Montessori Interview – Russia
A few months ago, I answered questions, sent from Elena Timoshenko via the internet, and the results (in Russian) are available online publication shared throughout the country. To see the original CLICK: Russian version
The editor added pictures that she found online and my old friend Valentina Zaytseva Nosenko, head of the Montessori School of Moscoe, helped me identify picture and make sense of the whole. Here is a picture of me with Valentina (and in the Middle Noon, one of our students in the first Montessori training center in Thailand in 2006). Here is an English version of what was published in Russia. Please share with Russian speakers anywhere.
Question 1: How did you first encounter Montessori — what was that moment like, and what made you decide to dedicate your entire life to this method?
There was no moment when I decided to “dedicate my entire life to this method.” Teaching was never in my plans probably because I was not always an engaged student in school. My strongest memory was watching the second hand approach the 12 as the school day ended so I could be released from boredom. My teachers were nice people and doing their best, but the only ones that truly engaged me as a student were the high school physics, chemistry, Latin and French, art, and music teachers. They were all highly trained in their field and shared their passion with us through creative activities and experiments, not by listening to someone talk, or being asked to memorize.
Discovering Montessori? My oldest daughter was three years old. She was a grouchy little spirit generally, even though we were doing our very best to be perfect parents. Then a friend of mine gave me the book The Montessori Method and it spoke loudly to me. We enrolled our daughter in an AMI Montessori school in San Francisco, California, and the changes in her happiness were striking. Let me give you two example.
(1) Soon after she started in the Montessori primary class, Narda came to me with a request, “Could I have a bucket and sponge so I can clean the front of the refrigerator? It really needs it.” And she set to work to find every task she manage independently in order to make decisions, focus, learn, work hard, and contribute to the family.
(2) One day two of her friends (ages 5 and 8) were visiting and, as we stood around the kitchen chatting, I started making an omelet. As I poured the whipped eggs into the skillet, Narda said, “That looks like Africa!” One of the older friends said, “What is Africa?” To which Narda replied, “Come with me.” She went to her room and brought back her globe of the world and told the girls (remember, Narda was 3 years old) to sit down on the living room floor with her; then she proceeded to teach them the names of the continents.
I was sold. Almost finished with graduate school in philosophy and humanities at San Francisco State University, I asked the head of the Montessori school, “Where is the best place in the world to learn to be a Montessori teacher like Narda’s?” The reply was, “The AMI training center in London, England that was created by Dr. Montessori’s son, Mario. It was difficult but we went and it was the best decision of my life. We were poor and it was a difficult year financially, but we all benefitted, and so have many others, because we went to London where I could study.
Question 2: Over the years, your understanding of the method must have evolved as you wrote 15 books. What do you see in Montessori today that you couldn’t see at the beginning?
My understanding of Montessori evolves continually; with each classroom I observe (from infant communities through middle and high school classes), with each parent conversation, in each country where I have worked.
In the beginning I saw the importance of the Montessori materials and environment, and (the primary class as an example) the importance of giving culture, practical life, sensorial, language, math and geometry, lessons or presentations, and keeping records on a child’s mastery of these lessons. These elements are certainly vital. But now I understand that the most important elements are the teacher’s training, skill at observation, fostering and protecting of concentration, and respecting each student’s independent development of action and thinking—from the very first days of life through the school years.
What I have learned and share on observation and record keeping can be found in this book: CLICK: Please help me do it myself
One tool I used daily and have taught to many teachers is the concept of what Montessori called “work curves” (from the book The Advanced Montessori Method, Volume I, the chapter Experimental Science), and I call “concentration graphs,”
Something I see often in Montessori today that I didn’t see in the beginning is the definition of the “three hour+ work period.” This label all too often refers to a typical morning in a non-authentic Montessori class where the three+ hour morning contains group lessons, group activities that are scheduled by the adult and required of the children. Here the adult is basically telling the children when to do what (snack time, circle time, nap time, outside time, etc.). The concentration graph records the period of concentration throughout the morning of one child at a time—on activities that are appropriate to a child’s development; presented 1:1 by the adult and then chosen by the child; the concentration on the activity protected from interruption by adult or fellow student. This experience is the most important element of Montessori at any age.
Question 3: You’ve worked in 30 countries and seen Montessori across vastly different cultures. What turned out to be universal everywhere, and what surprised you with its diversity?
I would say that everything Montessori wrote about her observation of children, developing theories, and practical suggestions are universal. I have seen Montessori work in countries in the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Because Montessori protects the natural, inborn, spiritual development which naturally results in kindness and compassion toward others, it has been sought after by groups of Christians, Buddhists, Muslima, Sekhs, Hindus, and more, because authentic Montessori supports the spirit, the soul.
Question 4: What has Montessori given you personally — not as an educator, but as a human being? How has it changed the way you see life?
Montessori teacher training and teaching experience have made me a better person, wife, parent, friend, and consultant. I understand how learning and change take place, and the relationship between the healing that takes place in deep concentration in children (and meditation in adults). I love to be able to listen to or observe a person—especially one who has asked for my help or advice—figure out what piece of information they are missing, or where they are “stuck,” and help the person see it for themself and make a decision to take a step up. Exactly like in the Montessori classroom.
Also, more and more, understand the power of understanding and fulfilling the needs of the human in the first days, weeks, years, of life. Before Montessori, I worked as a high school Latin tutor, and counselor for girls in jail. Then came Montessori 3-6 training and teaching; then Montessori 6-12 training and teaching; then Montessori 0-3. I now understand, from experience and observation, that everyone is heavily influenced by what happens in the first day, weeks, months, years of life. I know that had I had the 0-3 training first I would have been better in all my roles, at home, in school, working as a consultant, or just taking a long walk with a friend.
Question 5: In one of your books, you explore the connection between Montessori and Mindfulness. How do these two approaches resonate — and was this synthesis intentional from the start, or did it emerge over time?
It was 2012. I was at the AGM (Annual General Meeting) of the Association Montessori Internationale in Amsterdam. I had invited to speak at the 2013 AMI Congress that is held every four years; the next year would be held in Prague, the Czech Republic. I had planned to give a version of a talk on the universality of childhood that I had given before. However, I was approached by a person on the planning committee for the Prague congress who asked if I would give a talk on the relationship between Montessori mindfulness. Why? She had been told that I have been practicing Montessori and TM (transcendental meditation) both since 1971.
For the next year I researched—and I am still learning about—mindfulness and happiness in children and adults. Dr. Montessori’s term Deviations refers to human traits that were thought to be inborn and unchangeable, such as fear, over-attachment to a person or thing, greed, dishonesty, cruelty, and more. The most important discovery of Dr. Montessori, which she hesitated to believe in the beginning, was that these deviations are not permanently wired, but can go away in authentic Montessori practice. This process is known as normalization.
Into the ordered, tranquil, and harmonious atmosphere of the Montessori class enters the deviated child… If the directress has done her duty properly, if she has treated him with a mixture of firmness and respect, if she has been tireless in presenting him with occupations (however indifferent he may seem), if she has encouraged him without coercion, and left him free to wander round at will – provided he disturbs no one – and if she has let him choose his occupations, then one day will come the great event… the first spontaneous spell of concentration he has ever shown. This is the beginning of his salvation.
—Maria Montessori Her Life and Work, by E. M. Standing, (p. 173)
Normalization in adults? Practicing TM for 20 minutes twice a day for 55 years has provided peace, happiness, and creativity in my life. This is an ancient tradition and now backed up by neuroscience, practiced by many Montessori colleagues including my two teacher trainers Hilla Patell and Silvana Montenaro, MD, but there are many ways, as adults, to achieve this. However, to really make the brain changes, takes daily practice just as if one were working on a piano solo, or learning a new language. It doesn’t’ happen by reading about it or watching YouTube shorts.
I have learned that the more time an adult or child spends experiencing this kind of being in the moment, or mindfulness, or deep concentration, in a day, the more the brain learns to “go there” at any time, finding peace and compassion in all kids of stressful situations. And the results include being able to step back, observing with clarity, and come up with a solution that is good for all. Imagine what kind of world we could live in if we all learned such skills.
Question 6: In “Montessori for Family and Community” you move beyond the classroom. Why is it especially important now to talk about Montessori in the context of family and community?
I have been places where healthy and respectful practices are alive and well, but many aspects of modern life erase them if we are not aware of the importance. For example, I have been in countries where infants are not “trained to sleep” but allowed to awaken and sleep as their needs dictate; where adults to not talk down to infants with a high-pitched voice as though they were cute little kittens, instead speaking in a normal voice with a normal vocabulary; where the daily work is enjoyed together by all and children enjoying doing real work and being helpful, rather than being paid to help out; where the daily meal table is filled with at least three generations all talking together and interacting and listening to, and learning from, each other rather than everyone looking at their phones; where generations spending time together inspire interest in the past, society, the future, rather than being separated by age with nothing to teach or learn from or enjoy in each other’s presence. These sound simple but I am referring to healthy Montessori family practice.
There is a free Russian translation of this book available and many other free translations will be created in 2027: CLICK: free Russian MFC
Question 7: What is the most common misconception you encounter among parents who want to apply Montessori at home — and where should they actually start?
I would say that the most common misconception about Montessori is that it is an academic course of study, and a parent must know all about academics in order to practice Montessori at home. It is about healthy human development, happiness, joy. And . . . Well, that would take a couple of thousands of words, but I would say that this questions has been approached in many ways in my books. Academic learning is natural and successful with authentic Montessori practices\.
Question 8: You are one of the few authoritative voices on Montessori homeschooling. Where can the home environment surpass school — and where are its genuine limitations?
I am not an authority on Montessori homeschooling but thank you for the compliment. I can tell you that our experiment had very little to do with Montessori materials and a lot to do with individual choice, real work, caring for others, and following where curiosity led. Our son attended Montessori primary, then heard about homeschooling and said he would prefer to learn at home. There were many adult-dictated schedules and required group lessons and activities in his Montessori primary class, so we agreed to experiment for one year. At age seven or eight he attended a Montessori 6-12 class with the same adult-led practice, so he returned to homeschooling. Each year it was his choice– from elementary through secondary school. We kept notes each year along with work samples and pictures, and some of these notes and pictures that are shared in in the book Montessori Homeschooling, One Family’s Story. Now in he is in his 40’s, an ivy league university and law school graduate, head of his own law firm, a professional musician, happily married, and is a great friend and son.
Question 9: You are an artist — your paintings grace the covers of your books. How do painting and Montessori nourish each other in your life?
My mother was an artist and musician, and this is just part of our family life. Just as the preparation of a simple, logical, organized, calm, lovely Montessori classroom environment is calming and inspiring to children, arranging my home—even the paintings on the walls—is the same for me and always has been. I am constantly looking for beauty and balance: at home, in the garden, consulting at a school, walking in a city . . . and catching these images in film seems to be a way of, even if just for a moment, concentrating on beauty and providing a way for it to linger in my mind. Painting is just an extension for this. It is often the way I crystalize an experience in a new country in order to remember and share it.
It is during the days that I am alone in my studio, with no need to think about what time it is, knowing that I will not be interrupted because my phone is turned off, when I turn to a piece of art I am working on and pay attention to the ideas that come from deep inside me, that I am nourished. I quite often feel gratitude that I have supported this wonderful feeling in thousands of children around the world.
Question 10: Montessori has existed for over 100 years. What, in your view, must the method keep unchanged — and what is it ready to embrace from the challenges of the 21st century?
After people gathered from all over the word to see the “miracle” children in the slums of San Lorenzo, Italy over 100 years ago, bits and pieces of what these people observed and learned were taken home with them and put into practice. Thousands of people attended Dr. Montessori’s lectures and teacher training in the following hyears and did the same. Then many of these inspired persons, understandably so, started teaching others. Results became less predictable, less successful, perhaps there was, as now, an emphasis on the materials rather than the practice. In 1929 Dr Montessori and her son Mario established AMI, the Association Montessori Internationale, to standardize Montessori teacher training so the same results in the classrooms would exist. It worked. Today AMI is not only training teachers but involved in many other humanitarian efforts to make the world a better place for children and their adults.
Today, more than ever, there is a need to observe, study, learn about, the influence of computers, screens, AI on early childhood brain development and happiness—and the search for truth in the later years. We must continue to research health, the influence of food, water, and air and noise on illness; to study human family structure and practice throughout history to understand what is healthy and what is not healthy today.
But the human being today has the same needs for physical, mental, social, spiritual, development. There are still the same different physical, mental, social, spiritual characteristics, and ways of learning, observed in the four planes of development: 0-6, 6-12, 12-18, 18-24. Such Montessori ideas are not theories, they have been observed in all kinds of situations, all over the world, for more than 100 years.
Question 11: If you could share one thought with all the educators and parents in the world who are just discovering Montessori — what would it be?
I would say, stay off your phone and listen to your heart, and pay attention to the best of your individual culture and traditions. I believe more and more that each human being is born with tremendous potential to develop into a happy, kind, compassionate, curious, confident, human being who practices cooperation rather than competition, who loves hard work, and how can enter that healing state of deep concentration (or prayer, or mindfulness) quite naturally and benefit from the experience.
But I have also seen how messed up we become, from the very first days, when that inner voice, or inner wisdom, is squelched by loving and well-meaning parents. There is no possible way for me to end this interview with a simple “Montessori in a nutshell” conclusion. But just as I have truly seen that wisdom toward healthy development come to the surface in infants, young children, and young adults, it just may be possible for us parents (and grandparents) to learn to get in touch with our own inner voice and wisdom when making decisions about our youth and learn to listen to our hearts.
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