Heard the impish-yelping of a fire-bellied toad lately? Watched a chinchilla stand on its hind legs and peacefully take a seed from a child's hand? Observed firsthand, the ten-inch long tongue of a chameleon light across a tree to obtain an insect? Seen a child supporting the ball-shaped form of a spiky hedgehog curled up i... Read More

Our lives are made up of stories. Consider for a moment how your mind recalls almost every experience with a story. As parents, we have a treasure trove of stories within us to share with our children and use to help them mature and learn history, manners, morals, family lore, and appropriate behavior.As technology becomes ... Read More

"Let us have endless patience with his slow progress, and show enthusiasm and gladness at his successes. If we could say: ' We are respectful and courteous in our dealings with children, we treat them as we should like to be treated ourselves,' we should have mastered a great educational principle..."—Maria Montessori, Dr. ... Read More

Creating art and learning how to appreciate art take place at school, of course. Why not help children unleash their creative abilities at home? Art is an important part of a child's world. Art is a way for children to express themselves and it also helps them develop their fine motor skills. Learning how to mix two colors ... Read More

Many of us would answer: "Very important!" While Montessorians have deliberated for years whether children should learn to write first in cursive or print, we've all thought cursive was an essential skill. Now there is a lively debate occurring in the field of education about whether, in this age of technology, cursive hand... Read More

How does your classroom mark holidays? Which do you celebrate in class? How do you decide? There are as many perspectives on holidays in the Montessori classroom as there are teachers! As a community, we've come up with so many unique and creative ways to address "special days." Yet classroom holidays are still generating a... Read More

"Influenced, perhaps, by my early experience at a Montessori school... I am all for encouraging children to work productively with their hands.... It is good to give them knives, for instance, as early as you dare.... to slice a hard-boiled egg neatly and then to fillet a fish. Talk to children as you plan menus. Let their ... Read More

We recently interviewed Dorothy Harman, a Montessori teacher, teacher-trainer, and author of the new book, Intentional Connections. With grace and humor, Dorothy discusses what brought her to Montessori education and what inspired her to write this book, among other topics.(Irene Baker) How did you discover Montessori educa... Read More

"Now one day Pooh and Piglet and Rabbit and Roo were all playing Poohsticks together. They had dropped their sticks in when Rabbit said 'Go!' and then they hurried across to the other side of the bridge, and now they were all leaning over the edge waiting to see whose stick would come out first..."—A.A. Milne, House at Pooh... Read More

"The artist is not a special kind of person; rather each person is a special kind of artist."—Ananda CoomaraswamyIt's the first month of the year and you may still be making room for holiday gifts. In my house, these gifts traditionally included fresh, new art supplies. As the children grew up, the size of the crayon box al... Read More