flynn088

Montessori’s first plane of development begins at birth and extends through the first full six years of life. It is a time of immense physical growth, monumental brain development, increased physical coordination, body awareness, and movement, development of independence, and tremendous growth of language. The young child works constantly to create himself, finding his way in a complex social structure, developing his will, establishing his independence, and making his thoughts and desires known. All of this intense development is done joyfully through play and sensorial exploration. Through observation, Montessori found that even very young infants make an amazing effort and are able to concentrate greatly during sensitive periods of development. Sensitive periods, or windows of opportunity, are times when a child develops one specific area of interest to the exclusion of others, according to his individual needs. Sensitive periods begin and end abruptly, and are unique to each child....

Over her lifetime, Maria Montessori examined childhood behavior throughout various countries and cultures and during times of war and peace. Her discoveries in human development and behavior uncovered universal principles that apply across cultures and time. In the first chapter of Montessori Today, Paula Polk Lillard discusses key points surrounding the origin and theory of Montessori education. Following is a brief review of Lillard’s discussion, focusing particularly on human development and behavior as it relates to Montessori’s shift from science to education. [Montessori] believed that within the formative years of children lay the answers to humanity’s ability to renew itself in each succeeding generation. — Paula Polk Lillard, Montessori Today, p. 3. Human development is not a constant linear advancement but a progression that occurs during four formative planes Montessori noticed profound differences in what she described as the four planes of development. She recognized that...

With this blog, we begin a new series, reviewing Montessori Today: A Comprehensive Approach to Education from Birth to Adulthood by Paula Polk Lillard. Written for parents and educators, Montessori Today is Lilliard’s overview of Montessori education, with emphasis on the elementary years. Reading the preface for the first time in a while, I found myself moved to share quotes and excerpts with my friends concerning Lillard’s views on Montessori children and the state of conventional education. Although this book was written two decades ago, its message remains timely and relevant. Reviewing Montessori Today: The Introduction and Preface Lillard points to an educational reform movement in the 1960s that embraced an open classroom concept following ideas in John Holt’s book How Children Fail, originally published in 1964. Holt describes how schools work on the assumption that “most children don’t want to learn, are no good at it, and won’t try unless made to.” He further states that scho...

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 “The classic Montessori presentation.” In today’s blog, Michelle kindly shares her classroom experiences to provide real-life examples of how Montessori meets that specific goal. One of the main differences between the Montessori method and conventional education is in the delivery and presentation of information. Conventional education methods rely mainly on delivering information through teacher-presented lectures. Even though more emphasis is now placed on active learning, the majority of classroom time is spent on passive learning and lectures. The traditional teacher-centered ...

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 “An emphasis on functionality within the Montessori environment.” In today’s blog, Michelle kindly shares her classroom experiences to provide real-life examples of how Montessori meets that specific goal. The first time I stepped into a Montessori environment, I just wanted to walk around the room and touch everything. I felt like the proverbial kid in the candy store! I was there to see if the school was a good fit for my kindergarten-age son, but all the works and materials called to me to come use them, too. The Montessori environment is built for children. It is not an adult e...

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 ...

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 “Personalized instructional goals based on scientific observation and the individual readiness of the child.” In today’s blog, Michelle kindly shares her classroom experiences to provide real-life examples of how Montessori meets that specific goal. More and more frequently, school districts are employing pacing guides as a means of ensuring that their schools are teaching the same content and achieving the same outcomes. A pacing guide is a type of scope and sequence or instructional calendar. However, rather than providing a general overview of what, for example, a year of math g...