Montessorians, with their long history of careful attention to children's developmental possibilities, can and should develop materials and pedagogical methods that can help children not merely use but master the technologies of the future. This does not mean putting a computer in the hands of every 3-year-old; quite the contrary. Rather, it means…

In this article, the author describes her personal Montessori experience. As welcome and in love with her primary Montessori school as she was and still is, there has always been the question of identity. The author says that each of us belongs to intersecting identities that affect how we conceptualize our place in the world. The spiritual…

Wildflower Schools, a network of decentralized "shopfront" Montessori schools, began in 2014, when Sep Kamvar, a MIT Media Lab professor, was unable to find a preschool for his son that fit his needs, and ended up partnering with two veteran Montessori educators, Mary Rockett and Katelyn Shore, to start a school. Wildflower's work is…

In this historical study, the author explores the racial views of Maria Montessori as expressed in her largely forgotten 1913 book, "Pedagogical Anthropology." As a physician and physical anthropologist, Montessori espoused three racial beliefs that were in wide circulation during the late nineteenth century: biological racism, racial…

Educators, experienced or novice, Montessori or otherwise, have genuine concerns about working with neurodivergent children, including having the necessary education, adequate resources, and time to accommodate students. Yet a shift in perspective can minimize these concerns: Montessori educators, who are trained to observe, reflect, design the…

In this article, the author explores the question: did Montessori actually espouse an uninterrupted work period of 3 hours?

Error-monitoring is a crucial cognitive process that enables us to adapt to the constantly changing environment. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays a vital role in error-monitoring, and its prolonged maturation suggests that it can be influenced by experience-dependent plasticity. To explore this possibility, we collected morphometric…

Background: Poor dietary habits in childhood can lead to obesity and chronic diseases later in life. Increasing children's nutrition knowledge and liking of fruits and vegetables are key factors in improving diet quality. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a nutrition program on knowledge, liking and intake of fruits and…

Circle time is commonplace in traditional preschools, yet there are few references to the practice in Montessori's writings or in major Montessori organizations' and teacher education standards. This article investigates whether circle time is frequent in Montessori 3-6-year-old classrooms using data from a widely distributed Qualtrics survey. The…

This annotated bibliography is the fifth in a series published in "Montessori Life," with the first review of articles published during the 10-year time span of 1996-2006 (Bagby, 2007); the second covering 2007-2009 (Bagby & Jones, 2010); the third, 2010-2013 (Bagby, Wells, Edmondson & Thompson, 2014); and the fourth, 2014--2017…

This article examines the effects of Montessori music-movement activities on the development of the rhythmic abilities of 59 children from Montessori preschools, aged between 3 and 6 years. Children were deployed into two experimental groups (EG 1 (n = 20) & EG 2 (n = 22)) and a control group (CG) (n = 17). Our intervention consisted of…

Often considered dumping grounds for those who cannot function in mainstream schools, alternative education providers are seen as outliers in the provision of schooling. With schools as relatively stable workplaces, alternative education provision makes for a rich laboratory to further our understanding of the causal impact of schooling on a range…

In a span of about three days in the spring of 2023, the author's Instagram feed became inundated with mentions of artificial intelligence (AI), including Chat GPT, text-to-image models, and much more. She would turn on the radio and hear about the controversy surrounding AI, or look at her cousin's social media posts about the injustices of her…

This article examines the expansion of public Montessori education and its implications for student participation and outcomes. The study focuses on the state of South Carolina, which has the largest number of public Montessori programs in the United States. Through a comprehensive analysis of demographic characteristics and standardized test…

Sid Mohandas argues that by tracing the roots of the Montessori approach and locate it within its historical context, contradictory stories begin to emerge. Montessori was primarily formed as a response to various social injustices and thus emerged as a justice-oriented project. However, the marks and traces of colonialism are clearly visible…