023: Is a Montessori preschool right for my child?
It’s that time of year: daycare and preschool tours start ramping up and parents have to try to figure out which is the right option for their child. And many parents are overwhelmed by the options. Montessori? Waldorf? Reggio Emilia? How are they different? Will my child be messed up if I pick the wrong one? This episode is the first in a mini-series to help us think through the questions you might have as you explore the options that are available in your community. Today we’re going to learn about Dr. Maria Montessori’s approach to early childhood education and what it’s like to have a child in a Montessori preschool with Mary Ellen Kordas, the President of the Board of Directors at the American Montessori Society. References Gray, P. (2011). The special value of children’s age-mixed play. American Journal of Play 3(4), 500-522. Full article available at: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ985544.pdf Isaacs, B. (2012). Understanding the Montessori approach: Early years education in practice. New York, NY: Routledge. Lillard, A.S. (2005). Montessori: The science behind the genius. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Lillard, P.P. (1996). Montessori today: A comprehensive approach to education from birth to adulthood. New York, NY: Schocken. Louv, V. (2008). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. New York, NY: Algonquin. Montessori, M. (1971). The Montessori Elementary Material (Trans. A. Livingston). Cambridge, MA: Robert Bentley, Inc. Wentworth, R.A.L. (1999). Montessori for the new millennium. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Read Full Transcript Transcript Jen: https://www.temi.com/editor/t/b4pggz91i6yxT5l0BWlxrx9yC4xdGCRJgNeNXQ57AWwT4CqFPyIiM4_1wWnAZvjH6fqogoFnPP272q2XbLo-wP__oa8?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&ts=5.76 ([00:05]) Hello and welcome to today’s episode of Your Parenting Mojo, which is called Is a Montessori Preschool Right for my child? I sort of skipped the whole preschool touring and decision making thing. It turned out we had a nanny at the time and I had planned to actually to work with her friend the somewhat long term, but she decided to work with a family with a younger child. So we found ourselves rather abruptly in need of care and I’d been doing a lot of research on the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education at the time. And we were actually lucky enough to find a daycare that had space for her on short notice. And so we just kind of went with that. But I know a lot of parents are able to plan ahead and spend a bit more time choosing between the different options that might be available to them. And so to help with that process, I wanted to do a little mini series of episodes where we learn about some of the options that might be available in your community and today we’re going to learn about Dr Maria Montessori’s approach to early childhood education and what it’s like to have a child in a Montessori Preschool with Mary Ellen Cordis. Mary Ellen is the incoming President of the Board of Directors of the American Montessori Society and has over 40 years of experience as the head of a Montessori school in the San Francisco Bay Area, and as an advocacy champion of Montessori. Mary Ellen’s school was the first accredited Montessori school in the state. Welcome Mary Ellen. Mary Ellen: https://www.temi.com/editor/t/b4pggz91i6yxT5l0BWlxrx9yC4xdGCRJgNeNXQ57AWwT4CqFPyIiM4_1wWnAZvjH6fqogoFnPP272q2XbLo-wP__oa8?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&ts=103.48 ([01:43]) Thank you very much. It’s wonderful to be here. Jen: https://www.temi.com/editor/t/b4pggz91i6yxT5l0BWlxrx9yC4xdGCRJgNeNXQ57AWwT4CqFPyIiM4_1wWnAZvjH6fqogoFnPP272q2XbLo-wP__oa8?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&ts=105.16 ([01:45]) Thank you. So I