best Montessori books?
June 19, 2011 12:00 AM Subscribe
Can you recommend books I can read to learn about the Montessori method? I personally did not experience Montessori but am considering Montessori for our child.
There's a lot of Montessori-related documents and books out there but I'm looking for something that can help me better understand the fundamentals of Montessori. We believe it may be good for our child but neither of us parents have experienced Montessori directly.
We have other, more traditional preschool options but we are most interested in Montessori at the moment. Any advice would be appreciated but pointers to good books would be best.
There's a lot of Montessori-related documents and books out there but I'm looking for something that can help me better understand the fundamentals of Montessori. We believe it may be good for our child but neither of us parents have experienced Montessori directly.
We have other, more traditional preschool options but we are most interested in Montessori at the moment. Any advice would be appreciated but pointers to good books would be best.
Best answer: Two books that were great for us were written by Maria Montessori herself.
For an introduction, The Child in the Family (might be hard to find but a great introductory read), and The Absorbent Mind which was her last most-comprehensive work (and goes into good depth on her rationale).
There are many other books but it is great to see what the original ideas look like, rather than what others have interpreted over time, and then you can examine individual schools from the perspective of one who understands what the underpinning theory is about.
Also seconding the recommendation about accreditation - there's a lot of claims about Montessori method schools, and standards have posed a real issue.
posted by scooterdog at 12:31 PM on June 19, 2011
For an introduction, The Child in the Family (might be hard to find but a great introductory read), and The Absorbent Mind which was her last most-comprehensive work (and goes into good depth on her rationale).
There are many other books but it is great to see what the original ideas look like, rather than what others have interpreted over time, and then you can examine individual schools from the perspective of one who understands what the underpinning theory is about.
Also seconding the recommendation about accreditation - there's a lot of claims about Montessori method schools, and standards have posed a real issue.
posted by scooterdog at 12:31 PM on June 19, 2011
Response by poster: Thank you to both of you for your helpful feedback!
posted by gen at 10:04 PM on June 20, 2011
posted by gen at 10:04 PM on June 20, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
Also, pay attention to the accreditation of Montessori schools. Among Montessori snobs, AMI is best, AMS is good too, and nothing else is worth considering.
Good luck!
posted by missrachael at 6:01 AM on June 19, 2011 [2 favorites]