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Montessori Philosophy

Shifting from “Stuff” to the Spirit of the Season

By Montessori in Action, Montessori Learning, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
All too often the holiday season becomes about “stuff”–presents, decorations, more presents. How do we wean our children away from their focus on getting gifts and instead shift attention to the spirit of togetherness, generosity, peace, and goodwill?  It can be helpful to hold a family meeting and talk about everyone’s feelings about the holidays. We can ask our children about what, besides the gifts, they really like about the...
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Making Amends

By FMS Values, Montessori Basics, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
Our children make mistakes. We can help them learn how to make amends. Help children shift from throw-away apologies to repairing the wrong-doing. Mistakes are a part of life. We all make them. Hopefully, we even learn from them! Intellectually we probably understand that mistakes are part of our children’s process of learning and growing. Yet as parents and caregivers, it can be hard to know how to handle situations...
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The Positive Way

By FMS Values, Montessori Basics, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
Positive Discipline aligns well with Montessori philosophy and helps us shift from being punitive or reward-based to being kind and firm at the same time.  We are often asked about how we handle discipline in Montessori. It’s a great question because we think differently about discipline. Ultimately, we want our children to develop self-discipline and to understand how to balance being an individual within a community. We know that children...
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The Montessori Prepared Environment

By FMS Values, Montessori Basics, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
A Montessori prepared environment (classroom) is a place designed to foster children’s learning as well as support their fundamental human tendencies. In Montessori, we talk a lot about the “prepared environment.” Really, though, this concept of a prepared environment isn’t limited to Montessori. In fact, from the earth’s biosphere offering an array of support for life, to the fragrant and colorful flowers existing to lure pollinators, to a woman’s uterus...
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Moving Away from How Was your Day?

By FMS Values, Montessori Basics, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
It can be hard for children to talk about their experiences at school. If we shift our approach, we can often get more insight into our children’s day. When we pick up our children from school, it can be so tempting to ask, “How was your day?” Often the responses are pretty lackluster. As adults, we can likely relate. If a partner or friend asks about our day, our responses...
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Montessori Myths and the Importance of “Real” Montessori

By FMS Values, Montessori Basics, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
We are accustomed to hearing people discuss a variety of Montessori myths, and it’s most often that these misunderstandings come from people who haven’t spent time in a high-fidelity Montessori environment that applies the methods as they were originally intended. The truth is, anyone can call themselves “Montessori”. There’s no trademark on the name, and so it can be pretty misleading to people who are trying to discern what is...
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3 Ways to Go Green as a Family

By Montessori Philosophy, Parenting No Comments
It’s Sustainability Week at FMS. This is a great chance for parents and their children to talk about how we can care for our planet.  What it really boils down to is recognising connections.  In our disposable, consumable culture, it can be easy to forget where things come from and what we might do differently to lighten our step on the planet.  Here are some fun and educational ideas to...
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Independence: The Foundation of Freedom

By FMS Values, Montessori Basics, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
In order to be truly free, we need to be able to make our own choices, which means having the skills and abilities to then act upon our choices. Without independence, we can’t truly be free.   As children’s independence grows, so does their opportunity for freedom. They have more choices available and more to consider. The freedom children experience in our prepared learning environments is directly related to their independence....
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On the Topic of Competition

By FMS Values, Montessori Basics, Montessori Philosophy No Comments
You may have noticed that in Montessori schools, we do not typically encourage competition between children.  Our lack of traditional grading is one obvious marker of this approach, but you will notice that the lack of peer competition threads itself pretty much throughout the entire program.  This is quite intentional, and we work hard to give children a foundation built on competition with oneself, rather than with others.    It is...
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5 Simple Ways to Show Her You Care on Mother’s Day

By Montessori Philosophy, Parenting No Comments
Everyone loves to feel appreciated.  With Mother’s Day just around the corner, it’s a great time to think of how you might show the mums and special others in your life what they mean to you.  We offer five simple ideas to celebrate and care for the woman who cares for everyone. Remember to have a card ready. You could absolutely buy a Mother’s Day card; there are plenty of...
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