Technical Guidance

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 ...

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The semester is almost over!  Are you ready for the semester to be over? You have until December 11 to finish your classes! If you would like to participate in the graduation ceremony in January, make sure ALL the requirements are completed by Dec 11! If you have any questions, please contact our office at 336-734-7770

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 ...

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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...

There are many ways in which the Montessori environment can contribute to the developmental, social, and academic success of children with special needs. The materials in the environment, the multi-age grouping, and the focus on peace and cosmic education are just a few examples of core characteristics of Montessori that help all children meet their needs � especially those children who may need additional support. Montessori classrooms are filled with beautiful hands-on materials that engage all of the senses. Working with the materials provides a wonderful opportunity for children with special needs to use their hands to explore and learn and to develop fine and gross motor skills. Montessori students in the elementary age range are encouraged to follow their own interests when it comes to reading, writing, and research; this kind of freedom allows the special needs child to flourish. In addition to having the freedom to follow their interests, students are able to work at their own ...

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 �Individualization within the context of a supportive classroom community.� In today�s blog, Michelle kindly shares her classroom experiences to provide real-life examples of how Montessori meets that specific goal. Case 1 After working with three boys on the Stamp Game, I invited them to select a static addition card from the basket that they would like to work on with the material. Michael and Ephraim took a card that contained four-digit numbers. Jeremiah chose a card that contained two-digit numbers. I then asked the boys how many equations they were going to accomplish that mo...

The main thing is that the groups should contain different ages, because it has great influence on the cultural development of the child. This is obtained by the relations of the children among themselves. You cannot imagine how well a young child learns from an older child; how patient the older child is with the difficulties of the younger. �Maria Montessori The Child, Society and the World. It was my first year teaching in the Montessori lower elementary environment. I began my teaching career teaching high school, and was progressively making my way through the younger age groups. So far, I had taught every age group but Year 1�3. I have to admit, I was nervous about the children having separation anxiety and about getting through my first day with 18 first graders. But nothing prepared me for the parent who requested to have her child segregated from the older children in class. I thought that perhaps she was unsure of the mixed- or multi- age culture found in the Montessori envir...

In September 2015, the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services issued a joint policy statement on Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs that states that �all young children with disabilities should have access to inclusive high-quality early childhood programs, where they are provided with individualized and appropriate support in meeting high expectations.� Dr. Montessori believed that all children not only had the ability but the intrinsic motivation to learn. Separating and segregating children due to disabilities, giftedness, or other diversities does not align with the Montessori principal of cosmic, inclusive education. In fact, the Montessori environment, first established in 1906, is a leader in inclusive education. Montessori education follows the needs of the child, regardless of what those needs are. The teacher must be ready to respectfully accommodate individual needs within the environment rather than ma...

The semester is off to a great start! If you have not registered for the fall semester, please call us at 336.734.7770 to schedule your appointment. The school will be closed for Professional Development on Aug 9, 2016, so all computer labs will be closed this day.

This idea, that life acts of itself and that in order to study it, to divine its secrets or to direct its activity, it is necessary to observe it and to understand it without intervening � this idea, I say, is very difficult for anyone to assimilate and to put into practice. �Maria Montessori The Advanced Montessori Method, p. 198. When we observe students, we take on the role of scientist. According to Paul Epstein, Montessori �understood that observation places us in three different modes of experiential knowing: empirical, rational, and contemplative.� (Epstein, 1995) Types of Observations in the Montessori Environment Empirical observations are based on a comparison of quantities. We can look at the sensorial materials, for instance, and notice that they are all based on the decimal system. There are ten blocks for the Pink Tower, ten Red Rods, ten prisms for the Brown Stair, etc. Rational observations measure experiences derived from ideas, imagination, and logic. If all students ...

I have a confession to make. When I first became a Montessori teacher, I didn�t know the first thing about observing children. I thought observations were only about marking down on record-keeping sheets which presentations were given, when the child had practiced the activity, and when they mastered it... and then I read a quote from Dr. Montessori that started me questioning my observational practices. Often inexperienced teachers place great importance on teaching and believe they have done everything necessary when they have demonstrated the use of the materials in a meaningful way. In reality, they are far from the truth because the job of the teacher is rather more important than that. To her falls the task of guiding the development of the child�s spirit, and therefore her observations of the child are not to be limited solely to understanding him. All her observations must emerge at the end � and this is their only justification � in her ability to help the child. �Maria Montes...

Semester set to begin on July 11! The new semester will begin July 11. However, you will not be allowed to begin classes without re-testing. You MUST call the office (336-734-7770) to schedule a time before July 11th to retest. If you have not retested before July 11, you WILL NOT be able to retest until after July 18th. There will be no exceptions. Please call ASAP to schedule your appointment.  

Since the teacher�s task was to free each child to learn, and since each child, responding to the inner laws of his own organism, had different needs and a different developmental timetable, the teacher could not function effectively without an awareness of the infinity of variations in child behavior. Under the Montessori rubric, the teacher incapable of observation could not teach. �Rambusch, 1965 When I first read this, I was struck by the frankness of the message. Rather than putting observation on the back burner and attending to it when we found time, was Rambusch actually suggesting that we observe first? The simple answer is �yes.� Observation in the Montessori Environment: How do we follow the child, if we don�t observe him first? A NAMC student recently asked me for advice on how to encourage a child to work on math activities. She was having trouble helping him, as he refused to even go into the math area. I asked her tell me what she knew about the child�s interests and the...

The essential thing is to arouse such an interest that it engages the child's whole personality. �Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 206. We hear a lot about how Montessori focuses on educating the whole child. But what does that mean? How is whole child education different from that of mainstream contemporary education? Whole Child Education and the Montessori Environment A child�s mind must be educated before he is instructed that the true purpose of education is the cultivation of the intellect rather than an accumulation of facts. �John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693) Dr. Maria Montessori was a woman ahead of her time. During the industrial age, the role of the school was to create workers who would work for the betterment of the state. In fascist Italy, children were taught to be citizens of the state, with each gender having very specific roles to fulfill. Obedience to authority was demanded without opposition. Dr. Montessori refused to allow the governm...

Illustrated as it must be by fascinating charts and diagrams, the creation of earth as we now know it unfolds before the child�s imagination... �Maria Montessori To Educate the Human Potential, p. 2. The Montessori timelines in the NAMC History manual are beautiful presentations that naturally continue the excitement and awe the children experience during the presentation of the Five Great Lessons. These timelines can be made using directions from the NAMC manuals, printed from the Curriculum Support Material or purchased through Montessori suppliers. History Timelines in the Montessori Lower Elementary Classroom Before beginning the First Great Lesson and introducing the timelines, I like to present activities related to the concept of time as well as lessons about making and reading simple timelines. Both of these topics are presented in the NAMC Lower Elementary History manual. Many of the students also worked with simplified timelines in the Montessori early childhood environment. ...

Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!!! The semester is getting ready to end.  If your class is not complete, you need to do your best to finish it by the end of the day on Saturday , June 11.   The system will shut down, and you will lose access.  If you have not tested, you need to make an appointment to come by and retest.  You will not be able to begin the new semester on July 11, 2016, if you have not completed that retest.  

They [misbehaviors] are merely his reactions to an environment that has become inadequate...But we do not notice that. And since it is understood that the child must do what adults tell him, even though his environment no longer suits his needs, if he does not comply we say that he is �naughty� and correct him. Most of the time we are unaware of the cause of his �naughtiness.� Yet the child, by his conduct, proves what we have just said. The closed environment is felt as a constraint � �Maria Montessori From Childhood to Adolescence Helping young children through challenging behavior can be a challenge itself. Training, knowledge, and experience all help the early childhood teacher prepare for those inevitable times when a child requires some extra support. Recently, however, there seems to be a distressing trend to expel young children who exhibit challenging behavior. The rising expulsion rates in early childhood settings are staggering. Over 8,000 public preschool children were su...

As Montessorians, we welcome children to explore all the time. It is through their exploration and hands-on learning that they understand new ideas, solve problems, and come up with amazing innovations. This freedom that we allow in children, that we consistently encourage and support, should also be afforded the people we work with. When we inspire exploration in the workplace, our colleagues and staff feel invested in their work. They take the initiative to offer their ideas, explore new enterprises, and represent the organization in a positive way. As part of NAMC�s anniversary celebration, I have been asked to share 20 lessons that stand out in my experience of providing Montessori teacher training programs worldwide over the past 20 years. We are happy to share the next tip in our series that we are presenting over the next few weeks. I hope you find some of these ideas helpful in your own Montessori journey! � Dale Gausman, NAMC Program Director / Founder

Education should no longer be mostly imparting knowledge but must take a new path seeking the release of human potential �Maria Montessori I started my Montessori school because I wanted to create an environment that was enriching, engaging, and encouraging for children. I wanted to build a school that implements the work and research of Maria Montessori because I believe in her philosophy so strongly. It is a very rewarding experience to see the students� joy as they embrace a love for learning and truly appreciate their schooling experience. Montessori education, especially in the early years, provides a strong and significant foundation that students carry with them throughout their schooling experience. Owning and Running a Montessori School - A Teacher's Perspective The Montessori teacher does not just educate the child on curricular objectives; she cultivates the development of the whole child. I believe in setting high expectations for students and helping them reach their f...