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Since it has been seen to be necessary to give so much to the child, let us give him a vision of the whole universe. The universe is an imposing reality, and an answer to all questions. —Maria Montessori To Educate the Human Potential, p. 5. Montessori education is not segregated by topic, curricular area, or grade level. Because we teach the whole child, the method we employ must be that of a generalist rather than a specialist. We must become proficient in all subjects not just isolated disciplines. The mind of the child is not compartmentalized, so we should not teach as if it is. Montessori Is About Teaching the Whole Child My initial training was as a French and English teacher. When I accepted my first position in an upper elementary Montessori classroom, I was told that I would be responsible for teaching math and science as well as language and social studies. I will admit, I was nervous. I had not studied math since high school, and I certainly was not a “math” teacher. Howev...

Dr. Montessori determined that young children experience a sensitive period for music development between the ages of 2 and 6 years old. There are many benefits to developing a child’s musical ability. In addition to fostering a love of music and the arts, developing musical abilities builds skills related to math and language. It has been shown that music development helps children build pattern recognition and spatial reasoning, both of which are important math skills. Current research also shows that music skills share neural pathways with language development. Building music skills helps develop auditory abilities and phonological awareness, which are necessary for reading development. As well, children who are actively involved with music from an early age are more likely to speak clearly and develop a strong vocabulary. Speech functions are also improved though music. For instance, singing has been known to aid children who have speech impediments such as stuttering. Music Educat...

Meant to inspire and ignite the child’s imagination, the Five Great Lessons are a catalyst for the Montessori elementary curriculum . Told too quickly, the lessons become meaningless, causing the children’s imaginations to jump from one concept to another. When we imagine, we are using abstract thought to think of things that cannot be seen. The follow-up lessons that come from each of the Five Great Lessons are used to materialize these abstractions. In other words, the children prove the existence of the wonders of the universe through concrete exploration. Exploring the Universe Concretely in the Elementary Classroom In the beginning… Isn’t that a great way to start a story? I get chills every time I start a story that way. And when you pause for dramatic effect, with the children gathered all around you, making eye contact with each child before you continue, you are making a personal connection and building the anticipation of what is to come. I like to present the First Great Les...

The Five Great Lessons are thought to be the catalyst of the Montessori elementary cultural curriculum. From the origins of the universe to the story of human communication, the Five Great Lessons provide the keys to learning about science, history, geography, and economics in the Montessori elementary environment. If these lessons are so important, why then, do we often rush to get through them? A Case of Semantics Perhaps a name means more than we think. In modern educational terms, a lesson is finite. It has a beginning and end, with the purpose of instructing. In short, a lesson is the amount of learning done at one time. If this is our definition of a lesson, then it is logical to think that the Five Great Lessons should be told quickly so that we can move on to more important activities. Some Montessorians call all presentations “lessons.” NAMC intentionally uses the term “activities” instead, to indicate that children are actively participating in their learning rather than pass...

“Oh, I know you!” Those were the very first words I said to my newborn son, just moments after giving birth to him almost 22 years ago. I held him in my arms, looked him in the eye, and realized that I really did already know this beautiful tiny baby. Throughout our two days in the hospital, I found myself talking to him: asking if he was hungry, singing a nonsense made-up on the spot song when I changed his diaper, telling him how his little clothes were presents from his grandpa and grandma, and reassuring him that I was there with him when he was crying. Talking to him just came naturally. He had heard the sound of my voice for nine months, so I knew that he knew me, too. When and How to Talk to Babies Some people wonder when and how to talk to babies. The answer is simply to talk to babies as you would talk to anyone else. Even if the conversation is one sided, your baby is listening and absorbing your words, your actions, and your tone of voice. There are everyday tasks such as fe...

Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children. —Walter Elias Disney Going on a family vacation is an exciting prospect, especially when the destination promises to be the “happiest place on earth.” When planning a visit to a theme park like Disneyland, remember to think of the trip from your child’s perspective. It is a thrilling, high-energy, and stimulating experience — and a very different environment than your Montessori child is accustomed to at home or school. Consider how you can make your theme-park adventure fun for everyone in a Montessori way. Here are some tips to get you started, using Disneyland as an example. Montessori Away From Home: Family Theme Park Vacation — Following the Montessori Child at Disneyland Adjust your pace. You may have a detailed and down-to-the-minute plan on how to ride every ride in the park, but your child might decide that the carousel is the only ride he wants to try. Stop and look at the experience through your child’s eyes. The th...

NAMC is happy to welcome a guest writer for this edition of our blog. Ashley Taylor is a freelance writer, photographer, and advocate for people with disabilities. She created DisabledParents.org to provide information and resources to other parents with disabilities. When she isn’t working, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two children. Congratulations! You are having a baby. It’s exciting and wonderful — and a little bit scary, too. Don’t worry, because every new parent feels that way. The fact is, at least 4 million Americans with disabilities are raising children (Through the Looking Glass). Whether your disability is visible or invisible, it is going to impact your parenting, and you are going to have questions and concerns — but put your fears to rest, because you will be an excellent parent no matter your circumstances. What to Expect When You Are Disabled and Expecting People are going to ask rude and intrusive questions. This actually isn’t limited to disabled pa...

In our previous blog, we discussed the importance of having consistent, predictable rules and limits in order for children to feel safe and secure. We also spoke about the fact that it is the environment and not the adult that presents these limits to the children. In this article, we discuss the importance of positive statements. How we speak to children has a lot to do with how they will hear us. In the previous blog, we discussed setting expectations ahead of time so that children know the limits and follow the rules. For example, to prevent children taking work off the shelves before receiving presentations you could say, “We only use materials after I have shown you how to use them.” Notice that this is a positive statement that tells the children when they can use the materials. They are not told that they cannot use the work. Dr. Silvia Dubovoy (Dubovoy, 2017) uses the phrase “In this place, …” to let children know “Yes, I know there are other rules for you elsewhere, but in thi...

To let the child do as he likes when he has not yet developed any power of control is to betray the idea of freedom. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind. Dr. Montessori was very clear: we should not grant children freedom until they have learned to follow the rules. But many Montessori teachers and parents are at a loss at how to set or enforce those rules. After all, aren’t we supposed to follow the child? Following the child does not mean allowing the child to do whatever she wants, whenever she wants. When a young child is unable to control her impulses and doesn’t know what she wants, or how to do what she wants, disorder and disruptive behavior occur. This usually happens because an adult was overly permissive and didn’t establish boundaries or rules. And there are rules in the Montessori environment. Stop and think about the Montessori environments you have observed. What rules of society did you see? Children walk in the classroom. We talk with quiet voices. Chairs are tucked i...

“… the first thing his education demands is the provision of an environment in which he can develop the powers given him by nature. This does not mean just to amuse him and let him do what he likes. But it does mean that we have to adjust our minds to doing a work of collaboration with nature, to being obedient to one of her laws, the law which decrees that development comes from environmental experience. —Maria Montessori The Advanced Montessori Method, p. 89. Children in the second plane of development (ages 6–12) are in a period when they are fascinated by knowledge understanding, and moral understanding, or what Montessori referred to as “culture.” (Grazzini) Their independence matures from “I can do it myself,” which predominates the first plane, to “I can think for myself.” Being able to think for oneself is the very basis of developing one’s own personal moral code of conduct. As the elementary-age child learns to think for himself, he seeks to understand the natural world aro...

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world. — Fred Rogers It seems that the world has experienced many natural disasters this year. We have had raging wildfires in British Columbia, Alberta, and the western United States; devastating earthquakes in Mexico; severe flooding around the world, and an onslaught of hurricanes from Harvey and Irma to Maria. As we experience the effects of these disasters, either personally or through news stories and images, we must consider their impact on children. This certainly includes children who live in the affected areas, but children who are not personally affected may also have concerns as they become aware of the disasters and the damage they cause. C...

Preventing conflicts is the work of politics: establishing peace is the work of education. —Maria Montessori Education and Peace, p. 24. Can you imagine if we all just came together and concentrated on that which we have in common, rather than on our differences? We would find peace. That’s the hope and message of the Sing Peace Around the World Campaign , held annually to coincide with the United Nation’s International Day of Peace (or World Peace Day) . Montessori Peace Education: Singing Peace Around the World on World Peace Day On September 21, schools around the world, Montessori and non-Montessori alike, will gather at their assigned times to sing Shelley Murley’s song, “Light a Candle for Peace.” The song moves around the world throughout the day, starting with children singing in New Zealand and ending 24 hours later with the Hawaiian Islands. When Murley began the project in 2009, approximately 80,000 children from over 35 countries participated. Last year, Sing Peace Around ...

We have all been there. All of a sudden, the noise level in the classroom gets so loud, you wonder how anyone can possibly concentrate. Normally, it just takes a quick walk over to the ‘noisy table’ and a quiet word to help the students settle back down. Now, however, it seems like the whole class is noisy. What can you do? My favorite way to quiet and bring calm back to a disruptive environment is to not do anything at all. I don’t mean I ignore the situation; I meant that I allow my own calm presence to set the tone. I started doing this as a public high school teacher over 20 years ago. I had a particularly boisterous twelfth-grade literature class right after lunch that really had trouble coming in and settling down. Instead of getting mad or angry, I would calmly pick up my book, sit down at my desk, and start reading. After a few minutes, the students would realize that I wasn’t trying to get their attention, and they would all start to quiet down. It worked like a charm! It kept...

Education, therefore, of little ones is important, especially from three to six years of age, because this is the embryonic period for the formation of character and of society, (just as the period from birth to three is that for forming the mind, and the prenatal period that for forming the body). —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 221–222. Where does the Montessori method begin? In The Absorbent Mind , Dr. Montessori tells us that “The greatness of the human personality begins at the hour of birth.” (p. 4) But, Dr. Montessori did not begin developing her method with infants. She began with children who were between 3 and 6 years old. In the early 1900s, working parents had little choice when it came to childcare. Children who were 7 years old went to school. This meant that children 6 years and younger were left alone, caring for younger children for 8–10 hours each day. Montessori’s first school, the Casa dei Bambini, in the slums of San Lorenzo, proved to have horrendous cond...

In the second plane, the children complete the foundation of their social selves. Through their reasoning minds and powers of imagination, they explore their universe, their community and their own place in social life. —Lillard, Montessori Today, p. 114. Before having the freedom to explore outside the immediate Montessori community, students must demonstrate responsibility within the Montessori environment. This freedom begins with choosing one’s own work during the day, working independently, and being a contributing member of the collective classroom community. Contributing members of any community help nurture and maintain the community. Within the Montessori environment, elementary students become responsible for the environment by learning to care for and maintain the classroom. Since the sensitive period for order occurs during the first stage of development, maintaining the classroom’s beauty and order no longer comes naturally. Instead, it must be modeled and practiced until ...

The Montessori teacher’s specific responsibility is to aid human development through awareness of the children’s needs at each stage of self-formation. Through this approach to their education, the children can pass onto each successive plane of development well prepared for the challenges ahead. —Lillard, p. 114 Work journals in the Montessori elementary classroom can be a hotly debated topic. What do they look like? Who is responsible for them? Who decides what work is included? Somewhere along the way, we have lost the meaning of the work journal and turned it into a work plan . Keeping a journal involves more than a student making a list of what he has accomplished during the day. It provides him with an opportunity to reflect on what he has learned. Written after the fact, a journal shows the reader where the student has been instead of dwelling on where he must go. As such, the work journal is an assessment tool rather than a planning tool. Studying Montessori Today, Chapter 7: ...