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In a previous blog , we discussed the value of inclusion and how Montessori’s tenet of following the individual needs of the child makes it inherently inclusive. The Circle of Inclusion Project (University of Kansas) and Raintree Montessori (Lawrence, Kansas) listed 11 specific ways in which Montessori education addresses the needs of all children, including those with disabilities. Included in this list is “Academic materials that provide a concrete representation of the abstract.” In today’s blog, Michelle kindly shares her classroom experiences to provide real-life examples of how Montessori meets that specific goal. The Montessori materials are more than toys or manipulatives. Carefully thought out and designed, each material has its own direct and indirect purpose in the education of the child. The sensorial materials used in the early childhood environment exemplify this significant feature of Montessori materials. For example, consider the Binomial Cube , which is presented as ...

The results we obtain with our little ones contrast oddly with the fact that mathematics is so often held to be a scourge rather than pleasure in school programs. Most people have developed ‘mental barriers’ against it. Yet all is easy if only its roots can be implanted in the absorbent mind. — Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 186. Dr. Montessori tells us that it is human nature to distinguish between and order our world based on similarities and differences of perceived qualities. The world around us is made of precise rules that follow an exact, measured order. “In our work, therefore, we have given a name to this part of the mind which is built up with exactitude, and we all it ‘the mathematical mind.’” (Montessori, p. 185) The Absorbent Mind Chapter 17: Further Elaboration, Part 3 - The Mathematical Mind Montessori created the Sensorial materials to provide a “system of materialized abstractions, or of mathematics.” (Montessori, p. 186) Each material clearly and concretely d...

“When the child is given freedom to move about in a world of objects, he is naturally inclined to perform the tasks necessary for his development entirely on his own.” — Maria Montessori, Education and Peace There has been some buzz lately about the term heuristic. When I went online to check current definitions, I read on Merriam-Webster.com that heuristic is “currently in the top 1% of lookups and is the 154th most popular word on Merriam-Webster.com.” In fact, the site goes on to note that there has been a significant increase in people looking up the word “heuristic” in the last seven days. (Merriam-Webster.com) So, what does “heuristic” mean and what does it have to do with Montessori? Montessori as A Heuristic Approach to Learning Heuristic: using experience to learn and improve: involving or serving as an aid to learning, discovery, or problem-solving by experimental and especially trial-and-error methods: of or relating to exploratory problem solving techniques that utilize se...