NAMC montessori moments giving spirit holiday christmas santa letters
“If help and salvation are to come, they can only come from the children, for the children are the makers of men.”
- Maria Montessori

We call them “Montessori moments” – those moments that are so golden and precious that they are indelibly etched into our hearts forever. I’d like to take full credit for what happened in my Montessori classroom yesterday, but like most Montessori moments, it just ‘happened’ without a lot of planning or foresight.

I had been planning all week on teaching the children how to write a “friendly” letter. It being the week before Christmas, I sat in the circle with my 30 Lower Elementary students and we composed a letter to Mrs. Claus together. The responses were pretty typical: How’s Santa and Rudolf? You make great cookies. You’re very nice. What do you want for Christmas?

We spoke briefly about form: Salutations, the body of the letter, and the closing. We spoke of indenting paragraphs, capitalization, punctuation, and margins. Then came the assignment. They were to write a letter to Santa, but not your typical “I want…” letter. It was to be an unselfish letter to Santa. They were to write what they wanted Santa to bring to others.

Thursday, December 20, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
Montessori Classrooms Celebrate Winter Holidays Around the World

Montessorians know that in order to promote peace and understanding of different people and cultures, it is necessary to study not only the ...

Wednesday, December 12, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
Montessori Inspired Age Appropriate Toys (9 to 12 Years)

Children in this plane of development begin to explore play at a different level. They enjoy arts and crafts, science kits, and outdoor act...

Friday, December 07, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
Montessori Inspired Age Appropriate Toys (6 to 9 Years)

While the younger child seeks comfort, the older child is now eager to encounter challenges. But these challenges must have an aim. - Mar...

Thursday, December 06, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
Montessori Inspired Age Appropriate Toys (3 to 6 Years)

We have to understand that the world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation. The hand is more important than the eye. It is t...

Monday, December 03, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
Montessori Inspired Age Appropriate Toys (Birth to 3 Years)

It’s the holiday season, and if you’re like me, you’re making your list and checking it twice, making sure that everyone is taken care ...

Friday, November 30, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
Montessori Prepared Environment: The Montessori Teacher

Close your eyes and visualize a Montessori classroom before the children enter on the first day of school. What did you see? Beautiful ma...

Friday, November 23, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
Celebrating Thanksgiving with Montessori Activities

In 1621, the English colonists, better known as Pilgrims, at Plymouth and the Wampanoag (People of the First Light) Indians of North Amer...

Friday, November 16, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
Montessori Prepared Environment: Purpose, Set-Up and Classroom Features

One of the factors that contributed to the success of Montessori education was in Montessori’s scrutiny of the traditional educational env...

Wednesday, November 14, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
Reading Aloud to Children: Tips for Happy, Successful Readers

Last week I wrote about the joys of reading aloud to my son, Nathaniel. Even when you have a child who seems to devour books, reading is n...

Monday, November 05, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
Reading Aloud to Children: Modeling and Bonding

This is a story I share with all my Montessori parents and colleagues when I hear them say “But my son / daughter / student is old enough to...

Thursday, November 01, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
How Progress Reports Work in the Montessori Classroom

I know I’m not alone when I say that one of my least favorite tasks is writing progress reports. Montessori teachers take extra time to per...

Wednesday, October 03, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
Montessori Classroom Management: Sometimes Students Will Be Hard to Handle

We've been in school for five weeks and today, the class seemed to fall apart. The noise level was off the charts and it didn't s...

Wednesday, September 12, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
The Goals of Montessori Education - Reaffirm Your Belief in the Method

"Our goal is not so much the imparting of knowledge as the unveiling and developing of spiritual energy." - The Child in the Famil...

Sunday, September 09, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
The Three-Period Lesson: A Key Part of the Montessori Method Explained

Montessori teachers use the term three-period lesson so often it becomes second nature. We forget that there are others who may not underst...

Monday, September 03, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
The Montessori Teacher and Her Role: Learning More About The Method

The teacher, when she begins to work in our schools, must have a kind of faith that the child will reveal himself through work. She must fre...

Saturday, September 01, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
Things to Love About the First Day of School in a Montessori Classroom

Sssssssshhhhhh…don’t tell my husband, but I fell in love last week. It’s happened again, just as it does this time every year. Only this...

Wednesday, August 22, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
Why Choose Montessori: Educating the Human Potential

As a parent, you want to be able to choose the best education possible for your child. But, with so many options available, what is the be...

Monday, July 30, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
Why Choose Montessori? Montessori vs. Constructivism: An Explanation of Montessori Philosophy

Why choose Montessori for your child? Before you can answer why, it is important to understand what Montessori is. Mark Powell wrote an ar...

Thursday, July 19, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
The Second Plane of Development:  Ages 6-12 - Montessori Philosophy

Continuing our series on learning about the four planes of development, we move on to the second plane, which encompasses ages six to twelve...

Tuesday, July 03, 2007 Continue Reading this Article
The First Plane of Development: Birth to Age 6 - Montessori Philosophy

Most modern educational philosophy centers around the theory that growth, development, and learning occur on a steady linear continuum from...

Monday, July 02, 2007 Continue Reading this Article

NAMC Blog Inquiries Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *

Search the NAMC Montessori Teacher Training Blog

Are you interested in reading back through NAMC's blog articles from years gone by, or for more information on a specific topic?

Browse a select list of our most popular categories below; by clicking on one, you will see every article posted under that topic since 2007. You may also use the lower archive menu to select a year and month, displaying all blog posts in the chosen time frame.

If you are seeking a range of information on a certain topic or idea, try this search box for site-wide keyword results.

Choose From a List of Popular Article Topics

NAMC Montessori Series

Montessori Philosophy and Methodology

Montessori Classroom Management

The School Year

Montessori Materials

Montessori Curriculum

Montessori Infant/Toddler (0–3) Program

Montessori Early Childhood (3–6) Program

Montessori Elementary (6–12) Programs

What is Montessori?

Search Archives for Montessori Blog Posts by Date


Thank you to the NAMC Montessori community!

NAMC has been providing quality Montessori distance training and curriculum development to Montessorians around the globe for more than 25 years. Since beginning in 1996, we have grown to build a fantastic community of students, graduates, and schools in over 160 countries. We are grateful for your continued support and dedication to furthering the reach and success of the Montessori method.