In this episode, Montessori Expert Charlotte Cushman describes in detail and in principle what Montessori Education is, tells us how to tell a real Montessori school from a fake, gives us some ideas of how it differs from other systems, and discusses the profound importance of Montessori for human life and your child's future.


To support the show and help us grow our audience -- so we have more of an impact on education and the culture -- please help us with a donation or contribution:
1. https://www.patreon.com/reasonrxpodcast
2. https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=SP6QPQKJU4XSS&source=url

Also, please consider liking us on your podcast app, and leaving a rational review.

And if you find an episode valuable, please share it with parents, teachers, school personnel, friends, and family. Help spread the word, help spread rational ideas for better living.


About Charlotte:
Charlotte Cushman attended Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon, where she majored in elementary education. Immediately upon graduation, she took Montessori training at the AMI Montessori Training Center in Palo Alto, CA from Lena Wikramaratne (a colleague and friend of Maria Montessori). She then taught at Montessori schools for twelve years and in 1985 she co-founded her own school, Independence Montessori, and later joined her husband's school, Minnesota Renaissance School. Your Life Belongs to You is the story she told her students over the years about the founding of the United States of America.

About Charlotte, see also:
1. http://whymontessorimatters.wixsite.com/montessorimatters/about-me
2. https://www.yourlifebelongstoyou.net/about-the-author

Her books:
1. "Montessori: Why It Matters For Your Child's Success And Happiness" by Charlotte Cushman
a. A Website for the book: http://whymontessorimatters.wixsite.com/montessorimatters
b. On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Montessori-Matters-Childs-Success-Happiness/dp/1889439398/

2. "Your Life Belongs to You: A True Story About the Birth of the United States" by Charlotte Cushman
a. A Website for the book: https://www.yourlifebelongstoyou.net
b. On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Life-Belongs-You-United/dp/188943941X/


Contact Melanie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-katragadda-nctm-9b14522a
Contact Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-gold-2883921/ or http://goldams.com/


Show notes and external links:
1. Some of the Montessori materials we discuss in the show are pictured here: http://goldams.com/pictures-of-montessori-materials-for-reasonrx-podcast-episode-28/

2. Montessori is about independence
a. https://www.howwemontessori.com/how-we-montessori/2017/05/montessori-what-is-independence.html
b. https://www.leportschools.com/blog/whats-the-big-deal-with-independence-in-montessori/
c. https://www.aidtolife.org/independence/index.html

3. What is essential and distinctive about Montessori Education
a. considers sensitive periods: grammar, reading, math operations, social skills, concentration
b. utilizes systematic training: starts concrete, then moves step-by-step to more abstract levels
c. utilizes materials designed with control of error so students can see error themselves
d. values real understanding
e. utilizes mixed age groups
f. utilizes Dr. Montessori's idea of "the prepared classroom"
e. is individualized and self-directed

4. How do you know if a school is a real Montessori school? mixed age groups; trained teachers; “chaotic” but ordered; uses Montessori materials

5. Tower of cubes, aka the pink tower: https://www.amazon.com/Montessori-Pink-Tower-without-stand/dp/B007IS35F4/

6. Stairs: https://www.amazon.com/D-Distributor-Montessori-Brown-Stair/dp/B00784HJK0

7. Montessori had materials and methods to work on children's sensory development

8. haptic: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/haptic

9. Montessori is fundamentally Aristotelian in approach

10. Montessori developed a total, integrated, holistic system for teaching writing; pouring water, doing chores --> tracing letters with fingers, using knobbed cylinders, using pencil on metal stencil —> writing

11. Montessori education believes in teaching writing before reading

12. Waldorf
a. https://www.waldorfeducation.org/waldorf-education
b. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education

13. John Dewey
a. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey
b. https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/projects/centcat/fac/facch08_01.html

14. Differentiating between authoritative and authoritarian: https://www.parentingforbrain.com/authoritative-vs-authoritarian-parenting/

15. The adult should be an authority: a role model and a provider of security and protection for the children

16. Montessori regarded a teacher as, in part, a scientist: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1112257.pdf

17. Montessori Education
a. https://www.montessori.edu
b. http://imsmontessori.org/index.html
c. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_education
d. https://amiusa.org

18. Biography of Maria Montessori
a. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXqeTYHn0p4
b. https://www.whitepaperpress.us/bbc-documentary-on-maria-montessori/
c. https://montessori-ami.org/resource-library/facts/biography-dr-maria-montessori

19. Books by Dr. Montessori
a. Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook: A Short Guide to Her Ideas and Materials: https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Montessoris-Own-Handbook-Materials/dp/0805209212/
b. The Discovery of the Child by Maria Montessori: https://www.amazon.com/Discovery-Child-Maria-Montessori/dp/0345336569/
c. The Absorbent Mind: A Classic in Education and Child Development for Educators and Parents by Maria Montessori: https://www.amazon.com/Absorbent-Mind-Maria-Montessori/dp/0805041567/

20. "What is Montessori / Mario Montessori and Lena Wikramaratne interviewed by Elsa Knight Thompson:" https://archive.org/details/pacifica_radio_archives-BB1697

21. Sentence diagramming
a. Rex Barks by Phyllis Davenport: https://www.amazon.com/Rex-Barks-Diagramming-Sentences-Made/dp/1889439355/
b. Drawing Sentences: A Guide to Diagramming by Eugene Moutoux: https://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Sentences-Diagramming-Eugene-Moutoux/dp/1935497154/

22. Induction vs. Deduction
a. Michael on induction vs deduction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_kZ9GaD57Y
b. Some good info in The Art of Reasoning by David Kelley: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Reasoning-Introduction-Critical-Thinking/dp/0393930785/
c. Michael on the nature of logic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWSAub8_-Zk


Picture courtesy Charlotte Cushman.