I’ll never forget how grown up my sister and I felt the first time we ate at a restaurant with fancy, folded napkins. We felt like elegant ladies dining with their parents rather than the little girls we really were. Later, when we returned home, setting the table no longer seemed the chore it once … Napkin Folding Montessori Practical Life Activity: Perfect for the Holidays
This is the second of a two-part article. Click here to see Part 1.Several years ago, two weeks before a new school year began, my director came to me with bad news. My Montessori assistant’s husband had been transferred and they were relocating out of state. Not to worry, my director said, she would find … The Importance of the Montessori Preschool / Kindergarten Assistant: A Guide To Success
When we speak about freedom in education we mean freedom for the creative energy which is the urge of life towards the development of the individual. ~ Maria Montessori, The Child, Society and the World The Montessori assistant plays a very important role in the overall success of the Montessori environment. She provides support to … Becoming a Montessori Preschool / Kindergarten Assistant: Role and Requirements
It is not enough to ensure for the child food, clothing and shelter; on the satisfaction of his more spiritual needs the progress of humanity depends – the creation indeed of a stronger and better humanity. ~ Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential We’re past the newness of the beginning of the school year. We’ve normalized. … Universal Children’s Day: Montessori Classroom Activity Ideas
Children must experience social life through living, through experience. ~ Maria Montessori, The Child, Society and the World I was teaching in a lower elementary Montessori environment two years ago. As Thanksgiving approached, I found myself wanting to do some impressionistic lessons that would really capture the imagination of my Montessori students while imparting the … The Meaning of Thanksgiving for the Montessori Classroom: Making Thanksgiving Come Alive with Scholastic
Education depends on a belief in the power of the child and on a certainty that the child has within himself the capacity to develop into a being that is far superior to us. He will not only be capable of a better way of living, but will be the only person who can show … Veterans Day and Remembrance Day in the Montessori Classroom: Promoting History and Service
As a Montessori teacher, I try not to assign copious amounts of homework. I believe a student’s homework is meant to be in the form of sharing time with family and participating around the home. When I do assign homework, I try to make sure it is significant and meaningful. Projects, reading literature, and assignments … The Language of Virtue, Character Education Activities and Taking Montessori Home
[The child] learns everything without knowing he is learning it, and in doing so he passes little by little from the unconscious to the conscious, treading always in the paths of joy and love. ~Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind Abraham Maslow developed a humanistic approach to psychology in the early 1940’s. Rather than focusing on … Maslow and Montessori: Hierarchy of Human Needs and The Prepared Environment
Most Montessori schools where I have worked did not want classroom celebrations of popular holidays. It was not that these schools wanted to ignore the existence of these holidays; they simply felt the Montessori classroom was not the appropriate place for the commercial “candy fests” that most of the holidays- especially Halloween- had become. A … Halloween and Dia de los Muertos in the Montessori Classroom: Montessori Appropriate Activities
The essence of independence is to be able to do something for one’s self. -Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind. When my son entered his first Montessori classroom at age 5, he was drawn, as if by a magnet, to the Practical Life area of the classroom. I have to admit, the small pitchers, the child-size … Elementary Montessori Practical Life Activities Explained: Independence and Responsibility
