Institute for Advanced Montessori Studies

and as Head of the New Gate School in Sarasota, Florida. Tim Seldin is the

author of several books on Montessori education, including: Finding the

Perfect Match – Recruit and Retain Your Ideal Enrollment; Master Teachers/

Model Programs; Starting a New Montessori School; Building a World-Class

Montessori School (co-authored by Jonathan Wolff); Celebrations of Life

(co-authored by Musya Meyer); and The World in the Palm of Her Hand

(co-authored by Donna Seldin Danner).

Tim is the parent of three children (Marc, Michelle, and Caitlin), stepfather

to Chelsea and Robin, and the grandfather of Hollis. He lives on a small

ranch in Sarasota, Florida with his wife, Joyce St. Giermaine, their seven

horses, dogs (too many to count), and two Norwegian Forest cats.

The Authors

Tim Seldin

Paul Epstein, Ph.D

T

P

“The Montessori Way gives the reader an in-depth look at the Montessori education from infancy through high school, from principles to practice. It will be useful to current andprospective Montessori parents and teachers. It is written in a very accessible style, intentional-lly demystifies jargon, and openly acknowledges the contributions of individuals and schoolsrepresenting AMI, AMS, and other Montessori organizations, It seeks the common ground we allshare. Congratulations for writing a book of such scope and aspiration.”

— John Long, HeadmasterPost Oak School, Bellaire, Texas

“The Montessori Way provides an invitinghands-on overview of the Montessori movement and method. With a plethora of‘up-close-and-personal photos,’ classroomstories, and highlighted keypoints, thereader comes away with an enriching experience that brings Dr. Montessori’senlightened philosophy of learning to life”

—Jonathan Wolff, Director Learning for Life

Montessori Teacher Educator, Author, and Consultant

he Montessori Way provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to the philosopjy and

educational approach that is practiced in Montessori schools, large and small, around the

world.

The Montessori Way gives the reader an in-depth look at the Montessori approach, from infant-toddler

education through high school. It will be of special interest to parents considering Montessori for the first

time, as well as those whose children have attended Montessori schools, college educators, and anyone

who is looking for a good, solid, easy-to-understand explanation of Montessori education.

T

“This book is an outstanding portrait of the

breadth and depth of Montessori curricu-

lum and philosophy from infancy to the sec-

ondary school years. By enabling parents to

deepen their understanding of Montessori, it

will assist families in bringing the gift of

Montessori into their homes and in

strengthening their commitment to authen-

tic Montessori practice in their schools.”

— K.T. KorngoldMontessori Parent, Educator, and Author

“The Montessori Way does a brilliant job of translating Dr. Montessori’s deep insights into

21st century terms for parents, teachers and educators of all kinds. It is comprehensive in

its scope, written in very clear, accessible language, with beautiful illustrations and photos.

Anyone unfamiliar with Montessori should be able to come away from reading this book

with a clear picture of what the Montessori Way is about and how it works.”

— Marsha Familaro Enright, Head

Council Oak Montessori School,

Chicago, Illinois

“The Montessori Way is unique in its comprehensive wealth of information on a Montessori education, from the early years through high school. This is a must-read for educators, parents,and all those interested in positive educational outcomes for our children.”

—Eileen Roper Ast, Executive DirectorAmerican Montessori Society, New York, New York

The M

ontessori W

ayTim

Seldin &

Paul Epstein

, Ph.D

.