Resources for the Montessori Parent

What is a Montessori Parent?

Parent involvement is crucial to children’s learning and development. Learning does not just happen in the classroom. All adults have a role to play in promoting learning, engagement, excitement and curiosity in children.

According to Dr. Montessori’s observations and research, children learn from their environment, and adults serve as the link between the environment and the child. That is to say that learning in a Montessori environment is not seen as the mere passing of information from the teacher to the student. Rather, it is the process through which the child gains insight about life from daily experiences, whether at school or elsewhere. This is why we see teaching as a joint responsibility of the school and the family.

Montessori for Your Family

There is more than one way to do anything, and there is no single, prescribed way that Montessori parenting must look like outwardly; after all, one of its fundamental qualities is that it adapts to different lifestyles and cultures around the world.

Understanding and incorporating the major principles of Montessori into your daily family life allows for many societal pressures to fall away. Your child possesses all they need to learn and gain independence within themselves, and they actually don’t need you to teach them anything in the way one might think. They don’t need adults to hover, explain or demand. You can prepare yourself to see your child for who they truly are and what they’re capable of, and then your work becomes, as Dr. Maria Montessori said, “Follow the child.”

“We must help the child to act for himself, will for himself, think for himself; this is the art of those who aspire to serve the spirit.” – Dr. Maria Montessori