Learning is a natural process: true learning cannot be forced or dictated.
That is why our Montessori classrooms are purposely designed and our teachers are specially trained to capitalize on the power of teachable moments…the moment when a child is ready, eager and open to discovery. This requires keen observation skills and child development expertise by the teacher. Most importantly, it requires her trust in the Montessori Method and to implement it to its full potential.
The teacher must have a kind of faith that the child will reveal himself through work.
— Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind
Capitalizing on all the Montessori classroom can offer, we must remind ourselves to value the child’s journey to discovery rather than the result. Their journey may not be part of our lesson plan that day, but we can take joy in accepting that the children will show us what they need, when they need it.
We are professional Montessori educators: we are prepared to nourish the children’s thirst when they are ready. We maintain our enthusiasm for their individual discovery, which magically has a way of coming back twofold. Through their joy we receive the gift of rediscovering the extraordinary in the ordinary.
