Educators face a seeming paradox. On the one hand, there are things we know to be good for the student to learn. From literacy to the chronology of history, from math facts to human anatomy, we have important knowledge to impart. On the other hand, learning is voluntary. It’s something the student has to choose to do. The student […]
In The Absorbent Mind, Maria Montessori describes an interaction between one of her students and a visitor to the school: A lady of high rank once paid the school a visit and, being old-fashioned in her views, she said to a little boy, “So this is the school where you do as you like?” “No, ma’am,” […]
“I’m bored!” and what we can do about it Sometimes we feel like we have to constantly be available to entertain our child/ren. We have children because we want to enjoy their company, share experiences, watch them grow, and support them when needed. And we can also create inspiring environments that our children can use […]
One of the things we teach our toddlers is how to independently put on a coat or jacket. Putting on a coat is a surprisingly difficult task. One has to sort of wriggle one’s shoulders into it without having a clear line of sight. This is why it’s nice when someone helps you with a […]
A couple of weeks ago, the venerable Emily Oster published a newsletter piece titled “Is Montessori School Better?” Unfortunately for Montessorians, her answer followed Betteridge’s law of headlines: any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered with no. More precisely, her answer was something more like: the question “is X educational or parenting philosophy better” is […]
Connecting the Dots Between Early Learning and Lifelong HealthFor families with young children, some of whom will be entering a classroom for the very first time this year, this can also mean a renewed focus on early learning and literacy. We have long known that when young children are exposed to rich learning environments, work with […]
What is the relationship between parenting and education? Humans drive their own growth. But major inputs to that growth are care, instruction, enculturation, curation, mentoring. My starting point: all of this is parenting The scope of the parent is total support for a developing human. Educating and schools are evolutions of parenting: Parents raise a […]
Harvard’s Centre on the Developing Child have made available handouts with suggestions for games and activities to do with children of different ages. These activities can promote child-caregiver bonding, executive function skills, and build children’s brains through play. 6 months 9 months 12 months 15 months 18 months 2-3 years 4-7 years 8-12 years adolescents […]
Montessori is a radically different approach to education, and thinking it through means that it’s natural, even necessary, to ask tough questions and grapple with critiques. Here are four common objections: Does Montessori ignore the need for adults to be authorities?This could be true of the teacher as a knowledge expert, or of the teacher as […]
In April we recommended an episode from the Increments podcast where Matt Bateman from Higher Ground gives a great overview of Montessori education If you haven’t had a chance to listen to it, the below are some highlights: Question: So, is the case that it [Montessori] is simultaneously sort of more structured and less structured than, […]
Internet Archive Books contains over 200 Montessori texts which can be access free ! Users can search by author, subject and language. Click here to search the catalogue Don’t forget you can also find Montessori books at your local library in both hardcopy and digital formats. Click here to search the Moonee Valley Library catalogue Click here […]
For those that havent seen the latest deep space photos from Nasa’s James Webb Telescope please see the embedded video below. “…we have formulated the concept of ‘nebulae’, likening the creative energies, which will guide the child to absorb from his environment, to the starry ‘nebulae’ from which the heavenly bodies take their origin.” – […]
Can you spot the obstacles to your child’s development? Dr Montessori talked about removing obstacles so that the child can reach their full potential. “The first Right of Man, the Fundamental Right, should recognise the right of the child to be helped to overcome those obstacles which may hinder, repress or deflect his constructive energies […]
We wait for a child to ask, pointing at the compartment for zero: “And what should I put there?” We then answer: “Nothing, a 0 is nothing.” But this is not enough. We must make a child feel that 0 is nothing. For this we use exercises that are highly amusing to the children. I […]
In this podcast episode from Montessori Education Jesse takes a deep dive into reading and writing in the Montessori classroom, as well as some tips for home including; Are academics even considered important in Montessori? How are reading and writing taught in a Montessori classroom? How does Montessori compare to traditional school in reading and […]
Montessori Australia (MA) is actively working towards filling the gap in financial literacy education. Montessori Australia’s Director of Education Services Mark Powell said there was currently no comprehensive and engaging financial education in Australian schools, and young adults often struggled with banking, mortgage and other practical life decisions. “Building confidence in finance and money management […]
The Montessori curriculum is unreasonably effective. The materials not only allow children to learn more earlier, and not only allow children to learn more effectively, but they also allow children to learn more deeply—to acquire knowledge in a way that allows for the formation of deep character traits. Take place value. Our everyday representation of […]
About the Episode In this podcast, Matt Bateman, one of the founders of Higher Ground Education, discusses the Montessori method of education and how it compares to other teaching methodologies. Get ready for tiny furniture, putting on your jacket upside down, and teaching your toddler to make eggs benedict. Topics discussed: Maria Montessori What is […]
What is false fatigue in Montessori? I love this graph from from Spontaneous Activity in Education by Maria Montessori. What you’ll see is a 3-hour work cycle in a classroom in a 3-6 classroom. In this graph the children arrive at 9am. For the first 30 minutes you have the children arriving, settling in, greeting and […]
a Montessori way to learn to say please, thank you and sorry without forcing your child In Montessori you may have come across the kind of old-fashioned term “grace and courtesy.” Grace and courtesy might otherwise be known as manners but most broadly is how we teach our children what is acceptable in our […]
