BOOKS

A short, illustrated guide to the use of Montessori classroom materials. Describes how to set up a "children's house" - an environment for learning where children can be their own masters.

This book is Montessori's own exposition of the theory behind her innovative educational techniques. She shows parents, teachers and administrators how to "free a child to learn through his own efforts".

Parents are amazed by the advantages of a Montessori education for their children, and scientific evidence continues to support Maria Montessori's discoveries. But what if you want the benefits of Dr. Montessori's insights from birth? Is there Montessori for babies? How does Montessori's advocacy of hands-on learning and self-discovery relate to infants? What can parents do to help their youngest children in their task of self-formation? This authoritative and accessible book answers these and many other questions. Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen have used Maria Montessori's theories for raising infants to create a comprehensive program for the first three years, incorporating the furnishings and tools Dr.

Paula Lillard, director of a Montessori school ranging in age from 18 months to fifteen years, provides a clear and cogent introduction to the Montessori program for the elementary and later years. In detailed accounts, Lillard shows how children acquire the skills to answer their own questions, learn to manage freedom with responsibility, and maintain a high level of intellectual stimulation by using the Montessori method. This is an essential handbook for parents and teachers who have chosen the Montessori alternative for the older child.

What really happens inside a Montessori classroom? How do teachers teach? How do children learn? This fascinating day-by-day record of a year in the life of a Montessori classroom answers these questions by providing an illuminating glimpse of the Montessori method in action.

Maria Montessori went beyond the conventions of the day to seek a new way of knowing and loving a child.

In THE DISCOVERY OF THE CHILD, she describes the nature of the child and her method of working more fully with the child's urge to learn.

Maria Montessori believes that "once the general principles have been grasped, the parts dealing with the material application are extremely simple. Gone are teachers who wear out their lungs maintaining discipline, and verbal instruction is replaced by 'material for development', which affords children the opportunity of teaching themselves by their own efforts. The teacher thus becomes a director of the children's own spontaneous work."