Montessori and Encouraging Creativity

"A fundamental truth permeates Montessori’s work: children are desperate to learn. This is the beating heart of Montessori schools. But this fundamental truth is not universally recognized. In fact, our traditional schools are built upon just the opposite assumption: children avoid learning. Therefore, they must be taught. They must be motivated by offers of rewards and threats of punishment. They require great teachers with charisma and pizzazz to inspire them and to create interest in learning. It is essential to recognize this split in philosophy at the most fundamental level in order to appreciate the differences in teaching and in classroom style that emanate from this initial difference. Why? Because the Montessori classroom can appear downright wacky to those of us accustomed to traditional schools. However, keeping in mind that children are naturally desperate to learn—and to learn on their own—we can begin to appreciate this unfamiliar method. Indeed, eventually we can recognize that it has been a part of us all along, since it is based on the way we naturally learn. We are actually all familiar with Montessori teaching, whether we know it or not."

Quoted from this article which is an excerpt from Trevor Eissler's book Montessori Madness.  Such a good reminder that kids are in the business of learning.  Mavry is a reminder of this - every day she seems to acquire a new skill.  We don't teach her, we just try to provide an environment that is conducive to her learning. 

On the same topic, have you seen Sir Ken Robinson's Ted Talk on how we need to encourage creativity in education?  Definitely worth the time.