What is Montessori, really? 5 Main Points

One of the most common questions we get from new families, or parents considering Montessori as a choice for their family is, what is Montessori, anyway? There can be many misconceptions about what Montessori is and is not. Too rigid? Free for all?

Montessori teachers (and lovers of Montessori) seem to have as many different ways of answering this question as you might imagine. Some talk about who Dr. Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952) was and her many gifts to the educational world. Others discuss educational theory and describe how this is a developmentally based approach rooted in the constructivist view of child development —the idea that children create themselves through the experiences they have in relationship with others.

But there are so *many* things we love about Montessori and it’s hard to encapsulate all that into a few paragraphs. Today, we’re giving it a try anyway, with what we feel are five main points that summarize the essence of Montessori education.

Montessori considers human development and aims to meet people where they are.

Human development lies at the core of Montessori. With her background as a physician and in anthropology, Dr. Montessori spent years observing children and their behaviors, noted their individuality and variety, then categorized and summarized typical growth patterns. She called these the planes of development, and they span across the first 24 years of life, but Montessorians are applying her principles to the workplace, dementia care and elderly care.

Does everyone develop at different rates? Of course. Are there patterns that are seen in the development of most children? Absolutely. Does development often manifest in unpredictable spurts and lulls? We see this all the time. By developing a deep understanding of human development, Montessori was able to create an entire educational system that takes all this in stride and honors children’s needs—from infancy to early childhood to adolescence, and beyond. From the three-year age groupings to the materials used, the physical environment and the very manner in which lessons are presented: everything is intentional. Everything is about meeting the child where they are -- to best support their specific needs.

Instead of delivering standardized information, Montessori hopes to guide students as they travel their path themselves.

You will never see a Montessori guide standing at a chalkboard at the front of a classroom lecturing students sitting in rows of desks.

In fact, you’ll never see a Montessori guide lecturing at all.

Is there a Montessori curriculum? Absolutely. Do modern Montessori schools take the time to ensure the curriculum continues to cover skills necessary for today’s students? They sure do. The major differences lie in the delivery of this curriculum.

Our young children (0-6) are taught almost exclusively via individual lessons. They each progress at their own pace, and while they are all working their way through the same materials and lessons, they don’t have the pressure of doing that at the same time as their peers. They also have the benefit of leaning into areas that interest them more deeply.

As they get older, they do receive more group lessons, although the main driving factor for this approach is the older child’s need for peer connection. They still get to move at their individual pace, and they still get to explore areas that they feel particularly connected to.

Education should never be one-size-fits-all, or even fits most. Our guides understand the importance of mastering critical skills, but they also know that when we meet the child where they are, awakening their curiosity to explore the world around them, we can often circle back to including all our educational goals for them. Sometimes that child who loves trains, for example, will be excited about making a book about trains, and even though avoided many lessons in the language area, now they are excited to learn what they need to make a book. If they are a kindergartener, they may make a report about trains to share with others in a presentation. Which might lead to a desire to explore other forms of transportation, eventually studying the science behind different forms of energy that have fueled trains and other vehicles from coal to electricity.

Independence, from the start, leads to confidence and excellence.

That subheading really says it all. Infants in Montessori programs are allowed and encouraged to move freely; they aren’t confined to cribs but rather lie safely on floor beds. Toddlers learn to dress themselves, take an active role in their toileting progress, and begin to learn how to care for their environment. The gradual release of independence continues through adolescence, with Montessori teens learning to run their own businesses.

We believe in the capabilities of young people. We honor and respect their abilities to do things by and for themselves. We support them as they work toward independence, and the results are astounding.

When you have the roots of relationship and feel trusted to be independent, you feel respected and confident. That sense of confidence builds on itself with each experience and develops children into adults who are not afraid to take appropriate risks because they know that they can achieve what they set out to do. 

Social interactions are a critical part of our growth, and social learning deserves as much attention as academics.

‘Educating the whole child’ is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot. It’s an admirable goal - critical, even. The problem is most modern educational systems don’t always have the resources to support teachers in achieving this goal in the same ways that Montessori does. We know that’s a bold claim. We wouldn’t make it if we didn’t believe it was true. (And that is not to take away from the beautiful work of countless teachers in public and traditional settings who are making connection with their students and helping them flourish.)

When educators or families transition from a conventional school to a Montessori school, one of the most significance differences is within the daily schedule. Montessori school days are not rigid or organized by subject matter. They have long blocks of time that are flexible and able to be used for all kinds of learning. Sometimes this means a child spends an hour working on large multiplication problems. Other times it means they sit with a friend and a teacher and talk about mediation skills.

Social learning is not taught in isolation in our classrooms; it’s an underlying theme that runs throughout all programming. We have the benefit of being able to truly teach in the moment, so when conflict arises, (as it will,) it can be approached as a learning opportunity.

Society stands to benefit from a system of education that teaches students about the universe as a whole, as well as the interconnectedness of everything on Earth.

The Montessori curriculum was very intentionally created to nurture compassionate and active community citizens. When we teach children, our goal isn’t only to support their future place and gifts in the workforce, or even only to help nurture responsible citizens who feel accountable towards our shared good. Our goal is to prepare them for life. All of life.

We teach our students about the universe, about how life has changed on Earth over time, about how each individual organism plays a part in the delicate balance of our ecosystems. We teach children about the ancient history of early humans, with a focus on how they developed skills like writing and systems of mathematics. This appeals to their own development of the same skills and gives them a reverence for the people who came before them. It also allows them to feel a deeper sense of where they fit into the big picture.

To close, we will leave you with one of our favorite quotes by Dr. Maria Montessori herself. This idea is one that drives us to do what we do each day, and a hope we know we share with all of you.

“The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind.”