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

By Barbara Isaacs, June 2021 In our last Montessori Musings webinar of this academic year, focusing on the leading and managing our Montessori settings in England, we will be exploring the challenges facing us with the introduction of the revised EYFS in September 2021. You can register for this webinar here. One significant change which … Continue reading What Next? The Revised EYFS

A Reflection on Section 3, 'Feelings', from The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read By Philippa Perry Barbara Isaacs, June 2021 Perry sees this section in her book, which addresses feelings, as one of the most important; it is also the section which offers some very useful advice on what to do and not … Continue reading Feelings