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 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…

The Montessori method offers an alternative approach to public and independent schooling. In the Greek educational system, the Montessori method is mainly applied in preschool and primary educational contexts. The main research objective was to investigate the early mathematical competence of students aged 4-7 years old attending a Montessori…

Early childhood education plays a critical role in establishing positive social-emotional behaviors and promoting the development of skills needed to succeed in elementary school. Although inclusion of children with disabilities (CWD) in early childhood classrooms is increasing throughout the world, numerous social, logistical, and political…

This paper attempts to open out investigations in ECEC by working beyond anthropocentric accounts of gender. Drawing upon feminist new materialist philosophies we ask whether it might be possible to reconfigure ideas about gender that recognise it as produced through everyday processes and material-affective entanglements. In order to do this, we…

How often do you tell white lies? When the "New York Times" ran an article linking children's lying with their cognitive abilities (Stone, 2018), the authors decided to examine this phenomenon through the lens of Montessori philosophy. Consequently, the authors delved into the related research on lying, executive function, and prosocial…

This father gives some brief observations of his daughter beginning at the time of her entrance into a Montessori school at the age of three years through the age of six. Through his observations and interactions with his daughter, he gains an awareness of the beauty of the work of the child and leaves the reader with a simple yet powerful…

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…

Just as the classroom guide must prepare for observation in the classroom, so too should parents prepare themselves for classroom observation. What is the purpose of their observation? What is the procedure? What should they note? What points of awareness should they keep in mind? Using the format of a letter to parents preparing to observe in a…

Pat Ludick's commentary on grace and courtesy is established by a philosophical orientation to development: Grace is oriented to the life of the interior that is consciousness and being, and courtesy moves outward to daily living where civility reflects on success with human interactions. Pat's projected grace and courtesy across the planes is…

Introducing real community into the Children's House goes back to the roots of Montessori education through all-day Montessori. The all-day environment is a house where children live with a "developmental room" of Montessori materials including a living room, kitchen, dining area, bedroom, bathroom, greeting rooms, and outdoor spaces.…

What are the elements that make up authentic Montessori? Is Montessori something concrete or abstract? Are there intangibles that make Montessori what it is? Many classrooms today have Montessori materials and small tables and chairs. Are they authentic Montessori? When examining areas that traditionally make defining authentic Montessori…

The author has been thinking a lot about happiness lately. This started in earnest when she watched researcher Shawn Achor's 7-minute TEDX talk, entitled "The Happy Secret to Better Work," with parents and staff. Afterward, she was compelled to buy his book to learn more. "The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That…

Mary Verschuur chronicles the outdoor work of Lincoln Montessori School in prairie, forest, and indoor greenhouse environments, pointing out the application of the prepared environment principles to the natural world. Implicit to the design are opportunities for caring, including various practical life exercises with outdoor tools blended into…

Judi Orion, a Montessori expert on the birth-to-six plane of development, delivers a no-nonsense call to arms about the vital importance of the right beginning to set the stage for all that follows. Although we often hear and read about the period from birth to two-and-a-half years, Orion communicates the urgency of responding to the developmental…