The famous British philosopher Bertrand Russell describes the Montessori approach to discipline, in his book “On Education”. Here’s Russell, in 1926: “I had always understood that Madame Montessori dispensed with discipline, and I had wondered how she managed a roomful of children. On reading her own account of her methods, I found that discipline still […]
A few weeks ago, we received a rather lovely email from a member of our community. He was interested in donating his mother’s sea shell collection. Primarily, he wanted to see if we would be receptive to the idea, and perhaps more importantly, he wanted to see if the sea shells would be put to […]
One of the most pressing and concerning issues of our contemporary educational and cultural landscape is the conception of education as instantaneous, as if you could just download knowledge. The moment of learning may very well come in spontaneous bursts, but it can’t be reduced to the exchange of information transmitted instantaneously. While we may […]
The French philosopher Roland Barthes has a lovely description of the value and import of wooden toys, written in his seminal collection of essays, Mythologies. “Current toys are made of a graceless material, the product of chemistry, not of nature. Many are now moulded from complicated mixtures; the plastic material of which they are made has an […]
One of our favorite things about running a school is having the opportunity to meet and introduce new families to the Montessori approach to education. For some, it can be a transformational experience. Last weekend we had the good fortune of meeting with Amy and Hugh Weber, along with their daughter Emerson. We showed them […]