Public Montessori elementary schools have two challenges: They strive to achieve a child-centered Montessori environment and must also address the demands of state and federal requirements developed for more traditional educational settings. This study analyzes how schools were operating on both fronts. On the one hand, the study measured the…

This article discusses the formation of the Youth Visits the United Nations (YVUN) program. The program began in 2003 with funds provided by the Ursula Thrush Peace Seed Grant. Its purpose is to bring middle school students to New York to attend sessions of the United Nations, allowing these adolescents the opportunity to learn about global issues…

This article describes how second- and third-grade students joined their teacher, Mary Ann McTiernan, a marathon runner from Cape Town, South Africa, in a one-mile run every Thursday morning while she was training. Mary Ann's students had been asking, "Where do you run?" "How far do you go?" "How fast can you run?"…

The act of collaboration is important when improving communication between administration and teachers, guiding school personnel to collectively clarify teaching and learning outcomes, and facilitating school stakeholders to engage in strategic institutional planning. As necessary as collaboration is, adults often do not know how to collaborate…

Though Montessori schools have a unique mission, philosophy, and pedagogy, all independent schools have similar demands, functions, and requirements governing board care and education, state and federal mandates and compliances, child care, parent care and education, fundraising, financial standards, employment standards, and care of employees.…

This article describes the Language Center Montessori School in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where students are learning in a language-immersion Montessori environment. The school offers a choice to parents--Spanish immersion or French immersion--but Montessori comes with both. The school's motivation for promoting bilingualism is to improve…

In this article, the author discusses how the JUCONI Foundation in Puebla, Mexico is helping children. (JUCONI is an acronym for "Junto con los Ninos", or "Together with the Children)." This Mexican nongovernmental organization (NGO) has been successfully working with distressed families and children in Puebla since 1989. For…

In this article, the authors describe the Reading Buddies program. In this program, children of varied ages experience cooperation and mutual respect, have fun together, and share themselves with others. When Reading Buddies meet, reading and learning to read are the activities, yet another real benefit appears to be the enhancement of the…

Most educators are familiar with the principles of one of the founding mothers of peace education, Maria Montessori. Bringing an utterly fresh vision to notions of childhood and education, she re-imagined the classroom as one in which children would explore and discover their own interests and passions. With regard to conflict resolution, she…

This article discusses the importance of thinking about and identifying what one wants in a school--and deciding whether or not these are realistic expectations. One might want to consider the core values that attracts one to Montessori, and observe, when visiting a school, to see how these are expressed in the school day. The author points out…

Describes spirituality as occurring when one invests energy in goals beyond the self. Summarizes research on cooperation and challenge and self satisfaction during high school and college. Identifies components of Montessori education contributing to spiritual development, and asserts that educators need to help children develop goals beyond…

In this article the author describes how she and her partners started The Learning Tree Montessori Child Care, a Montessori program with a different approach in Seattle in 1979. The author also relates that the other area Montessori schools then offered half-day programs, and as a result the children who attended were, for the most part,…

Recent years have provided an interest on the part of public school systems regarding Montessori as an educational choice, often as a magnet school option. "No Child Left Behind" legislation emphasizes the social and learning needs of individual children as well as a national spirit of accountability for academic achievement, and the…

Recess beckons well before it actually arrives. Its allure can be heard in children's lunchtime conversations as they discuss imaginary roles, plans, alliances and teams, with an obvious appetite for play and its unbounded possibility. For some children, recess provides the most important reasons to come to school. In team sports, games of chase…

Describes the Kampala Montessori Children's Nursery, one of four Montessori schools in Uganda, and serving 2- to 5-year-olds from 13 nations. Describes the classroom environment, teacher qualifications, and educational practices within the school. (KB)