The Riverbend School Blog

The Power of Montessori in Natick, MA

Riverbend is feeling particularly honored. This week, in a gym full of parents, visitors, educators and friends, we listened to two internationally recognized key-note speakers discuss the power of Montessori Education. 

Our first speaker was Trevor Eissler. Trevor is a father of 3 Montessori students, a business jet pilot and the author of critically acclaimed book Montessori Madness: A Parent to Parent Argurment for Montessori Education/video: 

Our second speaker was Daniel Petter-Lipstein. Daniel is also a father of 3 Montessori students. He is a lawyer and the author of the viral article/video Superwoman Was Already Here:

Together, they captivated us with the powerful, eminent theme of Montessori students owning their education. Owning. Let us share with you a real-life example (one of many) they gave and something that all Montessori schools are proud to see on a daily basis:

In a Montessori classroom somewhere within the USA, two young boys were working on a project together at a table. As they wrote feverishly, one stopped and looked at the other to say, "Is it getting noisy in here?". The other boy, fully immersed in his work, continued working as if nothing had just been said to him. The distracted boy, without hesitation, walked silently across the room and dimmed down the light. And then he it brightened the room back up. He proceeded to his seat and went back to work. Are you wondering where his teacher was? She was giving a lesson and never flinched at what the boy has just done. The room quieted down. Harmony.

This student owned his education. He owned his shared classroom. He was having trouble working on the project that he was excited about and he did something about it--in a respectful, courteous, and graceful Montessori fashion. Wow. This is what Montessori is all about. 

Trevor and Daniel belong to Montessori Madmen,

"a ragtag group of Montessori dads from around the country and a variety of backgrounds, united by a common zeal to bring the Montessori method to millions more American children."

The Madmen have become quite a sensation in our Montessori community as they are,

"inspired by all Montessori children, including our own, who demonstrate every day how amazing school can and should be. We are fired up to bring awareness about Montessori schools to as many families as possible." 

We can't thank them enough for visiting us and for working so hard to bring awareness to the country about our collective Montessori passion. If you would like them to present at your school, please go for it. Trevor can be reached here (bottom of page) and Daniel here. 

Want to see Montessori classrooms in action? Join us for a Walk in Wednesday!