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An Appreciation of Montessori Forward by Buckminster Fuller, from Education for Human Development, Mario Montessori All children are born geniuses. And 9,999 out of every 10,000 are swiftly, inadvertently, 'de-geniused' by grown-ups. This happens because humans are born naked, helpless, and -- though superbly equipped cerebrally -- utterly lacking in experience, therefore utterly ignorant. Their delicate sensing equipment is, as yet, untried. Born with built-in hunger, thirst, curiosity, the procreatvive urge, they can only learn what humanity has learned by trial and error -- by billions upon billions of errors. Yet humanity is also endowed with self-deceiving pride. All those witnessing the errors of others proclaim that they (the witnesses) could have prevented the errors had they only been consulted. "People should not make mistakes" they mistakenly say. Motivated entirely by love, but also by fear for the futures of the children they love, parents act as though they know all the answers and curtail the spontaneous exploratory acts of their children, lest the children make "mistakes'. But genius does its own thinking; it has confidence in its own exploratory findings, in its own intuitions, in the knowledge gained from its own mistakes. Nature has her own gestation rates for evolutionary development. The actions of parents represent the checks and balances of nature's gestation control. Humanity can evolve healthily only at a given rate. Maria Montessori was fortunately permitted to maintain, sustain, and cultivate her innate genius. Her genius invoked her awareness of the genius inherent in all children. Her intuition and initiative inspired her to discover ways of safeguarding this genius while allaying fears of parents. But the way was not always easy. Hers was the difficult frontiering task of genius.

Thanks Sue Weisman Sue and I worked together on the children's unit at Westwood Lodge, a psychiatric hospital in Westwood, MA. She was also working at Woodside Montessori School , where they were looking for a teacher to pilot a new elementary program. Sue suggested I apply for the job, and enrolled her own children after we opened the classroom. ​ Ravi Kaur Khalsa Ravi was the owner, director, and a 3-6 teacher at Woodside. Her faith in my potential and financial support for my training enabled me to become a Montessori teacher. ​ Gary Davidson Gary is the founder/director at Seacoast Center for Education , a Montessori teacher training organization. His patience, experience, and wry insights helped guide and support me as a teacher. ​ Charles Terranova Another Seacoast instructor with a long and successful Montessori career, Charles' vast experience, and infectious joy inspired and encouraged me along the way. ​ Rob Keys Rob still teaches at Seacoast, and over the years turned into a true friend. We eventually taught together at the Cornerstone School in Stratham, NH, some of the best memories of my life.

Extras Links to Montessori Resources Contact info@moteaco.org if you'd like to be on this list. Montessori quotes (unsourced) I made this list as a new teacher, jotting down quotes that caught my eye from day to day. Montessori quotes (attributed) I made this list later when a colleague reminded me that attributed quotes are a bit more useful. Montessori Mouse A set of cartoons I made based on classroom events and parent stories. Moteaco & The Internet Archive A look back at various Moteaco projects over the years. Influences Who Are Not Maria I was reading all over the place while I was teaching - these were some of my influences. My Thanks People who encouraged me to teach and supported me along the way.