Montessori
The Montessori curriculum, is based on the principle that children teach themselves and absorb knowledge from their surroundings. The curriculum therefore focuses on introducing materials and activities specifically designed to stimulate interactions while enabling intellectual, creative and physical independence. The Montessori Approach is disseminated primarily through the American or International Montessori Society. Below are research documents and links to Montessori resources.
Overview of Montessori
Montessori Referrence
This site provides background information for parents looking for a Montessori and also for providers interested in starting a Montessori program.
|
|
The Montessori Preschool Program
By North American Montessori Teachers’ Association
The NAMTA describes the Montessori approach as one that helps a child develop into a “normalized community.” This process takes a child from being undisciplined to self-disciplined, disordered to ordered, distracted to focused and so on.
|
|
A place to purchase Montessori materials: http://www.montessorird.com/index.php
|
|
Research on Effects and classroom processes
|
Optimal Developmental Outcomes: The Social, Moral, Cognitive, and Emotional Dimensions of a Montessori Education
By Annette Haines, Kay Baker, and David Kahn
This article discusses the first, second and third planes of development in Montessori education. The first plane represents ages 0-6. During this critical time, children create their own unique intelligence. According to Montessori, the construction of the mind is achieved through an active interchange between the environment and a child’s tendencies to explore, reason, imagine, and create.
|
THE EARLY YEARS: Evaluating Montessori Education
By Angeline Lillard and Nicole Else-Quest
The authors evaluated the social and academic impact of Montessori education and found that the Montessori education, with its fundamentally different structure, fosters social and academic skills that are equal or superior to those fostered by a pool of other types of schools.
|
|
Studies in Support of Early-Childhood Montessori
NAMTA
A study shows that Montessori students fared better than students in the Cleveland Public Schools. Other studies show that low SES students benefited significantly by attending Montessori preschool.
|
|
Montessori Education in America:An Analysis of Research Conducted from 2000-2005
By April Jones
This report analyzes and synthesizes the research that has been conducted on the Montessori method spanning the years of 2000 through 2005. This report serves as a tool for fellow Montessori researchers in the form of a meta-analysis of current research in the field. It will also be useful for anyone interested in learning about the successes of the Montessori approach to education.
|
|
Research Validates Montessori Approach to Teaching Language
By Sylvia Onesti Richardson
The article discusses the National Institutes of Health research on reading disabilities and how the knowledge that what has been learned about the neuroanatomy and neuropsychology of spoken and written language development validates Dr. Montessori's insights and wisdom of almost a century ago.
|
|
An Examination of Implementation Practices in Montessori Early Childhood Education
By Carolyn Jean Daoust
This study examined to what extent Montessori early childhood education programs in one geographical region of the United States could be classified into homogeneous clusters based on teachers’ reported practices associated with Montessori education. Once identified, the characteristics defining each subgroup were described, and factors supporting or hindering the implementation of recommended practices were examined. Of particular interest was whether the teachers were intentionally or inadvertently making changes to the model, and if modifications were being made, whether these were due to situational factors or to viewpoints that differed from Montessori’s perspectives. Teachers’ beliefs about managing and motivating children were also assessed in relation to their interpretation of the Montessori method in order to examine what role, if any these beliefs played in shaping classroom practices.
|
|
Commentary and analysis
|
The 2005 NAMTA Montessori School Salary Survey
Interpretation and analysis by David Kahn, John McNamara, and Kristin Sasaki
In Spring 2005, the North American Montessori Teachers’ Association sent a salary survey to 4,657 Montessori schools and published the results in this article.
|
|
Test-free system 'gives children a better start in life'
By Alexandra Frean
This article discusses the proposition that Montessori students have an advantage over other students because they are allowed to work at their own pace among other reasons.
|
|
Montessori Moments: Voices from the Field
M. Ely and B. Matias
The article stems from research aimed to give voices to teachers by asking them to write vignettes about “Montessori Moments” as they experienced them: moments that crystallized for them some crucial issues about Montessori philosophy as it was actualized in classroom and school life.
|
|
Field contributions to curricula
|
Lesson plans and themed instrucation
Free Montessori Lesson Plans
Free lesson plans or albums for the three to six age group
|
|
Specific ideas and activities
Montessori Materials
This website offers a variety of free resources for Montessori teachers including classified cards, templates, word lists and more.
|
|
Additional resources and links
