Woodinville Montessori School
A visionary philosophy
The Montessori philosophy supports innate human motivation to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things and to better ourselves and the world. The Montessori curriculum and pedagogy helps children to understand the interconnectedness of everything in the universe and their own unique place in the web of life and in the human family. It offers the possibility of preparing each unique child for any path they choose in education and in life.
We intentionally create learning environments that provide opportunities for the optimal development of every child. The learning environment includes not only the physical space but also the psychological, emotional, social, and spiritual environments.
A Montessori school is a community of learners. The convergence of beliefs and behavior of all our community members, both children and adults, has a significant impact on the level to which we can implement our goals. The ability of students to learn, grow, create, develop, assimilate values, and relate respectfully to other people and to the natural world is fully actualized when parents, administration, and faculty set good examples.
“When we took the personality of the child into account in and of itself, and offered it full scope to develop in our schools – where we constructed an environment that answered the needs of his spiritual development – he revealed to us a personality entirely different from the one we had previously taken into consideration…. With his passionate love of order and work, the child gave evidence of intellectual powers vastly superior to what they were presumed to be. It is obvious that in traditional systems of education, the child instinctively resorts to dissembling in order to conceal his capabilities and conform to the expectations of the adults who suppress him.” - Maria Montessori
Montessori in the news
- "The Montessori Mafia," The Wall Street Journal
- “Learning the Montessori Way Still Fun 100 Years Later,” Seattle Post Intelligencer
- “Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of Google.com, Credit their Montessori Education for Much of Their Success”
- University of Utah Researchers look at Montessori Middle Schools and find that “Environments that Promote Deep Engagement Yield More ‘Psychologically Complex’ Students”
Suggested reading
The following is a very brief reading list for those of you who are interested in expanding your knowledge about Montessori. Many of these books are available in local libraries.
- Montessori, A Modern Approach by Paula Polk Lillard
- Montessori Today by Paula Polk Lillard
- The Child in the Family by Maria Montessori
- From Childhood to Adolescence by Maria Montessori
- To Educate the Human Potential by Maria Montessori
- Maria Montessori by Rita Kramer
- The Elementary Method by Maria Montessori
- Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius by Angelina Stoll Lillard
- View the e-text version of Montessori Method, Dr. Maria Montessori, Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York, 1912.