Montessori's idea of the child's nature and the teacher's perceptiveness begins with amazing simplicity, and when she speaks of "methods evolved," she is unveiling a methodological system for observation. She begins with the early childhood explosion into writing, which is a familiar child phenomenon that Montessori has written about…

The main purpose of this article is to describe the nature of imaginary play in Montessori classrooms. A transcript from a train ride shows how young children imagine and recreate ideas from their real world experiences and weave them into original new accounts. The author discusses how the play-like action of dramatizing "The Caboose Who Got…

This study examines life in a Montessori classroom, with special attention focused on spontaneous episodes of imaginary play. The goal is to better understand what is going on when children engage in imaginary play and how this play assists young learners in their development. This article examines three play episodes, each from a different area…