Understanding Montessori: A Guide for Parents

By Maren Schmidt and Dana Schmidt

Book Overview

Understanding Montessori: A Guide for Parents will help parents understand the stages of childhood growth and learning, and how Montessori education meets each child's learning needs.Understanding... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1598589741
• ISBN13: 9781598589740
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Understanding Montessori: A Guide for Parents

This book should be included in all Montessori school parent tours, parent orientation presentations, parent education, and Parent-Staff-School book clubs! Intelligent, comprehensive~ MUCH easier to read than ANY of the previously published literature regarding Montessori and this educational philosophy. Informative even for a trained Montessori Directress!

Fills a gap in Montessori publications

I have been the librarian at a Montessori school for ages 1 to 14 (pre-K through 8th grade) for 8 years, as well as a parent of 3 children who attend this Montessori school. After helping current and prospective parents research Montessori education, I can say that Ms. Schmidt has written a book that really fills a need for parents looking for a more practical explanation of Montessori. If you are thinking about or currently have your child enrolled in a Montessori school, Understanding Montessori can help you understand how the method works and give you the "whys" behind the differences you may see on the surface. It is written in plain language and organized well. If you are looking for books that explain Montessori's educational theories, Montessori wrote many of them herself, which Ms. Schmidt lists in Understanding Montessori. She also includes one of the best annotated bibliographies and maybe the only subject index of Maria Montessori's writings that I've seen so far. Montessori in America is like David to the Goliath of public schools. Montessori addresses and even solves some of the problems that large school systems cannot begin to address (i.e. it embraces different learning styles and acknowledges each student as an individual). Because it is such a careful method, it cannot be applied quickly, cheaply, or in bits and pieces. It takes patience, training, and understanding from both teachers and parents to see the method work on the child over the course of their preschool and elementary years. Ms. Schmidt's book will aid in giving parents patience and faith in an educational model that is not about quick results.

Valuable book for parents seeking school options

I highly recommend Understanding Montessori. It is an effective reference resource for parents thinking about sending their children to a Montessori school. Maren Schmidt weaves personal anecdotes and practical advice into her book drawn from years of experience as a Montessori parent, teacher, and administrator. The fact that she has first-hand knowledge of all of these perspectives of the method lends great credibility to her writing. The book is organized such that parents can easily find information pertaining to their particular needs: looking for a school, questions about a particular age-group, insight into the Montessori philosophy, additional resources, etc. One unique aspect of this book is a thorough checklist of what to look for when first visiting a school. Often parents are overwhelmed when observing classrooms and meeting the principal and/or teachers. It's hard to know what to be aware of and what questions to ask without any prior experience. Schmidt expertly guides prospective Montessori parents through this important stage.