Abstract/Notes: This study sought the effects of educating parents on Dr. Maria Montessori's first plane of development in a mixed-age kindergarten classroom in Southern California, USA. Students withdrawing before completing the Montessori kindergarten year formed the basis for tailoring an action research project that informs parents about the importance of Montessori's first plane of development through the lens of Parent Development Theory. The researcher first explored past action research on relevant Montessori parent education studies. Next, twenty-five parents from a mixed-age Montessori kindergarten class participated in a six-week study. The research concluded that parents' understanding and valuing of the Montessori kindergarten year or final year in their students' early childhood education increased based on pre-and-post parent surveys and hands-on parent education experiences. The increase in parent knowledge resulted in the participants utilizing tailored information to make informed decisions about their student's kindergarten year on whether or not to keep their students enrolled for the full three-year period of the Montessori program. The researcher developed a more streamlined, focused, and comprehensive parent education plan than before the study began.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2019

Abstract/Notes: This action research project was completed to test the effects of storytelling on the emotional development of three to six-year-old children in a Montessori primary (PreK-K) environment. The setting was a rural school, and this study took place in an environment with 28 children who are predominantly Caucasian and come from upper-middle-class families. Data was collected using a tally sheet, observational field notes, a small group discussion rubric and an observational rubric. Storytelling took place each day and stories centered around emotions like anger, sadness, and frustration. The adult would share a story first, then invite the children to share stories. After, there would be a small group discussion about the way the particular emotion might feel or look. The results concluded that storytelling did help children with their emotional development by giving them the language they would need to be able to express themselves. The action plan implications conclude that the study could be conducted using different methods of discussing emotions.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2018

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this research was to determine whether a progress report that aligns the Montessori materials to child development benchmarks would increase parent understanding of the Montessori materials, as well as give teachers a means of reporting growth that is systematic and consistent. Trial reports were created aligning the toddler and early childhood practical life and sensorial curriculum areas to the state standards. Parents were asked to compare the current reports with the new reports. The postimplementation survey results suggested that 97% of parents better understood the alignment between the Montessori materials and child development and 100% of teachers affirmed the new reports made a clear association between the two. The new reports clarified the alignment between the Montessori materials and children’s development for parents and created a standard measurement tool for Montessori educators with the vernacular to explain the Montessori materials progression to parents.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2015

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this action research project was to determine if there would be improved development of empathy in elementary students as a result of involvement in the Toddler Mentor Program. The study took place in a 6-9 year Montessori Elementary Classroom. There were eight participants, which were first and second year students in the classroom. The age range was 6-7 years old. The elementary students spent twenty minutes as a mentor in the Toddler classroom once a week. Data was collected by teacher observation pre, during and post project in three different environments, the elementary classroom, the toddler classroom and recess. The students were interviewed following all visits of the toddler classroom and also participated in group discussions. The results showed an increase in empathetic behaviors over the time as a whole group. Individually, the girls displayed consistent empathy in the toddler classroom and the boys showed the most improvement over time. In conclusion, the Toddler Mentor Program provided the students the opportunity to focus on social-emotional skills such as being helpful, kind, respectful, and acknowledging other’s feelings. In order to identify long-term effects outside the classroom more research is recommended.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2015

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this research was to determine if the introduction of more developmentally appropriate materials and activities into the toddler classroom would create a more stimulating environment for the older toddlers, increase student engagement, and decrease disruptive behavior. Observations were carried out prior to the introduction of new work and after new work was implemented. This study was conducted in a toddler classroom at a private Montessori school. Children and teachers from the toddler classroom and three early childhood classrooms were included in this project. The results indicated that the older toddlers were more engaged and less disruptive after the introduction of new challenging work into the environment. However, this research was conducted early in the school year and the process of normalization likely impacted the results. Therefore, it is recommended that further research be conducted later in the school year.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2014

Abstract/Notes: as presented at Annual Conference, July 2004

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: This study explored how narrative was being used to foster meaning-making in Montessori, Steiner, Government and Catholic schools. In-depth interviews of twelve teachers from the four educational settings were used to collect the teachers' stories that comprised the data on narrative use. NUD*IST software was employed to organise data and to focus on emerging concepts through data analysis. A wide spectrum of narrative uses related to meaning making was revealed. These varied understandings support using narrative to foster insight on three levels relating to several theoretical views of narrative and its importance.

Language: English

Published: Sydney, Australia, 2001

Abstract/Notes: Central to this study is the Kankakee, Illinois School District 111 magnet school program, including a comparison of the magnet program to the regular or non-magnet curriculum program in Kankakee. Findings indicated that magnet students exhibited greater gains in some areas, including test results, as compared to their nonmagnet counterparts, supporting the idea that student, teacher, and parent choice of a learning environment has a direct impact on learning results.

Language: English

Published: Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, 2006

Language: English

ISSN: 0519-0959

Language: English

ISSN: 0519-0959