Selecting the chapters to read from The 1913 Rome Lectures has been a fun task.  In typical Montessori fashion, the chapters jump from topic to topic.  The last book club session,  before Christmas, facilitated a really meaningful discussion about the nature of freedom and what this freedom represents in context of giving lessons.  At our … Continue reading Independence and Movement

By Barbara Isaacs, January 2021 What a lot of learning the early years workforce has done since the introduction of the first nursery voucher scheme 1995! It was designed to contribute to the cost of nursery education of 4-year-olds and later 3 and 2-year-olds.  And was followed with a raft of regulation and guidance designed … Continue reading The Trials and Tribulations of the Early Years Foundation Stage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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