Trillium Montessori Talks Trillium Montessori Team

Understanding how to facilitate, organize, and prepare an environment that fosters student choice is one of the most challenging aspects of being a Montessori Elementary teacher. Educators who follow the Montessori approach know that Maria Montessori placed a lot of emphasis on the idea of “choice,” and while the notion of choice is universally celebrated and held sacred for young children up until the age of 6 (such as in other Montessori environments or in play-based preschools), this ...

One of the best ways to create a learning environment that promotes positivity and productivity is play. When playing games, students become more comfortable with not only their peers but also their teacher.In today’s episode, I’m sharing how both structured and unstructured games can build a variety of social, emotional, and executive functioning skills in elementary students, and how games contribute to students’ success in all areas of curriculum as well.What’s in this episode:[02:04] How ...

As students get older, parents seem to become more inclined to pull their children out of Montessori programs. Especially when those classrooms have smaller groups of older students. Parents often think that there are disadvantages to keeping their older children in this setting, but it’s actually quite the opposite: there are numerous benefits to older children in mixed-age classrooms.In today’s episode, I’m sharing the unique experiences offered by a mixed-age Montessori classroom, in...

How does technology affect brain development in children? How can we mindfully incorporate technology into Montessori classrooms? Is social media inherently bad for adolescents?In today’s episode, Letty is joined by Dr. Luz Casquejo Johnston to discuss technology in relation to Montessori education, particularly for upper elementary and adolescent students. Luz shares insights into child and adolescent brain development, and offers advice on how to mindfully integrate technology into the Mont...

As Montessori educators, we learn a lot through training and practical experience about how to guide our students. However, we often find ourselves lacking knowledge when it comes to supporting students with additional needs. In today’s episode, Meghan Hicks joins Letty Rising to thoughtfully explore how we can best support children with learning disabilities. With over 20 years of experience training teachers to work with children across all age levels, Meghan shares her wisdom grounded...

The elementary age is the time when children are really developing their executive functioning skills. A highly teacher-directed environment doesn’t really give students the space and grace to explore and develop these skills. A Montessori environment, on the other hand, is built for such exploration.In today’s episode, we’re talking about the various executive functioning skills that children need to develop, how the Montessori classroom encourages students to learn at their own pace, and wa...