Everyone wants their child to grow up to become a “nice” person: considerate, helpful respectful, honorable, empathetic, and so on. And surely the world needs more people like this. Dr. Maria Montessori, in her book “Education and Peace”, talked about how peaceful children, people, are created. She said that peace will not come about by […]
Author Archives: nikhilbanka
Learning is what Nature Does
This quote from Dr. Maria Montessori lays out the foundation of her approach to children and learning. By saying that “education is a natural process” Dr. Montessori is relating the education of a person to the development of all living organisms: taking from the surrounding environment and building something up from that. So education is […]
You Can’t Teach That
There are so many things that traditional schools try to “teach” that simply can’t be taught. You can’t “teach peace” or “tolerance”, for example. You can develop a “curriculum unit” around these, have stories and talk about peace/tolerance, make cross-words and word-finds and other “fun tools” (yes, let’s never forget that it needs to be […]
Choices
The choices we make have a direct relationship with our actions and consequences. This is why, in the Montessori school, teaching the children how to make good choices is one of the most important lessons we can provide for them. When we give the children clear, realistic, contained choices, we are helping them feel secure, […]
Informed Parents Are the Best Parents
There is surely no lack of advice for parents. Books, websites and blogs about parenting exist in abundance and it’s often hard to find out where to focus. Here are some fabulous resources that are highly regarded and respected within the Montessori community. This means that they support a developmental approach to childhood, helping children […]
Earth Day Celebrations @ Stepping Stone Montessori
Earth day is celebrated every year on April 22nd world-wide to create an awareness on environmental issues and save our planet from further destruction. We at Stepping Stone Montessori also celebrated this great day this year. To mark the earth day we did a tree art project with our toddlers in the Daisy Room followed […]
Why I like Teaching at a Montessori School…
Why I like Teaching at a Montessori School… From Cathy Mauragas, Center Director: Being a part of Preschool/Early Education since the late 70’s I have witnessed a lot of growth, but taking part in a philosophy that is backed by years of research and practice has brought to light the importance of children feeling a […]
Care of Environment
Dr. Maria Montessori introduced Practical Life exercises to provide the children with opportunities to perform simple tasks that they have already observed at home. Practical Life exercises enable the children to care for themselves, take care of the environment and develop respect for others. Care of environment activities encourage the child to interact with the […]
Prepared Environment
What an exciting time for Stepping Stone Montessori! The classroom environments have been meticulously arranged so that each child is sure to fall in love with their new school. WHAT IS THE PREPARED ENVIRONMENT? In a Montessori setting, the Prepared Environment is one of the most important factors for growth, allowing the child much needed […]
Cylinder Blocks
Sensorial Exercises are presented in the environment to stimulate a childs senses – visual, tactile, olfactory, gustatory and auditory. Cylinder Blocks exercise helps the child to develop visual perception of dimension and strengthen the child’s fingers for writing. During this exercise, the child removes different sized cylinders from the sockets of the cylinder block, keeps […]