For Parents
Montessori For Families
Supporting your child’s full development
Articles
Schools and Centres
All Montessori schools and centres in Australia are independently owned and operated not governed by Montessori Australia. We provide a listing of Montessori programmes on our website and encourage prospective parents to contact them directly. Those with the Montessori Registered™ logo have been assessed as part of the Montessori Quality Assurance Programme as running a quality Montessori programme. Those with the Montessori Australia logo have joined our membership programme. Click here for more details about what these logos mean.
Directory
Open Days
Montessori Open Days
Nexus Early Learning Parent Information Day
📅 Saturday, May 10th, 2025 | ⏰ 10:30am – 12:00pm
- • 10:30am – Montessori Approach
- • 11:15am – Kindergarten Funding
- • 11:30am – Development Milestones by Elyce
- • Learn about childhood education at Nexus
All Welcome!
📍 165-167 Southern Road, Heidelberg West VIC 3081
The Athena School Open Day
📅 Wednesday 28 May 2025 | ⏰ 10.00am – 12.00noon
- Tours
- Info Packs
- Refreshments
- Entertainment
All Welcome!
📍 28 Oxford Street, Newtown NSW 2042
Echoes Montessori Open Day
📅 Saturday 24 May 2024 | ⏰ 11.00am – 1.00pm
- • Tour our learning environments
- • Meet our teaching team
- • Learn about the Montessori approach
- • Refreshments provided
All Welcome!
📍 85 Smart Rd, Modbury SA
Little Oxford Montessori Open Day
📅 Saturday 24 May 2024 | ⏰ 11.00am – 1.00pm
- • Tour our learning environments
- • Meet our teaching team
- • Learn about the Montessori approach
- • Refreshments provided
All Welcome!
📍 18 Trimmer Tce, Unley SA
Rosemont House Montessori Open Day
📅 Saturday 24 May 2024 | ⏰ 11.00am – 1.00pm
- • Tour our learning environments
- • Meet our teaching team
- • Learn about the Montessori approach
- • Refreshments provided
All Welcome!
📍 59 Kensington Rd, Norwood SA
Jescott Montessori Open House
📅 Tuesday 27 & Thursday 29 May 2024 | ⏰ 9.30am – 11.00am
- • Observe Montessori in action
- • See children engaged in learning
- • Meet our dedicated educators
- • Information packs available
All Welcome!
📍 6 Lorne Avenue, Magill SA
Lilliput Village Montessori Open House
📅 Tuesday 27 & Thursday 29 May 2024 | ⏰ 9.30am – 11.00am
- • Observe Montessori in action
- • See children engaged in learning
- • Meet our dedicated educators
- • Information packs available
All Welcome!
📍 193 Portrush Rd, Maylands SA
Cedars Montessori Preschool Open Week
📅 Monday 26 to Friday 30 May 2024 | ⏰ 9.30am – 11.00am daily
- • Visit on any morning of the week
- • Observe Montessori in action
- • Meet our teaching team
- • Information packs available
All Welcome!
📍 52 Oxford Tce, Unley SA
Chancery Lane Montessori Personal Tours
📅 Available at your convenience | ⏰ By appointment
- • Personal guided tour
- • One-on-one with our educators
- • Customized to your questions
- • Information packs provided
By Appointment!
📍 21 Chancery Lane, Adelaide CBD SA
Montessori Registered (Know Quality)
Choosing the right Montessori environment for your child is important. Each school, centre or programme is run independently from Montessori Australia and is either privately owned, part of a public school, or run by a non-profit association.
“Montessori” is not trademarked so it is possible for any school or centre to include the word “Montessori” in their name. Most “Montessori” schools or centres aim to offer a quality Montessori programme.
In its role as the national body, Montessori Australia has established an Australian system to identify Authentic Practice for Montessori programs and to support education services in maintaining these standards.
LOGOs on our Directory Listing
Montessori Australia logo: the school/centre has joined our membership programme. This means that the school/centre pays a membership fee to receive services and support from Montessori Australia and are a contributing member of the Australian Montessori community.
Montessori Registered logo: the school/centres has been assessed by the national body as meeting Montessori standards. This assessment was undertaken as part of the previous incarnation of our Montessori Quality: Authentic Practice (MQ:AP) program, a supportive and positive means of continuous improvement by which education services strive to ensure quality and best practice.
MQAP Participating or MQAP Applied logos: show that they are on the journey to become Montessori Registered, but have not yet been assessed.
Click here to go to the new MQ:AP website providing further details about the program.
Your Visit
As all Montessori schools and centres are independently owned and operated, the quality of their Montessori programme may vary. To know quality, we recommend prospective parents locate their nearest Montessori Registered™ school or centre, identified by these logos on our listing page here. Visits to these and other schools and centres are encouraged to determine if they are a suitable fit for your child and family.
When visiting, here are some questions to look for which will indicate a quality Montessori programme:
- Is the physical environment beautiful?
- Is there a feeling of peace?
- Is there a variety of different kinds of work being done?
- Is there an absence of worksheets and workbooks?
- Do the children seem to be relaxed and happy?
- Do the children seem to have a sense of purpose?
- Are the children kind and courteous with each other?
- Are the children concentrating very hard on their work?
- Are the children in primary appearing to work seriously even while some are casually carrying on conversations with others?
- Does the teacher appear to be constantly aware of the whole room, intervening only when children seem aimless or nonconstructive, or are bothering others?
These are the traits of quality Montessori classrooms.
(List courtesy of Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius, Angeline Stoll Lillard)
We would also recommend that parents assess a Montessori school or centre using the same values as the Montessori Quality: Authentic Practice (MQ:AP) program:
- All children have the right to an environment that is carefully prepared so that it meets and nurtures the developmental needs of each child.
- The child is an active participant in the learning process.
- Multi-age groups aligned with developmental planes provide for optimal social, emotional and cognitive learning.
- Self-discovery and exploration are important parts of the learning process.
- A non-competitive approach and the use of self- correcting materials promotes independence and self-con dence.
- The culturally diverse backgrounds of families and their active involvement in the centre enrich and foster a community that embraces tolerance and cooperation.
Watch a video: Why choose Montessori education for your child?
About My Child
Montessori For Families
Supporting your child’s full development
My Newborn
A special environment is required for a new baby. An environment which reflects the place they have come from and is a half-way house into the world. Newborns need to be in a warm, peaceful environment, which is consistent in its rhythms and routines.
Your new baby may surprise you with their strong urge to communicate. Even very young babies are able to reach their fingers out towards you. They will focus intently on your face and try to copy your mouth movements as you speak.
Their nervous system is still immature and so they will pass through very obvious behavioural states. Newborn babies sleep a lot and can become tired very easily, being barely able to stay away long enough to feed. They indicate their tiredness through jerky body movements or tensed muscles; increasingly loud vocalization and a change in interest in making eye contact. They will quickly move from quiet alertness into this more restless state which heralds their need to sleep. You can respond by providing loose wrapping and skin to skin contact.
During period of alertness your newborn will begin to take in their first impressions of the world and their senses. Newborn babies see in black and white only and enjoy looking at contrasting colours. They actually have a preference for circles. This helps them to find the nipple when its time to feed.
You might consider offering a black and white mobile for them to look at whilst they are on a movement mat on the floor.
My Infant
Birth to 5 Months
During the period from birth to 5 months, your baby will be learning how to use their hands, their limbs and their body in a co-ordinated and purposeful way.
Communication
- Your baby is fascinated by the sound of and emotion in your voice and your facial expressions. Your baby will love to hear you talking and singing. You can talk about what you are doing as you do it, when you are changing their nappy. You can talk about your plans for the day, or the things you can see in the room. Your baby enjoys listening to you and watching your mouth move as your speak.
- When your baby watches your mouth move, their mouth will move too. Avoiding the use of a dummy will allow your baby to make these mouth movements and to practice making sounds.
- Keeping background noise down (e.g. the television or music) will mean that your baby can tune into your language.
- It is never too young to read to your baby. Very young babies enjoy colourful picture books with one or two words on each page.
Movement
- Young babies need lots of opportunity for free movement. Your baby will learn how to coordinate their movement and become stronger in their limbs if they have lots of practice time.
- A safe and comfortable space on the floor on a mat will provide your baby with room to move. A large mirror lying sideways alongside the mat will give your baby an opportunity to watch their whole body move. Mirrors are also great for social interaction! It will be a whie until your baby realises that they are the baby in the mirror.
- Young babies seem to prefer lying on their backs, but time on the tummy everyday is important too. If your baby is comfortable on their tummy, you could lie down with them until they are happy in that position.
- Allowing your baby to practice new movements at their own pace will ensure that they build up the necessary muscle strength. Encouraging your baby to sit or stand before they are able to achieve these movements spontaneously could push them before their bodies are strong enough.
- When your baby is moving, have look at their clothing to make sure that it is not in their way. Loose or tight clothing can hold your baby up!
We have lots of ideas to promote your baby’s movement in our online shop.
Love
- When your baby feels safe and loved by you and others in their life, this feeds their healthy brain development.
- Feeling loved and accepted supports a baby’s healthy emotional and social development.
- You can show your love for your baby by responding when your baby cries, handling their body gently when you change their nappy and making eye contact as often as possible.
6 to 12 Months
The period from 6 to 12 months, is an exciting time for your baby’s development. This period can see babies developing from lying on their tummies or backs, to ‘cruising’ around on two feet supported by the furniture. They might even be walking!
Communication
- Your baby is still very interested in listening to the sounds of and emotion in your voice and loves to watch your facial expressions. Singing and talking to your baby is how your baby will learn how to speak. Special brain cells enable young children to absorb language simply by listening. The more your baby is surrounded by language, the more they will learn. You can tell your baby about what you are doing, when you change their nappy, or about what will come next in the day. You can name things in your baby’s environment to provide even more language. Your baby enjoys listening to you and watching your mouth move as you speak.
- When your baby watches your mouth move, their mouth will move too. Avoiding the use of a dummy will allow your baby to make these mouth movements and to practice making sounds.
- Keeping background noise down (e.g. the television or music) will mean that your baby can tune into your language.
- It is never too young to read to your baby. Very young babies enjoy colourful picture books with one or two words on each page. Your baby will be able to grasp a board or cloth book now and look through it with you, or by themselves.
Movement
From 6 months onwards, it is all go! Your baby will reach each milestone in their own time. The developmental continuum looks like this.
- Young babies need lots of opportunity for free movement. Your baby will learn how to coordinate their movement and become stronger in their limbs if they have lots of practice time.
- A safe and comfortable space on the floor on a play mat will provide your baby with room to move. A large mirror lying sideways alongside the mat will give your baby an opportunity to watch their whole body move. Mirrors are also great for social interaction!
- Your baby is hardwired to achieve their movement milestones, Allowing your baby to practice new movements at their own pace will ensure that they build up the necessary muscle strength. Encouraging your baby to sit or stand before they are able to achieve these movements spontaneously could push them before their bodies are strong enough.
- Everything looks pretty different once you’re sitting up! Your baby will need lots of opportunity to practice co-ordinating their eye-hand movements from each new perspective. The more practice they have, the stronger the pathway in their brain will become.
- When your baby is moving, have look at their clothing to make sure that it is not in their way. Loose or tight clothing can hold your baby up! The same is true for objects in their environment. Once your baby is crawling, their play mat might start to get in their way.
Love and connection
Babies and young children need secure and loving relationships, which enable them to moderate their stress levels. These significant relationships can include the mother and father, other family members and also caregivers such as childcare workers. When your baby feels loved, this feeds their healthy brain development.
- Feeling loved and accepted supports your baby’s emotional and social growth and development.
- Babies and young children receive their information about how to behave in social situations by watching the adults in their lives. You are their role model.
My Toddler
12 months to 2 years
This period in your child’s development heralds a major change in your lived experience as a parent. Your child is beginning to use language to communicate with you and their ability to move, anywhere, is changing by the day. Your child’s movement and language acquisition patterns will complement one another. Whilst your child is busy developing their language skills, their development of new ‘moves’ will plateau. Then once they have made the language acquisition they were working on, their movement will take off again.
Communication
- 1 word by 1-year-old is the general rule of thumb with children’s language development.
- You are your child’s greatest resource when it comes to language and communication. Your child will watch your mouth avidly when you speak, they are taking in the way in which your lips move in order to form the words. If you are trying to show your child something by demonstrating with your hands, be sure not to speak as they will watch your mouth instead!
- Naming things in your child’s environment will provide them with a rich source of language.
- Your baby will enjoy spending time reading books, with you and on their own. Books with 1 or 2 words to a page and simple stories will be most engaging.
Movement
Some children learn to walk before their first birthday and others take until 16 months or longer. Your baby will reach each milestone in their own time. The developmental continuum looks like this.
- New walkers benefit from going barefoot. It provides them with greater sensory feedback and makes it easier to learn how to walk.
- New walkers tend to fall over. Your child will need a environment which is safe to learn and practice walking in.
- Young children love learning how to walk up and down stairs, climb hills and run. Safe outdoor spaces will help with this
- Games such as ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ will help your child develop body awareness.
- Even if you provide a safe place for your child to practice refining their walking skills, they will probably still fall over. Learning how to fall without injury is a skill and your child will need practice to learn how to catch themselves.
Love and connection
- Young children need secure and loving relationships, which enable them to moderate their stress levels. These significant relationships can include the mother and father, other family members and also caregivers such as childcare workers. When your child feels loved, this feeds their healthy brain development.
- Feeling loved and accepted supports your child’s emotional and social growth and development.
- Young children receive their information about how to behave in social situations by watching the adults in their lives. You are their role model.
- This is a great time to begin teaching your child about emotions. The simplest way to do this is to connect with your child when they are emotional by acknowledging their feelings verbally and non-verbally (hugs) e.g. ‘You’re feeling sad, aren’t you?’ This lets your child know that you have understood and it names the feeling for them. It is important to your child that their feelings are acknowledged and that you are there to provide comfort.
- It can also be helpful to let them know that although they are feeling sad now, later on they will feel better. This is the beginning of lessons around differentiating between their feelings and their sense of self, or ‘I feel’ and ‘I am’.
Discipline
- The word ‘discipline’ really means ‘to teach’, rather than ‘to punish’. When we think about disciplining a young child, we can think about using challenging behaviours and times of conflict as opportunities to help our child to learn and build new skills.
- Very young children have limited capacity for self-discipline. They need support from us to learn what is appropriate and how to regulate their behaviour.
- When ‘correcting’ your toddler’s behaviour try to connect first and then redirect them. For example, if your child bites another child, you could connect with them first, ‘You’re frustrated aren’t you?” Then once your child has more control and is able to listen, you could provide the key message you wish to convey and set the boundary, ‘Biting hurts, Be gentle.’ Then you can redirect by moving them on to something else, ‘Let’s go and look at the fish in the pond.’
2 to 3 Years
Your child’s third year is a time of critical brain development. Their continued exploration of and experience in the world enables them to build a strong sense of their own capacities. For the majority of children the major movement milestones have been achieved and they have begun to use language to communicate. Though your child will continue to refine their abilities in both of these areas, now is the time to focus upon their growing ability to do more for themselves.
Communication
- You are your child’s greatest resource when it comes to language and communication. Your child will absorb your version of language, which makes you a role model! If you say, ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’, your child will absorb this and copy.
- Naming things in your child’s environment will provide them with a rich source of language.
- Reading to your child regularly will enable them to build a love of books and stories. Your child will develop some favourites which you will probably come to know by heart! You can discuss what is happening in the story as it unfolds. This helps your child build comprehension skills.
- 3 word sentences by age 3 is considered normal language development.
- Your child might start to show interest in using pencils to draw and write familiar letters or ‘sounds’. Writing requires significant fine motor control. Having opportunities to refine their fine and gross motor movements will support your child’s ability to control a pencil
Movement
- Even though your child is walking, they will still need lots of opportunity to refine this skill and build up strength.
- Your child will enjoy running, jumping, hopping, climbing, pushing, pulling, balancing and carrying.
- The brains of young children are designed to enable them to learn how to perform tasks simply by watching others. Your child will be particularly interested in imitating the activities they regularly see you involved in around the home.
- There is a strong connection between movement and learning. Young children are not made to sit in a chair for long periods of time. Movement supports their developing brain.
- Current research suggests that children under 3 years old should have screen time limited to 1 hour per day.
Emotional and Social Development
- Getting enough sleep is important for your child’s healthy brain development. Some children will have stopped sleeping during the day at this point and others will not. Planning a quiet time during the day will support your child to process all the experiences they have had during the day and to wind down.
- Your child will be ready for social experiences with children they own age. This will give them the opportunity to practice their social skills.
- This is a great time to begin teaching your child about emotions. The simplest way to do this is to connect with your child when they are emotional by acknowledging their feelings verbally and non-verbally (hugs) e.g. ‘You’re feeling sad, aren’t you?’ This lets your child know that you have understood and it names the feeling for them. It is important to your child that their feelings are acknowledged and that you are there to provide comfort.
- Children at this stage of development benefit from being encouraged to tell the story about what is upsetting them. This helps them to make sense of their experience and feel more in control. Begin by acknowledging the feeling first, ‘You look so sad. That really hurt, didn’t it?’ Then depending upon your child’s language ability, you may need to tell the story initially and encourage them to join in / take over. You could dramatise it, adding humour when appropriate. Your child might need to go over their story a number of times. This can be frustrating from an adult perspective, but storytelling produces understanding, healing and integration
- It can also be helpful to let them know that although they are feeling sad now, later on they will feel better. This is the beginning of lessons around differentiating between their feelings and their sense of self, or ‘I feel’ and ‘I am’.
Discipline
- Very young children have limited capacity for self-discipline. They need support from us to learn what is appropriate and how to regulate their behaviour.
- When ‘correcting’ your toddler’s behaviour try to connect first and then redirect them. For example, if your child bites another child, you could connect with them first, ‘You’re frustrated aren’t you?” Then once your child has more control and is able to listen, you could provide the key message you wish to convey and set the boundary, ‘Biting hurts, Be gentle.’ Then you can redirect by moving them on to something else, ‘Let’s go and look at the fish in the pond.’
My Three - Six Years Child
By the time your child is three they will have some level of functional independence, good control over their body’s movements and have complete oral language. That’s a lot to have achieved in just three years! Yet it happened without effort because of the unique quality of the young child’s mind. Your three year old is still very much sensorial explorer. They use their senses to absorb every aspect of the environment, their language and culture, in the process constructing their own intellects. In Montessori we call this the phenomenon the ‘absorbent mind’.
Throughout this time of development your child will also experience periods during which they display heightened sensitivity to, or interest in, particular aspects of the environment. These periods, named sensitive periods by Montessori educators, represent windows of opportunity during which children’s intense interest, enables them to learn the corresponding knowledge and skill with ease and enjoyment. These periods occur universally for all children at approximately the same age. If you observe child closely you might see signs of these sensitive periods.
My Six - Twelve Years Child
Your six to twelve-year-old child has reached a new stage of development. They have moved out of early childhood and into a period characterised by physical stability and steady growth. They will have increased stamina and will undoubtably be healthier, more adventurous and daring. They may also experience an increased capacity for sustained intellectual work. Children in of this age are more receptive to intellectual learning than at any other time in their lives.
Your child’s mind is also changing as it loses ability to absorb the environment unconsciously. Instead you will find that your child begins to use reason and logic to learn about their world consciously. Typical questions asked by children of this age include why, how and when. This is a time when children are developing great intellectual power.
Children in these primary school years are far more social, they gravitate to others with increased enthusiasm. They wish to broaden their horizons beyond the confines of the family and into the wider society, most specifically into a new level of social life with their peers. They exhibit a great loyalty to their peer group and the evaluation of the group becomes paramount. During this time, children are
beginning the process of becoming independent from the family, a step they must take if they are eventually to make mature attachments beyond the family.
Your primary school aged child will probably be intrigued by the unusual and the extraordinary. They may look up to those they perceive to be heroes. These potential role models inspire children to stretch themselves and better themselves in some way. At the same time your child may be working on the development of their moral compass, their internal ability to tell right from wrong. They will want to be able to work this out for themselves.
My Teenager
The adolescent years from 12 to 18 are the child’s journey to adulthood. They are no longer a child, but not yet an adult.
The rapid physical growth of adolescence also echoes the rapid physical growth of the first six years of your child’s life, but this time physical growth is accompanied by the intense hormonal activity that ushers in sexual maturity. The energy the adolescence needs during periods of rapid physical growth can sometimes diminish the energy the adolescent has available to concentrate on their academic work.
Similarly, to early childhood, the adolescent brain undergoes significant re-organisation, as the child transforms into an adult. At the onset of adolescence young people are ready to take further steps away from their families and towards adult independence in society. They also become idealistic and peer-oriented. They can find it difficult to concentrate on structured academic learning but love to interact conversationally and collaboratively with other adolescents in the context of projects and issues that are important to them; they feel supported and nurtured in a cooperative community of peers.
During this odyssey, young people become humanistic explorers seeking to understand their place in society, and to contribute to society. Personal dignity, social justice and belonging are key drivers. The adolescents are asking of themselves, who am I and who am I in this world?
Your teenager may have a huge capacity for creative expression, and their style of learning may become more practical and experiential, an approach they use to explore previously introduced concepts in more depth and in real-life contexts.
Positive Discipline Parenting Course
DOWNLOAD BROCHUREPositive Discipline Course
- Want to gain the cooperation of your child or students without the power struggles?
- Do you need better strategies for those moments when yelling feels like the only thing that works?
- Want to rebuild respectful and encouraging relationships with your child or students?
In this enjoyable, hands-on course, parents and educators will come away with a cache of 52 tools and strategies for gaining the cooperation of children in situations that typically produce conflict between adults and children. Adult carers will learn the four Mistaken Goals that lead children to misbehave and how to counter them with words and actions that promote connection and cooperation.
Positive Discipline by Jane Nelsen was first published in 1981 and has since sold over 3 million copies in 16 languages with trained facilitators offering courses in over 70 countries. It is considered the gold standard in parenting classes and is deeply compatible with Montessori principles. Classes consist of role plays, Socratic questioning, and other experiential learning techniques that allow parents to internalise and retain new parenting strategies successfully.
While most parenting classes seek to control children’s behaviour with rewards and punishments, Positive Discipline teaches parents how to gain the cooperation of their children by examining aspects of their own behaviour that may be sources of misbehaviour in children, and by empowering children with skills that develop resilience, empathy, self-control and the ability to solve their own problems without tantrums or acting out. Positive Discipline sees the misbehaving child as a discouraged child, and equips parents with a repertoire of 52 tools to help them re-establish the positive connection that leaves children more receptive to redirection. Positive Discipline is evidence-based, with years of research that has proven its effectiveness in putting the joy back in parenting for families all over the world.
Presenter: Mark Powell, Director of Education Services at Montessori Australia and accredited Positive Discipline facilitator, trained directly under Jane Nelsen in the US.
The length of the course is 15 hours in total, preferrably delivered over six weeks in 2½ hour sessions. This allows time for participants to integrate the new techniques and to read the book. Alternatively, it can be delivered over 2 days.
Course Inclusions:
- Workbooks are included, but purchase of the Positive Discpline book is required.
- Partners are welcome to attend for FREE.
- Parents may repeat the course as often as needed for FREE.
- Childcare provided where possible during the sessions (fees apply).
* Discounted rate for Montessori Australia Individual Members and all staff and parents at member schools and centres. Ask for the PROMO CODE from your school/centre or contact info@montessori.org.au.
Scheduled courses listed on our Events page or book directly via Eventbrite.
Come along to a free Intro Session to learn about Positive Discipline! For parents and educators.
Request an Intro Session at your school/centre or enquire about running the course for your parents (in person or Zoom). Enquires to mark@montessori.org.au.
Why Montessori
Montessori is often described as the best kept secret in education. This is not what Montessori had in mind. She envisioned her approach to education as “an aid to life” that would create peace by transforming society from within, one child at a time.
Looking at the current state of the world it seems her transformative educational model aimed at nurturing peaceful humans is needed now more than ever before. If Montessori is such a beneficial approach to educating children, why is it still a secret? Too many parents have not heard about Montessori’s life and legacy, perhaps because there has never been a popular book or feature movie made about Dr Montessori’s captivating life story.
Perhaps another reason this method is still a secret is that Montessori’s name has been tied to the method, and since she died in 1952 it’s tempting for people to see it as obsolete and not relevant to present day conditions.
Those who learn what the secret is about know that the Montessori method is everything that modern research on best practice in education recommends, and more! This is because the Montessori method is based on scientific observation of how children actually learn.
Watch this video to hear the secret, then help spread the word by linking to this video on your favourite social media sites.
Blog
Articles tagged with Parenting
What is the best age to start Montessori at home?
11 April 2023 – 8:50am
It’s never too early – nor too late, for that matter – to start Montessori at home and witness the profound benefits of this time-tested and transformational approach to raising confident, joyful, independent young people.
When they think of Montessori, most people picture child-sized furniture that first appeared in Montessori schools over a century ago and those gorgeous hands-on manipulatives that make learning concrete and active in Montessori classrooms worldwide.
Learning at Home
1 September 2021 – 12:00am
“Following the Child” at Home.
Fostering Independence at Home (for the 6-9 year old child)
1 June 2021 – 12:00am
Children are capable of more self reliance than their parents sometimes think. With the right support your child can learn to meet many of their own needs, and will often joyfully rise to an opportunity convincingly put.
Self-care, care of others, community care
Preparing the Home Environment for the 0-3 Year Old Child
1 March 2021 – 12:00am
Consistency
Walking on the Line
1 January 2021 – 1:00am
Practical Life activities in a Montessori classroom assist the child to control and coordinate their moments, and one of the earliest activities introduced in a 3-6 classroom is called “Walking on the Line”. Montessori saw this as a natural extension of something children liked to do (walking on curbs or tracks) and developed the activity not only to help them control their body, develop balance and perfect equilibrium, but to strengthen the mind’s control of its body’s movements.
Montessori Adolescent Programs – Developing Identity
3 December 2020 – 9:50am
Alumnus Madeline Cross-Parkin has braved mental health challenges on her journey to becoming a passionate classical pianist, Instagram sensation and physics undergraduate student.
Always top of her class in academics and piano, she reflects fondly on her time at Brisbane Montessori School, from the time she was eight months old to 12 years, and again from 15 to 16 years of age.
“Primary School was pretty good for me. I started learning piano at Brisbane Montessori School and had lovely teachers who started me off on a path of determination,” Maddy said.
Offering Encouragement not Empty Praise
1 December 2020 – 9:00am
Practical suggestions for offering encouragement, not empty praise.
Montessori Parent and Toddler Program
1 November 2020 – 9:00am
In Montessori Education, the specially designed place that children come to work in is called a ‘prepared learning environment’. The first ‘work’ your child will do in the program is to orientate themselves to the new space in which they find themselves, which may take a couple of sessions.
The space will be arranged in exactly the same way each week in order to assist this orientation process. Each area in the ‘environment’ has a specific order and contains activities or ‘materials’ which serve different purposes for your child’s development.
Montessori Materials
1 October 2020 – 8:00am
The preparation of each Montessori environment includes the careful preparation of the Montessori developmental materials appropriate to that environment. The Montessori materials are sets of objects, each set designed to exacting specifications. In general the materials are designed to:
Digital Technologies for the 3-6 Year Old Child
1 September 2020 – 8:00am
In recent years there has been much debate about the integration of digital technologies, specifically the use of computers, in early childhood settings. In the view of Montessori educators the disadvantages of computer use in early childhood settings outweigh the advantages. For this reason, computers are generally not found in Montessori early childhood settings for children under six years of age.
Maria Montessori – The Pioneer
31 August 2020 – 8:00am
Maria Montessori was born on the 31st August 1870, in Chiaravalle, Italy. From an early age she broke through the traditional barriers for women, attending a technical school with initial ambitions to be an engineer, to go on to choose a career in medicine. In 1896 Montessori became one of the first Italian women ever to obtain a medical degree. In her early career as a doctor, she was asked to represent Italy at the International Congress for women’s rights in Berlin, where she called for equal pay for women.
Assessment and Evaluation
1 August 2020 – 8:00am
The Montessori curriculum is organised in a developmental sequence from one phase of learning to the next. Individual students, however, are able to work successfully through elements of the curriculum in a sequence unique to themselves. For this reason, comparisons between students may not be meaningful. The validity of norm-referenced assessment and the ranking of students are further reduced in the Montessori context because, in a multi-age classroom, there are comparatively small numbers of children at the same age and stage.
Beauty and Order
1 July 2020 – 8:00am
Montessori environments are prepared to be both beautiful and ordered.
Freedom
1 June 2020 – 8:00am
From birth children are deeply interested in everything around them. They are driven to explore their world in the service of their own development. If they are to respond to this drive, children need the freedom to explore and discover their environment independently, and to engage their full attention on what interests them with a minimum of interference and interruption.
Lessons of Grace and Courtesy (Personal Development)
1 May 2020 – 12:00am
Personal development in Montessori early childhood settings revolves around the lessons of grace and courtesy, the Montessori lessons designed to ensure the needs of everyone in the setting are respected and to promote social harmony. These lessons are given to individual children, small groups or to the whole group. The lessons can be given:
Learning from Home Resources
Resources for Parents
The Stamp Game – learn how to make and present the Stamp Game, a Montessori maths material for children to independently practice the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
AMI Digital – free digital resources to schools, educators and families, starting with language materails for 3-6 year olds.
Online Montessori courses – learn more about Montessori
Montessori Short Videos – Rising Tide Montessori provides a free library of short videos about Montessori theory and practice
Build your own Montessori maths materials – download instructions for making the Addition Strip Board, Bead Frame, Checkerboard, Snake Game and Strip Board.
Montessori as an Aid to Life – supporting children aged 0-3 years in the home environment
Parenting Blog – see our blog postings for practical advice on Montessori parenting
The Montessori Notebook – Montessori at home for babies and toddlers
Montessori at Home – encouraging Montessori principles of order, independence, and self-motivation in the home
How We Montessori – Montessori in the home environment (24-36-month-olds)
Learning from Home Handbook for Parents
Montessori inspired indoor activities
Montessori inspired activities for toddlers
Continuing the Learning at Home – inspiration for activities at home (early childhood)
How to create an at-home Montessori for your children
Family Music For Mixed Ages – early childhood music programme
The Math Institute (Great Work Inc) & YouTube Channel – Montessori adolescent maths support
ABC Me – ABC ME is a place for school-aged children to find all the best shows from Australia and around the world.
100 Ideas for Montessori Early Childhood Students at Home (courtesy of St. Joseph Montessori School faculty and the American Montessori Society)
100 Ideas for Montessori Primary Students at Home (courtesy of teacher Michelle Jacob and the American Montessori Society).
Resources for Children
Google Arts and Culture – explore collections from around the world with Google Arts and Culture, created by Google Cultural Institute.
ABC Kids – watch shows, play games, share stories, sing, make science experiments, and much more.
Khan Academy – free online courses, lessions and schedules
Outdoor Classroom – video series of outdoor learning experiences with environmental educators including Stories with Snails, Snacks with Snakes, and a virtual Walk in the Woods.
Taronga TV – YouTube videos from Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Museum of the World – Interactive tour through the artifacts of the British Museum
Resource for Educators
The Stamp Game – a Montessori maths material for children to independently practice the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
AMI Digital – free digital resources to schools, educators and families, starting with language materails for 3-6 year olds.
Learning from Home Handbook (template) – template for schools/centres to download and customise for their parents
Learning from Home Handbook (Montessori School of Tokyo) & Learning from Home Handbook (Omni Montessori School) – samples from schools
What Works in Online Distance Teaching & Learning – AITSL Spotlight identifies best practice evidence to guide teachers on setting up online learning and advice teachers can give to parents
The Math Institute (Great Work Inc) & YouTube Channel – Montessori adolescent maths support
ABC Education & ABC Kids Early Education – education resources for schools, teachers and students
Teach from Home – Google resource hub of information and tools to help teachers
Distance learning solutions – UNESCO list of educational applications, platforms and resources below aim to help parents, teachers, schools and school administrators facilitate student learning and provide social care and interaction during periods of school closure.
Scootle – a national repository that provides Australian schools with more than 20,000 digital resources aligned to the Australian Curriculum.
Montessori Mondays – a free Zoom webinar session from MINT (Montessori Institute of North Texas). It looks at how educators can offer help to parents at a distance. The Zoom meetings are recorded and posted with any resources on their website so you can listen at any time.
Online Montessori Training
Montessori Training Australia offers online introductory Montessori training course.
Our introductory Montessori programs are a great way to commence your journey to an understanding of Montessori education or a career path in a Montessori classroom. Training is delivered in formats to suit a variety of learning styles: video, text, and interactive online modules. Access your learning when and where you want through our secure online portal.
There’s a Montessori training program for everyone. Whether you want to learn new skills for early years development, or want to further develop your expertise in Montessori teaching, or just want to know more detail about Montessori education, we have the course to suit you.
Begin studying anytime, from anywhere, online.
This self-paced learning series includes:
- Key Montessori Principles and Theory
- The Prepared Environment
- The Role of the Prepared Adult
- Montessori Materials
- Documenting Children’s Learning
- Montessori and the Early Years Learning Framework
For details and access: https://montessoritraining.org.au
Please Note: If you are interested in progressing to a Diploma course in Montessori education, these online courses are a great place to start. Once completed, you may want to continue your professional training, specialising in a particular plane of development (e.g. 0-3, 3-6, 6-12 or 12-18). There are several organisations that you may want to consider such as AMI, BFE, MI and AMTI.
Learn More
Online Montessori Training
Montessori Training Australia offers online introductory Montessori training course.
Our introductory Montessori programs are a great way to commence your journey to an understanding of Montessori education or a career path in a Montessori classroom. Training is delivered in formats to suit a variety of learning styles: video, text, and interactive online modules. Access your learning when and where you want through our secure online portal.
There’s a Montessori training program for everyone. Whether you want to learn new skills for early years development or want to further develop your expertise in Montessori teaching, or just want to know more detail about Montessori education, we have the course to suit you.
Begin studying anytime, from anywhere, online.
This self-paced learning series includes:
- Key Montessori Principles and Theory
- The Prepared Environment
- The Role of the Prepared Adult
- Montessori Materials
- Documenting Children’s Learning
- Montessori and the Early Years Learning Framework
For details and access: https://montessoritraining.org.au
Please Note: If you are interested in progressing to a Diploma course in Montessori education, these online courses are a great place to start. Once completed, you may want to continue your professional training, specializing in a particular plane of development (e.g. 0-3, 3-6, 6-12 or 12-18). There are several organisations that you may want to consider such as AMI, BFE, MI and AMTI.
Aid to Life
You want to do the best for your child but no one ever trained you to be a parent. Sometimes the information you find in books, magazines, parent groups and websites is conflicting and overwhelming. It is difficult to know which route to take to help your child.
Aid to Life offers clear, simple, straightforward advice that is easy to understand and most importantly easy to apply for children from birth to three years of age.
The Aid to Life Initiative is founded on the idea that children develop optimally when they are brought up in an environment that supports their natural development, with an adult who understands how to connect them to positive activity and then allows them enough time to grow and develop according to their own pace and rhythm.
Vist the website Aid to Life.
Social Reform