Dr. Montessori defined an Absorbent Mind when a “child is effortless assimilating the sensorial stimuli of the environment” One analogy for this concept: a sponge soaking in everything within the environment. Another analogy: a camera snapping images of everything it sees through the lens. “The ‘absorbent mind‘ welcomes everything, puts its hope in everything, accepts […]
Montessori Philosophy
What are Montessori Sensitive Periods of Child Development?
Within that concept of the Absorbent Mind, she defined Sensitive Periods of Development. The Montessori framework recognizes several important stages in a child’s learning. Sensitive periods are critical milestones where children are particularly open to acquiring certain skills. These distinctions help adults structure their kids’ learning activities. Furthermore, knowledge of this concept allows adults to understand a […]
How to Get Your Child to Play Independently
Do you know those kids who can sit and play independently for what seems like hours? Yeah, those children aren’t mine. It felt like while other kids played by themselves happily, my children acted as my shadow and hung onto my legs as I tried to get something done around the house. This scene was […]
Can I afford Montessori?
You’ve seen this comparison before. “Montessori Versus Traditional.” Does the debate miss a critical point? The fact that Montessori is not affordable to the masses? Trevor Eissler of Montessori Madness will open your eyes to the “debate” from a different perspective but not without a bit of controversy. Watch Trevor’s take on Montessori Versus Traditional […]
Why Your Child Repeats Himself – Repetition and Child Development
‘Maybe, just maybe, if you waited a moment, the child would dump the puzzle over and do it again. Maybe if you paused and observed the child instead of interrupting the work, or even giving a “great work!” you allow the child to own that experience and perfect his work. Praising might send a confusing […]
How to Observe Children in a Montessori Classroom
As you may know, delivering a quality Montessori education is a lot of work. Preparing and maintaining an environment that meets every child’s needs, creating curriculum, guiding children to practice community-created rules, reporting progress to parents and administrators, identifying developmental milestones and more, the job of a teacher is overwhelming and depends on a variety […]