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It follows that the child’s character develops in accordance with the obstacles he has encountered or the freedom favoring his development that he has enjoyed. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 195. The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 18: Character and Its Defects in Childhood In today’s era of political correctness, to use the term ‘defect’ with children seems harsh and out of place. We think of things being defective, not people. Etymologically speaking, the term defect means a failure or falling away (desertion) rather than in reference to something being broken. When looked at in that respect, we can read Chapter 18 less defensively. In this case, the defects in character do not stem not from the child but from the behavior of the adults in the child’s life. Montessori grouped character defects in children into two categories: characteristics shown by children with strong wills “who resist and overcome the obstacles they meet,” (Montessori, p. 197) and characteristics shown by child...

As I was driving through my neighborhood this week, I noticed small signs scattered about town that advertised the local Montessori school. All that was written on the signs was the name of the school and the phone number. I don’t think there are many parents who would pull off the road to stop and copy the phone number down. However, these types of signs are meant to call attention rather than give information. If the school is lucky, parents will remember the name and Google it when they get home. If the school has planned well, they will have a strong online presence to satisfy curious parents. Increasing Montessori Enrollments with Online Marketing Why online, you ask? Why wouldn’t just a simple phone number work? Today’s parents are anything but simple. Eighty percent of all births can be attributed to Millennial Generation parents, people born between 1981 and 2000, and these parents are “wired.” (Murray, 2014) A 2012 eMarketer.com survey says that of the 86 million Millenials: 9...

The results we obtain with our little ones contrast oddly with the fact that mathematics is so often held to be a scourge rather than pleasure in school programs. Most people have developed ‘mental barriers’ against it. Yet all is easy if only its roots can be implanted in the absorbent mind. — Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 186. Dr. Montessori tells us that it is human nature to distinguish between and order our world based on similarities and differences of perceived qualities. The world around us is made of precise rules that follow an exact, measured order. “In our work, therefore, we have given a name to this part of the mind which is built up with exactitude, and we all it ‘the mathematical mind.’” (Montessori, p. 185) The Absorbent Mind Chapter 17: Further Elaboration, Part 3 - The Mathematical Mind Montessori created the Sensorial materials to provide a “system of materialized abstractions, or of mathematics.” (Montessori, p. 186) Each material clearly and concretely d...

Is the child’s mental horizon limited to what he sees? No. He has a type of mind that goes beyond the concrete. He has the great power of imagination. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 175-76. One of the great arguments against Montessori is the idea that Montessori education is “anti-imagination.” I assure you, nothing can be further from the truth! Montessori believed that “picturing, or conjuring up, of things not physically present depends on a special mental ability of higher order.” (Montessori, p. 176) If our knowledge was based only on what can be gained through our senses, we would have a very shallow grasp of the world around us. When do children develop their imagination? During the first plane of development, children are very concrete thinkers. They must experience the world through their senses in order to process information about it. Montessori found that children who were 3–6 year olds could make abstract connections. For instance, children working with the San...

Lately I have been hearing about parents worried about “summer brain drain.” Their worry seems compounded by the plethora of advertising on the web, marketing ploys aimed at keeping children constantly learning. I have also seen signs on telephone poles for all sorts of learning camps, and even the local library’s summer reading series is focusing on retention. From the media, it appears that as soon as students walk out of school on the last day, their brains instantly turn off and the flow of information stops and even regresses. Summer learning loss is a real phenomenon, more often effecting children who are from lower income families. On average, however, the regression is not significant and equals about a month of learning. (Raulerson, 2013) Without formal instruction, mathematics tends to suffer more than reading. (Raulerson, 2013) This makes sense as it is easier for most parents and students to pick up a book than specfically work on math skills. Incorporating Montessori Learn...