Announcing the Montessori Book Club- with great delight!

Welcome to the Montessori Book Club sponsored by the Montessori foundation and moderated by Tracy Crawford and Sharon Caldwell.

The focus of this new group is to read and discuss Montessori books and gain a deeper understanding of Montessori philosophy as either teachers, parents or individuals interested in understanding more about Montessori education.  The timing of each book read will be flexible depending the group reading although there will be a tentative schedule.  Initially we will focus on three books Montessori Children by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, 

Maria Montessori: Her Life and Her Work by E.M. Standing, and 

  

Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook by Maria Montessori.  

 

Montessori Children will be the group's primary focus.  It is available free from Google Books currently!  There are descriptions and one Amazon review (where available) below.

The Montessori Foundation has set up an educational moodle to support the book club.  It includes several discussion forums.  Individuals that participate will have the opportunity to discuss general education books and suggest books for future reading.  A special section has been set up to store meaningful quotes that are found in the reading.

The Montessori Foundation will set up a unique page and link to the book club from the home page, but we haven't accomplished this yet.  The book club can be accessed by going to https://www.montessori.org/moodlecourses/

.  We will need to enroll interested individuals by providing a login and password, but we're opening to move to open access.  

Please contact: 

Sharon Caldwell at SharonCaldwell@montessori.org or 

Tracy Crawford at TracyCrawford@gmail.com

For more information!

Montessori Children By Carolyn Sherwin Bailey 
This book is available online and free from Google books. It was published in 1915 and contains some unusual insights into what the early practice of Montessori education was like. One example was that the initial color tablets were spools of silk thread. Ms. Baily went to Rome in order to study the results of Montessori education. She observed the children themselves as well as had the opportunity to meet with Maria Montessori and listen to her lectures. It is primarily a study of the children of a Montessori environment. It is easy to read and very descriptive.

Maria Montessori: Her Life and Her Work by E.M. Standing 
This book is technically a biography, but it contains a very dense summary of Montessori practice and philosophy. E.M. Standing worked closely with Maria Montessori in the writing of it and she read much of the manuscript. Although not written by Maria Montessori, much of it sounds as if it could be her words. This book is heavy on philosophy and includes elements that I have not previously seen in other books such as the sensitive periods for "Learning Good Manners" and "Grammar."

Amazon review
"This is the book that opened Montessori's theories and achievements to me in a way her own writing never managed to. The Standings are not unbiased, having worked with Dr. Montessori --- but they do an excellent job of weaving Montessori's life story with her teaching discoveries and methods. If someone is interested in learning about the Montessori method, and can only read one book, this is the one. There is another biography by Rita Kramer that looks good, but I haven't gotten to it yet. Good luck!"


Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook by Maria Montessori 
This book is written by Maria Montessori and is easy to read. The Handbook is more about the didadic materials and the prepared environment rather than philosophy although any discussion on the Montessori method includes philosophy. There are extensive descriptions of the Children's House, sensorial, language and mathematical materials.

Amazon review
"This short book is like an Army basic training manual. Montessori teaching methods are described in detail, like recipes in a cookbook. An interesting section on food for children recommends large amounts of fat and sugar foods and therefore seems outdated. The systematic order achieved by the method is described as desirable while too much variety and child/teacher interaction is regarded as undesirable. The book warns that over-stimulating a child's imagination could cause him or her to miss the purpose of the lessons (tell that to Barney). The author's works have a ring of truth throughout and are valuable because of the spirit they convey even today."

An amazing morning!

What a beautiful school that I had the opportunity to visit this morning.  It truly represents Montessori and showed such a profound respect for the children.  The children were gently gathered coming from outside coming together like a flock of ducklings into the classroom.  They sang two songs as a group to the sound of a guitar.  Then they were able to choose work.  One child said he didn't want to choose any work, and got up to look around the room instead.  In almost a three hour work period there was not one child that cried, no fighting, and no bells that rang causing the children to react.  I watched an older child tell one of the youngest not to run in the classroom.  I watched one of the youngest decide to paint, get out the paint and clean up completely without any mess.

Some other work that I saw-
-3 girls worked together to clean two wall length shelves.  In the process they removed every item including several plants and all of the sandpaper letters.  They traced many of the letters.
-Every child who was hungry served their own snack.  First they got a cloth placemat.  Second, they washed their hands.  Third a glass plate.  Fourth- using tongs they counted out 3 crackers and 2 apples based on the number in front of the bowl.  Each and every child.  If they were still hungry, they got seconds.
-Many children made necklaces or bracelets with a real needle and beads.  The only thing the teacher did was tie a finishing knot.
- Beads were spilled all over the floor and picked up.  Twice.
- Tables were washed.
- Plants were watered.
- Polygons were studied.
- Continents were built using puzzles and painted after being traced.
- Words were developed from practicing writing "sh"
- Children were learning about the concept of addition using the golden bead material.  In the thousands.

All of these children were 3-6.  Maybe only 3-5.  It's only the third day of school for the entire group together.

Montessori Education at it's best.  I loved it.