Language: English

Abstract/Notes: Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was an Italian educator whose ideas and principles have validity in informing, understanding and responding to the challenges faced by contemporary educators . Many of her foundational principles are at the forefront of current educational thinking but are unacknowledged or unknown in mainstream education. It is argued that her ideas and principles about the spiritual wellbeing of young children have validity in the current debate. Montessori saw spirituality as innate in young children, the primary force driving their development and central to their capacity for joyful and deep engagement with their environment. She saw children’s capacity and ability to concentrate deeply as a spiritual pathway to a new level of individual consciousness and connection to the environment. These principles can inform our current thinking, understanding and response to young children’s spirituality. The conditions to bring about, support and protect what Montessori calls ‘concentration’ should be considered in pedagogical responses to the spiritual needs of young children

Language: English

DOI: 10.21913/JSW.v2i2.392

ISSN: 1835-7806

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Language: English

ISSN: 0010-700X

Abstract/Notes: Discusses the important influence of nursery school design on the learning experiences of preschool children, focusing on the design of the "Haus Der Kinder," an all-day Montessori preschool that operated in Vienna in the 1930s. Notes the importance of a homelike atmosphere and a variety of room layouts and furniture. (MDM)

Language: English

ISSN: 1522-9734

Abstract/Notes: Lili Peller's "The Children's House" essay begins where Maria Montessori left off in her description of space articulations. Peller does not name Montessori specifically as she always had a desire to become independent in her own right as a neo-Freudian child analyst. But the Haus Der Kinder founded in summer of 1922 suggests a total Montessori influence as it calls for "adventures in space" with house-like rooms for different functions, both for play and for work, for practical functions: library, kitchen, workshop, quiet room, alcoves, nooks, and terraces for special individual work, with all spaces focusing on the relationships between indoor and outdoor environments. [This article was reprinted from "The NAMTA Quarterly" 3,1 (1978 Spring): 47-55.]

Language: English

ISSN: 1522-9734

Language: English

ISSN: 1354-1498

Language: English

Published: River Forest, Illinois: Montessori Publications, n.d.

Abstract/Notes: This is the final report of the Ancona Montessori Research Project for Culturally Disadvantaged Children begun in 1965 to investigate the effects of a modified Montessori program for disadvantaged children in the preschool and early elementary years. This report deals with the academic year 1969-1970, in which 29 disadvantaged children and a comparable group of 29 middle class children are the central focus of study. In addition, there is a followup on the school careers of disadvantaged children who attended Ancona at one time. A number of hypotheses about the potential effects of the project on the children's cognitive, social development are studied. Part I of the report deals with findings relative to the nursery school children, and includes a discussion of data from three measures of intellectual development (Stanford Binet, WPPSI and Merrill-Palmer) and from tester and teacher ratings of school-related behaviors and attitudes and social interaction. Part II details findings on the elementary school children and followup data on children who attended Ancona in previous years but are now elementary school students in other schools. In addition, data regarding children whose families have had long term involvement in the school is discussed. The appendix includes Ancona school Head Start program ratings of behavior during individual intelligence testing. (MS)

Language: English

Published: Washington, D.C., Aug 31, 1970