Parent Involvement in Montessori Classrooms

Sometimes, parents wonder how they can be involved when their child attends a Montessori school, or any school for that matter. The truth is, any teacher loves to have parent support in the classroom, especially when the parent asks the teacher questions about how to do so. I have been fortunate to have parents whose schedules often allow them to participate as field trip drivers and chaperones, to volunteer to give weekly spelling tests or listen to students read, or to come into class to share an experience or special interest. 

One of the most important yearly events that students share with their classmates is their birthday celebration. A candle at the center of group represents the sun, and a globe represent the Earth. In the Montessori 3-6 classroom, many students sang a song as the birthday child carried the globe around the candle: "The Earth goes around the sun/ The sun/ The Earth goes around the sun/ It takes 12 months/ One year/ 365 days." In Montessori 6-9 classrooms, there are many variations. In my class, the child and his/her parents share photos and stories from each year of a child's life, and at the end of the group, the other students ask questions and sing "Happy Birthday". The birthday boy or girl often chooses to donate a new or used book to the classroom library, as his/her gift to the community.

Another opportunity for parents is to join their child for a healthy lunch and talk with his/her classmates.

At other times, parents offer to share about their profession (such as a mom who is a nurse) or a hobby, such as a dad sharing about a family's recent beehive operation. When their child participates as a "co-presenter", s/he feels a great deal of pride and leadership.

Parent volunteers in the classroom are so important, especially those who give spelling tests to students or listen to them read one-on-one. Parents learn how to listen for decoding and ask questions that aid reading comprehension. They also provide an extra set of eyes for observation of student assessment in reading, which is very valuable.

Nourishing the Intellect in Nature

On a recent field trip to Full Circle Farm in Carnation, Washington, my class of 6-9-year-olds had a special experience in nature. Throughout the month of September, we had been studying the changing seasons, sketching farm animals, reading books about food, and had even taken our families to a local farmer's market to see the produce up-close. On our field trip -- which was free -- we wore mud boots so we could get dirty and explored the farm with a volunteer guide. We examined various seeds that are stored in the barn and smelled various geraniums with amazing perfumes (lemon balm, pepper, tomato) in the greenhouse where seeds flourish into plants. We also visited the manure-to-compost heap, saw the vintage farm equipment this local farm buys used as a form of recycling, and snacked on carrots from the field and blueberries off the vine. Although this farm is within thirty minutes of our school, this event was many students' first foray onto a farm where organic food is grown in a sustainable way.

I was reminded of Richard Louv's term "nature-deficit disorder". Children at first felt inhibited to splash in puddles, wary of dirtying their clothes, and they learned that some bacteria (among the oldest and earliest forms of life on the planet) are actually good for you, that they fight sickness created by "bad" bacteria. A parent mentioned that her child is reading voraciously this year, since television viewing was decreased. So many things that impact all of our lives end up seeming very simple. The more in-touch we are with hands-on materials, the more focus, concentration, and enjoyment we experience. Technology has much to offer us, yet we benefit from maintaining equal time with low-mechanized or even manual processes: peeling a potato, holding a door for another person, or turning a page.

In Richard Louv's two books on the subject of nature-deficit disorder, Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle, the author does not oppose technology yet reminds readers that the more technology we introduce and use in our lives, the more nature we need to bring about balance. Even a small amount of time outdoors positively affects children whose connection to the environment has been negatively impacted by increasingly sedentary or (conversely) over-structured lifestyles.

Fundamental aspects of Montessori education parallel recent scientific studies on the optimal ways we learn: 

• through hands-on contact with natural materials
• by going out into the world to freely experience (not simply research)
• in communion with others
• through noticing inter-connections between all life forms
• in honoring our whole selves -- intellect, emotions, body, sense of wonder, need for company
• and by finding peace at our own pace. 

Here are some suggestions for restoring a child's connection to nature:

• Walking, journaling, and engaging in imaginative play outdoors -- with or without others -- may bring a child inner peace and joy or provide centering instead of over-stimulation.
• Those who are naturally creative and imaginative may enjoy sketching or watercolor, which also strengthen fine motor skills.
• Climbing trees, building forts, or relays may allow a child to develop unknown sources of physical strength.
• Those who grapple with hypersensitivity or defensiveness may benefit from spending more time outside in order to release frustrations and find peace when compromise is necessary.
• Time spent with friends and loved ones in nature settings may help a child feel more secure, allow him/her to take risks and try new things, and develop courage and confidence.
• Many active children find that running or jumping rope helps them corral their energy and focus better indoors, as well as provides them with a break between periods of deep concentration.
• Shy or reticent children may benefit from oral storytelling which inspires the senses and stimulates conversation.
• Gardening may help children connect to others and the natural world, refine their auditory and visual senses, and enhance observance of their surroundings.
• Collective excursions  -- especially hiking, camping, or adventuring -- allow children to express themselves more openly to others, build self-esteem, and hone gross motor coordination.

Quality time spent with one another, rather than distracted by convenience and electronics, brings us closer and helps us feel that we belong. In PE activities, we sometimes use a colorful parachute to encourage community-building. Other times, we walk a fabric labyrinth to experience focus, patience, and mindfulness while also practicing gross motor balance. We should always go out into nature, not only during "good weather". We learn so much from returning to the same places throughout the year, noticing seasonal changes, and appreciating the cycle of life.

Mindfulness & Montessori

Recently, I watched a TED MED talk that sparked my interest, featuring Dr. Daniel Siegel and actress Goldie Hawn -- whose Hawn Foundation has studied the effects of mindfulness practices on students in the United States, the UK, and Canada. At first, I was struck by the intentionality and vast amount of science behind the Hawn Foundation’s research. Later, I realized that its MindUP program aligned closely with Maria Montessori’s philosophy as well as lessons in peace education and practical life in the Montessori lower elementary classroom. Recently, I read and would like to share highlights from Hawn’s book 10 Mindful Minutes: Giving Our Children – and Ourselves – the Social and Emotional Skills to Reduce Stress and Anxiety for Healthier, Happier Lives. (PLAY their TED MED video below!)

The MindUp program is based on scientific research into mindfulness practices that develop social and emotional intelligence. It accomplishes this through training attention, strengthening the mind, creating empathy and compassion, and engaging the senses to develop the 3 Rs beyond writing, reading, and ‘rithmetic: reflection, relationships, and resilience. Dr. Siegel refers to the term “mindsight” as “the process by which we can learn how to focus our attention on the internal world of the mind in a way that will literally change the wiring and architecture of the brain” (xiv). This kind of “heart-mind education” informs students about the parts and functions of the brain – such as the Wise Old Owl of the prefrontal cortex and the barking dog of the amygdala (p. 59) – as well as demonstrating effects on the brain of practices such as breathing breaks, generosity (what we call in my classroom “helping works”), use of the senses, and positive cognition and communication.

A University of British Columbia scientist found results of mindfulness that include better reading scores, reduced aggression, increased concentration and attention, a higher degree of listening skills, and improved management of stress (xxvi). Peers often rate students engaged in mindfulness practices as kind, trustworthy, and helpful. Scientists also note that higher levels of cortisol (a hormone released during distress) interfere with memory recall. Working memory is also impaired by “mental restlessness” and “relentless stimuli” (p. 21), visual input composing about 80% of what children take in through their senses in the modern world. 10 Mindful Minutes offers many amazing suggestions for teachers and parents to engage children with their senses through mindfulness “games”. Many activities suggested in the book mirror long-standing lessons in the Montessori 6-9 classroom, such as a mystery bag and Who Am I? games (for mindful listening or seeing), the use of scented oils (introduced at the 3-6 level) for mindful smelling, and classification of tastes and flavors very similar to those used in living/non-living biology lessons.

The practice of mindfulness is as central to the Montessori method as are the materials and lessons which materialize the abstract. Those new to Montessori often ask about its regard for the whole child – considering physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs as well as intellectual. Montessori respected the life of the child so much that she flipped conventional thinking around educational practices, classroom power dynamics, a prepared environment honoring beauty and order, appreciation for varied paces of learning, and the need to do for oneself and participate in community with others. The National Academy of Sciences reports that three minutes of mindfulness practice per day (p. 67) produces positive change in focus, observation, and relaxation as well as decreased stress, reactive emotions, and illness. The amount of time is less important than the frequency and repetition of such calming activities, which build new neural pathways (p. 37) and create new social and emotional habits. 

This fall, I introduced to my students during our movement class an exercise called Yin Yoga, which involves deepening certain stretches for three or more minutes. The benefits of such practice are physical, emotional, and spiritual: ligaments learn to stretch through endurance  and breathing, feelings come and go as the mind counts upwards to 180 (the number of seconds in three minutes), and peace and relaxation set in as one lets go of a desire for control. I explained to my students that one meaning of the word yin is “acceptance,” while its counter yang can mean “action”. Yin practices – such as yoga, sensory perception, compassion, and mindfulness – strengthen the body, mind, and spirit. 


I noticed a link between the book’s study of “mindful movement” to the Montessori philosophy, which advocates honoring the child through “purposeful movement” (p. 97). Current brain research shows that dopamine, the hormone released during physical exercise, improves memory, optimism, problem-solving, and cognition. It also reduces discomfort, grows new brain cells, and is present not only in exercise but also (as shown through neuro-imaging in MRIs) through positive thinking (pp. 95, 106). The positive effects of dopamine are doubled when a person reflects on a memory of physical movement, use of one’s senses, or a time s/he felt happy (p. 118). I see this also when we use our outdoor fabric labyrinth, a place where children take their time, become centered, and experience peace.  

The relationship between the scientific findings in 10 Mindful Minutes and curriculum planned by Maria Montessori over a century ago speaks also to the value of altruism. Maria Montessori observed the child, watching his/her behaviors for insights into the best practices for the child’s self-education. Montessori observed that the child learns best with his/her hands touching and manipulating beautiful, natural, ordered materials. Montessori observed that the child learns best in concert with others of a mixed-age range -- by learning from others’ actions, practicing and training the body’s movements and the brain’s comprehension, then modeling skills to others. Montessori observed that the child learns best when all of his/her senses are engaged, when s/he is encouraged to work at a personal rate in an environment that encourages self-sufficiency. A Cornell University study reports that helping others increases energy, self-esteem, and a sense of mastery in one’s life (p. 179). Helping also “activates personal initiative, stimulates curiosity, encourages exploration… and increases happiness” (p.183) – characteristics which are present daily in the life of children in our Montessori 6-9 classrooms.