About Montessori

Websites

Association Montessori Internationale, the association founded by Maria Montessori

American Montessori Society

Montessori Connections

Books

The Absorbent Mind by Maria Montessori

The Science Behind the Genius by Angeline Stoll Lillard

Montessori Madness by Trevor Eissler

Dr. Maria Montessori was born in Italy in 1896.  Her first school, Casa de Bambini, opened in 1907.  The school was furnished with child-sized furniture and materials of her own design. As she worked with the children she observed their interactions with the environment and materials, modifying both where necessary. Soon the children were displaying self-discipline, preferring authentic materials to toys, and working with profound concentration and joy. Children demonstrated a natural affinity for order, took care of their environment and were intrinsically motivated to learn. Based upon her observations, she concluded that the children almost effortlessly absorbed knowledge from their surroundings and were tireless in their interactions with the materials. Word of Casa de Bambini spread, drawing international interest. Gradually Dr. Montessori’s work and pedagogy spread throughout Europe and made its way to America.

By 1925 more than 1,000 Montessori schools had opened in America. During World War II Dr. Montessori and her son, Mario, were forced to flee from Italy to India; it was there that she developed the Education for Peace program. She was nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize and is noted for her efforts to foster a more peaceful and harmonious world.

Today there are Montessori classrooms throughout the United States and the world, teaching generations of children to be independent, motivated, curious and joyful learners.

Schools that place children together into small groups assume that the teacher—a very limited resource—is the source of instruction. They reason that as the number of children decreases, the time that teachers have to spend with each child increases.

In contrast, Hudson Montessori School recognizes that the best teacher of a 3-year-old is often another somewhat older child, a process that is good for both the tutor and the younger child. In this situation, the teacher is not the primary focus. The larger group size in our classroom puts the focus less on the adult and encourages children to learn from each other.

By consciously bringing children together in larger multi-age class groups, in which two-thirds of the children return each year, the school environment promotes continuity and the development of a stable community.

There is nothing inherent about Hudson Montessori School that causes children to have a hard time if they transfer to traditional schools. Some may be bored. Others may not understand why everyone in the class has to do the same thing at the same time. But most adapt to their new setting fairly quickly, making new friends and succeeding within the expectations set forth in their new school. There will naturally be trade-offs if a Hudson Montessori School child transfers to a traditional school. The curriculum in Montessori schools is often more enriched than that taught in other schools. The values and attitudes of the children and teachers may also be quite different. Learning will often be focused more on adult-assigned tasks done more by rote than with enthusiasm and understanding.

There is an old saying that if something is working, don’t fix it. This leads many families to continue their children at Hudson Montessori School at least through the eighth grade.

Sometimes parents worry that by having younger children in the same class as older ones, one group or the other will be shortchanged. They fear that the younger children will absorb the teachers’ time and attention, or that the importance of covering the kindergarten curriculum for the 5-year-olds will prevent them from giving the 3- and 4-year-olds the emotional support and stimulation that they need. Both concerns are misguided.

At each level, our programs are designed to address the developmental characteristics normal to children in that stage.

• Our classes are organized to encompass a two- or three-year age span, which allows younger students the stimulation of older children, who in turn benefit from serving as role models. Each child learns at his/her own pace and will be ready for any given lesson in his/her own time, not on the teacher’s schedule of lessons. In a mixed-age class, children can always find peers who are working at their current level.

• Children normally stay in the same class for three years. With two-thirds of the class returning each year, the classroom culture tends to remain quite stable.

• Working in one class for two or three years allows students to develop a strong sense of community with their classmates and teachers. The age range also allows especially gifted children the stimulation of intellectual peers, without requiring that they skip a grade or feel emotionally out of place.

Yes, in general, children who are highly gifted will find Hudson Montessori School to be both intellectually challenging and flexible enough to respond to them as unique individuals. It affords the opportunity for students to explore real-world questions and to be challenged at a greater pace than in more conventional classrooms.

Teachers at Hudson Montessori School have secured a certification from an accredited Montessori training program. In these programs, the teachers are deeply immersed in the developmental characteristics of children and how to create a learning environment that is reflective of those characteristics.