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Dear AMS Community, As we approach the end of the year and embrace the holiday season, I find myself reflecting on the shared journey we’ve embarked upon as a community deeply committed to the principles of Montessori education. It is your passion, dedication, and resilience that continue to inspire me and reaffirm the profound impact of our collective efforts. At the heart of all that we do is a steadfast belief in the transformative power of Montessori education. It is a vision that unites us, a philosophy that empowers us, and a mission that propels us forward. Every day, you are nurturing the minds and hearts of young learners, shaping the future with the tools of independence, curiosity, and respect. It’s no small feat, and your unwavering commitment is a light of hope and possibility. As we look toward the new year, it is important to recognize the challenges we have overcome and the progress we have made—both individually and as a collective. Whether through innovative educational practices, deepened professional development, or the continued advocacy for Montessori at the local, state, and national levels, we are building a brighter future for children everywhere. It’s because of your tireless work that Montessori education continues to thrive and evolve. During this holiday season, I hope you find moments of peace, joy, and connection with loved ones, and perhaps a little time to recharge and reflect on the remarkable impact you have on the lives of children. Our community is a living testament to the power of collaboration and shared vision, and I am so grateful to be on this journey with all of you. Looking ahead to 2025, we will continue to innovate, advocate, and support one another in our shared mission. The work of Montessori is as relevant today as it has ever been, and together, we will continue to shape the future of education for generations to come. On behalf of everyone at the American Montessori Society, I want to thank you for your

Tuskawilla Montessori Academy’s Longstanding Presence at The Montessori Event The Montessori Event has always been the largest gathering of Montessori minds in the world. Beginning in 1962, the annual conference has brought together the Montessori community to grow, learn, and network for many years. Like so many of their fellow Montessorians, the faculty of Tuskawilla Montessori Academy (TMA) has attended the event year after year, relishing in the memories they make and the knowledge they gain. They value the experience so much, in fact, that they have sent at least one of their faculty members every year since 1987! When asked about their longstanding history with attending the annual event, Ansley DeLaney, TMA’s director of culture and events, shared, “We’ve been attending for so long, it’s become a tradition that we all look forward to!” Whether they are attending for the very first time or have been going year after year, TMA teachers find TME to be an enriching and exciting experience. They remark on the inspirational nature of workshops and presentations that allow them to engage with new ideas, methodologies, and stories. Although one might believe that there is not much new to see (or hear) for veteran Montessorians who have attended TME in the past, Ansley disagrees. When asked about the value of regular attendance at the conference, she shared, “Attending regularly offers insights into changes and developments within the Montessori approach, helping our administration and teachers adapt our practices to meet the evolving needs of the students. Education is an evolving field and we continue to use the conference as a way to provide our teachers with ongoing professional development.” The pursuit of continued education is highly valued at TMA. They encourage their teachers to attend conferences each year to extend their learning. The school’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA) sponsors one teacher each year in their pursuit of professional

In part one of Beyond Three-Part Cards: Winter Botany Lessons, we addressed the potential drawbacks of overusing the botany nomenclature cards for plant studies. Specifically, we noted that going through the three-part cards systematically can become monotonous and cumbersome for both teachers and children. We suggested that the cards be used to review and reinforce newly introduced concepts and vocabulary, with live specimens used as the focal point of most botany lessons. We offered alternative approaches to botany studies, such as creating lessons around themes, a plant-of-the-month, or visiting plants (Spears, 2010) to add variety, interest, and a break from the three-part cards. For December, there may be perhaps no more suitable plant-of-the-month than the poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima). Ubiquitous this time of year, and much admired for its decorative and festive contribution to the season, the poinsettia may be overlooked in terms of the lessons it provides not only in botany, but in history, geography, research, vocabulary, writing, ecology, and environmental stewardship. Just as with conifers, teachers will find enough lessons centered around the poinsettia to last a month or longer. Botany Lessons The first feature most people notice about the poinsettia is its beautiful bright red “flower” (although cultivars are available in pink, orange, yellow, cream, speckled, and variegated colors). This colorful feature of the poinsettia is not a flower at all, however, but a group of bracts—modified leaves that attract pollinators. The poinsettia’s unassuming flowers are grouped within the small yellow structures (cyathia) at the center of the bracts. Students can use the First Knowledge of Plants research questions and other resources to explore the poinsettia’s: form (shrub or small tree) leaf type (broad, flat, ovate shape, entire or sparsely toothed margin) duration/life cycle (perennial) climate zone and biome (tropical/tropical dry

In Part One of our series on Practical Life through the ages, we explored the Early Childhood exercises that help the first-plane child develop order, coordination, concentration, and independence. Given that the second-plane child has, in large part, gained these basic skills, the Practical Life area at the Elementary level shifts in its purpose. Montessori articulates the differences in From Childhood to Adolescence, writing that as the child in the first plane has “won his independence” through the Practical Life exercises: The continuation of these exercises would be useless now that the child is independent; that is to say, he knows how to devote himself to an activity for which he will no longer need to ask help of the adult and for which he has coordination of movement. Practical Life, therefore, looks very different for older children, although it encompasses the same major areas: care of the environment, Grace and Courtesy, and care of self and others. In this installment, we will explore some of the differences between the two levels: how care of the environment moves beyond the classroom walls curriculum connections how care of self extends to care of others additional levels of Grace and Courtesy correspondence of the Practical Life exercises to Erik Erikson’s psycho-social stages of development additional considerations for Practical Life in the second plane Practical Life in the Elementary Classroom As important as the Practical Life area is, it is sometimes neglected at the Elementary level in favor of more time and teacher energy spent on academics. Mary Schneider, director of the Montessori Education Institute of the Pacific Northwest (MEIPN), states in her Elementary 1 Practical Life course (2021) that: Teachers can undervalue Practical Life because of the demands of the more academic areas, but doing so decreases the children’s interests in those areas and deprives them of options to develop a variety of skills … This is so unfortunate

Lorna Cohen, a recent graduate of the AMS Emerging Leaders Fellowship Program, is the co-founder of Florida Montessori Partnerships (FMP), an organization that “works to support the Montessori community across the state of Florida through advocacy, research, and collaboration.” Lorna grew up in Puerto Rico in a large family who deeply valued service and education. Lorna holds AMS Early Childhood and Elementary credentials along with several state certifications. She works as the Associate Director of Montessori Curriculum and Instruction at Countryside Montessori Charter School (CMCS) in Land O’ Lakes, FL. In this digital interview, Lorna shares her story, revealing how her experience as an AMS Emerging Leaders Fellow impacted her professional journey. What was the most valuable aspect of your experience in the Emerging Leaders Fellowship Program? Lorna: The Emerging Leaders Fellowship was an incredible opportunity and a gift of collaboration, leadership, personal and professional growth, and a key element to making contact with great leaders in the Montessori community. The most valuable aspect, for me, was the ability to surround myself with people who have the same desires and concerns that I have, and who want to be a part of change. The opportunity to work with Montessorians like Gay Ward and Michelle Hartye who bring out knowledge in you that you didn’t even know you possessed. The bond that is created with other members and leaders of the cohort is also so special. Throughout the 30 years I have spent in Montessori and as an AMS member, this by far was the most enlightening experience of my professional career! How did your experience in the Fellowship impact your career? Lorna: The Emerging Leaders Fellowship has been everything for my career! It strengthened my beliefs and my core values. It helped me to grow from teacher to coordinator to associate director at CMCS and also reassured me that I was ready for other challenges such as pursuing my

When teachers make plans for their year-long cultural and science lessons, botany lessons are often grouped by season: leaves and seeds in autumn, flowers and fruit in spring. Some teachers may offer zoology or other science lessons in winter, given that, on the surface, there doesn’t seem to be much going on in the plant world during these months (we’ll come back to this). There is much focus in the Montessori botany curriculum on classified nomenclature: three-part cards (picture, label, definition) that children match and often copy into a notebook. This material includes parts of the plant, parts of the leaf, parts of the roots, the stem, the flower, and the seed. Once teachers and students get through this initial series, there are more: types of the parts and parts of the parts (types of leaf margins, parts of the stamen, specialized stems, accessory structures in fruit, etc.). This work supports the Elementary child’s developmental predisposition to classify and systematize their knowledge, much like categorizing books in a library, thus consolidating their collection of seemingly unrelated facts absorbed during their Early Childhood years. And yet, it can be meaningless and dull for children (and teachers) to go through the botany nomenclature part by part; an emphasis on learning the names of parts without applying that knowledge to observations and descriptions may render this work monotonous and, in the mind of the child, irrelevant. It is more aligned with Montessori’s emphasis on hands-on learning, therefore, not to use the nomenclature cards to introduce any part of the plant, and certainly not as the focal point of any lesson. Teachers will find children more engaged with botany studies if they introduce concepts using live or preserved plants (even in winter), then utilize the three-part cards to review and reinforce new vocabulary. For example, children will likely remember–and find more interesting–the difference between palmate veins

The next period goes from six to twelve. It is a period of growth unaccompanied by other change. The child is calm and happy. Mentally, he is in a state of health, strength, and assured stability. —Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, p. 18 In Part 1 of our series on the planes of development and sensitive periods, we introduced and defined these core concepts of Montessori education as the rationale for the multi-age classroom, which itself is foundational to Montessori philosophy and pedagogy. We reviewed the sensitive periods of the first-plane child and how the prepared environment of the Early Childhood classroom reflects their specific needs and predispositions with a curriculum and materials that match the inner development of the young child. The present article focuses on the same for the Elementary program. To reiterate, we defined the planes of development as four distinct periods, with the red areas characterizing times of rapid growth and profound change, while the blue areas represent more quiet, stable periods where growth occurs, but with relatively little change. Each of the periods is divided into three-year sub-planes, which are the bases of each level of the Montessori program: First Plane 0 – 3 Years (Infant & Toddler) 3 – 6 Years (Early Childhood) Second Plane 6 – 9 Years (Lower Elementary) 9 – 12 Years (Upper Elementary) Third Plane 12 – 15 Years (Middle School) 16 – 18 Years (High School) The Second Plane of Development (Lower & Upper Elementary) Montessori writes about the absorbent mind as a defining characteristic of the first-plane child. This means that the child in the first plane takes in impressions from the environment and mentally records them. The 6 – 12 year-old child, on the other hand, reflects and reasons about their observations. Montessori shares the following anecdote, comparing the absorbent mind of the first-plane child with the reasoning mind of the second-plane child (2019): In a school we were

Read part 1 of Tatenda’s interview here. What are some of the projects Montessori on Wheels has implemented? Tatenda: We have four distinct programs that we have implemented within the Denver Metro area. Our first program which, I think really sort of defines our mission, is what we call Montessori Exposure, where we take the bus to your parking spot and then we introduce people to Montessori education. [Participants] get on the bus and they get to touch the materials, ask questions, and really engage in this hands-on learning with a little write-up on each material or in each area of the Montessori curriculum. The idea really is to just give that exposure that this is Montessori education, these are the materials. You can touch them; you can explore them; you can ask questions. We get to know you; you get to know Montessori education. Then we have our School Partnership where we [partner with neighborhood schools that BIPOC students attend] with this asset best mindset that there is already some offering of education there in our community. We come and do either intervention through the Montessori approach or offer public school teachers an opportunity to see us doing math [or language] in a Montessori way, so that they can enhance and expand their toolkit to then offer to those kids in their classroom that they might think would thrive more in a hands-on way of instruction. We have another program that we also do similar to our School Partnership; our Community Partnership. We partner with existing organizations, nonprofits that are already doing good work within the community to enrich their program. We work with programs that work with refugee women and refugee kids, be it with social services or mental health, and [we bring] that education enrichment to their programs or to their offerings because they already have the community or already have people who are accessing some services within their organization. We then partner with them to offer