I come from Ireland where there are many small Montessori schools. As a teenager I baby sat the children of Montessori teacher and she told me about Montessori. When I left school I decided to begin Montessori training in Dublin. During my training I began to realise that I hadn’t really understood what I was enrolling in….
Read moreMANZ is developing a new strategic plan for 2015-19 and one focus of this work is around leading the development of a viable, sustainable Montessori qualified workforce for Montessori early childhood centres and schools in New Zealand. To begin this new focus MANZ gathered baseline data from Montessori current employers and the existing workforce. The…
Read moreI had found my experiences in state early childhood and primary frustrating as it always seemed to be ‘busy work’ or playing. On my teaching practices with the primary age group I felt like I didn’t teach anything and that the children didn’t learn anything. All I was doing was classroom management; ‘Sit down, stop…
Read moreThis is from a blog called Montessori Seeds written by Mathew Simberg. Here he reflects on views about child-discipline over the last few decades and what discipline may look like in a Montessori 6- 12 community. What ‘freedom’ means and how it is balanced by ‘responsibility’ in a Montessori community. Discipline for the Elementary (6-12…
Read moreIn one of her last books, The Absorbent Mind, Dr Montessori makes this comment; “Passive children are thought to be good. Noisy and exuberant children with vivid imaginations are thought to be spiritually brilliant.” (p. 201) Dr Montessori believed that the goal of children is to ‘aim energetically and directly towards independence’. The Montessori method…
Read moreJeanne-Marie Paynel of Voila Montessori in the USA talks about how expectant parents can prepare their home for arrival of a new baby. She explains how the environment can be prepared to welcome the new baby with points of reference for the infant in the home. Jeanne-Marie includes the preparation of the adult and gives…
Read moreThe development of a young child is facilitated by the absorbent mind and unique periods of sensitivity to the environment that nurture skills, knowledge and understanding of the material, social, natural and social worlds in which the child participates. It is a distinctive flow of relationships and experiences of which the young child becomes increasingly…
Read moreI first discovered Montessori as a young mother in the late 1980’s, when I visited an early childhood expo in Auckland. Several Montessori preschools had a display of photos and information about the Montessori method. I was captivated and it just felt so right. I started to find out more about Montessori. Prior to having…
Read moreWhen an older child is encouraged to help a younger child in a Montessori classroom, their own learning is surprisingly enhanced, rather than limited. The older child is more sensitive to the degree of help the younger child needs, intuitively respecting the essential need of childhood which is not to be helped unnecessarily. In ‘teaching’…
Read moreI was a child at a Montessori children’s house until I was seven years old. I did not realize that, however until I was an adult and began to look in to Montessori as a career. I had pursued outdoor education/experiential education as an undergraduate and wanted to know more. I researched Montessori and discovered…
Read moreDr Maria Montessori boldly stated ‘The child is both a hope and promise for mankind. If we therefore mind this embryo as our most precious treasure, we will be working for the greatness of humanity’. How can you mind your children as your ‘most precious treasure’ and enable them to become resilient, caring, able, empathetic…
Read moreDiscover Montessori offers an opportunity for poeple new to Montessori eduaction to learn more from experienced educators. In 2014 the following workshops were offered at the MANZ Conference in New Plymouth. Montessori for Bumps and Babies Tia Wooller, Matakana Tia endeavors to share as much as she can about what adults can do for the…
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