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If education is always to be conceived along the same antiquated lines of a mere transmission of knowledge, there is little to be hoped from it in the bettering of man’s future. For what is the use of transmitting knowledge if the individual’s total development lags behind? —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 4. In her recent webinar, “The Power of Playful Learning: How guided play sparks social and academic outcomes,” Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek stated that, according to her research, “…adult directed play was better than free play when there is a learning goal.” (Hirsh-Pasek, 2014) Why the Montessori Environment uses Guided Play to Foster Learning In the Montessori environment, there are specific learning goals assigned to each area of the classroom as well as to each material. If we look at the Pink Tower, we see that it looks like a set of basic stacking blocks. And if we were to allow the children to freely play with them, they would learn to build a tower, knock it over, and start...

One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child. —Maria Montessori What You Should Know About Your Child, p. 73. When adults talk about work, we often think of it in negative terms. We say “I have to go to work” rather than “I get to go to work.” We refer to weekdays as the “work week” and to our weekends as “play time” or as time to relax. We see work as that which we must do in order that we may enjoy ourselves later. The Montessori Environment Provides Opportunities to Explore through Play Play is the Work of Children The negative connotations we associate with work cause us to look perhaps a bit too harshly upon the use of the term in the Montessori context. “The child can develop fully by means of experience in his environment. We call such experiences ‘work.’” ( The Absorbent Mind , p. 88) We already know Dr. Montessori thought play was the important work of childhood. If you watch a child of three, you will see that he is always playing with...

A child’s play is not simply a reproduction of what he has experienced, but a creative reworking of the impressions he has acquired. — Lev Vygotsky, 2004. My six-year-old niece started kindergarten this year. She was thrilled! But then, within the first few days, something terrible happened. She was no longer the happy child who was enthusiastic about learning. She cried at the drop of a hat and refused to go back. When asked why, she told her parents, “It’s too much work. The day is too long. I’m too tired.” She also told them that she couldn't play anymore. Sadly, this is happening all over the world. Accountability by means of high stakes testing has mandated that playful learning be replaced by volumes of disconnected fact-based learning. Today, memorization has replaced true learning, with success being measured by test scores. Since when does sitting still and silent equal learning? Dr. Montessori tells us that how we learn makes a difference to what we learn. ... Does Natur...

He does it with his hands, by experience, first in play and then through work. The hands are the instruments of man's intelligence. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 25. Today I am going to suggest something that may seem counter to Montessori philosophy. I am going to suggest that we need more play. But wait … didn't Dr. Montessori call play “work”? That’s right. She referred to play as the work of early childhood. The term work implies that the activity is worthy and important, while the term play is often thought of as frivolous and unproductive. As Mr. Fred Rogers reminds us, “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” (Miller, 2013) By referring to play as work, Dr. Montessori was stressing the importance of play in the lives of children. Work and Play in the Montessori Environment The separation of work and play is growing ever more present in convention...