A visit to a Montessori school

Have you ever heard of a Montessori school? It's a type of preschool that uses "the Montessori method." I don't know enough about preschools to compare Montessori and traditional schools, but my understanding is that Montessori schools focus on "self-directed learning."

My second-cousin Brandon attends a Montessori school. Recently they had a "Special Friends' Day," so Mark and I went to visit.


Ah, the preschool circle. It's clear who the head teacher is. Brandon's in the bottom-right.





Mark and Brandon. Mark seemed right at home in the classroom. (He's been a special-education teacher for years.)








Brandon can already read very well for his age. *Very* well.






I got only one good picture of Brandon smiling. The rest of the time, he seemed a bit standoffish. Maybe that's because we arrived at school thirty minutes late . . . (It was my fault, or Google Maps'.)






Apparently each child has classroom chores–Brandon is supposed to "check aprons." They do that in Japan, too, except it's all the way through high school. They should totally do that in the U.S.






I just like this picture.










Brandon shows Mark a toy for learning about smells.







They had a lot of interesting toys and tools in the classroom. I kept trying to remember if, or when, I had those in school.

From Brandon's school

Back to the circle! I'm not sure if you can tell, but the head teacher was really good. Totally in control.






It was a privilege to visit the Montessori school and to see Brandon in a peer environment.

Actually, I had always wanted to see what a Montessori school is like. Have you ever heard of a guy named Will Wright? Will is the creator of two very creative computer games: "Sim City" and "The Sims." And, yes, he went to a Montessori school.