Welcome! I’m glad you’re back. We’re just beginning a year-long series called Montessori 101: Your Introduction to Montessori Education. We’re going to be looking at the basics of the Montessori method.

But before we dive in, I think it’s important we learn about the woman the name Montessori and how the Montessori method came to be.

Who was Maria Montessori?

Maria Montessori is best known as the founder of the Montessori Method. A woman ahead of her time, determined and unflinching against society’s conventions.

Montessori was born on August 31, 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy. As a young child, Maria was eager to learn and was encouraged by her mother to pursue her scholastic endeavors, even though her father didn’t want her educated beyond secondary schooling.

At 13, Montessori entered an all-boys technical school in preparation for becoming an engineer. After technical school she continued pursuing her dream of becoming an engineer. Later she entered the University of Rome La Sapienza Medical School in pursuit of a medical degree.

Montessori’s greatest challenge in medical school was being in a male-dominated field regularly disrespected by her peers and forced to dissect cadavers on her own at night (due to university policy). Montessori persevered and became the first female doctor in Italy. She would work in various positions that would shape her future: pediatrics, psychiatric clinics, and hospitals (one for children).

After graduating from the University of Rome, Maria worked at the university’s psychiatric clinic, often visiting children in the general insane asylums of Rome. During these visits, she was convinced even these children, who were considered “mentally deficient” and cast aside by society, could be educated.

Montessori went to London and Paris to study the works of Jean Itard and Edouard Ségun, both who became great early influencers of the Method, in hopes of finding a better way to care and teach these children. (Itard & Segun studied and researched the cognitive processes in children with intellectual disabilities.)

How was the Montessori Method developed?

In 1896, Maria gave a speech at the Educational Congress in Torino on her findings from working with these children. The Minister of Education was in attendance and intrigued by Montessori’s discoveries appointed her as director of Scuola Ortofrenica, an institution devoted to the care and education of the mentally disabled. Her two years there Montessori considered her real training, observing the children, testing hypotheses, and building materials. She came to this conclusion,

“I felt that the methods which I used had in them nothing peculiarly limited to the instruction of idiots. I believed that they contained educational principles more rational than in use, so much more so, indeed, that through their means an inferior mentality would be able to grow and develop. Thus feeling, so deep as to be in the nature of an intuition, became my controlling idea after I had left the school for deficients, and, little by little, I became convinced that similar methods applied to normal children would develop or set free their personality in a marvelous and surprising way.”

-Maria Montessori, The Montessori Method, 33

Success came when a few of her students took the state examinations for reading and writing and passed with above-average scores. Montessori saw this and thought that if these methods brought mentally disabled children to the level of normal children, then, she wondered, how it would increase the potential of normal children. She would soon have her chance to find out.

Not long after this discovery became known, Montessori was asked to start a school in a housing project in Rome. The children ran free and, oftentimes, were destructive while their parents were at work. The developers saw Montessori as an opportunity to reign in the unruly children and save their housing project.

The school opened in San Lorenzo on January 1907 and was called Casa dei Bambini, or Children’s House. Montessori gave the children an opportunity to learn by teaching them everyday chores to puzzles and other interesting constructive activities. Montessori’s time at Casa dei Bambini also allowed her to further observe and develop her method.

Montessori built a natural environment for the children, one in which “everything is suitable for his age and growth, where possible obstacles to his development are removed, and where he is provided means to exercise his growing faculties” (Lillard, Montessori: A Modern Approach, 4).

Montessori was surprised by how happy and satisfied the children where when concentrating on a task of interest, even repeating it over and over. Children learned by doing things themselves, correcting their own mistakes, having freedom to chose their work and materials, as well as not receiving a reward or punishment for their efforts. She found the students didn’t care about rewards and if they were rewarded often ignored the prize or gave it away. She believed the children were searching for a sense of personal dignity and found it in work.

She also learned that children prefer order, responsibility in regard to their environment, doing real-life work with real materials, working in quiet, and learning socially acceptable personal care. She respected the child and believed in his or her capability.

As news of Montessori’s school and its results spread, people became more and more interested in Montessori and her method. So Montessori began giving lectures, writing pamphlets and later books, and even going on to give teacher training courses in the method.

Montessori continued experimenting with her philosophy, discovering children’s needs and abilities, and creating an environment and materials to bring about the child’s full potential.

In her later years, Montessori traveled extensively throughout Europe, India, and even to America giving lectures, teaching training courses, visiting schools, and displaying her classroom’s at exhibitions. She received many honors and was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times. She also received numerous honors and titles throughout Europe. In the year before her death, she taught her last teacher-training course and spoke at the International Montessori Council (IMC), having lived through two world wars many of her talks focused on educating children to live peaceably.

Montessori gave the world a new way to educate children, a way that brought life and discovery to learning.

Are you new here? Welcome! We’ve just started a year-long series—Montessori 101! Sign up for the Our Montessori Home Newsletter and you won’t miss a post! Find out more about the series.

Do you love the Montessori method, but wish you knew more? Are you a Montessori homeschooler or parent in need of a refresher course? Have you seen the hundreds of Montessori pins on Pinterest and wondered what it’s all about?

Maybe you want to know why Montessorians do the things they do…floor beds? Pink towers? What’s up with all those beads? Why is the 3-period lesson so important?

Sensitive periods? Is Montessori for babies and toddlers? What does it even mean to follow the child?

Well, guess what? I’ve got just the thing for you!

Montessori 101: Your Introduction to Montessori Education

This year we’re going back to the basics at Our Montessori Home. We’re going to be spending a year getting to know the in’s and out’s of the Montessori method. Think of it as your introductory Montessori course.

Each month we’ll look at a new area of the Montessori philosophy and method. Every week you can find a new post on that month’s specific topic.

Want to know what’s even better? Other than no tests?

At the end of each post, you’ll find helpful hints, tips, or questions to help you get started applying what you’ve learned at home. Information is great, but if it can’t follow you into your everyday life it’s not much use.

Why Study the Montessori Philosophy?

The longer I’m around the internet the more I find Montessori being mentioned. That’s good, right? Montessori is an awesome philosophy that enables children to become confident human beings and lifelong learners. The more Montessori, the better.

But not all information is created equal.

I’ve come across a lot of awesome Montessori blogs, posts, activities, and training guides by wonderful Montessori teachers, parents, and homeschoolers. I have learned and benefited from many of them.

However, there’s another side of Montessori on the internet. Montessori is a bit of a buzzword these days. People seem to tack it onto any hands-on activity and call it Montessori. Even some schools and daycares call themselves Montessori without the teacher training or accreditation. At best, it lays a faulty foundation for those wanting to know more about Montessori. At worst, the name of Montessori is dragged through the mud and pronounced unfit when its principles are misunderstood and abused.

There is a purpose for everything in Montessori. From which side do you start a pouring tray to why we abstain from rewards to the words we use in a lesson and how we view each child’s potential. Without knowing why Montessorians do these things, you won’t grasp the fullness of their purpose.

Yes, Montessori is an extremely thorough and deep philosophy of education. It’s a philosophy meant for a marathon, not a 100-yard dash. It’s a long stroll meandering through the forest, not a speed walk through the mall. It’s about the formation of a child into their full potential, not how much they can get done.

Who’s Running the Show?

I’m Jessica. I’ve been sharing Montessori activities and spreading the philosophy at Our Montessori Home since 2009.  I’m the mom to three adventurers—Joey – 6, Otto – 4, and Olivia – 2. I’m married to a wonderful man who supports so many of my crazy endeavors (he’s the one who keeps the behind-the-scenes in tact).For a more personal peek into our life, you can find me on Instagram @Jess_Reflects.

I’m a Montessori parent, NAMC Infant/Toddler trained (soon to begin my Elementary I training), spent three years teaching as an aid in a primary classroom, as well as raising and teaching my own children in the Method for the last 6 years. I’m not a Montessori expert, but with nearly 10 years in a Montessori environment I feel confident in my knowledge and practices and I’m eager to learn more. The Montessori philosophy fascinates me and I’ve seen its benefits in my life, my children’s lives, as well as past students. It’s a grand adventure.

This year will be a refresher course for me as well. There is just so much information to digest, from Montessori herself as well as her pupils. We’ll come out more confident and ready in our Montessori practices.

It’s going to be good.

Are you ready to jump in?

Sign-up for the Our Montessori Home Newsletter to keep up to date with Montessori 101, as well as great information and opportunities for your classroom and family.

Linking up with Living Montessori Now’s Montessori Monday.

Subscriptions services are all the rage these days–you have craft subscriptions, wine subscriptions, healthy snacks, beauty products, subscriptions just for moms, and even beard grooming subscriptions. We like fun and new, but with ease. Apparently.

After trying Kiwi Crate and really enjoying our experience with them, I decided we should try another subscription service that’s caught my eye, Little Passports.

Little Passports is toted as a global adventure for children. Each month you get a package (mailer envelope) from two friends, Sam and Sofia, who travel the world (and US) on a scooter with a magical GPS. They send souvenirs, stickers, postcards, recipes, games, and stories each month from the country they’re visiting.

I went with a 3-month subscription because I think that’ll give us a more well-rounded, consistent experience of what Little Passports has to offer than a single package.

The first package you receive from Sam and Sofia is a small cardboard suitcase to store all your mail in and put your sticker from each country. You also receive a passport and each month a sticker stamp to go in it.

It’s Arrival.

When the first Little Passports package arrived it was shipped in a box and we got our little suitcase. It’s a cute little suitcase and I love the idea of covering it with all our potential “travels.”

I was surprised there wasn’t much in the suitcase. Just a few sheets of paper: a letter from Sam and Sofia explaining how they found the scooter with the magical scooter, a picture of them, the passport, and stickers of Sam and Sofia to put on the suitcase.

I was let down that that was it. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I expected something more…better, maybe? The quality of paper was like cheap copy paper and some of our letter was smudged. I definitely wasn’t impressed.

Doing the Activity.

There wasn’t much to do. We read the letter from Sam and Sofia, looked through the passport book (there are a few things you can fill out, kids can interview parents about their travels, & put their own picture in the passport), a large fold-out map to put pinpoint stickers on for each country, and put the stickers on the suitcase. That was it.

Again, I didn’t know what to expect, but after seeing how thorough, creativ e, and hands-on our Kiwi Crate was I guesss I was hoping for a similiar experience.

Thus was our introductory box, so I figured Little Passports had more potential once we started visiting countries.

Our first country was Brazil. (I’m not sure if they come in a predetermined order or if you can request certain countries. That’d be nice especially if you’re pairing it with a country study.) We received the package in a padded mailer envelope. I didn’t even realize what it was unitl I noticed a very faint stamp marking Brazil on the front.

When we opened this one, a few sheets of paper and a rock (in a bag) spilled out. It was more of the same from our initial box. A luggage tag for Brazil, a sticker for the passport and suitcase, a brochure-type paper telling few details about Brazil, a postcard of an animal they met (and talked to),  a recipe, and a few paper games. There’s also a link and code to go online for more activities and games.

Once again, we read through the letter and put the Brazil paraphernalia on the suitcase, and we were done. The games were too advanced for my kids, so we skipped those.

(Little Passports recently came out with a new line called Early Explorers which  is geared toward 3 – 5 year olds, which may make it more accessible to my children’s ages, 4 and 6. We haven’t tried it yet, but it may resolve/adjust some of my disappointments with Little Passports.)

What do the kids think?

To my surprise the kids seemed to enjoy it. They thought it was fun to put the stickers on the suitcase and map. I think the postcards and papers were short enough to keep their attention span. Joey wanted to do some of the games and while he can go word searches pretty well, the one for Brazil was an unscrambling word game and he’s just not there yet.

Momma’s Last Word

Honestly? I’m disappointed in our Little Passports subscription. I think the concept is a great way to introduce kids to other countries and cultures. I just wish there were more hands-on activities and that it was accessible to younger children (again, the new Early Explorers set may address this). Right now, it feels like we’re paying a subscription price for a few flimsy pieces of paper and stickers.

From a Montessori perspective, unless you have elementary readers, there’s not much a child could do independently with Little Passports. While my boys stayed engaged with our first country package, we were done within 5 minutes. There’s also the magical GPS too. What would’ve been so hard about Sam and Sofia traveling by plane, showing the process of packing a suitcase, going through the airport and such? They could even take other modes of transportation (like a bus, train, or boat) to get between countries closer together.

If you visit Living Montessori Now, Deb has built a ton of great Montessori activities around Little Passports. They could be a great edition to a country or continent study. I just feel that for a paid subscription there should be more than a few things I could easily Google. I was looking for more of an experience and hands-on activities than pieces of paper.

I think Little Passports has a lot of potential, but it’s just not there yet.

However, we’re going to stick with it for another month or two. I do think it has potential, but it just doesn’t rank with the quality of Kiwi Crate.