Why Montessori?

Did you know that Montessori education is unique, even revolutionary, in its emphasis on freedom of choice? From the moment a child steps into a Montessori classroom, he or she will hear the message of personal control over learning—“What work are you going to choose today?”

Elementary graduation is always a bittersweet occasion for our educators. Since many of the children graduating have been students of various teachers for their tenure at Gladwyne Montessori, it is with heavy hearts that our esteemed classroom guides bid farewell to their blossoming former pupils. The pride and joy, however, are the most rewarding of emotions they will feel as their students graduate from the 6th grade and look towards their future beyond elementary school.

Gladwyne Montessori’s Parent/Toddler program is a parent’s first introduction to the Montessori classroom and provides a safe place for parents of children ages 12-24 months to discuss their pressing parenting questions while also making some new friends of their own. This program is an exceptional opportunity for parents to learn together while bonding over the knowledge that they are all experiencing similar developmental milestones and challenges in raising their young toddlers.

Learning to code fits naturally with the Montessori philosophy. Digital literacy is an important skill to develop and through coding, students can learn through real life, hands on, experiential activities. Leveraging industry standard coding languages, students foster their curiosity for learning by developing their own websites, apps, and video games within the context of their interests and passions. The process of programming a computer teaches students about cause and effect and gives them an understanding for how systems work in the real world.

If asked to choose one quality you want your child to have, what would you say? Empathy, courtesy, curiosity? A Pew Research Study from 2014 asked 3000 parents that very question and the result was striking; regardless of  social, political, and ethnic background, the majority of the respondents chose responsibility as the top quality they wanted their kids to have. How is responsibility developed in children?