Things want to be used, and well-made things have an aesthetic that yields to their usage over time.

Interestingly, Montessori thought that children primarily desiring “possession” of objects as opposed to “use” of objects is an early indication that development is off track.

“Man builds himself through working. Nothing can take the place of work, neither physical well-being nor affection, and, on the other hand, deviations cannot be corrected by either punishment or example.”

Montessori

> your 20s aren’t serious, relax

> teenagers should be wild and irresponsible

> childhood is supposed to be fun and carefree

Your 20s are serious, adolescence is serious, childhood is serious, and your life is serious.

If you take children seriously but don’t take adults seriously, it backfires.

You end up with child-centered parenting/education with nothing to center the child.

Montessori believed there's a tempting, but mistaken, way to understand child development.

Without correcting this error, our approach to parenting & education does more than hold children back, it can warp them.

A kind of foot-binding for the soul.

The mistake goes like this:

“…man is the king of the earth, of all things visible and invisible, he penetrates the secrets of life, growing new flowers and breeding new animals…, increasing through chemistry the natural produce of the earth, transforming things as though by magical powers.”

Montessori

In conventional schools, kids often wait until 3rd grade or later to learn to multiply and divide large numbers

Think operations like: 5432 x 23 or 785 / 14

But in Montessori schools, kids learn this at ~5yo or even earlier. How is this possible?

Here's a common critique of Montessori:

>Montessori rushes child development.

>Why do toddlers need to sweep the floor or wash windows? Why should 3-year-olds learn to read? Just let kids be kids!

There is something right and something *deeply wrong* with this critique:

“The routine follows the environment” is such a powerful principle of childrearing.

It won’t always get you all the way to the outcomes you want but it’s surprising how often it does. Set up 4yo’s room with a new dresser and now she’s dressing herself most mornings.

Most children are taught to read starting with the alphabet.

But this is incredibly abstract, and one major reason why learning to read is traditionally so miserable.

Montessori discovered a better way to build literacy, and it starts with *toddlers*:

'The education of even a small child, therefore, does not aim at preparing him for school but for life'

-Maria Montessori

How to ignite a love of learning in elementary:

Instead of disconnected facts to memorize, give them a world to *categorize*

Instead of longwinded lectures, empower curiosity-driven adventures.

Instead of study dictated by a test, let them go as deep & broad as their interest.

“To become conscious of the essential help given by it, to feel how indispensable it is to achieve perfection, success, and therefore the joy of the spirit; this is the greatest urge to study.”

Montessori

I'm designing a new Montessori Essentials course for educators who are getting started in a Montessori school for the first time.

Aside from the how-to's that this intro course teaches, it highlights a series of distinct features.

Take a look at what they are👇

How do you help a child learn to think precisely?

To not settle for just-so stories or a fuzzy understanding?

To care more about the truth than winning an argument?

Start at 3yo, as we do in Montessori, with activities that require the child to *perceive* the world clearly.

How can geography be accessible and fascinating for a 3yo? Make it:

a) sensory-rich — to feel various formations

b) cognitively rewarding — where finding exciting logical connections is a payoff for their focus

e.g. an isthmus and a strait simply have land & water inverted!

Montessori:

“The essential thing is for the task to arouse such an interest that it engages the child’s whole personality. …

“Activity freely chosen becomes [this child’s] regular way of living.

Discovering Montessori was a game-changer for me as a new parent.

Seeing my now 4yo and 5yo navigate their learning with such independence and joy, I’m constantly reminded of the powerful impact of this educational approach.

1. Samantha Joy

Samantha is on the team at Higher Ground Education, the largest network of Montessori schools in the world.

She's helping build a future where you can have quality Montessori education in every city, even if you travel or move.

She's also raising an 8yo and a 10yo

9. Matt Bateman

Matt Bateman is the co-founder of Higher Ground Education Montessori.

He writes extensively about the Montessori approach to educating kids, and the history of education, and what school should be (plus shares entertaining anecdotes about his own two small children).