Susan Mayclin Stephenson

Montessori Books Published in 2023

Glimpses of Aged Care through a Montessori Lens
A collaboration between Anne Kelley, head of Montessori for Dementia, Disability and Ageing, the Association Montessori Internationale, and myself. 100 pages.

This is a very practical and thorough guide on how to offer person-centered care to the aged. The model described varies significantly from the memory care I have seen. It will guide our staff training.  

—Ann Lindsay, MD

The program “Montessori for Dementia, Disability and Aging” prepares one to support the quality of life for all adults, promoting the principles of dignity, meaningful engagement, and independence throughout life. There is a huge amount of interest in how we treat those who have lived fabulously productive lives with knowledge and respect during their final chapter of life on this earth.

—Lynne Lawrence, General Director of the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI)

“Glimpses of Aged Care through a Montessori Lens” should be required reading for all levels of nursing education.

—Sandra Fredrickson, retired professor of nursing

For more information on how this book came into existence see the end of the last blog post, a gathering in Vancouver BC where Anne and I made a final plan: CLICK: Elders book

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Montessori Cosmic Education
The first title in the “Brief Montessori Introductions” series, 42 pages. Learning about the world from birth to age 12+ years; making the world a better place, from birth to 12+ years.

Grounded in experience, Susan Stephenson manages to convey the essence of one of Maria Montessori’s fundamental principles—the interdependent nature of life and the very concrete steps to helping children express their natural tendency to live well with others and take care of the planet.

—Lynne Lawrence, AMI Executive Director

I did not have a simple and clear answer to an often asked question. What did Dr. Montessori mean by Cosmic Education? Susan Mayclin Stephenson has given me a simple yet profound way to answer this question. In general Cosmic Education is an aide to help children find a place for themselves where they can develop and AT THE SAME TIME make the world a better place. The author is quite specific about the contributions of each of these age groups. She is offering an education that fosters ways from babies to adolescents to make good contributions for a better world. Parents and educators would benefit from this book, as I did.

—Rita Zener, PhD, AMI Montessori Primary Teacher Trainer

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The Music Environment for All Ages, Montessori Foundations for the Creative Personality
Third title in the “Brief Montessori Introductions” series, 44 pages. Prenatal music through all ages including the elderly. An earlier version of this text was published by AMI and NAMTA in the AMI Journal 2014-2015 Issue.

In Western education we tend to separate body and brain. So, from a very young age, children do not learn to express themselves and leave the [right] hemisphere underused because they haven’t been encouraged to give much importance to body movements in dancing, singing, and drawing. Children at any age must be offered a balanced experience of verbal and intuitive thinking to help develop the great potential of the human mind. The results will not only include better functioning of the brain, but also greater happiness. The better the two hemispheres work together, the richer everything we do will be.

—Silvana Montanaro, MD, AMI teacher trainer

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Beginnings, Montessori Birth to Three Comparison with Traditions in Bhutan
Second title in the “Brief Montessori Introductions” series, 48 pagesThe first version of this text was published in the 2012 edition of “Communications, the Journal of the Association Montessori International,” Amsterdam

Prospective and new parents today, geographically removed from friends and family, are learning how to take care of young children from the internet; this is not always a good idea for many reasons. In this book the ancient traditions of the small Buddhist country of Bhutan are compared with the AMI Montessori Birth to Three, Assistants to Infancy, practice that has been tested all over the world for many years. A neutral look comparing two systems can help parents decide which ideas—about attachment, sleeping, food, movement, language, independence, dressing and toilet learning (and more)—are most aligned with their hopes for best parenting practice.

—The Author

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The Red Corolla, Montessori Cosmic Education Introduction for Age 3-6, 2^nd Edition
AMI primary, age 2.5-6.5 cultural lessons. 300 pages
Cosmic Education is an essential part of the elementary, or 6-12+, program, but the foundation is laid in the first six years in the home and children’s communities. This book is based on lectures—physics, botany, zoology, history, geography, music, and art—given on the first AMI primary teacher training course in Morocco. It also includes a glossary of Montessori terms.

This book is terrific for teachers and for parents, with all the concrete examples and step-by-step instructions

—Adele Diamond, PhD, developmental cognitive neuroscientist

This is the most translated of all thirteen books in the “First Montessori Books” series, reaching parents in such places as Mongolia, Iran, Colombia, Afghanistan, South Africa, China, Russia, France, Australia, Vietnam, and more. It is used as a text in Montessori adolescent studies.

The Joyful Child adds so much to our Human Development class. Its use brings alive the imaginative challenge of thinking about parenting, and it guides adolescents to think kindly about themselves and others.

—Ann Jordan, AMI Adolescent class teacher

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ALL 13 Titles: CLICK BOOKS

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The Origin of these books
Montessori education is sometimes seen as a collection of lessons to give in order to meet a particular academic goal. This is very far from the truth. In reality it is a way of observing and learning about human development, from birth to old age, discovering the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs, and arranging the environment to meet those needs.

I gave my very first Montessori lecture in 1977 at the AMI Montessori teacher training center near San Francisco, California, invited to share the language program of the AMI primary course I had just completed in London, UK. Since that time I have never stopped learning to understand the amazing potential of Montessori, and how to express it by speaking and through writing.

In 2013 I began to collect lectures and articles into book form. Shortly after that, consulting with a school in New York City, I gave a parent lecture to a group who had read the age 3-12+ book, Child of the World, in preparation for our time together. This was an enlightening experience because the questions, based on our shared book study, were deep and thought-provoking, a personal and practical conversation among all of the parents and teachers and administrator and myself. Since that time my work follows this pattern, deep conversations based on shared reading, in Thailand, Mongolia, Colombia, USA, Romania, and other places—with teachers, parents, university professors, and politicians, and people from all walks of life. Hopefully one of the books above, or in the series of 13, will be helpful to you.

Sincerely,
Susan Mayclin Stephenson

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