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Towards best Practice: The Educational Program Lunchtime

Towards best Practice: The Educational Program Lunchtime

by | Health / Nutrition, Later Adolescence (15-18), Lower Elementary (6-9), Montessori Parenting, Montessori Teachers, Parent Education, Practical Life, Primary (3-6), Upper Elementary (9-12)

Lunch should be made a major focus of the day, with children and teachers eating together in their classroom as a community with real tablecloths, napkins, plates, flower vases, pitchers, and silverware. Children should do almost all of the work of setting up, serving, and cleaning. Tablecloths and napkins should be purchased in enough quantity […]

Kitchen Science: Inquiry-Based Activities

Kitchen Science: Inquiry-Based Activities

by | Family Resources, MFA, Montessori Education, Montessori Family Life, Montessori Parenting, Montessori Teachers, Parent Education, Science

This handout was shared by Dr. Ann Epstein at the 2013 IMC conference. See also her Power Point of the same title. Download File Baking Soda and Vinegar Materials: mixing bowl, large metal or plastic spoon for mixing, 1 cup measuring cup, I Tablespoon measuring spoon, box of baking soda, white vinegar (optional: food coloring) […]

Peace and Punishment

Peace and Punishment

by | Communication, Discipline, Family Resources, MFA, Montessori Family Life, Montessori Grandparenting, Montessori Parenting, Montessori Teachers, Parent Education

An article on Discipline without Violence There are many instances in Dr. Montessori’s work where she explains why she “eventually…gave up either punishing or rewarding the children”.(1) She explains that this method is “always a form of repression”(2), and is based upon our – in her opinion tragically erroneous – belief that children “come into […]

Refining your Marketing Message: Points to Ponder

Refining your Marketing Message: Points to Ponder

by | Administrative Team, Educational Program Coordination, Effective Boards, Montessori Administrators, Parent Education, Re-enrollment, Recruitment & Admissions, School Identity, School Leadership, The International Montessori Council

Refining your Marketing Message: Points to Ponder was published in the June 2006 issue of Montessori Leadership By Jake Mortensen Marketing your school can seem like an immense undertaking, but it does not have to be. Even a little marketing can go a long way if you approach it correctly, with a good strategy being […]

Lost Skills Come Back: Montessori Method Aids Alzheimer’s

Lost Skills Come Back: Montessori Method Aids Alzheimer’s

by | Family Resources, Free Reads, MFA, Montessori Education, Montessori Family Life, Montessori Parenting, Parent Education

When Varnadore “Willie” Williamson first came to JABA’s Adult Day Healthcare Center he was still independent. Later, however, his Alzheimer’s had progressed to the point where he could no longer go to the bathroom by himself. He couldn’t unbuckle his belt. Ellen Phipps, director of the healthcare center, went next door to the Montessori School […]

From Degrading to De-Grading

From Degrading to De-Grading

by | MFA, Montessori Education, Montessori Family Life, Montessori Parenting, Montessori Teachers, Parent Education

This article was written by Alfie Kohn and included here with the author’s permission. Download File You can tell a lot about a teacher’s values and personality just by asking how he or she feels about giving grades. Some defend the practice, claiming that grades are necessary to ”motivate” students. Many of these teachers actually […]

Free Chosen Activity means Freely Chosen All the Time

Free Chosen Activity means Freely Chosen All the Time

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

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

The Work Cycle

The Work Cycle

by | MFA, Montessori Education, Montessori Family Life, Montessori Parenting, Montessori Teachers, Parent Education

FIRST PLANE OF DEVELOPMENT The work cycle is dependent on a three-hour uninterrupted period. It begins with preliminary work of a low order followed by a period of restlessness called false-fatigue. After this comes a period of more strenuous, challenging work which induces a period of rest (state of repose) when completed. There should be […]

You Can’t Hurry Love – Homework The Montessori Way

You Can’t Hurry Love – Homework The Montessori Way

by | Maria Montessori, MFA, Montessori Education, Montessori Parenting, Montessori Teachers, Parent Education

Far too many schools have transformed the process of learning and discovery, which comes naturally to children at birth, into a stressful and often unpleasant experience. We tend to think about schools from a business perspective. We talk incessantly about high standards, competition, and holding children accountable. Somewhere along the way we forgot that schools […]

Montessori Early Childhood Language: Life-Long Literacy

Montessori Early Childhood Language: Life-Long Literacy

by | Brain Development, Communication, Language, Language & Reading, MFA, Montessori Curriculum, Montessori Family Life, Montessori Parenting, Montessori Teachers, Parent Education, Reading

The development of language in early-childhood classrooms is an umbrella for the entire Montessori curriculum. Often teachers and parents consider activities on the shelves of the Language area as the heart of actual language learning. Certainly these activities provide powerful opportunities, but language learning occurs most profoundly in the moment-to-moment life of interactions within the […]

Katya Learns To Read

Katya Learns To Read

by | Children with Exceptionalities, Language & Reading, Montessori Family Life, Montessori Parenting, Montessori Teachers, Parent Education, Reading, Writing

Katya was the youngest of the three sisters. She was about to become seven years old that coming Christmas time. Her birthday was December 26. She was a Christmas present that came a day late, her father used to say. Katya had a pretty face and delicate hands but was crippled with bones that grew […]

Why Have 5-year-olds Stay in Montessori?

Why Have 5-year-olds Stay in Montessori?

by | Emotional Intelligence (EQ), MFA, Montessori Education, Montessori Materials, Montessori Parenting, Montessori Teachers, Parent Education, Parent-Teacher Communication, Prepared Environment, Primary (3-6)

It is the week before school starts. I am busy setting up our 3-6 year old classroom, checking for parts of activities, making class lists and acclimating our new assistant. I look at the names of the children and carefully arrange them by age from youngest to oldest as I do each August. I stop, […]