One stumbling block is government regulation: the requirements for testing and for same-age students in the same class undercut the power of the Montessori method. Those Montessori schools accepting public money must often water-down the method to keep the money coming. It seems to me there are several points of attack on this.
1. Running strong, healthy Montessori schools.
2. Increasing the demand for Montessori schools by convincing parents that the various problems of traditional schools are not problems we should just live with. Showing parents, through classroom observations, that this method really works.
3. Selling Montessori to the public as merely an option (a cost-effective option even), not as a way to overthrow the present system immediately, in effect replacing old mandates with new mandates.
4. Lobbying lawmakers to allow exceptions for this method.

I wonder if there is a half-way step regarding lobbying lawmakers in setting Montessori schools free. I wonder if, instead of pushing to eliminate all testing and oversight of Montessori schools, we push to allow AMI or AMS or some other organization to put its imprimatur on each school and to keep an eye on them. Maybe government control would be more easily wrested if it was transferred to an established, accountable organization instead of no control whatsoever. Maybe this halfway step would be easier for lawmakers to stomach in the near future.

Whatever happened to one-room schoolhouses? Why don’t we get rid of school buses and go back to this? One of the interesting opportunities in Montessori is the possibility of having really small schools. In order to fill a typical traditional class with thirty students, you’ve got to draw from a certain size geographical area. In a Montessori class of mixed ages made up of children from a three-year span, to fill a thiry-student class you can draw from one-third the geographical area. A real neighborhood school.

I really agree with this concept. There’s nothing like teaching, or having responsibility for younger students, to make you a better student yourself. I learned that through my experience with athletics and I think it would apply to academics as well. One of the key functional elements of the one-room schoolhouse, as I understand it, was the responsibility assigned to older children to assist younger children with certain assignments and certain behaviors. This type of interaction is a powerful educational tool.

I agree that focus needs to remain on providing Montessori best practices. Our Montessori began as a private school and after 10 years merged with our public system, where we’ve been for the last 13. It’s been a nightmare trying to satisfy two systems, often working in direct opposition, doing neither well.
A great Montessori, can’t be beat. A public Montessori, unless it runs itself, always will sacrifice and compromise its ideals.
Many states have
successfully petitioned their legislators for recognition of Montessori credentials. At the 100th anniversary of Montessori education in NYC two years ago, a woman from Oregon gave a presentation on this particular process. Also at the convention, was a group called MACTE, which is a Dept. Of Ed. sanctioned group for federal sanction of Montessori training centers, the equivalent of state ed. credentials. So there already are things in place, it just takes a group of concerned, active people, parents and educators, to make this happen within a given state. I wish my work at school didn’t consume so many hours, so that I could head to Lansing and make it happen there. Fortunately, we have Montessori public schools now in Lansing, which is a beginning… sort of. I’m not sure they’re on the same page, but it is a start here in Michigan.

Lyn, I wish you could “head to Lansing and make it happen there” too! It really is going to take a multi-pronged effort to finally achieve public no-strings-attached Montessori schools everywhere.
How do we make Montessori more attractive to legislators? What tack have successful petitions taken?

We can take the example of Barbara Gordon. Together with some other committed people, they lobbied to the state of Texas to pass Montessori specific licensing regulations. All Montessori schools in Texas need to abide by these rules rather than the standard licensing regulations. There are some wonderful public Montessori schools that benefit, including the East Dallas Public School where there has been some enlightening longitudinal research conducted.

In 1995 Arizona’s first charter schools opened. Many established Montessori schools recognized an opportunity to make Montessori education available to more people, joining the ranks of free public education. Within a few years most of the state’s Montessori elementary and middle schools had converted to charters. We were fortunate. Arizona charter schools are allowed more autonomy than those in many states. Our classrooms are intact. The public school accountability shows up in the office more than the classroom, although the children take an annual test. Even this is low-key, not the main event. Our biggest challenge is money. Arizona is one of the lowest states in education funding. It’s about to get worse with the new state budget due to these economic times. Fundraising will be a high priority. In Arizona the free public Montessori charter schools are having more success than most of the public district Montessori schools who have to deal with another layer of bureaucracy. At conferences I have talked to Montessorians from charter schools in other states and they report similar results.

one more thing–If Montessori schools are to grow like weeds, we need a bumper crop of Montessori teachers. Finding good teachers is one of the biggest challenges to a growing school. It is closely linked to financial realities. Good Montessori teachers are a rare breed and rare people are by definition– rare. Growing a Montessori school in an area without a training center nearby is difficult. And teachers, who are most often female, have children of their own, move when their husband’s job requires it, etc. When parents begin demanding a Montessori education for their children, we’ll need more teachers ready to deliver it!!

Check out the public school activities of AMI/USA: especially in Minnesota, St. Louis and Conneticut…
here is the link for the public school workshop
http://amiusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103&Itemid=73

A big obstacle to the growth of Montessori schools is, simply, DADS. Again and again I’ve received many emails from readers who have said “thank you” for writing this book, which they specifically plan to hand to dads in their school communities.

How do we continue to broaden the argument to dads regarding Montessori? NASCAR dads. Military dads. Football-watching dads. We’ve marketed ourselves to the “low-hanging fruit”: moms of wealthy families with a liberal and environmental bent, an independent streak, and a community-building bug. But what about the majority of the country? What about those parents (usually dads) who admire structure, discipline, authoritarianism, competition, and sacrifice? Those parents who are convinced that good things happen only when one has been forced by someone else to struggle through difficulty and suffering? Those dads intent on “protecting” their daughters and making their sons tough? I realize this paints a lot of folks with a broad brush. My point is (and I’ll make one more broad-brush stroke here) Montessorians tend to all look alike. How do we push further and show parents (and dads) that Montessori is valuable in making tough sons and daughters, providing for strong national defense, fostering discipline, and strengthening will-power? There is a huge market Montessori has not tapped yet.

Trevor, I’m normally against naming famous people who were Montessori children because Montessori is not about that, but to convince a few fathers I have used the argument that “the founders of Google” and “the creator of Amazon” (among others) went to Montessori school.

However, we must keep in mind that Montessori education works best when the home environment/lifestyle mirrors the school’s. It’s actually stressful for the children if at home parents do the opposite of what is done at school. So, do we really want every parent to send their child to Montessori? Or just those who are more open-minded and willing to make the necessary adjustments in their life?

Yes, I want every parent to be able to send their child to Montessori. I come at the “mirroring the home” question from a physical fitness perspective. Do we not offer opportunities for walks and sports and physical games to children who have sedentary parents? Do we just offer those physical pursuits to children with fit parents? Of course not. The skills learned and attitudes fostered using the Montessori method are even MORE crucial to those children who wouldn’t normally develop those skills in their home environments. Many good homes allow children to develop well, regardless of whether anyone in that family knows what Montessori is. Getting the chance to concentrate (even for just a few hours on school days) on self-chosen work, interact with classmates, foster self-discipline, and learn concepts through hands-on purposeful work is important for every child. If the child is already getting that at home, great. If the child is not, then it is crucial that he or she gets these opportunities at school.

Trevor, I see your point and I do know of some children who have benefited despite their parents’ beliefs.

However, how about the parent (and I know many) who send their child to a Montessori school during the day and then insists of private math classes, reading lessons, etc. in the afternoon. The poor child comes to the classroom with zero desire to work, because he’s being pushed all afternoon by mom. The child is actually suffering and hates the work in the classroom because all he wants to do is hang out with his friends and play. While we do invite children to socialize in the classroom, we also expect that they come in with the necessary energy to be ready to choose materials that interest him. When they don’t, it becomes a struggle, and the child then receives the message that learning should be forced upon one.

I could go on and on with examples of parents who not only don’t support their child’s Montessori education, but make it painful for their child (the inconsistent parent, the parent who needs their child to be dependent at all costs, etc.). If you want every parent to send their child to Montessori, then you will have to require that every parent do their part, and every parent will have to be made aware of the impact of their behaviors. And you will have to find a large number of teachers willing to give their hearts, bodies, and souls every single day to the development of young minds. There’s already a shortage of guides as it is.

But I do love your idea (in the book) of small community schools, and that’s one of my goals in the future.

I don’t pretend to be a Montessori teacher. I really don’t know the answer to the best approach for an academically exhausted student in class. My initial thought is that the Sensorial and Practical Life areas could call to that particular student and the “struggle” in the more academic areas could be dropped for the nonce.

As far as the other side of the question–parent ed–that’s right up my alley! Toss them my book or have them give me a call! Parent ed is incredibly important and it’s what I’ve been devoting every spare minute to. Parents must understand what’s going on in a Montessori classroom to reap the full benefits of the method. The Montessori method is not just about learning in the classroom; it’s about learning, period. The more perfect learners we become, the more enjoyable, productive, and peaceful our “laps around the marble” will be.

As far as small community schools, I’m glad you agree. It’s too bad many schools think of themselves as businesses, such that what matters is quarterly growth. There’s never a thought that, “Hey, ya know what? I think we’re at a perfect size right now. Let’s NOT try to increase earnings next quarter.” Likewise, bigger is not better when it comes to schools, unless you measure a good school by its extensive list of extracurricular activities. I tend to favor eliminating all the extras (yes, all the extras) and simply offer children “the world” inside their normal classrooms.

If a school has a surplus of incoming students, why not open a one-room satellite campus a couple miles away? Then another one. And another one. That way the glory of Montessori’s ideas can be spread, not the glory of one particular mega-school with a dominant football team.

I loved this: The Montessori method is not just about learning in the classroom; it’s about learning, period. You have a way of saying things about Montessori that make sense to the layperson, and I think that’s why I found your book so valuable. Thanks and keep up the tireless effort!

Thanks for the encouragement, Pilar! I’m finding that, just like a Montessori student, when the work is purposeful, valuable, and self-chosen, it’s not really “work” at all. Working on this stuff gives me energy. I’m hoping to shoulder some of the load of getting the word out, to free up you teachers for doing the critical work in the classrooms.

I think the way to make Montessori schools grow like weeds is to provide solid proof of its success. Unfortunately, in our society, people have a hard time believing without facts. I continue to look for studies that demonstrate the real benefits of montessori education. I continue to find a lot of subjective commentary, mostly being promoted by montessori schools or organizations.

I also think we need to demystify the montessori classroom. I think for most people; they are not quite sure what is going on inside. We need to use terms that are not so academic and specific, and speak to the parent in common terms. We need to make the montessori approach not so much a mystery but a proven, successful method for teaching our children.

We need to address the naysayers who like to sight the child in Montessori who lost his or her way and juxtapose those anecdotal stories with all those failed children in the traditional educational system.

We need to build a movement which continues to educate the public and push for change in our public school traditional approach.

We need to regulate montessori schools and require they meet standards and teachers are trained.

Lastly, in the years that I have interacted with Montessori schools, the one thing that I have found as a parent is the lack of relationship between the teacher and administration with parents. I absolutely respect that the parents do not belong in the classroom, but I do believe that Montessori teachers and more importantly administrators need to build relationships with the parents to foster a strong sense of community and commitment. I am now at my 3rd montessori school (a charter); this school seems to appreciate this fact.

I could say more (and I am a HUGE supporter of montessori). I am a Mom, and I want to become a trained teacher.

Shelley, I think your list (solid proof, studies, demystifying classroom, addressing naysayers, building a movement, training and regulating, and building relationships between schools and parents) is spot on. These are the very same issues I am addressing as I travel to various parent education sessions at schools around the country. Unfortunately, our best and brightest advocates (Montessori teachers) are spending all their time with our children!! The moms and dads like you and I must step up and lend our voices to the discussion, providing perspectives from the adult world on how Montessori’s learning principles truly affect the way we adults live and work and learn. If adults are convinced of the value of these principles in their own lives, they will insist on providing this type of education to their children.

Charter Schools let you use federal money without all the regulations.

http://www.edcschool.org/Our_Schools.html

Trevor — I attended your talk last night at Brickton Montessori here in Chicago and very much enjoyed it – thank you. I will confess, however, to being disappointed that there seemed so few “non-Montessori” parents there. It felt a little like you were talking to the converted.

As a result, I appreciate the opportunity to discuss the book and Montessori philosophy here on the website. I’ve begun to review the forums and comments and I have found them very helpful. However, missing from the discussion thus far (unless I missed it), and missing from the conversation last night (I wanted to ask but it didn’t seem appropriate), is what I see as the most essential barrier to the growth of Montessori…

Why does it cost so much?

In my experience, the very high cost of tuition is the most prohibitive barrier to most people opting for Montessori. Even people interested in the philosophy and willing to pay private school tuition (in our case, $5K for 2 children) can’t even consider Montessori at the going rate of nearly $15K per child!

So, can we talk about why is costs so much?

I have more to say, but I need to read the rest of your book first :>)

Thanks again and I look forward to the discussion…

Peggy, Amen! It is a lot of money. But I think the question should not be why does it cost so much. In Texas (and I invite you to do a similar comparison in Illinois) the average cost of Montessori tuition is about $6,000. The average per student cost that the state already pays for public school students per year: $9,000. So the average cost of Montessori tuition around the country is about 30% less than the amount the state already pays per students for public school. So it doesn’t cost “so much” (I’m sure there are some very expensive particular schools), it costs “so little” when compared to what the state is already spending. The question should be, why is the state not saving money by widely offering Montessori schools? Why is the state not encouraging parents to move their children into these less expensive, more effective, more nurturing, more pleasant, more academically rigorous Montessori schools?

As far as preaching to the choir, if you are able to gather a group of folks together who do not have any connection to Montessori, or who are hostile to the method, I’ll come preach there! Until then, I am hoping to urge people to talk one on one with their neighbors and families and have the tools to do so (the book as well as some ideas for how to approach the subject with those folks who would never even think about an alternative type of school). I hope to help inspire people to bring Montessori out of our schools and move it out into the wider community. If you can figure out a way to do this better, please let me know!

In response to Shelley: I’m a children’s book author and have been a Montessori mom for 11 years - - my son is now an 8th grader in the Erdkinder program at Santa Barbara Montessori School. The staff there has been fabulous over the years, developing warm and welcoming relationships with the parents. However, I’m sure this is not the case at all schools. I’m currently attending the Montessori Institute of San Diego to better understand the philosophy, materials and environment Maria Montessori developed. My goal? To help schools create a type of parent liaison position/program that would foster better parent-teacher-administrator relationships - - not only within the school itself, but in outreach programs that would educate and encourage more parents to enroll their children in a Montessori school.

Trevor,

I am so excited to have you come to our school and talk to Montessori parents in the area.

You have made my life much easier with your book; in terms of making sure parents realize the importance of a Montessori education.

Thank you,

Mary Lyman

Montessori School of Westfield, Indiana

I attended your talk last night in Ottawa at Bishop Hamilton, I was the one with the baby that started crying as soon as I sat down!! I enjoyed your talk, I do agree with the ‘preaching to the choir’ but my mind has been reeling ever since trying to figure out how else we can spread the word about Montessori. I haven’t figured it out yet but I was quite happy to be inspired and motivated again to try to figure something out. I fully plan to get my AMI training, though baby 3 has delayed that. In the meantime, promoting Montessori is my goal. All I know so far is who to target, new parents, parents of infants and toddlers and I want to add to the mix high school students who want to teach. Had I known about Montessori when I was in high school I’d be a Montessori teacher right now! We do have Montessori schools popping up everywhere here but the next step is to get those parents to then look at the value of keeping their kids in Montessori for elementary school years also.

Thank you, Mary. It is really a pleasure trying to contribute to such a valuable movement. Parents are our most successful marketing program so far. Inspiring them to step up and take more ownership of Montessori seems like a reasonable way to go.

Karen, I often have that effect on babies. I’m just glad YOU didn’t start crying! As far as your ideas on specific target groups, do you have any connections in those areas? High schools? Parent/infant groups? Can you start something in the Ottawa area to regularly reach those groups? If you find something that works, please let me know so I can help spread the word and others can try similar programs elsewhere.

I’m a mom of three children who have gone through Montessori preschool through kindergarten level. I’m following up on Peggy’s question about “why does it cost so much?” I believe the answer to that question — and the implication that Montessori has largely become a bastion of privilege (quite ironic considering how it started in a poor Rome tenemant) –is the crux of why Montessori-style education hasn’t yet caught on in the mainstream.
We live in Arlington, Virginia, which is a wealthy suburb of Washingotn, DC full of well-educated people. Arlington Public Schools has a thriving public Montessori program that currently runs through the middle school level and is completely tax-payer funded. Unfortunately, the elementary-level program is a good one-hour bus ride from my end of the county, and our family logistics preclude us driving our kids to the location before and after work. Two of my children attended private Montessori preschool/kindergartens and one attended one of the numerous public school preschool/k level classrooms available throughout our county. For the public schools option, you still have to pay tuition, but it is on a sliding scale by income, thus a bit more affordable than the private school counterparts.
We have a number of excellent private school choices, but they are all astronomically expensive. We loved the Montessori school and teacher that my daughter had about 10 years ago at Arlington Montessori House, and then when we had our youngest son a number of years later, we followed that teacher when she opened her own, new Montessori school, Full Circle Montessori.
Although they are both excellent, during the eight to ten years between my daughter’s Montessori schooling and my youngest son’s, the cost of private Montessori in our urban/suburban neighborhood skyrocketed to the point where we almost couldn’t afford it. The timeframe when my daughter attended, about 1997-2000, the cost per year was around $3,800.00 (more if you included aftercare). By 2007, that had shot up to $8,500.00!! Yes, I noticed our area becoming considerably wealthier — moms no longer shopping at tag sales and sharing one car with the husband but instead driving their own BMW SUVs, toting $300+ strollers, and turning their noses up at tag sales. “Nanny Diaries” had arrived in North Arlington! And unfortunately, those types found their way into the Montessori schools, as well. All of this in 10 years! I was stunned. When I asked the school director (who had been my daughter’s classroom directress at her private school) why the incredible jump in price, she explained that they were just pegging tuition to the average income for the neighborhood in which the school resides.
That neighborhood and the couple of zip codes surrounding it had acquired just enough uber-wealthy residents to push the price of such schools out of range for all of us middle class and some upper middle class folks. The result has been that these private Montessori schools in our neighborhood have become bastions of privilege with a handful of scholarship kids thrown in for good measure. There are virtually no kids in those schools whose family incomes fall between $40,000 - $200,000. Most are about the 250K mark, with the few scholarship kids being under the 50K mark. The vast middle ground, which is the middle class of our area, are unrepresented, because they can’t afford it without mortgaging their homes but also don’t qualify for scholarships. We had to borrow money from a combination of the bank and grandma to make it work for my youngest son, something that was tough on us, as we have an older son getting ready to go off to college, for which we will also have to pay. At one point, we almost chose not to stay for the kindergarten year (and you know how awful that is in Montessori circles — to miss Montessori K), because of the struggle of paying for it. A handful of other middle class families left the school for public school K due to not being able to afford one more year, thus missing out on that crucial Montessori K experience.
When I confided this financial struggle in a couple of the other moms, I was met with blank stares or “well, it seems reasonable to me.” I realized then that these families are so insulated in their world and circles of wealth that they simply couldn’t identify with such a quandary. It was nothing for them to whip out the checkbook each month and write a check for over $800.00 — or even more common amongst them, to pay the entire amount in cash at the beginning of the year. And they weren’t interested in hearing about the struggles of the middle class. One mom even said, “well, don’t they take their kids to those church-based preschools?” And she hit the nail on the head — that is where all the middle class kids in northern Virginia are — at the church-based preschools, which even when offering the same number of hours as Montessori schools, cost about a quarter what they do. Granted, they aren’t as rich a learning environment as Montessori, but no amount of cajoling and handing books out about the wonders of Montessori to my middle class friends could get them to come to Montessori — they simply couldn’t pay for it.
So just like everything else around urban/suburban areas throughout the U.S. — it is the middle class that gets squeezed out. I think about the only solution is to have a graduated tuition scale, as it is a LOT tougher for the family making $150K in an urban area to pay $800 a month than it is for the family making $300K. And few of these wealthy people who go for Montessori now are giving it the thoughtful consideration that my more middle class counterparts did ten years ago when “preschool shopping.” And they are precisely the ones (mentioned in someone’s comment above) who are sending their kids to “cram school” and inundating them with institutionalized, competitive after school activities designed to make sure they “one up” the competition to get into Harvard later. I love Montessori, but I see it being manipulated by the rich in my community to become yet another thing they deem important in their quest to “have the best.” Luckily, we do have a strong public school option (although at the preschool level, it is still more expensive than the “church-based” preschools), but it needs to be worked out to have more locations at the elemenatry level than just one end of the county. While the private Montessori in our area is increasingly viewed as elitist and out of reach for the middle class, few public school teachers and/or recent “education school” graduates (even from elite schools like UVa’s Curry School of Education) have even heard of Montessori. This has to change, as with everything else, the middle class will be the backbone for change. As the schools become available to grassroots people, change will happen naturally as the vast majority of people — not just the rich and a handful of lucky scholarship winners — will begin to demand it. Then and only then will you see it begin to replace the “factory model” education that is doing all American kids such a disservice.

Mary,
I love it! I wish there were thousands more parents just like you that were mad as hell at having to pay through the nose for a Montessori education when Montessori should be a free public option for ALL children. In fact maybe we need to RAISE tuition at Montessori private schools! Maybe we’d then have more angry middle class people speaking up. Please get involved. Please gather like-minded folks and make a stink to your school board, mayor, congressman. There is no reason Montessori should not be FREE for everyone (it is a system that is not only better than the traditional system, but it costs less per student!)