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Learning to think is not the same thing as learning to memorize.  Thinking requires infinitely more effort and involves much more brain activity than reciting something back.  Thinking involves inquiry, innovation, creativity, analysis, synthesis, problem solving, persistence, self-confidence, self-motivation, independence and even courage.  That is why the emphasis in a Montessori classroom is on children…

There seem to be more and more things competing for time in the day. With parents’ busy schedules, unpredictable weather and the temptation of television, computer games and other electronics when children arrive home after school, it is not hard to believe that, statistically, children in our country are getting a lot less unstructured outdoor…

Practical Life and Sensorial Activities in a Montessori 3-6 Classroom Are Foundational for Math. Math is an abstract concept. The ability to count, compute and use numerical relationships are hugely significant human achievements. The number system is an abstract invention that has been created over thousands of years. In primitive societies, the counting went “one,…

The Importance of the 3-Year Montessori Cycle & the Montessori Kindergarten Year: The primary Montessori program is designed as a three-year cycle. Ideally children from 3 – 6 years old stay with the same teacher right through their kindergarten year. The third year, or Montessori kindergarten year, is when all the learning that has taken…

In her analysis of Montessori education, University of Virginia Professor, Angeline S. Lillard, Ph.D. notes eight fundamental ideas central to Montessori education that in her words, help provide students with superior educational outcomes: Movement and cognition are closely intertwined; physical movement can enhance thinking and learning. Choice and perceived-control promote children’s concentration and contentment in…