The Montessori Network
Spreading the benefits of Montessori Education through sharing information and experiences
Welcome to the Montessori Network, your resource hub for all things Montessori. From your first foray into the Montessori approach to more in-depth learning, this is the place to be to keep your finger on the pulse.
Montessori is a philosophy, a way of thinking and a set of values that offer an approach to life and to parenting. Montessori is not exclusive; anyone can bring ideas into the home. It is internationally renowned, based on attitudes of respect, trust and freedom to give children the time and space to do what is meaningful for them.
By joining our global Montessori network you will have access to learning from around the world and a range of tips on how to bring elements of Montessori into your life.
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Your free hub for Montessori articles, videos and resources, regularly updated to keep your learning fresh.
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Putting children at the heart of the Covid recovery
Alongside over 150 organisations and individuals in the Early Years sector, we’re calling on the Prime Minister and his government to put children at the heart of the recovery post-Covid-19. To this end, we’ve signed the statement published by the National Children’s Bureau.
Talking Montessori webinars
Talking Montessori is a series of weekly webinars for practitioners, students and parents, featuring discussions from across the Montessori and Early Years community. We are taking a break for the summer and will be back in the Autumn. You can access previous show recordings below.
World Refugee Day and our duty to discuss inequality
Saturday 20th June marks World Refugee Day. This is a good opportunity to remind ourselves about the role we play in helping children understand what it means to be a refugee.
An important part of Maria Montessori’s philosophy – which has been echoed more recently in the UN Sustainability Goals – is helping children experience dignity and appreciate the value of each individual has in our communities and society.
What is Montessori?
What is Montessori? How is the Montessori method different? What does ‘following the child’ actually mean? What makes it relevant around the world, and applicable to every child? Our new, free, online short course, ‘What is Montessori?’, answers these questions, giving an introduction into Maria Montessori and her approach.
The Sun – Giver of Life
Explore another of the resources created by MCI for the Jane Goodall Roots and Shoots programme. These activities are designed to help children understand our dependence on the sun and the interdependence of life.
Parenting in a lockdown
A nationwide lockdown has presented brand new challenges for our society and the Early Years sector; of this we’re all well aware. Less discussed, however, are the opportunities this unique situation has brought for reflection, learning, and reform. We wanted to explore the important impact of nursery closures on parents, children, and nursery staff, while also considering what we can all learn.
Celebrating the Voice of the Child with National Children’s Day UK 2020
It’s National Children’s Day UK on 17th May 2020, and this year the theme for the event is The Children’s Voice. To celebrate the day, children from across the world are invited to share their thoughts and feelings about what they have learnt in 2020.
National Children’s Day UK 2020
National Children’s Day UK promotes children’s freedoms, rights and the importance of childhood health and well-being. This year, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, a new initiative is launching.
The Story of the Earth
Here is the story of the Earth and its Life, one of the resources MCI created for the Jane Goodall Roots and Shoots programme. These activities are designed to bring the story of evolution closer to the daily lives of children.
Earth Day 2020
This year marks 50 years since the first Earth Day took place. The aim of Earth Day is to build the world’s largest environmental movement to drive transformative change for people and planet. Today, the Montessori Group are celebrating with a webinar discussion on Cosmic Education, and a free activity pack: ‘Montessori and the importance of sustainability’.
Montessori Outdoors
Montessori believed that, in nature, children reveal their strength; research suggests that our mental and physical health is lifted by spending time outside. Our new free online course, Montessori Outdoors is a great starting point for anyone who wants to explore the outside world with children of any age.
Creative conversations for the future
Together with Montessori Europe, Montessori Model United Nations and WeRTheFuture (Art Action Change – Nadja Romain and Ellen Comberg), Montessori St Nicholas is planning a series of weekly webinars for 10-18 year old students about sustainability, biodiversity, the environment and our role as global citizens.
UK Government guidance on COVID-19
This information is drawn directly from the Government guidance documents and reflects questions raised during recent Talking Montessori webinars.
Montessori at home
Like many others around the world, you may have recently found yourself at home, juggling childcare and work. Whilst there is no pressure for you to maintain your child’s experiences to match their nursery or school, you might want to find out more about the basic Montessori principles to think about indoors.
Regrowing vegetables and herbs at home
Regrowing vegetables is a great way to show children about the growth cycle – as well as sustainability in reusing scraps of food. You won’t be replacing your weekly shop with these vegetables, but it’s simple to do on a windowsill and you can create a fun experiment to see which grows the quickest or the tallest.
Child-led learning: tips and advice on home learning
A child learns best through experiences during their early years – and there are many experiences that are readily accessible in the home. Whether it’s breaking away from a reliance on digital entertainment, organising the home to encourage spontaneous learning, or uncovering soft skills, there’s something that every parent can gain from Montessori over the coming weeks.
Montessori and Peace
When you, as an adult, an educator, a parent or a global citizen look around and see trouble, injustice, anger and violence on a global scale, what do you think you can do? To feel like you can make any sort of a difference at all can be difficult.
In part our ability to know what is happening globally may take our attention away from what is happening immediately around us, and within us. Feeling helpless to have any effect on major global issues can be seen to be normal – but we must remember that change does not just ‘happen’ – all change starts with one person.
Can you imagine a world without water?
Children love working with water. Whether it’s making bubbles, pouring through a funnel or scrubbing a chair it always captivates and engages. Activities with water in the environment are not only popular with the children, they provide stimulating and enriching opportunities for them to learn about a multitude of things.
Teaching English as an Additional Language
Just as every child is unique, so is every teaching context. Increasingly in our global community these teaching contexts involve children who are learning English in addition to another language or languages being spoken at home. A Montessori prepared environment is particularly suitable for facilitating second language acquisition and requires little if any adaptation to meet the needs of children learning English who are being immersed in the language.
Five Minute Ideas – In the Kitchen
The thought of setting up a new activity can be daunting, especially if it is quicker and easier to find the tablet or switch on the TV for a few minutes respite with small children at home. However, once you get into the swing of preparing and setting up simple activities from what you already own, you’ll see the benefit and enjoy watching your children develop skills from hands-on Montessori activities.
Playing with Light and Shadows
Light and shadows are all around us but we rarely pay a great deal of attention to them. Light, whether natural or artificial affects the pattern of our daily lives and influences our moods and emotions and we depend on light for all of the food that we eat as it provides the energy source for photosynthesis.
Maths in the Great Outdoors
One of the central principles of the Montessori philosophy is the connection with the natural world. Children develop a curiosity about and a love for nature through having the daily opportunity to experience the outdoors with structure and purpose. To support the learning and development of children effortlessly, we only need to look to see the opportunities the outdoors provides.
What to look for when thinking about Montessori education for your child
Many factors influence your choice of school; location, reputation, fees and so on. However, it is wise to remember that it is not you, but your children that will be attending the setting.
Here are a few things to consider and to the signs to look out for when choosing a Montessori school for your child.
From field to fork – helping children connect food with the world around them
In an age where convenience food is king and most food shopping is done in supermarkets, it can be easy to forget how the food we eat connects with the world around us.
Helping children develop an early understanding of the journey from ‘field to fork’ allows them to learn how the food on their plate can impact not only on their own wellbeing, but the wellbeing of the natural world and wildlife.
Soil Association’s Food for Life provides advice and guidance on how to bring food and food education together. Jo Wild shares her thoughts on how you can join up activities to make the most of food and sustainable learning.
Ones for the bookshelf: A Montessori reading list
The Montessori approach has been well documented in papers and writings by Maria Montessori since she started her phenomenal work over a century ago. Over the years, many threads of research bring together authors and child psychologists to weave an important stream of reading which contributes to much of what we learn today, here at MCI and within school settings.
Discover our reading list suggestions for understanding and learning more about Montessori.
