Wow - perfect description of my son! After Montessori 0-6, we put him in a "sought after" public school for 1st gr. His flame was extinguished quickly. We pleaded with the school to challenge him (bored). They admitted the problem but could not remedy it. Half way through 2nd grade we put him back in an AMI Recognized Montessori. Within DAYS we saw the light in his eyes come back on! He loves to learn again & begged to stay through 8th gr. He is so happy to fly forward, learning at his own pace.

This video has convinced me to send my children to Montessori when they reach 2.5 years. I will work two jobs to pay for it if my community doesn't offer it, but I agree with others that we should be demanding this approach. My taxes are paying for grade schools that extinguish the fire in my community's kids, that's not what I want my money to be spent on.

Sending me to a Montessori school for my elementary school years was the best thing my parents ever did for me. It gave me a great foundation for learning that I took with me once I left. I loved it there.

My wife and I thought we had made our mind up about the school our daughter was attending. She happened to stumble upon a flyer talking about a open house to a Montessori charter school. We were immediately impressed and pretty much decided this is where we were sending our daughters to school. We just got through a new parent orientation and we are convinced more and more we made the right decision.

YES! this video brings me to tears, as it's the exact same experience we had with our daughter! Thanks so much for this video! Her local Montessori charter (tuition-free) school closed, so we enrolled her in 1st grade at a well-known and highly acclaimed "back-to-basics" "traditional" academy. She has been there nearly a semester, and my husband and I have both observed that light slowly diminishing. Her creativity and joy was taken away by a single source of information (how is THAT like the new world?) and teaching toward memorization and test-taking. I feel sorry for all the children there, despite the wonderful teachers and administrators and nice families who attend. We noticed such a difference that we're now switching the kids to a Private Montessori school in the neighboring town... yes it has a tuition, but we did some research find a way (and I encourage anyone to do the same in their area). During our tour, we learned this: In Arizona there is a "private school tax credit" program where if you get enough people to make a tax credit donation (which is a net zero after they get the donation off their tax returns), it can be earmarked to your school, and even specific child.... so with a little footwork on our part we can (and will) have private school tuition completely paid for, for all 3 kids. We believe so strongly in the Montessori difference that we're even relocating to the neighboring town for them to be Montessori again. There's a reason the founders of all the tech companies, many famous entertainers and the youngest Nobel Prize winner were all Montessorians, and why Jeff Bezos is donating tens of millions for more Montessori schools to open! I would encourage any parent to work towards 1) seeking scholarship or creative funding opportunities at your local Montesssori or even 2) talking with your public school about integrating more Montessori Methods into their current curriculum, or even adding it as a separate program. It has worked wonders in many districts. Don't give up, our kids are worth it!

Our son went all the way through a Montessori program - K thu 8 - that was administered by the Franciscan order. It is not 'do as you please,' but rather do what you are ready for, take initiative and take responsibility. A key Montessori insight is that human learning progresses from the concrete to the abstract and their tools and approaches leverage that fact. Montessori kids routinely flourish in high schools and go on to success in college and in life.

I understand the "madness." For years I have listened to people pleading, IF ONLY there were a way for our kids to learn at their own pace (without having to wait for everyone else in the room)! IF ONLY there was a way kids could stay motivated to learn! IF ONLY there was a way for our family’s heritage to be respected! IF ONLY there was a way that balanced creativity with academic rigor! Montessori has made all these things available for over 100 yrs --eventually we will make the connection.

I thank the stars every day that I was lucky enough to attend a Montessori school through the end of 8th grade. It made me the person I am now, and I rather like that person. The way I wilted in the few years I had to attend a standard school make me think with horror of the defeated drone I would have become had I started out in a conventional system.. Thank you for this lovely explanation I can direct people to!

As a Montessori-dad in Norway I find it a good and impressive explanation - of how it is. I had not thought of the flame, though. A very good picture. And my 8 yo son loves his school!

It's not for everyone, you need to know your kid, and in a conventional school setting, small classes and really good teachers can make a huge difference. And there ARE not-so-hot Montessori teachers as well. But in general, the fact that my daughter is reading well above her grade level, had an experience with long division similar to that above, and will state without prompting that she LOVES SCHOOL is all I need. We have intermittent concerns as well, but on the whole, it seems as good or better than anything else out there that we've found for our kid (and we looked). I think this video captures it very well.

This video is terrific! Will be sharing this video with my friends! So glad we're homeschooling and teaching our children Montessori.

This is incredible! I so remember when I had to pull my daughter out of Montessori because I couldn't afford it as a single mother. My daughter had to attend traditional school and is now 15 years old and has completely lost interest in eduction totally! My six year old son is in Montessori and LOVES it! I will do whatever I can to keep him in his Montessori school because of what happened to my daughter!

Sending me to Montessori was the best decision my parents ever made for me.

Let's come back down to Earth here for a second. I went to a Montessori school until I was 8, and it didn't work at all for me. In a lot of ways, I actually ended up doing better in public schools. I'm sure that a lot of children have had very successful outcomes in Montessori schools, but let's not treat it as some sort of panacea. What I'd really like to see is a variety of different types of schools, each with different teaching styles, so parents and kids can pick the ones best for them.

Trevor Eisseler has an amazing way of taking this subject and condensing it to give people an amazingly clear understanding. I wish I could sit and click "like" all day to this video.

We chose Montessori for our children because we understood that God wants us to love learning from Him and we responded to the idea that our children would become lovers of learning -- we have not been disappointed, rather our average and wonderful children AMAZE us with what they have learned and how much they love going to school.

Very nice to see our kids are happy through out their life...great learning

i was waiting for the video to come full circle about the mom who couldn't afford to keep her children in montessori... i understood this is an education opportunity for people with money.

This is a KZfaq video worth viewing again!

I love this video! This is exactly why we've chosen a Montessori education for our children.

Congratulations, Trevor! This is a wonderful addition to your message. Thanks for sharing it!

I was fortunate enough to attend a public Montessori school in Anchorage, AK. The self-pacing and ample 1-1 time was phenomenal. The classrooms were large and there were plenty of them. I like that they don't treat development as an across-the-board concept. I was a "twice exceptional" student, being both "gifted" and on the autism spectrum, so I am living proof that nothing is across-the-board There was no separate gifted classroom, just a gifted elective that teaches hands-on, real-world concepts instead of simply bumping someone up to a higher grade level. Special Ed students were also mainstreamed pretty easily, with ample aides provided to help them out. In the homeroom classes, the teachers would structure the classes very open-endedly, and the teacher would adapt the curriculum to help each child blossom; no one was behind in the long run. The school was basically a little city in one building, with plenty of resident specialists such as speech therapists, OT's, a large print shop, and more. The music classroom was filled with many instruments, including a set of keyboards used to teach us piano. The music teacher would even give free piano lessons to those interested. Many of us WANTED to learn. The gym class focused less on machismo and more on teaching us to love and take care of our bodies. There was also a weekly group counseling session for each class - mental health was never an afterthought. Instead of strict rules, the school was governed by four expectations: Be safe, Be respectful, Be responsible, Be ready. While it may sound foolish, this expectation-based system actually taught us morals instead of just making us blindly follow the book. We knew WHY what we did was wrong when we screwed up. There was never even a prohibition of gum - in fact, teachers would give gum to the kids as a reward! We also had plenty of fidget toys to choose from, and we could bring some from home; they really do calm you down and help you concentrate! We just had to leave cell phones and other electronics in our backpacks, but there are plenty of computer labs for us to learn tech skills. We learned both cursive AND typing! I since moved to California and attended "traditional" public schools. It was as if my flame just died. Everything was all about labels, and no one knew how to label me. I didn't take Phys. Ed. in Junior High, since I had to attend a study skills group for my disability. I didn't even learn study skills; it was just study hall! I also couldn't attend higher-level classes without losing my accommodations. They may as well have threatened to take away my reading glasses. Fast forward to high school, when the division between the four classes made even less sense to me. In just two years, I went from the mixed 3-year classrooms where you sometimes forget what grade your fellow classmates are in, to a bizarre society where someone a year older or younger is basically from a different generation. I didn't really enjoy school again until I got to college. Thank God for college, and for Montessori (which seems to transfer the freedoms of higher education to the world of "lower education").

Go Montessori! I've been a Montessori student all my life and I'm proud of it!

Have to agree. Someone wise once said, Montesorri is not always for all parents but it can be for all children. Mine have thrived: and looking back - I would do it all the same again - I have not looked back...

We watched this video at my daughter's Montessori school and my husband and I were both shocked by the opening. I realize that Mr. Eissler felt the opening story aptly illustrated his point, but we felt that no parent should be shamed if they cannot afford a private school education. I attended a Montessori school until 1st grade and then switched to public school. Montessori was great, but so was public school. It is useful to contrast the two, but we can do it without demonizing the other.

LOVE IT!!! Finally, I have a video to show friends and family what in the world I do as a Montessori teacher! Thank you!!!!!

This is absolutely wonderful. I will be sharing it with all of the parents at our Montessori school and with all of my friends. Thanks!

Fantastic video! You've captured the essence of Montessori and literally illustrated what its all about!

This is one of the most powerful things I ever saw. Thanks.

Exactly ;) I "teach" music partly at Montessori school, those kids are awesome!

I go to a Montessori school. We do have tests and homework plait the home work and testes are not the same as public schools. We do so many different things. I love school and I did go to a public school and I hated it! I was told to help other children because I already knew how to do the assignment. I went back to Montessori and I felt better about my self. My grades were amazing I was improving! Montessori schools turned my life around.

Let's help build more Montessori Schools for our children, together we can.

What you said is true : Montessori is the best schooling method especially because it allows the child to work at his/her own pace and to follow his/her own interest. But All the conventional schools aren't that bad ! I work in one of those (montessori training is unfortunately way too expensive) and I don't use competitive methods at all! I try to do my best to keep my students' love of learning... (Hope there's not too much mistakes in my comment as I speak French)

thanks for doing this, trevor. great tool for outreach.

My brother went to a Montessori and then a conventional school and had a similar experience to the boy in your video. I liked your video, it was inspirational. But it's unfortunate that it is based on whether you can afford a Montessori or not (like the unlucky woman who lost her job.)

Loved it. My 1st grader is in a public montessori, and we enjoy all those benefits, EXCEPT they must take standarized test, which severely strays from the Montessori concept. That part I hate, but Iove the light in my child's eyes and that she is not tired of school, and happy about being there.

I went to Montessori! It was such a GIFT!

I love this video. It was very helpful to me. Thank you so much for the video.

Great job in showing the benefits of a Montessori education for children aged 6 to 12 and upwards. Thank you!

This is great, but there's an underlying sadness/frustration that the parent who unenrolled their child from the Montessori school did so because of a job loss. The video is persuasive and exciting, but you leave that economically depressed parent and child in the lurch, and address the child's "diminished flame" as an "that's too bad they chose that decision," when "choice" had nothing to do with the matter.

Providing a Montessori education to your child - whether at pre-school, or through to primary - is the very best start to formal learning that you can offer.

Fabulous video! This has helped to explain a lot.

Absolutely INSPIRING video ! I need to teach for an organization like Montessori. I live in Sarnia, Ontario and have been searching for this philosophy. Thanks again for the incredible vid !

Wow, let me say it again...WOW. I've been a director of a Montessori School for years and I must say this presentation is on point. I hope that more and more people open their minds up to Montessori.

I went to Montessori from grades 5-8 in Canada. There was a lot of what he was talking about, but there are dark sides too. Primarily in my last two years there, we were an extremely competitive, small classroom of 9 extremely different kids - there was lots of emotionally exhausting conflict (and grades). I had a huge light in my eyes and enjoyed learning, but what inspired me more than learning was showing off, ego - not working together - & no one tried to show me the difference.

We have a PUBLIC Montessori! It is awesome to have a free option availiable in our town. Thank goodness for charter schools.

Great video! Thanks for sharing!

oustanding! breathtaking! extraordinary! wonderful! superb! beautiful! out of this world! intelligent! brilliant! fabulous! marvoulous! smart! ingenious! I`m just speachless. Thank you very much Mrs. Guinn for sending this link to me. I`ll make sure to pass it over... and over... and over! Bruno Audet

This is a very nice way to Explain Montessori!

My writing hand hurts just watching. Awesome introduction into Montessori. Great job!

My kids get this same little light when I leave them alone with the Halloween candy. Most public schools are meat grinders, but they have the right general approach. The problems are generally class size and parents who don't care. If you can find a school that isn't a meat grinder where most of the parents care, you'll find that regular old school can be wonderful.

"Children are guests who asking for the way." - Maria Montessori & "Help me to help myself." - from a child. :)

@TheMagicPin I kow that the hardest part of teaching today is having to deal with students who have no parental support and classrooms full of testing materials instead of learning materials. Students who haven't learn to their sounds, can't read and have already learned to avoid doing any work that is challenging because they don't want to show that they can't-they would rather make it appear that they 'don't want to'. Couple this with testing and we have failing schools and loss of that flame!

Great video. Thank you.

this is awesome, thank you!

Wow, thank you so much. I will be watching it many times. Looking forward to share.

Montessori is a great school. I went there from primary to 6th grade and I really liked it.

Well expressed....thank you

The children are encouraged to have the freedom to learn...but within set boundaries. Far too many people have the notion that a Montessori school is a free for all and the children do whatever they want. If a child has gone off track and begins distracting others, they are guided back to work. They are either moved to a new area, asked to work near the teacher or given new work at that time.

My Grandson attends Montessori, and is singing and playing the guitar, he is only five. He is also doing very well in academics, and likes to play teacher at home.

Nice job!

Powerful case for the Montessori system.

The way the story is told, I am left feeling sad about the little girl whose parents could not longer send her to Montessori. I taught in a Montessori school in the 60s. Wonderful not doubt. How can we bring the same encouragement of wonder to public schools, so that all created equal will have equal rights? P.S. I have worked in public schools and there are some creative teachers and people doing great work to support our kids. And yes, I wish every child such an education!

Thank you it is a very nice video

Can't wait to visit the Wakefield School this week. It really does look like it is my kind of school - my kind of teaching.

The great school in the world and quality school.

Wow! I am a cognitive studies major and instead of teaching a future regular class, I will be looking into being a really cool montessori teacher that focuses on the brain for learning.

I do go to Montessori, and it is expensive, and we don't have a lot of money, but I love it there and I have made sooooo many friends and I wish all who deserve to go to one of those fabulous schools, will one day get the chance!

Agreed! kids somehow interested in practical stuffs... that is how to attract them even more~

Great, Thanks

This is wonderful! May we please link this to our Montessori class website?

They did that in my brother's public school and he hated it. He was part of the older grade, and it was really annoying because he wasn't learning, he was constantly being held back having to go over material already learned, because the younger kids didn't understand. His progression was slowed immensely.

THis is one of the best and effective explanations in the least amount of time, HOW can we spread this here in INDIA ??

I totally agree with the person below. Different methods work for different people

If you look into it kids from these schools are not better or worst off academically BUT they tend become better innovators in life. Interesting fact.... Two founders of Google were Montessori kids, founder of Wikipedia was a Montessori kid and one of the founders of Amazon was also.

great comment, you have a very good point!!

Amen!

The problem is: we need people whose flame has been extinguished, to flip burgers, collect refuse, fight in Afghanistan, stack shelves, work in call centres, have lowered expectations, don't demand healthcare or a decent pension, don't ask questions, accept that it's their fault that they have a crummy life. That way resources can be rationed by the market without causing even the glimmer of a revolurtionary thought. Could we all co-exist in a society where everyone's flame was alight?

There are many, many public Montessori schools in the US. We need even more. Milwaukee, WI is a great example for the country. In fact, every year they "turn" more traditional public schools into Montessori schools due to the high performance of the latter.

To everyone despairing about the economic aspects, there are at least two public Montessori programs in elementary schools in my city. I still think that another form of education (not necessarily “conventional”) should be available to parents who are seeking that, because there are some downsides to Montessori, but it is feasible in a public school system, unlike, say, Waldorf, which wouldn’t be because of the religious aspects.

Just to clarify...321fastdraw has NEVER advertised on Craigslist looking for a multimedia artist. There are MANY individuals on the internet using our videos for reference. Thank you.

@pruthvibanwasi There are Montessori schools in India and their presence is growing. I ask the same questions about the US, though. Our experience with Montessori has been amazing. I don't understand why there aren't more schools.

Very Interesting!! Thank you!! but can you please give me some references that you used so that I could use it for my final college paper?

Yep, Montessori sure is awesome....if you can afford it.

Montessori classrooms change in look and approach as the child matures and their developmental needs change. Eventually, all students will simply follow complex and abstract lectures (like everyone else). Its the way the foundation is laid that is different in this model. Today, many quality Montessori schools affiliate themselves with the International Baccalaureate accreditation program, especially in the upper grades --so the transition to university can be seamless. see: The Westwood School

We are grateful and fortunate our child goes to a progressive Montessori school, the Oneness-Family School in Chevy Chase, MD. Virtually all private schools offer financial aid so, in the short term, I encourage you to check out the Montessori schools available to you (even while we seek to reform public schools!).

Agreed!

I am a Montessori fan, and both of my kids are in a public (charter) Montessori school, but with all the breathless enthusiasm and without any data this feels like propaganda...

Go visit some Montessori classrooms. It works. Kids don't just decide not to learn. It is challenging as a trained teacher to meet the needs of a particular child, but challenging is not impossible. Montessori teachers get a lot of training. I personally worked with 3-6 year olds and am a Montessori mama and grandma.

Yes, that is true...but software is limited. We work closely with our clients to make sure their custom videos are effective, and we make sure their message is crystal clear. We collaborate with them to create a custom script, and ALWAYS hand draw all of our videos.

kudus for mentioning kahn academy.

Please, upload one video on Steiner's schools ;)

Thank you Alyne, I had been trying to implement Montessori in our homeschool. I read a lot of books about the subject as well. Unfortunately I have had to put my children into public school this year and focus on trying to find a job.

Seth Godin's "Stop Stealing Dreams" video debunks the value of the public school system. It aligns nicely with the Montessori thinking. Montessori+Seth = A school system that makes sense!

Very good question. It doesn't take away from the brilliant approach that Montessori schools take. But how to make it accessible? Make public schools Montessori or Constructivist schools. Train teachers to facilitate learning. Teach them how to ask the questions that lead students to learning instead of presenting information they can easily access online. Commit to teaching individual through their natural learning styles. Train not to box kids in and to think out of the box ALWAYS.

It's not that technology has moved past creating artwork, it's merely that the general public is now accessible to manipulating template artwork from original artists. Nothing you can say will negate the fact that one point is clear. Original art comes from a person... that takes time to make it... no mater what software or medium they employ.

Holy crap

@Sblaqueur Actually, Montessori schools can cost LESS to run, because they don't use textbooks (a BIG expense). 2 understand the Montessori model, you could imagine that each page of a text book has been made in2 a concrete lesson --a sort of "science experiment" or puzzle; then placed on the shelf in order of the smallest isolation of difficulty for the students 2 use. So, when something new is discovered U only add ONE new lesson -rather than buying everyone new editions of entire textbooks.

Petition for Montessori Charter schools in your county!

I think if all Montessori schools were exactly as you describe them here, it'd be great! But I've seen that not all of them are mixed-age or without homework. One I visited had piles of homework. Montessori isn't perfect, but we could definitely use it ideas when fixing our education system.