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Answers to Common Questions About Montessori Education

by Michael Berliner and Harry Binswanger

Posted as published in the June and August 1984 issues of

The Objectivist Forum.

 

Montessori student tracing his name.

While there are a lot of articles that answer questions about Montessori education, this one is the most comprehensive and it is an honor to have permission to post it here. One of the authors, Michael Berliner, wrote the Foreward to Montessori: Why It Matters for Your Child's Success and Happiness.

 

This article answers these questions:

  • What is the basic goal of Montessori education?

  • How does the Montessori method promote independence?

  • How do Montessori schools develop a child's mind?

  • What does sensory education consist of?

  • How does Montessori schooling differ from traditional education?

  • How does Montessori education differ from progressive education?

  • Doesn't Montessori education ignore social development?

  • Doesn't the Montessori emphasis on reason and order discourage imagination and creativity?

  • What is the role or competition In the Montessori classroom?

  • Does the Montessori method employ rewards and punishments?

  • What is the Montessori view of discipline?

  • Does the structured Montessori environment inhibit the child's freedom?

  • Doesn't Montessori's emphasis on work rob children or their childhood?

  • Is transferring to public schools difficult for a child who begins his education in a Montessori school?

  • Can the Montessori method be implemented in the public schools?

  •  Is Montessori education right for every child?

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