The peacefulness of Montessori classrooms is promoted through the design of those classrooms, the nature of the materials to evoke purposeful work, the ground rules within which all children's efforts influence each other's experience, and the specific Grace and Courtesy lessons presented to teach children social skills. But there are also materials in the classroom which help to connect the peaceful environments within each school to the global community beyond the classroom

“You have very truly remarked that if we are to reach real peace in this world and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children and if they will grow up in their natural innocence, we won’t have the struggle, we won’t have to pass fruitless idle resolutions, but we shall go from love to love and peace to peace, until at last all the corners of the world are covered with that peace and love for which, consciously or unconsciously, the whol

In all the ways through which Montessori classrooms seek to support and promote the intrinsic peacefulness of children, perhaps the most important is the concept of "follow the child." Some adults interpret this to mean that any choice of the child should be honored, that children benefit from environments without limits. In Montessori classrooms, however, there are plenty of limits. Any one person's freedom ends when it imposes on the freedom of another person. Instead, Mon

I hope you're taking time, during what is a holiday break for many schools, to recharge and rest. I hope you're sleeping late, spending time with friends, hugging lots of necks and taking time for quiet. Hope springs eternal. After the winter break, we'll return to classrooms that are generally ready to work. We've put in time at the beginning of the year to establish our norms. The children have had their holiday and often return to school hungry for the predicable routine o

I hope you're taking time, during what is a holiday break for many schools, to recharge and rest. I hope you're sleeping late, spending time with friends, hugging lots of necks and taking time for quiet. Hope springs eternal. After the winter break, we'll return to classrooms that are generally ready to work. We've put in time at the beginning of the year to establish our norms. The children have had their holiday and often return to school hungry for the predicable routine o

In all the ways through which Montessori classrooms seek to support and promote the intrinsic peacefulness of children, perhaps the most important is the concept of "follow the child." Some adults interpret this to mean that any choice of the child should be honored, that children benefit from environments without limits. In Montessori classrooms, however, there are plenty of limits. Any one person's freedom ends when it imposes on the freedom of another person. Instead, Mon

The peacefulness of Montessori classrooms is promoted through the design of those classrooms, the nature of the materials to evoke purposeful work, the ground rules within which all children's efforts influence each other's experience, and the specific Grace and Courtesy lessons presented to teach children social skills. But there are also materials in the classroom which help to connect the peaceful environments within each school to the global community beyond the classroom

In addition to the design of the materials in general and the ground rules of the classroom, there are special lessons offered in the Montessori classroom to support children’s peaceful interactions and contributions to their society. The “Grace and Courtesy” lessons are often considered a part of the Practical Life curriculum: skills so essential to every day living that they are foundational to other lessons in the classroom. Imagine all the ways in which you might behave t

“The things he sees are not just remembered; they form a part of his soul.” - Maria Montessori The Montessori materials are designed to evoke both agency and inter reliance among the children, leading to classrooms that are abuzz with purposeful activity. Certain qualities in classroom management are essential, too, to establishing that society-by-cohesion, the precursor, Montessorians believe, to the society-at-large that children educated through the Montessori Method will

“You have very truly remarked that if we are to reach real peace in this world and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children and if they will grow up in their natural innocence, we won’t have the struggle, we won’t have to pass fruitless idle resolutions, but we shall go from love to love and peace to peace, until at last all the corners of the world are covered with that peace and love for which, consciously or unconsciously, the whol