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Sleep as a Skill: A Montessori Reflection for Baby Sleep Day

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 12:30:00 GMT

March 1 marks Baby Sleep Day, so we thought we’d take a moment to reflect on the alignment between Montessori philosophy and modern sleep science.

In Montessori, we focus on independence as a path toward self-sufficiency. This is a gradual, mindful process of becoming capable. For our youngest children, this journey begins with mastery of the most fundamental human needs: eating, toileting, and sleeping.

These areas matter deeply because they are ultimately under a child’s control. No one can make a child eat, use the toilet, or sleep. Our role, then, is not to force outcomes but to remove obstacles. As adults, we can provide thoughtful structure and support children as they develop the skills that build confidence and trust in their own bodies.

Language Shapes Our Intentions

In Montessori, our language reflects our values. For example, we don’t talk about “toilet training.” Instead, we focus on “toilet learning” because children are learning how to care for their bodies within the cultural norms. We are not training behavior. We are supporting development.

The same is true for sleep. Rather than “sleep training,” Montessori invites us to think in terms of supporting independent sleep skills. We help children learn how to settle their bodies, self-soothe, and eventually fall asleep independently, all skills they will rely on for the rest of their lives.

Why Sleep Matters So Much

Research continues to affirm that sleep is foundational. Healthy sleep supports brain development and learning, emotional regulation, physical growth and immune function, and memory and attention.

During sleep, children’s bodies perform essential functions, including muscle growth, tissue repair, protein synthesis, and the release of growth hormones. Deep sleep stages are when the most restorative processes occur.

How Sleep Works

Two systems guide sleep: circadian rhythm and sleep pressure.

Circadian rhythm is the body’s internal 24-hour clock, regulated by light and darkness. When it’s dark, the brain releases melatonin (the sleep hormone). When it’s light, melatonin decreases, and cortisol helps us wake. This is why darkness supports sleep, blue light from screens disrupts it, and consistent bedtimes matter.

Newborns are not born with a mature circadian rhythm. It begins developing around six weeks and becomes more established around three months, which explains why early baby sleep can feel unpredictable.

The other factor is sleep pressure. The longer we’re awake, the stronger the drive to sleep. This pressure builds during the day and resets after a long stretch of rest.

When children miss their sleep window and become overtired, stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) kick in, creating that familiar “second wind.” Suddenly, a child who desperately needs sleep seems wired and alert. Understanding sleep pressure helps us time sleep before children tip into exhaustion.

A Montessori Framework for Healthy Sleep

To support both healthy attachment and independence, Montessori encourages clear, loving boundaries. Sleep is no different.

We can focus on four key factors: a prepared sleep environment, predictable and respectful routines, healthy sleep associations, and limits with flexibility.

A Prepared Sleep Environment

Just as we prepare our Montessori classrooms, we want to be intentional about preparing our child’s sleep space at home. Key components include ensuring that the space is:

● Dark (blackout curtains help melatonin production)

● Quiet and calm

● Free of stimulating toys

● Slightly cool

A good question to ask ourselves is: Would I easily fall asleep here?

Predictable, Respectful Routines

Children feel secure when they know what comes next. A simple home routine might include:

● The final feeding

● Putting on pajamas

● Toileting/diapering

● Tooth brushing

● A short story or song

● A hug and kiss goodnight

Long baths or extended reading are best before the sleep window, not during it.

Healthy Sleep Associations

Children form associations with the conditions present when they fall asleep. If a child falls asleep being rocked, fed, or held, they will often need that same support during natural night wakings. Instead, we want to place a child in bed drowsy but awake, so they can practice falling asleep independently. Comfort objects, such as a small blanket or stuffed animal, can support this process.

Limits with Flexibility

Sleep needs change as children grow. Consistency matters, but we don’t want to be unnecessarily rigid. It’s important to keep in mind, though, that older children may test boundaries, delay routines, or negotiate endlessly. Calm, consistent follow-through reassures children that the structure is dependable. And just as importantly, adults need support, too! Holding limits is much harder when we are sleep-deprived, so self-care is essential.

Why Independent Sleep Is an Act of Care

Babies naturally cycle through light and deep sleep many times each night. When they wake briefly between cycles, a child who knows how to self-settle can drift back to sleep without distress. Independent sleep skills:

● Reduce frequent night wakings

● Support early morning sleep

● Improve mood and learning

● Protect parents’ well-being

Plus, poor sleep in infancy is linked to challenges later in childhood, including difficulties with emotional regulation and health concerns. Supporting sleep early is preventative care.

A Closing Thought for Baby Sleep Day

Supporting sleep is not about forcing independence. It’s about preparing the conditions so independence can emerge naturally, with confidence and trust.

If you’re navigating sleep challenges, please know this: you don’t have to do it alone. Sleep is learned, supported, and refined over time (just like every other human skill!).

We want to honor sleep not as a struggle to overcome, but as a vital rhythm to protect, for both our children and ourselves. If you are interested in learning more, schedule a visit here in League City today!

Roles & Goals: The Montessori Guide

Mon, 26 Dec 2022 12:00:39 GMT

Our society knows teachers. Teachers give information. Teachers provide an education. Teachers instruct.

In a Montessori classroom, however, the role of the adult is rather nuanced. The adult is there to facilitate, suggest, model, and observe. The materials teach. The adults advise.

Those of us accustomed to traditional models of education may find this odd or even worrisome. How can we expect our children to learn if the teachers don’t teach?

Traditional vs. Montessori

Because the Montessori model is quite different from traditional education, the adults responsible for providing a Montessori experience have very different responsibilities, skills, and abilities than those of teachers in a traditional method.

Historically children have been seen as blank slates or empty vessels that just need to be filled with information or knowledge. The teacher’s role has been to fill the vessel, to teach. Because the teacher passes information, correction, and validation to the student, the teacher is the material for learning.

Rather than seeing children as empty vessels, Montessori teachers see a bundle of potential just waiting to be realized. As such, the focus is on discovering these hidden potentials in children and supporting their development. This happens most effectively when children are actively engaged in their learning process.

In the traditional model, a teacher needs a number of tricks, including a system of rewards and punishments, to keep children focused on learning. But this framework of grades and evaluations isn’t actually necessary for children to learn.

In Montessori, we see the deep intellectual, social, and emotional engagement that happens when children get to learn through their own activities. Children get to use a variety of hands-on materials to explore, discover, and internalize key concepts and skills. Montessori teachers introduce how to learn from the materials in the classroom. As a bonus, because children are active participants in their own learning, they don’t have to sit passively while remaining focused on the teacher’s activity.

Roles & Goals

So, if a traditional model demands that the teacher’s presence is active and the student’s presence is passive, what does it look like in a Montessori classroom? When you look in a Montessori classroom, at first it may be hard to find the adults because the role of the Montessori teacher should be (or appear to be) a passive one. You may see an adult observing the room or particular children, inviting a child to a small group or one-on-one lesson, or sitting with children who are using the learning materials.

Sometimes it can be clear that the adult is presenting a lesson. In these moments, the adults do look a lot like teachers, just working with a small group rather than the whole class. Yet during these brief presentations, the goal is rarely to dispense information. Montessori teachers don’t want to teach the trick for compound multiplication, the names of all the countries in South America, the characteristics of mammals, or the function of a verb in a sentence. Rather, the goal is to give the children just enough of the lesson to pique their interest or capture their imagination. We want them to return to the learning materials again and again so that they discover the mathematical proof, scientific concept, geographical boundary, historical connection, or grammatical rule on their own.

Teachers vs. Guides

Because this goal and the role of the adult are so different, we often refer to our teachers as guides. This change in terminology shifts our thinking. Montessori teachers don’t lead a class from the front of the room. Our guides provide paths for children to learn that the quantity of 10 feels bigger than the quantity of two, that nouns name things, that equivalent fractions really fit into the equal space, or that 82 actually forms a square!

Montessori guides are acutely aware of how to support children on these varied and delightful paths of progress. Like the rudder of a ship, our guides allow children to embark on a journey of discovery while offering adjustments and changes to the course as needed. The result? Children flourish as active, creative, curious thinkers.

We’d love to have you come to visit our classrooms to experience how we guide children in this remarkable world, encourage active engagement, and support a life-long love of learning.

Time for Togetherness

Mon, 19 Dec 2022 12:00:28 GMT

During the holiday season, we can unintentionally become a bit edgy or stressed. Routines change. We might travel or have out-of-town guests. While our children may feel excited about the holidays, they also can feel the changes in family routines or shifts in family dynamics.

If we are getting together with extended family or friends—no matter how loving, patient, and well-meaning—having additional people mixed into the scene, especially during the holiday season, can add additional layers of stress. Often our children absorb this unspoken stress and their behavior may shift as a result.

Perhaps we see more meltdowns, an uptick in neediness, an increase in whining, more resistance, or a surge in sibling conflict. If our children start to show attention-getting behavior, we can remember that they are sending an important message about unmet needs. It’s like they are waving a red flag to indicate we should shift our focus!

Step 1: Connection

The first step is connection. Children want to feel a sense of significance and belonging. So even a few minutes of loving attention can refuel children who are feeling disconnected. Depending upon their age, this could mean snuggling together on the couch, collaborating on coloring a picture, taking the dog for a walk together, or shooting hoops. The most important thing is that the focus is on being together without distractions.

Step 2: Preparation

Once we’ve established that connection and our children feel secure and satisfied, we can discuss changes that occur during the holidays. Will bedtimes be different? What will shift about meals together? What kinds of activities will likely happen?

In preparing ourselves and our children for time with extended family and friends or changes to expect during the holidays, we can consciously reflect together about what routines will shift, what traditions we want to honor, and what joys and challenges the time may bring.

Our children like to be prepared and have a sense of what to expect. Involving them in the discussion, planning, and preparation can alleviate not only their anxiety but also our own angst.

Mapping out the days on a family calendar provides a visual guide for the changes in routine. A whiteboard works well, easily allowing for modifications if the plans become overwhelming. Take time to have conversations about what activities are most enjoyable for everyone. Then cut back on those that are not essential.

Step 3: Mindful Involvement

When we are in the midst of being amongst friends and extended family, the experience of collecting snippets and stories of favorite holiday experiences can be a bonding experience for everyone. Part of the ritual of coming back together around the holidays can include sharing, and even documenting, different memories of past times together. This kind of sharing offers everyone a way to reorient and reunite. The recollections can even be collected in a kind of family memory book that can be pulled out when everyone gets back together again.

Children and relatives also want to help. Intentionally enlisting extended family to support children’s involvement can create a win-win for everyone. Some possible collaborative activities include food preparation (scrubbing potatoes, mixing dough, tearing lettuce for a salad), making simple decorations, setting the table, folding the laundry, and even dusting and tidying. We all feel more settled when we feel useful and engaged.

This holiday season we have an opportunity to consciously create new rituals and opportunities for our children, our friends, and our extended families. Rather than rely upon old patterns perhaps learned from previous generations, let’s plan our time of togetherness and mindfully prepare ourselves and our children.

Power & Potential: The Sensitive Periods

Mon, 12 Dec 2022 12:00:17 GMT

Have you ever noticed how sensitive young children can be to changes in routine? Even the slightest schedule adjustment can throw things off. On the positive side, young children also have an incredible ability to internalize the order of their daily activities. They intuitively know when something is supposed to happen during a regular day.

It’s also pretty amazing how quickly young children absorb the intricacies of language, how they progress so seamlessly from sitting to crawling to walking to running, or how they can be so focused on tiny details and objects.

During these times in their lives, children seem to be compelled by an irresistible force. Think of the little one who wants to climb up the steps again and again. We can try to stop them, but they are undeterred! And despite the great effort involved, the activity almost seems effortless to them.

In Montessori, we pay close attention to these periods of time when children show intense focus on mastering a new skill, creating deep understanding, or refining their abilities. We call these times “sensitive periods.”

What are Sensitive Periods?

To paint the picture of sensitive periods, Dr. Maria Montessori used the example of newly hatched caterpillars. These young caterpillars hatch from eggs in protected nooks but are drawn toward the light where they can eat soft, young leaves at the ends of branches. The young caterpillars aren’t aware of the fact that going toward light will provide them with a food source. Rather, they are responding to a biological impetus. Once that need is satisfied, the caterpillars no longer have the desire to move toward bright light. That sensitive period is over and they shift into the next stage of their development.

Like the young caterpillars, young children in a sensitive period become incredibly absorbed with acquiring or mastering a new skill and hone in on the activity that aids their development. Neurologically, this is the time when groups of neurons become more active than others and establish key neural networks in children’s developing brains. These windows of opportunity are transitory and marked by children’s passionate focus on mastering a skill or characteristic.

In Montessori we focus on four main sensitive periods:

Order
Language
Refinement of the Senses
Movement

Sensitive Period for Order

The sensitive period for order is most intense from birth to three years of age, although it does continue through age six. When children are under the influence of the sensitive period for order, we see their intense interest in the order of things, both in routines (time, order of events in day, etc.) and in their environment. Young children can show great distress if this order changes.

As adults, we can appreciate that order makes our lives easier; planning our meals and picking out clothes ahead of time makes our week flow more smoothly. Organization and order are a convenience and make us more efficient. But young children need orderly environments in a different way. The order in their surroundings or routines becomes the basis for their relationship with the world. If that foundation of order is changing all the time, it’s like trying to build a house on a shifting foundation. Lots of changes in the environment or schedule cause children to have to constantly adapt, which diverts their energy away from other necessary forms of their development. When children have a predictable and ordered environment, they feel secure, trust their environment, and establish an internal order.

Sensitive Period for Language

Children are effortlessly absorbing language from birth. The first three years of life are focused on the development of spoken language and the last three years are focused on the expansion and refinement of language, including writing and reading. During this sensitive period, children are learning the intricacies of the language spoken around them. They hear sounds and begin to try to imitate them. They hear the rhythm of phrases and sentences. They begin to internalize the nuances of grammar.

Because children are absorbing all aspects of language, they need rich language experiences. Thus, we want to provide lots and lots of vocabulary by naming real things in the environment and engaging in meaningful conversation, even with our infants!

Sensitive Period for Refinement of the Senses

Young children are learning about their world through sensory experiences. The sensitive period for refinement of sensory perceptions starts at birth and begins to fade around four and a half.

This sensitive period does not make children’s eyes see better, ears hear better, or tongue taste better, but it does help children distinguish between finer and finer differences. Children who have access to sensorially rich environments can begin to refine their senses, have clearer perceptions, and be able to organize and classify their impressions. Neurologically, this sensitive period is when children are creating neural networks that help them interpret their environment through visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile perceptions. An enriched experience gives children the opportunity to develop powers of sensory discrimination, like perfect pitch, that will last throughout a lifetime.

Sensitive Period for Movement

Movement is how children come into contact with their environment, express their developing personality, and develop their independence. So much movement development happens from birth, and then, from about ages two and a half to four, children focus on refining their movements.

Children in this sensitive period benefit from having their movements directed toward some purposeful aim. For example, children want to imitate and participate in daily life, like cooking and preparing food. As parents, we often give our children play kitchens. With no other options, children will play with the pretend kitchen for a while, but this doesn’t satisfy them for long. They are much happier preparing real food for themselves and those around them. Meaningful activity, like food preparation, helps children refine their movement, adapt to their culture, and contribute to their community in a purposeful way.

Power & Potential

Although “sensitive periods” refer to the particular times when children are most open to developing a particular skill or trait, the name is a profound reminder. We need to be sensitive–treading mindfully and with great care–to the power and potential of these periods of development.

During the sensitive periods, children develop the skills and characteristics of order, language, refinement of the senses, and development and refinement of movement without apparent effort. Once the sensitive periods have faded, children can still achieve and develop certain characteristics, but they have to do so using work and effort. Plus, the skill or characteristic isn’t as fully integrated and absorbed. Think about how hard it is to learn a second language as an adult!

Most delightfully, when children are in a sensitive period and their needs are met, they experience deep inner joy and a sense of satisfaction. We invite you to schedule a tour so you can come visit our school and see this joy and satisfaction in action!

Shifting from “Stuff” to the Spirit of the Season

Mon, 05 Dec 2022 12:00:08 GMT

All too often the holiday season becomes about “stuff”–presents, decorations, more presents. How do we wean our children away from their focus on getting gifts and instead shift attention to the spirit of togetherness, generosity, peace, and goodwill?

It can be helpful to hold a family meeting and talk about everyone’s feelings about the holidays. We can ask our children about what, besides the gifts, they really like about the holidays. Often memories start to emerge: making gingerbread cookies with Grandma, taking a walk together as a family, ordering take-out Chinese and days-worth of leftovers.

From those memories, you can start brainstorming about what to establish as part of your family holiday tradition, perhaps even exploring new ways to enliven the winter season. Could a family hike followed by hot cocoa be a regular ritual? Coloring and cutting holiday-themed place settings? Decorating cookies to distribute as gifts?

In discussing the holiday, you can also introduce activities that involve giving and service to others. All sorts of studies detail the mental and physical health benefits of selfless service. The term “helper’s high” refers to the chemicals released in our brains when we engage in giving behaviors. Children can be very intrigued by learning about different charities, especially those that are local or important to their families. Part of the process of gift-giving can include choosing a charity and giving a gift in your child’s name or even having your child play a part in delivering the gift.

Another approach is to focus on giving gifts that are really experiences: a trip to a museum, a weekend family adventure, certificates for favorite excursions, cash and a coupon for an outing to the arcade, a day trip with a friend to the trampoline park. Whatever the experience, the focus is giving the gift of doing something, and ideally doing something together, rather than owning an object.

Brainstorming about the types of gifts or experiences we share with friends and family during the holiday season helps open our children up to the idea that gifts don’t have to be an item purchased at a store or online. As you explore this idea with your children, you can offer options such as:

DYI/Handmade Gifts
Care Packages
Video Gifts/Electronic Messages
Experiential Gifts
Gifts of Quality Time
Skill Sharing Gifts
Donation & Support Gifts
Food Gifts

Children can be involved in creating care packages or gift baskets, video collages or audio greetings that can be sent to grandparents, favorite dry goods recipes in mason jars, and coupons for activities or quality time.

We have enough things in our lives. Even if our youngest children aren’t quite ready to give up the idea of getting material presents, we can model both how gifts can take on many different forms and how we can bring more of ourselves to the holiday gift-giving experience.

Likely our children won’t remember a particular toy they unwrapped in 2022, but they will remember what they did with those they love and how they felt while doing it. Perhaps just planning a different kind of giving this year can bring less stress and more joy. What better gift than that?

Music the Montessori Way

Mon, 28 Nov 2022 12:00:04 GMT

Music. It helps us express ourselves. It expands our consciousness. It draws us together. Since ancient times, humans have relied upon music as a fundamental form of communication. Even today, we can see how children, from an early age, are drawn to music.

Always the scientist and observer, Dr. Maria Montessori recognized the essential place of music in children’s development. She collaborated with a number of musicians to develop a comprehensive music program to support children’s music appreciation and expression. The Montessori music program begins with sensorial experiences that build to children developing an acute awareness of pitch and rhythm. These experiences and activities then evolve into children learning the construction of musical scales and even perfecting how to write, read, and compose music. These components ultimately support children and adolescents’ abilities to use music as a form of self-expression.

Early Experiences

From our earliest moments of life, we absorb the sounds of our environment. A fetus hears the rhythm of the mother’s heartbeat, breathing, and body systems. Expecting parents may sing or tell a story and their unborn child takes in the patterning and intonations of their voices. Newborns use these sounds as a way to have points of reference while orienting to life outside of the womb.

When working with infants and toddlers, we slow down so as to observe and listen to sounds and movements in nature. Hearing and relating to the natural music around us helps us be better attuned to the music in everything. As adults, we model this reflective pace, especially in our fast-paced society.

In the process of learning through imitation, our youngest children try to mimic sounds, first by copying movements with their mouths and later with their bodies. Thus, we model connection to music and openness to learning and experiencing musical expression, both in the traditional sense and through experiences in nature. Because music moves us emotionally and calls forth varied feelings, we also show how to express these emotions by moving our bodies, dancing, and singing. Young children need to experience music so they can make it part of their human experience.

Musical instruments in our infant and toddler communities are often related to nature and the sounds of nature. We provide multiples of each instrument so that when singing songs together, everyone can have a rhythm stick, or other appropriate musical instruments, and keep the beat together. We offer different kinds of high-quality instruments because the sounds affect individuals in different ways. Like with any other material in a Montessori classroom, the adults present the appropriate use of each kind of instrument to the children.

When children get a little older and move into the Primary or Children’s House level, we offer four strands of music education: singing, rhythm, music appreciation, and music literacy.

Children’s House: Singing

Singing begins right away in the Children’s House! We are helping young children realize that their voice is an amazing instrument. We share and teach easy-to-learn songs, as well as model how to express a range of emotions through the musical experience of singing. Folk songs offer high-quality melodies and expressive lyrics, as well as topics that reflect real-world qualities and real-life experiences–from celebrations and holidays to the weather, geography, and just everyday life.

When we introduce songs in the Children’s House, we first sing without any accompaniment so that the children learn how to find the right pitch. Once the children know a song very well, we may complement the singing with a piano, guitar, dulcimer, or the classroom bells.

Children’s House: Rhythm

Young children are so adept at rhythm. From the very beginning, life inside the womb was a rhythmic wonderland, with the symphony of the mother’s heartbeat, digestion, and respiration. Continuing throughout their lives, children experience rhythm all around them. We support the development and refinement of rhythm through activities that involve walking, running, marching, and skipping on an ellipse on the classroom floor, as well as through percussive instruments and music with distinctive rhythmic patterns. We may introduce hand and foot movements during songs, as well as the use of rhythm instruments. Some children also begin rhythm notation while in the Children’s House.

Children’s House: Music Appreciation

Through recorded music selections, we offer the history and culture of different kinds of musical expression in the human experience. When introducing a new piece, we give its name, the name of the composer, and the type of music it represents. These lessons are correlated to what the child knows in history, geography, art, and current events. When musicians visit to play an instrument for the children, we expand the experience with related vocabulary, stories, and listening opportunities.

Children’s House: Music Literacy

Although most settings don’t introduce music literacy to young children, we offer it as we do writing–as a means for sounds to be saved and held. While improvised work is lost into the air, writing down notes saves the idea and allows the possibility of communicating without face-to-face contact.

In the Children’s House, the bells become the children’s second instrument. We begin music literacy as soon as children can pair the bells of the diatonic scale and when they show an interest in the names of the pitches.

To introduce music literacy skills, we isolate two difficulties: notation for melody and notation for pitch. These two pathways start separately in the Children’s House but are joined in the Montessori elementary program.

In addition to working with the tone bars to dive deeply into music notation, scales, and composition, children at the elementary level continue experiences with listening, music history and literature, playing instruments, singing, movement, and rhythm.

Elementary: Rhythm

In elementary, children start with a sensorial experience of four-beat measure patterns, and we soon introduce the notation for these four-beat patterns. Children begin to be able to read rhythmic patterns for familiar names (of people and items), which also prepares them for an understanding of syllabification. Through this work, they begin to be able to notate patterns that they hear and to find notation patterns in printed music. They also get to experience finding words that will fit different rhythmic patterns and can practice notating the rhythm of spoken words.

Elementary: Playing Instruments

We first use games to introduce elementary children to various instruments and then support them in using instruments to accompany class songs. As their expertise grows and they are able to maintain a steady beat, students may form a small band and can even learn how to have a conductor!

Whenever possible, we support children in seeing and hearing real orchestral instruments, including the music and instruments of other cultures. As children listen to individual instruments and combinations of instruments, they learn to differentiate between different qualities of sound that instruments create.

Elementary: Listening

We approach the art and skill of listening very deliberately. The adults set an example by listening to children and by speaking quietly and in clear sentences with precise pronunciation. Even in the elementary, we play listening games–from investigating how our bodies make noise, to taking listening walks, to enjoying mystery sound games, to exploring the absence of sound–all of which provide opportunities to focus on listening skills. The children also relish opportunities to listen to recorded music, both independently and as a group, and to be able to discuss what they heard.

Elementary: Tone Bars

The tone bars are elementary students’ primary musical instrument. Children in the elementary can often be found composing and playing on the tone bars and as they experiment with sounds and the relationships of the tone bars, they are essentially in the babbling stage of language development. With extended exposure and practice, this “babbling” can evolve into children being able to pick up tunes by ear.

Eventually, elementary students use the tone bars for learning major and minor scales, whole steps and half steps, transposition, the musical staff, music notation, composition, pitch dictation, degrees of the scale, intervals, sharps and flats, and key signatures.

Montessori Music Program

Montessori music begins sensorially, isolates difficulty, and engages children in spontaneous activity and meaningful self-expression. The Montessori music program is constructed so that the keys to music can be presented as a language of communication. We consider music to be an element of total literacy and thus give music as much emphasis as we give to mathematics and language as essential tools of communication. As a result, as children move toward adulthood, they are able to use musical expression as a way to better understand themselves and the world around them.

We invite you to come to visit our school to see (and hear) how music comes alive in our classrooms!

Mutual Respect & Making Deposits

Mon, 21 Nov 2022 12:00:02 GMT

Montessori classrooms depend upon a web of mutual respect. This culture of respect is established from the very beginning: from how the classroom is arranged and sized for the children, to how we greet each other at the start of the day, to how the adults refrain from interrupting children’s concentration. Dr. Maria Montessori emphasized that, as adults, we must have the utmost respect for children, because they are in the process of constructing themselves and are the hope for the future of humankind.

Mutual respect does require maintenance, though. As Montessorians, we are always tending to the emotional environment of the community. One way we do this is by continual practice of different ways we can show grace and courtesy toward each other and our surroundings. We do know, however, that situations arise when tensions start to run high, misunderstandings proliferate, and irritation takes over. We are all human, after all.

Because it’s helpful to have some support when things start to fray, we thought we’d share a strategy that can be helpful when frustrations, fallings-out, or rifts are on the rise.

First, imagine a scenario in which there is a small slight. A look from across the room. A forgotten request. Not listening to what is being said.

Usually, this isn’t such a big deal. However, if we are feeling particularly annoyed or frustrated by something that happened previously, we might mutter about how we can’t believe so and so did that again, how could they look at us like that, how they never pay attention, and on and on.

Our response tells a lot about how we are feeling about the other person involved.

If we find ourselves in a situation where a progression of misunderstandings and misinterpretations is causing a rupture, it can be a good time to pause and consider the concept of an emotional or relationship bank account.

Dr. Stephen R. Covey explores the idea of an emotional bank account in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families, and Sean Covey introduces the relationship bank account in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens. The essence of this “bank account” is that we have different connections with the people in our lives, and between each of us we have an unseen measure of how we are connecting. We can visualize that measure as a bank account. Just like with a bank account, we can make deposits or withdrawals.

When we greet a co-worker in the morning with a smile and a compliment, we are making a deposit. Over time, with lots of deposits, a large cushion of goodwill is created in our relationship bank account. When a large cushion is there, our co-worker is likely to be understanding when one morning we scowl and barely mumble, “morning.” They might wonder if we are okay and want to do something to help us feel better.

But let’s imagine that instead of making regular deposits into our relationship bank account, we have either not taken the time for a kind greeting, or perhaps have been complaining about something they’ve done. These little acts end up draining our relationship bank account, like multiple small withdrawals, until there is little to no cushion of goodwill between us. If that’s the case, when we scowl and mumble, “morning,” the other person might react with anger and frustration, fed up with our attitude and ready to retaliate.

In simple terms, our relationship or emotional back account is like a cup that gets filled or emptied.

When exploring this idea with young children, it can be helpful to draw or get a real cup, fill it up while imagining different acts of goodwill, then empty it while exploring little thoughtless or unkind acts. Children love to brainstorm different ways to fill the cup, perhaps even creating a poster or drawing together to have a visual reminder.

Older children are often intrigued by the connection to a financial bank account. Even the logical exploration of deposits and withdraws can help older children shift out of the emotional centers of their brains, which then allows them to approach a potentially tense situation with more calm and clarity.

If your children would benefit from a graphic image of making deposits or filling a cup, or what it looks like when lots of withdraws mean we don’t have a buffer of goodwill, feel free to download this image of a graduated cylinder to use to show filling or emptying our emotional bank account. Sometimes having a visual really helps solidify the concept for children.

Really, though, we can use this strategy in all of our relationships. When we can think about the little acts of kindness, honesty, patience, and unconditional love and acceptance as being ways to build up our relationship bank accounts, we can more easily shift gears in how we relate.

Ultimately, this practice can allow us to become more mindful of the actions between us. We can look across the room with warmth. We can acknowledge a mistake and work to make amends. We can listen with acceptance.

When we make deposits, we connect and cultivate goodwill. These deposits happen on a regular basis in Montessori classrooms. We invite you to come to visit our school to experience this mutual respect for yourself!

5 Outdoor Activities for Toddlers

Mon, 14 Nov 2022 12:00:03 GMT

Whether the summer is upon us or not, the outdoors opens up a new world of possibilities for having fun and learning with your toddler. Outdoor activities for kids can be as simple as you would like them to be.

But as we all know, little ones have lots of energy and often short attention spans! So, here are five fun ideas to keep your toddler busy outside! Put these simple toddler activities in your back pocket!

Easy Outdoor Activities for Toddlers

Sensory Bins

Kids love sensory play! Sensory bins are a simple activity to put together. Plus, sensory bins are accessible and educational activity for toddlers, starting as young as 18 months.

Gather 2-3 small storage bins and fill them with water, sand, or rice. Supply them with kitchen utensils, measuring cups, funnels, and small bowls.

More Activities You Might Like

Your toddler will love playing with new textures and learning how to pour, stir, and mix. For extra fun, let your toddler add some of his own toys into the sensory bins.

Action figures make a great addition to a rice bin! On a hot day, a few cups of ice will make the water table sensory bin even more extraordinary! Water play brings these outdoor activities to a whole new level!

Nature Walk Scavenger Hunt

There is so much to discover about nature and science outside, even in your own backyard. Prepare a picture list of items for your toddler to gather around your yard.

This could include a leaf, a piece of bark, a rock, a flower, a blade of grass, and more. Give her a reward when she finds all the items, and save them to use in an art project later! Or try a listening walk !

Finger Painting

Finger painting is a great activity to do outdoors in the summertime. Use a long piece of butcher paper or a deconstructed cardboard box as a canvas.

Inspire your child’s artistic side with bright paint, a variety of brushes, and even pieces of nature. Bonus: wash him off with the hose when he’s finished!

Outdoor Picnic

An outdoor picnic is a great way to liven up lunchtime. Let your toddler help you pick out a simple meal and carry it outside in baskets. Eating is way more fun when you’re on the ground.

Finish off with a cold popsicle, and you don’t have to worry about making a sticky mess!

Make a Simple Mud Kitchen

Let your toddler play in the mud with a pretend outdoor mud kitchen . Use materials you have on hand to create a makeshift kitchen – a toddler-size table (that you don’t mind making a mess on) or a few wooden crates work great.

Gather a couple of old pots and utensils and use a small bin as a sink. Add a bucket of water and let your toddler become a Mud Cake Master Chef!

There are so many fun ways to keep your toddler entertained with outdoor play. With a bit of creativity and patience (plus access to a water hose), you and your little one will make lasting memories.

Sensorial Superpowers

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 12:00:01 GMT

Young children are in a powerful process of creating an understanding of their world and where they fit in. To do this, they rely upon their senses as an interface to the world. Everything that comes into young children’s minds comes through their senses.

During the first few years of life, children are absorbing sensory input without any discrimination. Then around age two-and-a-half to age three, children begin to bring images from their subconscious into their consciousness. They begin to work with these images and in the process embark on an important journey of building their intelligence.

The Sensorial Materials

To support this development, Montessori programs offer carefully designed sensorial materials.

that follow a formal, systematic approach. The materials isolate each sensorial quality and offer children what Dr. Maria Montessori called the “keys to the world.” In addition, the sensorial materials support children’s classification of impressions and lead to clear levels of conscious discrimination. If children have these experiences in the formative period of brain development, they establish a foundation for a lifetime of order and precision, as well as logical, reasoned thinking.

How do sensorial materials accomplish all of this? Well, they have some really significant purposes!

Sensorial materials support children’s classification and categorization of sensorial impressions.

For young children, the first three years are like collecting impressions and throwing them into a closet. The images or concepts are a bit of a hodge-podge jumble, thus to go in and access what is needed from this unorganized collection can be a challenge. Because this warehouse of impressions doesn’t have order or classification, children need to develop mental organization so their collection of impressions becomes useful.

The sensorial materials help children to classify and categorize all of the impressions they have absorbed and unconsciously stored since birth. When children interact with the sensorial materials, images come out of their unconscious memory and come into working memory. As children use the materials, these impressions become part of their conscious memory. When children become accurate in distinguishing sensorial differences, we give language for the images, which then helps the concepts become fixed in children’s minds.

Children aren’t born with organized brains that have predetermined categories, so this neural organization has to be built up through experience.

Sensorial materials support children’s refinement of their sensorial perceptions.

It’s important to understand that sensorial exercises don’t make children’s ears hear better, eyes see better, or tongue taste better. Rather, the materials help children develop powers of discrimination so that they can analyze smaller and smaller degrees of difference.

When we take in sensorial input, everything goes into our brain. Then the brain has to make discriminations, a skill which develops through experience and the process of making finer and finer discernments. The materials offer children a clear means for starting to classify and to increase their perceptive powers, both of which are important mental abilities.

Sensorial materials support children in the development of abstractions.

What do we mean by abstractions? An example of an abstraction is the notion of “red.” Red as a quality does not exist in nature. Red can be represented in physical things, but we cannot bring “red” to a person. Red is a quality. It is an abstraction.

Children may have some abstractions already in place, but when they are young the number is limited purely due to the fact that they haven’t had a sufficient amount of experience to develop the abstraction. Furthermore, children don’t typically get to experience sensorial qualities in isolation. The Montessori sensorial materials isolate each quality and give children the opportunity to have enough experience to develop abstractions.

Because we, as adults, have a lot of experience in the world, it can be hard for us to understand what children need to create abstractions. To better understand the significance of abstractions, imagine being told about a quince. If you haven’t had a quince before, it is hard to pull up the image in your mind, much less what it tastes like. If you hear a description that a quince is a fruit, you are able to pull up an idea of what a fruit is. Then if you hear that a quince is in the same family as an apple and pear, you can pull up an image that brings you closer to imagining the fruit and perhaps even the type of skin it has.

But without these experiences and the organization of images, children can’t pull up the same level of abstraction. Imagination helps us, as adults, to be able to do this: pull up images in our minds of something haven’t experienced before based on abstractions. In order to imagine, we must have abstractions. This area is most related to the development of intelligence.

Sensorial materials support children’s development of accurate and discriminating recall of perceptions.

The materials engage children’s memory, help them access information from their memory, and support them in using their intelligence. Memory is a tool of the intelligence, but because children aren’t born with memory, they need support with developing it. While children do have an unconscious memory, they have to take the impressions they have absorbed and build memory from them. The sensorial materials help this process.

Memory needs practice and experience to become stronger; it is only increased through activity. We want children’s memory to be strong and thus we provide lots of experience with the materials and variations with the materials. With each sensorial material, there are many ways to extend the activity and help children with recall.

One significant strategy is giving language to each perception. The language is based on what is isolated in the materials–thick/thin, large/small, long/short, right-angled isosceles triangle/right-angled scale triangle, rough/smooth, heavy/light, ovoid/ellipsoid, bitter/sweet. The vocabulary is extensive and rich, and ultimately fixes the perception in children’s memory.

The second strategy we use is playing games which challenge children to hold the perception in mind for longer and longer periods of time. They might put each of the pink tower cubes scattered about the room so that in rebuilding the tower of cubes from largest to smallest, they have to remember the size of the previous piece in searching for the next largest cube. Some of the sensorial games also help children notice particular qualities in the environment, rather than just in the materials. One favorite is searching for items in the classroom that have exactly the same shade of each of the color tablets.

Through repeated experience with the sensorial materials, children develop clearer and more accurate perceptions and create reference points that they can use throughout life. Dr. Montessori talks about the possibility for children to develop touchstones, a sort of fixed, accurate reference by which this quality can be accessed. These points of reference can provide a lifetime tendency for order, precision, and recall, for example hearing the note of G without any other reference or being able to look at a pane of glass and know if it will fit into the window frame.

Sensorial materials help children develop life-long tendencies towards order and precision.

We don’t know what touchstones might develop for each child, but Dr. Montessori says that touchstones developed during these early years will remain with children throughout their whole life. If children can get accurate discriminations while in this time of sensitivity to sensorial input, this precision will remain with them into adulthood. Of course, children’s unique interests will also lead them to their own level of proficiency.

Functionally, this tendency toward order and precision will be important as children move into more academic work in language and math. They will be able to access powers of discrimination that will aid them in future endeavors.

Sensorial materials also provide indirect preparation for further study.

This indirect preparation means that we are taking advantage of children’s spontaneous interest and activity and thus planting the seeds for other areas that children will explore as they get older. When we introduce shapes–from a decagon to an ellipse to a quatrefoil–through the geometry cabinet, children visually discriminate the shapes while also tactilely experiencing the shapes by tracing around them. Multisensory input is stronger than input through just one sense. Tracing the shape also helps to prepare children’s hands for writing. To write, our hands have to be able to follow a form. This is how the sensorial materials provide indirect preparation for further academic study.

Sensorial materials support the development of children’s memory and intelligence.

Dr. Montessori talks about the sensorial area as being most strongly related to the development of intelligence. Working with sensorial materials requires a very different engagement from the practical life work of washing hands or scrubbing a table. Practical life activities help children with coordinating movement and following a sequence with a logical beginning, middle, and end. Sensorial materials don’t have the same kind of logical sequence. They are open-ended and exploratory. Children have to consider each piece and how it works in relation to the other pieces. In working with the red rods, for example, children have to examine each rod’s length in relation to the other rods. Thus, children have to make a reasoned distinction every time they move a piece of material. This process engages the intelligence and elevates children’s level of awareness. In addition, children then have to hold the images in their mind, which helps their memory.

Having an ordered, classified mind is also the foundation for intelligence. When children struggle in more academic areas like language and math, we take time to consider how to better support their mental order and classification. When the mind isn’t prepared well, academic work can be difficult to do. However, if children can recognize and distinguish between a trapezoid and a parallelogram, they will be more likely to be able to distinguish two other shapes like “g” and “q.” When children have a lot of experience recognizing shapes through sensorial materials, they are more able to recognize the shapes they encounter in letters. Sometimes we go back and explore if perhaps children recognize the shapes but don’t have a strong memory. We then use sensorial games specifically designed to help different forms of memory (auditory, visual, etc.).

The sensorial area serves as an important foundation for more academic work because language and math are completely based on abstractions. Words represent concrete things but the words themselves are abstractions. The sensorial area is critical for providing the foundation for abstract thinking.

Outcomes

Although the sensorial materials may look relatively simple, they provide so much! When children use these materials, they are refining their powers of discrimination, creating an ordered mind, enhancing their memory and recall, categorizing their impressions, and building a foundation for rational thinking and intelligence.

As children achieve these skills, they experience life with an increased level of richness, becoming aware of the lovely details of their world. With a prepared mind, children can see things in a new light and with new enthusiasm. This is perhaps one of the most delightful outcomes of children’s work with the sensorial materials: they develop a whole new appreciation of the life around them–dimensions, shapes, smells, sounds, textures, tastes–which is what gives life value and beauty.

We hope you can come visit our school , experience the sensorial materials, and see how children get to develop their sensorial superpowers!

Practical Life: From Hand Washing to Entrepreneurship

hello@montessorithrive.com (Montessori Thrive) — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 16:28:43 GMT

Practical life is one of Montessori education's core components, and it’s one of the vital elements that make it stand out from other models. The work comes in a variety of forms, too. Guides give direct lessons, children are afforded time and space to practice, and much of the learning is built authentically into the daily routine.

What practical life looks like throughout the different stages of childhood is where things get interesting. Read on to learn a bit about the skills we teach at various ages and how you might implement the practice at home with your own child.

Toddler environments

Food tasting - In lieu of a traditional snack time, many toddler classrooms include tasting opportunities. This includes a formal sit down with all the children at a table and incorporates teaching children how to pass serving dishes or serve one another. The fun and routine of regular food tasting allows toddlers to try a variety of foods and flavors that they may not have otherwise.
Table setting - To prepare for food tasting, children take turns helping to set the table. This is a skill that toddlers are fully capable of (with a bit of guidance) and allows them to contribute to the group while building a sense of confidence.
Window washing - The funny thing about young children is they love to clean. For adults, a task like washing windows is just one more tedious item to check off the list; for kids it’s an exciting new adventure that makes them feel grown-up. Toddler guides provide children with the necessary tools, they give a brief lesson, and allow the children to practice.
Sweeping - As you might imagine, there are plenty of spills in any classroom! One of the first ways many Montessori guides teach children to sweep is to tape off a small square on the floor. Children are meant to sweep debris into the square to make it easier to then collect with a dustpan and brush. This is something you can try at home, too.
Folding napkins - Folding laundry may seem like an endless task, but when your toddlers want to help, let them! Small, square items, like napkins, washcloths, and dish towels, are perfect for small hands to practice with. Demonstrate wordlessly with one or two, then give them a pile to work on. You will be amazed at their intense focus and ability.
Handwashing - There are specific Montessori lessons to teach a child to wash their hands. This is an especially important skill for them to master now, and parents can easily demonstrate and guide children through the steps at home as well.
Pouring activities - The opportunities for pouring are endless. Montessori environments may provide children with small trays complete with prepared pouring activities. This may include a small pitcher and a bowl that water can be transferred between.
Plant care - With guidance, toddlers may begin to learn about basic plant care, including watering.
Basic organization - We believe it’s important to teach children organization right from the start, and children in the first plane of development have finely tuned sense of order, which makes this great timing. When a child arrives in the morning, they are responsible for hanging their coat on their designated hook. If a child takes a work off a shelf, we teach them how to return it to its proper spot.
Putting on and taking off one’s coat and shoes - Basic self care is important, and another great opportunity to nurture independence. It may take some time and practice, but toddler guides teach and encourage children to put on and take off their own shoes and coats. Want to try this at home? Check out this great video of the “Montessori coat flip.”

Primary environments

Controlled walking - Refinement of gross motor skills is one important area primary children work on throughout the course of their three-year cycle. Montessori guides may tape a circle onto the floor for children to walk on. As a challenging extension, students may hold a bell while walking, with the goal of not allowing it to ring.
Carrying items - It’s important to teach children how to carry items properly, whether that be a tray of work, a glass of water, or even a chair safely across the room.
Transfer work - Small trays of transfer work can be found on the shelves of any primary classroom. Children work on their fine motor skills by moving small objects (pom poms, beads, stones) from one bowl or container to another using various tools (tongs, spoons, etc.).
Using tools - From kitchen tools like whisks and apple slicers, to handy tools like screwdrivers and hammers, primary-aged children have the opportunity to try out and master a wide variety.
Pouring activities - Much like in the toddler environment, primary children work with pouring activities. Rice is often used, as well as water, and cleaning up spills is a part of the work.
Rolling mats - Montessori children use work mats to define their space (both for themselves and their classmates). Learning how to properly roll and store these mats makes them neat and available to the next child.
Plant care - A continuation of the toddler work, children in the primary classroom learn how to water plants, as well as dust their leaves and ensure proper sunlight. They may even have opportunities to garden with their class.
Cleaning the classroom environment - Children aged 3-6 are still primed with a sense of order, and they delight in assisting in cleaning the classroom environment. Using real mops, brooms, and sponges, they are given lessons and ample time to practice.
Handwashing - Again, a continuation of the work in the toddler classroom, primary students are taught how to carefully and effectively wash their hands.
Dressing frames - These lovely Montessori materials consist of a wooden frame with fabric and various types of fasteners. One frame teaches children to button, while another allows for practice zippering, using hooks and eyes, buckling, lacing, tying, and more.
Food preparation - There are so many skills to be taught in the kitchen (and classroom!). Children typically start with cutting and slicing, then move on to spreading, stirring and mixing, peeling, juicing, and preparing basic multi-step snacks.
Grace and courtesy - We believe that caring for one another is a big part of our basic practical life skillset. We teach our students how to greet one another, how to have appropriate conversations, and how to welcome a guest into the classroom.

Elementary environments

Food preparation - Food prep is often seen as a staple of the primary environment, but it should (and does) continue well beyond. Different schools and teachers approach this work differently, however, and it can take on so many forms. Some classes make a treat for each child’s birthday, while others prepare meals for special occasions, or even weekly.
Meal preparation - Beyond the act of chopping and cooking, many Montessori elementary students are able to experience the work that comes beforehand, including recipe selection and shopping for ingredients within a budget.
Cleaning the classroom environment - The glorious sense of order that graces the first plane quickly dissolves when children enter their elementary years. This means there are plenty of messes to clean up, and lots of opportunities to teach children how to do so. Working clean-up time into the regular routine is one way we foster a sense of responsibility in our students.
Plant and animal care - Elementary children continue to assist with plant care as they did in the primary years, yet this is often extended to assisting the guides with caring for any class pets. This is often done on a rotating basis, as most children are enamored with animals and jobs that involve their care are quite coveted!
Handwork - It is during the elementary years that children discover the calming nature of handwork. What often begins with simple finger knitting can take on a wide variety of forms. Children in a Montessori class can often be seen engaging in these types of activities during read alouds, when they complete their work, or when they need a moment to calm and/or center themselves.
Community service - During the second plane of development children are able to see the world beyond themselves. They begin to contemplate society and their role within it, while also harboring a deep sense of justice and fairness. This makes it the perfect time to introduce service learning. Service projects are best formulated by allowing the students to drive the mission with adults serving as guides who help out with logistics.
Grace and courtesy - As children age, grace and courtesy becomes more about how to interact with others on a deeper level. School-aged children have a strong desire to socialize, but they still have a lot to learn about how to do so with grace. We can help - by teaching skills like conflict resolution, and by reading stories about children who encounter typical social situations, priming them for discussions that create solutions.
Going out - Elementary children are ready to engage with the larger community. By allowing them to plan trips that are related to their studies or areas of interests, a whole host of skills can be taught, including phone etiquette, taking public transportation, and how to behave in different settings and speak with different people. Beyond the scope of the traditional ‘field trip’, going out involves the development of critical life skills.

Adolescent environments

Business management - The Montessori adolescent environment is centered on the students working together to run a business. Their multiple years in the community mean they have opportunities to try out a wide variety of roles, too. While the traditional business is a working farm, many Montessori schools have adapted the concept to meet their own local needs.
Financial responsibility - Running a business includes making purchasing decisions, setting cost prices, and creating enough revenue to stay afloat. Montessori adolescents are able to have valuable practice making financial decisions before they ever leave for college.
Independent interactions with community members - Teens are social creatures, and Montessori programs allow them to develop connections with their larger community. Their work includes reaching out to and planning with other adults and businesses in the local community, giving them experience that will help them succeed in the future and be contributing members of their communities.
Meal planning, preparation, and food service - Whether this work is a part of their business or simply regular preparation of meals for one another, middle- and high-school Montessori students are able to have hands-on experience creating and serving meals to others. This will prepare them to learn healthy eating habits and nurture an appreciation for culinary arts.
Agricultural skills - Whether a Montessori adolescent program runs a full farm or a CSA for micro-greens, their work incorporates botany and an understanding of local agriculture. At the very least, this gives them an understanding and new connection to their larger food system.

Please note that the skills we have listed for each age group are far from exhaustive. These are just a few of the highlights! We hope you have found this article informative, and maybe even inspiring.

Is Montessori Right for Your Child?

hello@montessorithrive.com (Montessori Thrive) — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 07:05:31 GMT

Montessori education is a “whole child” approach to teaching that encompasses all areas of child development—cognitive, emotional, social, and physical. It encourages children and adolescents to learn at their own pace in an environment that fosters independence, problem-solving, creativity, and collaboration.

That said, parents may find that Montessori schools do things a little differently than traditional schools. This is not right or wrong; it is simply a different way of encouraging children to learn, and one that may or may not be the ideal fit for your family.

Let’s look at the questions from our quiz and which answers resonate most with Montessori parents. This will give you a better understanding of the Montessori classroom so you can decide if it is right for your child.

1. Children learn best when they are:

Given rewards, like stickers

Connected with internal motivation and interests

We believe learning should be an exciting and joyful experience for children—something they choose to do without the expectation of rewards for academic outcome, participation, or cooperation.

Instead of stickers or other prizes, the reward a child gets from the Montessori classroom is the self-assuredness that comes from reaching a new level of independence or learning a new skill.

2. I am choosing a school to:

Prepare my child for a traditional kindergarten

Prepare my child academically, socially, and emotionally for school and life

Montessori education is more about preparing children to become thoughtful and well-adjusted adults and less about making sure they advance to the next grade or academic level. This is achieved by creating a consistent pathway for learning that begins as early as infancy and carries through to elementary education and even beyond.

Therefore, it does not make sense to enroll your child in a Montessori Primary program, for example, if you intend to transfer them to a traditional kindergarten classroom the following year.

3. When considering education, I:

Am open to learning about all methods and want to find one that is the best match for my child

Believe traditional methods are the best option

Some parents prefer the structure and familiarity of a traditional classroom setting. This is absolutely fine.

However, because children tend to learn in different ways and at different paces, they often benefit from being in an environment that allows them to learn in the way that works best for them. The Montessori classroom is a great example.

A parent whose child may thrive in a Montessori school setting is one who believes in giving their child the freedom to make choices and guide their own learning journey in an environment that fosters imagination and independent thinking.

4. My child learns best when in an environment that is:

Orderly, bright, and peaceful

Noisy and full of visual stimulation

You will notice that Montessori classrooms have a calm, inviting atmosphere that tends to be quieter than walking into, say, a typical elementary school classroom; there are a couple reasons for this.

First, because Montessori students are given the freedom to choose their own activities, they are more likely to be fully engrossed in those activities and less likely to be asking the teacher for direction. Children move at their own pace throughout the classroom, and teachers are there primarily to ensure children are engaged and learning.

Second, because quieter environments have been shown to foster quality learning, Montessori students are encouraged to speak softly with each other and with their teachers. In this way, they learn to respect those around them and promote a positive learning environment.

5. The most important outcome for my child is to:

Be prepared to achieve in elementary school and beyond

Be a happy, well-adjusted, and self-motivated human being

Again, the Montessori method of education places a greater emphasis on self-paced, independent learning over making sure children advance to the next grade or academic level.

We believe learning should be an enjoyable experience that encourages children to work beside and respect one another while at the same time developing their individual personalities and unique talents.

6. The ideal school schedule for my child would be:

A few hours a couple of days a week

A consistent schedule 5 days a week

The Montessori program is thoughtfully structured to help children maximize their potential in an environment where they feel content and well adjusted, and a big part of that comes from consistency.

Children thrive on routines and knowing what to expect each day, which is why families who can commit to a consistent, 5-day-a-week schedule are those who benefit most from a Montessori education.

7. It is important that your child completes worksheets and memorizes facts at school.

True

False

Although often used in traditional school settings, worksheets and similar memorization and repetition tools are rarely (if ever) used in the Montessori classroom.

We believe children learn more effectively through hands-on experience and independent exploration rather than regurgitating facts onto a sheet of paper. Students are also more likely to retain important concepts when they are able to apply them to different situations and test their validity for themselves.

8. You want your child to:

Learn at their own pace and be challenged according to their unique ability

Learn according to a curriculum based upon their age

In a traditional education setting, parents are often told that a child is not “reading at their level” or that they should be “further along by now” in a certain subject or task because of their age.

In the Montessori classroom, children are encouraged to learn at their own pace and given the time and space necessary to fully understand each concept. Children naturally want to learn and understand things, and giving them the freedom and the opportunity to do so is the key to helping them achieve their learning goals.

9. I want my child to be in an environment that:

Encourages them to explore their interests, without interruption

Has an external curriculum taught at specific intervals each day

While traditional classrooms are very structured in terms of time (e.g. 30 minutes each day for Math, 30 minutes each day for Reading, etc.) the Montessori classroom is not. Instead, children can choose which activities they want to participate in and for how long, so as not to interrupt the learning and exploration process.

10. At school and home, I want my child to learn to be:

Independent and do things for themselves

To rely on adults for everyday life skills

One of the primary goals of the Montessori method is to teach children to think and do things for themselves instead of relying on adults for everything.

In the words of the American Montessori Society, “Given the freedom and support to question, probe deeply, and make connections, Montessori students grow up to be confident, enthusiastic, and self-directed learners and citizens, accountable to both themselves and their community.”

Montessori students learn at their own pace through observation, exploration, and experimentation. Although it is the perfect fit for many families, it is not the perfect fit for all families.

If you are interested in learning more about Montessori education and its unique benefits, we encourage you to schedule a tour or visit our blog to learn more.The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.