Other ways for the teacher to know that a child is ready for a new lesson include: the child asking for a lesson; another child asking if he/she my give a lesson (the children are frequently keen observers of each other); and information supplied by parents and caregivers. The teacher is but a partner in the child’s education, and communication among all of those concerned with the child’s development allows the teacher to design the environment to meet each child’s needs.

Some activities do require the control of error to rest with the adults or older children. One example would be in the math area. Let us say that the child is multiplying 5 times 4. That is 5 taken 4 times, so the child would remove four 5-bars from the multiplication box (a box with wire bars of beads in sets from 1 to 10). The child then counts how many beads he/she has all together. Hopefully the child counts to 20, but he/she may get 19 or 21. The adult would then say, “Let’s count this again,” and may touch each bead as the child counts to help establish the one to one correspondence of object to numeral. Or the teacher may say, “You need to count this again.” In both cases, the child has been told that he/she does not have the correct answer, but is also told by the manner of correction that he/she can get the correct answer, perhaps with a little help. This is very different in the building of self-esteem than saying, “You’re wrong”.

AMI, the Association Montessori Internationale, is the original organization founded by Dr. Montessori. It is currently headed by her grandson and is located in Amsterdam. It accredits training programs worldwide including one here in the Washington area, the Washington Montessori Institute (WMI). The WMI has been training teachers for a half century.

For a good while the two programs were antagonistic toward one another. AMI frequently acted as though they were the only true believers and AMS thought that AMI was stuffy and outdated. Fortunately, that has changed and there is a great deal of interaction between the two organizations. All have realized that our first and foremost concern is children and what Dr. Montessori’s work has to offer them.

While AMI and AMS are the largest Montessori organizations, there are other organizations which have been formed to further the work of Dr. Montessori. Some of these include the Montessori World Education Institute, the Saint Nicholas Montessori Society, and the National Center for Montessori Education. These organizations, while not as large as AMS and AMI, have excellent training programs. I have in the past employed superb teachers who were graduates of the above training programs.

There are also Montessori organizations whose goal is to promote Montessori education by supporting teachers and parents, but that do not have training programs. Some of these include the North American Montessori Teachers Association (NAMTA) and the Virginia Montessori Association (VMA).

We are very fortunate in the Washington area to have an abundance of Montessori schools. Northern Virginia has seen an incredible growth in the number of Montessori programs in the past 10 years. Parents are now seeking a school or childcare facility providing more than just a place for the child to spend the day and they have realized that the Montessori approach of dealing with the whole child in a developmentally appropriate setting is what they are looking for. There are three Montessori schools in Reston alone. They are all an outgrowth of a school Eileen Minarik started in 1984. We are now independent of one another and each of us is owned by a certified Montessori teacher who has also been a Montessori parent. For all three of us, Montessori is a way of life, not just a business or a job.

While there is a core program which all true Montessori schools share, there can be slightly different ways of implementing the program due to the teacher’s particular training. Also, the Montessori method is a dynamic, not a static pedagogy. The teachers continually update their classrooms with new materials that reflect advances in toy design or technology, always adhering to Montessori principles in the organization and presentation of these materials.

There can be a different atmosphere from one school to another and even from one classroom to another within the same school due to the personalities and interests of the staff. For example, one class may have a teacher who is very soft-spoken with a great interest in biology. This teacher’s class may be very quiet and filled with plants and pets. Another teacher may be in inveterate traveler whose classroom is filled with objects from around the world. A third may love to sing and dance so her class always has music in the background and the children learn folk dances. Two of the classes at Sunset Hills Montessori Children’s House are very open with high ceilings and skylights, while the third classroom is a more standard physical space that can be closed off from the other rooms. Each of the teachers prefers her own space and would not want another one.

After you have done all your reading, visited schools, talked to friends and relatives, the best way to decide which school is right for your child is going to be your own feelings. We each have certain environments to which we respond positively or negatively. There are some people with whom one has an instant rapport while there are others with whom you will have to spend more time to feel comfortable. With the fine Montessori programs in this area, you will surely be able to find one that suits the needs of both the children and adults in your family.

I recommend the following:

• A PARENT’S GUIDE TO THE MONTESSORI CLASSROOM by Ailene Wolf

I have this available for purchase, at cost, for $5.00. Or order from the publisher:
Parent Child Press
Phone: (814) 946-5213
P.O. Box 675
Hollidaysburg, PA 16648
www.parentchildpress.com


• MICHAEL OLAF’S ESSENTIAL MONTESSORI

  This is a combination educational materials catalog and introduction to Montessori. It is available for $5.00 from:

  Michael Olaf
  Phone (707) 826-1557 (mon-Fri, 10 am to 5 pm, pacific)
  P.O. Box 1162
  Fax (707) 826-2243
  Arcata, CA 95521
  www.michaelolaf.net



• MONTESSORI – A MODERN APPROACH by Paula Polk Lillard. This is available in paperback. Although there are numerous locations on the Internet where this book can be found, click here to view one description.
• THE ESSENTIAL MONTESSORI by Elizabeth Hainstock. This is available in paperback. Although there are numerous locations on the Internet where this book can be found, click here to view one description.
• MARIA MONTESSORI by Rita Kramer. This is a wonderful biography recently reissued as a part of Radcliffe Biography Series. It is available in paperback.
• MARIA MONTESSORI by Michael Pollard. This is a biography for young people that is part of a series called “People Who Have Helped The World” published by Morehouse Publishing. It is very well done, with a lot of pictures, a glossary, and a time line of Dr. Montessori’s life.

Dr. Montessori’s own works need new translations to update the language, but with the background information from the above materials they are wonderful reading.

Every child deserves to feel special and belong. Therefore we decided to call the children who are enrolled in before and/or after school care The Sunset Club. This way they have a special place to go and a special group with which to be associated when some of their friends are going home or to home childcare providers instead of staying at school.

Many parents ask about the typical day for a child who is at school from early in the morning until early evening. Below are two hypothetical schedules for preschool and kindergarten aged children. In a Montessori environment we call everything we do “work” defined as purposeful activity. All times are approximate. Dr Montessori said “Follow the child”. There will always be flexibility within the structure of the child’s day.

Child B: Jr/Sr Kindergartener boy:

• 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.: The child’s arrival and work is the same as “Child A” until 1:00 p.m.
• 1:00 p.m.: The Kindergarteners return to the classroom to continue individual work that was started in the morning, as well as more advanced work and larger projects.
• 3:00 p.m.: The child is dismissed from school into “The Sunset Club” and his day continues as for “Child A”.

While the children enrolled in before and after school care are in an “institutional” setting, the adults in any such environment have control over how “institutional” the program is. If a child were at home, every hour would not be regulated nor would every day be a particular day. One day might be dance class, or Suzuki lessons, or T-ball, but not every day. While it is important for children this age to have a fairly regular routine (Dr. Montessori’s “sensitive period for order”), we must keep in mind that a child enrolled in before and after school care puts in a longer work day than his/her parent and must have some “downtime”. Also, in following Dr. Montessori’s command to “follow the child” it is important that the child feels he/she had some control over his/her environment. This could mean going down the slide 17 times in a row or watching another child go down the slide 17 times in a row! Sunset Hills Montessori wants to be a Children’s House in more than name only.

• We will be open every day unless the Fairfax County government closes.
• If the school is closed, or closes early due to inclement weather, the sunset club will close at 5:00PM.
• If the Fairfax County government closes early we expect you to get here as soon as is possible to pick-up your child.
• If it starts snowing during the day, we expect you to leave work in enough time to drive safely but still pick-up your child by 6:30 P.M.
• When school is closed but the Sunset Club is open the Sunset Club members will spend the day doing crafts, playing games, watching movies, playing with the computer, and going outside to play in the snow.