By Helen Lumgair The new year is often a time of deep reflection with many among us feeling the desire to find new ways of being. This involves our imaginations: the visualisation of that which has not yet been realised. A large part of this imagining, and a vital tool in terms of facilitating growth … Continue reading The Power of Storytelling
Author: Montessori Musings
Children’s Big Ideas
By Barbara Isaacs During many of this year’s Musings webinars, we have been encouraged to be “curious” in our work with children. This I took to mean to be curious not only about their development but also about the way we engage with them and reflect on our own work. Children’s own curiosity is often … Continue reading Children’s Big Ideas
Freedom
By Barbara Isaacs The next three chapters of our Book Club reading all relate to Freedom and what it looks like in a Montessori classroom: Biological Concept of `FreedomFreedom in the School Environment, Didactic Material and TeacherHow to Give a Lesson as Compared with Other Methods When I started reading, I was curious, and wondered: … Continue reading Freedom
Community
By Melanie Simpson and Clare Mehmi In June, we took a team decision to conduct a parent survey in recognition of the reduced contact there had been between our families and team members during the Covid-19 pandemic. We wanted to remind existing parents of our continued commitment to them and their children and just how … Continue reading Community
Interacting or Interfering? Challenges of Montessori Practice
By Antonella Cirillo and Barbara Isaacs In this week’s Conversation with Antonella Cirillo, which we will share at our webinar on Tuesday 9 November at 19.00 (UTC), we are exploring the challenges to our Montessori practice, focusing on why and how we engage with young children and when we choose to interact and when to … Continue reading Interacting or Interfering? Challenges of Montessori Practice
Learning to Observe
By Barbara Isaacs In her 1913 Rome Lectures, Montessori devotes two chapters to observations. In the chapter entitled ‘Course Programme and Guide on Methods of Observation and Study’ which we will consider in our Book Club session on Tuesday 2 November, 19.00 (UTC), she outlines the course of study the participants of this Rome training … Continue reading Learning to Observe
Regulating Early Years Provision
By Barbara Isaacs When we applied to open our Nursery in the summer of 1991 we were caught up in the initial implementation of the Children Act 1989; we had to wait for more than six weeks for the local Social Services department to be ready to come and visit and provide us with our … Continue reading Regulating Early Years Provision
Loose Parts Play
By Barbara Isaacs, September 2021 If you are connected with the wider early years community you would have heard about loose parts play; you may have come across articles, or bought one of the books by Miriam Beloglovsky and Lisa Daly. You may also ask yourself: “What is new here, we have always had collections … Continue reading Loose Parts Play
The 1913 Rome lectures
Montessori-Pierson Publishing, 2013 By Barbara Isaacs, September 2021 This year’s book club readings take us back to the first international training delivered by Montessori in Rome in 1913. She was 43, and already celebrated around the world for her revolutionary approach to education. Today we would say that these lectures made a significant contribution to … Continue reading The 1913 Rome lectures
A Pedagogy of Love
Barbara Isaacs, 12 September 2021 Love features regularly in Montessori’s own writing. I have often wondered what she herself meant by this. Did she mean the unconditional love of a parent (prime carer), which all children need to thrive, and which she, herself, was not able to share with her own son when he was … Continue reading A Pedagogy of Love
Montessori Musings 