Winter 2012
volume 24 number 4
As the confetti (and perhaps the dust) settles after yet another contentious election season, thoughts of peace, real peace, are like diaphanous curtains, too easy to see through and too difficult to grasp. Maria Montessori wrote much about peace and education in the last years of her life. Having survived two world wars and witnessed the beginnings of the Cold War, she clearly felt deeply about ...
We do not need to agree on what “perfect” Montessori education would look like. It has never existed and never will. Montessori education has developed over time, adapted to different cultures, and is now changing to meet the needs of learners, workers, and citizens of the 21st century. Each of our different associations, schools, teacher education programs, researchers, and teachers is part of what I refer to as the collaborative process of “co-creating” the future of Montessori education. To achieve unity in our vision, I propose that we strive for...
On August 31, 2012, which happens to be Maria Montessori’s birthday, Montessori was the subject of the Google Doodle (the artwork on Google’s homepage). An arrangement of Montessori materials spelled out the word “Google.” An estimated 1 billion search requests were made that day, and anyone who clicked on the picture of the Montessori materials was linked to ...
When explaining Montessori concepts, our listeners automatically assign their own personal interpretation to our words, which may lead to confusion or resistance. Both reactions are barriers to the acceptance of Montessori pedagogy. When we encounter resistance or confusion, we must consider the possibility that ...
I just finished reading the summer issue of Montessori Life, with the feature article “Montessori Education: An Idea Whose Time Has Come” (Volume 24, No. 2, 2012). Ms. Torrence restated many ideas that have been echoed in conferences, training programs, and numerous articles over the past several years: that Montessori’s scientific approach to the child as learner serves to cultivate a future adult more adaptable to our present world (place and time). This stands in opposition to ...
UPCOMING AMS DEADLINES
Ursula Thrush Peace Seed Grant: Submissions due February 1, 2013
Teacher Education Scholarships: Submissions due May 1, 2013
In a decade when brain research has helped us understand learning difficulties in children, and we have seen increased media attention on the use of medications to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adults, Dr. Edward (Ned) Hallowell has worked tirelessly to educate the medical profession, parents, educators, and particularly the media about the disorder. He has also worked to keep the well-being of the child at the forefront of debates, misunderstandings, and parental anxieties ...
Concentration is a sine qua non, a hallmark, of a Montessori Casa program. Yet, it happens that some children do not concentrate. They do not engage with the materials in the classic pattern of normalization. They are not challenged by ADD, ADHD, or a variant of sensory integration spectrum disorder. Instead of working alone, they prefer the company of others; they prefer to learn with others. We may wonder if their natural intelligence is ...
This article describes the nature of imaginary play as observed in some Montessori classrooms and lays the groundwork for developing a position statement on imaginary play for the early childhood years. In view of prevailing research supporting the importance of pretend play in the child’s overall development, the stage is set for an interchange of ideas on whether Montessori’s original proposal to align imagination with the elementary curriculum still holds true, or if the time has come to realize that pretend play has something to offer early childhood classrooms ...
From my perch, annual conferences appear to be incubators of knowledge, ripe with possibilities for new and/or improved practices, and filled with moments of reflection and discussion. However, conferences can also be landscapes that allow or perhaps foster behavior entirely unrepresentative of committed Montessori practice ...
“When we think of peer pressure, we think of teenagers and the reasons they start smoking or drinking,” says Daniel Haun of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. “We don’t necessarily think of two-year-olds as being under peer pressure. But it turns out they are...”
In Montessori Parenting: Unveiling the Authentic Self, Dr. Jim and Sonnie McFarland present a model for parenting that is based on an understanding of the divine within each child. This approach affirms what the McFarlands call the “Authentic Self”: the child’s essential nature, which is revealed when he is parented with love, respect, and spiritual nurturing...
Carol Dweck suggests that, as Americans, we tend to disdain effort and celebrate those whose accomplishments appear to be effortless. The effort mindset, on the other hand, holds that an individual who believes in himself and works hard to develop himself will succeed in fulfilling his potential—a very Montessori concept ...
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My son and I were talking about various people’s different dietary choices, like vegetarians, vegans, people on gluten-free diets, etc. He mentioned that he had heard that some vegetarians won’t “eat anything that has a face.” He then asked me...