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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...