Maria Montessori arrived in India in 1939 to conduct the first training course on the Asian continent. Thus began Montessori's extended stay in India. She wrote and published "The Absorbent Mind," crystallized the Elementary curriculum, and developed the theory of "Planes of Development" as the basis for the curriculum from…

Due to the steady growth of Montessori in the public sector over the past 20 years, the question of whether authentic Montessori can be implemented in public schools is often raised. To try to shed light on this question, in 2011, the authors began a research study of more than 315 South Carolina public school classrooms (with approximately 7,500…

The American public generally recognizes the name "Montessori" because so many schools across the country and around the world use the Montessori name. However, the Montessori community has long believed that misunderstandings abound. A recent dissertation study quantified Montessori awareness and identified misconceptions in particular for those…

This article discusses the results of a survey conducted at the Princeton Montessori School (PMS) in New Jersey, a school serving age levels from infants through middle school. The author designed a series of five to six questions about memories of activities, teachers, and friends for all current K-8 students with a minimum of 1 year of…

There are two major types of Montessori teacher education in the United States: (1) AMI-USA (the American branch of the Association Montessori Internationale, founded by Dr. Montessori to carry on her work); and (2) AMS (American Montessori Society, founded by Nancy Rambusch to represent Montessori in America). This article presents the results…

Mathematics is a critical part of academic preparation of the middle school child, or, as Dr. Maria Montessori would refer to them, children in the third plane of development. Montessori educators are sincere in their endeavors not only to prepare young students for further studies of math and the application of math in their world and careers,…

Albert Bandura, the leading pioneer in the study of self-regulation, has defined the term as the child's ability to self-educate, self-direct, regulate motivation, and learn to think about what she is learning (1994). Lev Vygotsky's theory that children can be taught to think independently about how to solve problems expands upon Bandura's work…

This study examines life in a Montessori classroom, with special attention focused on spontaneous episodes of imaginary play. The goal is to better understand what is going on when children engage in imaginary play and how this play assists young learners in their development. This article examines three play episodes, each from a different area…

The value of music in educating the young child is not being recognized, particularly in the area of mathematics. Despite the amount of literature available regarding the effects of music instruction on academic achievement, little has been written on different Montessori music pedagogies and their effects on students' math scores. This article…

Public Montessori elementary schools have two challenges: They strive to achieve a child-centered Montessori environment and must also address the demands of state and federal requirements developed for more traditional educational settings. This study analyzes how schools were operating on both fronts. On the one hand, the study measured the…