A Montessori parent tends to agree with the following ideas:
1. Intelligence is not rare among human beings. It is found in children at birth. With the right stimulation, it is possible to nurture the development of reasoning and problem solving skills in young children.
2. The most important years of a child’s education are not high school and college, but the first six years of life. As a result, Montessori schools regard infant and early childhood education as the very foundation of everything that follows.
3. It is critically important to allow children to develop a high degree of independence and autonomy.
4. Learners learn more effectively when school is seen as a safe, exciting, and joyful experience.
5. There is a direct link between children’s sense of self-worth, empowerment, self-mastery, and their ability to learn and retain new skills and information.
6. Children are born curious, creative, and motivated to observe and learn things.
7. Children learn in different ways and at different paces. The idea that those who learn quickly are more talented misses a basic truth about how children really learn.
8. Children learn best through hands-on experience, real-world application, and problem solving.
9. Teachers should serve as children’s mentors, friends, and guides, rather than as task-masters and disciplinarians. Students should be treated with profound respect, in partnership rather than with condescension, external control, and domination.
10. Children are capable of making choices to guide their own learning.
11. School should be a joyful experience for children.
12. Parents want a school that will stimulate and encourage their child’s curiosity, creativity, and imagination.