The Montessori Way Makes Life-Long Learners
Springmont School
Most classrooms are designed to teach children how to follow instructions. Montessori is designed to teach students how to lead. While the student in motion is the first thing you see, the real magic is what’s happening beneath the surface: a rigorous framework of autonomy and hands-on discovery that transforms a simple lesson into a lifelong capability. This century-old educational system honors a child’s natural instinct to learn.
A Look at Montessori
A Montessori classroom functions differently from a typical classroom. It buzzes with the sounds of purpose and interaction. Students are not stuck in rows of desks for hours at a time. The teacher is not at the front of the room giving a lecture. Montessori classrooms have a variety of spaces for solo learning and group projects.
“A Montessori classroom is calm, purposeful and student-driven,” says Alison Sherrill, the Interim Head of School at Arbor Montessori School, which serves children ages 18 months to 15 years. The school will launch a high school program in Fall 2026. “Children begin with a long, uninterrupted work cycle, often two to three hours, where they choose activities from carefully prepared lessons introduced by their teachers.”
From an early age, children think independently to determine what they want, from learning activities to snacks. Classroom expectations grow with the students as they age.
“With the work cycle, students can focus and accomplish a lot of activities,” says Chase Hardin, the CEO and Operational Director of Heritage Montessori, with programs from pre-K to 12th grade. “Montessori highlights the gifts and talents of all students, so we have special extracurricular activities every day. Recess is mandatory for everybody in the whole school for time to go outside and get physical activity.”
Montessori students learn via hands-on methods to keep them engaged, rather than focusing on memorization to achieve satisfactory grades. Students are self-sufficient, working independently or in small groups, and teachers allow them to complete projects at their own pace.
“Learning is guided by teachers who know when to step in and when to step back,” Sherrill says. “Teachers observe, guide and give individual or small group lessons rather than leading the whole class at once.”
Montessori teachers are collaborators, encouraging independence while keeping order in the classroom. Teachers remain with the same group of children for several years, establishing a special bond.
“With a traditional program, students transition to a new building with new people, and they go through that transition every few years. A Montessori child stays in a unique environment with a team, which allows for comfortability, communication and continuity,” Hardin says.
Since Montessori education is self-directed, students can choose projects that excite them, while teachers serve as guides.
“There is a flexibility to Montessori education that helps us follow the child’s interest,” says Marsha Fleming, the Middle School Math Teacher and Division Head at Springmont School, with toddler to middle school programs. “If a student would like to do something different to showcase their knowledge, they can present the idea to me.” She recalls a student interested in the idea of zero, so Fleming gave her the non-fiction book, “Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea,” and the student wrote a paper and completed a presentation on the number.
Montessori education features multi-age classrooms. You might see a 5 year old teaching a 3 year old how to tie his shoes or an eighth grader explaining a math concept to a peer.
“Multiage classrooms allow children to learn from and with one another. Younger students are inspired by older peers and naturally absorb skills and routines, while older students reinforce their learning by mentoring and leading,” Sherrill says. “This structure supports individualized learning, as students move ahead when ready and take more time when needed without feeling singled out. Students learn to collaborate across ages, take on meaningful roles and develop confidence as contributors, not just learners. The result is a strong sense of belonging and accountability that prepares students for adult work and civic engagement.”
Arbor Montessori School
Why Montessori Education Works
The child-centered approach cultivates a love of learning and builds confidence. By allowing students to choose their work, Montessori replaces the pressure of external grades with the far more powerful engine of internal satisfaction.
“We want students to feel and be trusted, and we want to be able to trust them,” Fleming says. “Children tend to live up to the standards you set for them. We have expectations of trustworthiness, kindness and respect for the environment and others, and most students will meet those expectations fairly consistent.”
Students are always learning, and teachers help students overcome their mistakes.
“If a child is not interacting with us in a socially appropriate manner, we teach in that moment: ‘That is not appropriate, but would you like to know what is?’ We have the authority, but we try to use collaboration to work with students instead of power,” Fleming says. “When they go to high school, our students know how to speak to adults. Our students can advocate for themselves in an appropriate way.”
For most Montessori programs, rather than report cards, children are “graded” on social, intellectual and emotional development. To prepare students for the next level of education, seventh and eighth graders at Springmont receive grades. “We have to be pretty serious about content. We don’t want them leaving here unable to compete academically,” Fleming says.
Children are taught how to learn for themselves, and they reach their potential at their own pace. This helps them develop self-sufficiency, self-motivation and a love for learning.
“Montessori graduates are prepared to navigate complexity, take initiative and continue learning long after they leave the classroom,” Sherrill says. “Montessori students develop independence, critical thinking, problem-solving skills and intrinsic motivation. Socially and emotionally, they become confident learners who can adapt, collaborate and advocate for themselves.”
Heritage Montessori offers a three-pronged approach of college readiness, career readiness and business ownership. High school students are dual-enrolled, and they explore internships and externships in their career of choice. They graduate with business skills, such as filing taxes, making payroll and managing a company.
“Students are ready for continued education and to step in as leaders in any field,” Hardin says. “These are young adults operating at the highest level.”
Montessori students have practiced time management and discipline, which will serve them throughout their lives.
“When you go to work, you don’t look around at everyone else and say, ‘You’re going to do what I do when I do it, and we’re going to leave the workday achieving the exact same things.’ There is difference and independence built into any industry,” Hardin says. “Students are guiding themselves, and they’re making high-level decisions in time management, communication, identifying problems and solutions and cultivating the willpower to follow through. Students are doing this all day every day for 18 years, and they’ve had the practice to do it efficiently.”
Because Montessori education is self-directed, the approach is personalized for any student.
“People think Montessori is only for children who are smart, or for children who have educational challenges, or for specific sects of people. None of those things are true,” Hardin says. “Montessori is for every single child.”
Heritage Montessori
Montessori Materials and Learning Activities
Dr. Maria Montessori specifically designed materials to help children learn through hands-on engagement. Work cycles allow students to discover key learning outcomes for themselves through repetition and practice while working through different activities. Younger children explore subjects using tactile materials, while older children phase out of that as they move to abstract learning, so the activities change as students age. Here are some examples:
- Toddler program students: cut bananas for snack; dig in the garden; smell flowers; match objects by a category, such as shape, color or size; trace Sandpaper Letters; learn musical rhythms; clean mirrors or windows
- Primary program students: piece together the Parts of the World Puzzle; manipulate a Binomial Cube; play with a Movable Alphabet; paint on an easel; water plants; build with the Pink Tower, Brown Stair or Red Rods
- Elementary program students: practice addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with Golden Beads; use reference books; study the parts of a plant; observe human-made inventions; create story maps; design graphs; cook Spanish cuisine
- Middle school program students: write and illustrate books on the carbon, nitrogen or oxygen cycles; devise products and market them to sell as part of microeconomics; experiment with science in a lab; practice public speaking with presentations; interpret human behaviors with philosophy; maintain animal habitats; plant vegetable or pollinator gardens
- High school program students: get hands-on job experience with internships or externships; collaborate on team projects; learn to meet deadlines; develop business plans; maintain strength, flexibility and movement with recess and fitness; practice musical instruments
