Matt Bateman

@matt

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Probably not in the near future sadly. In the long run anything is possible but we’ve paused on new school growth for now.

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Very common. Montessori was Catholic and, though she regarded her method as for children of all religions or even none. Most Montessori schools are secular now but there’s the Catholic connection persists. Re: the morning, the most important part of a Montessori school day is the 3 hour work period in the morning. If this is taken seriously variations in the rest of the time are possible.

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No, Montessori schools in most places tend to have extensive outdoor time. The best is to have blended indoor/outdoor classrooms where the children can go outside at will, but this is not always logistically possible.

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I think it’s fine. Montessori was worried about (a) encouraging credulity in children (e.g. Peter Pan style it’s good for kids to actually believe in magic) (b) a lack of seriousness about connecting children to reality My children, and most children, understand that these are just pretend stories

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I’ve got to step away now but thanks for your questions, and apologies for typos and long windedness! Will answer any other questions I see come in this evening

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For Montessori *generally* in Western Europe there is a great deal of it! Barcelona is a hub. Italy is surprisingly more complicated, because of the WWII history where she had to flee the country and her schools got banned. But it’s there. In France there is also quite a bit.

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The benefit is agency. Both in the sense of practice with making choices, practice persisting through work, and competence in the form of practiced knowledge and skills.

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I really wish I was better at this… or anyone was great at it. In my view this is an unsolved problem. The easiest way to “explain” it is to get someone to observe for an hour in a great Montessori 3 to 6 classroom. You’ll just see so many things that will blow your mind. This is basically what happened to me, about ten years ago. That said, short written explanation attempt #2833727: Culture of quiet, purposeful work. Work is either some real practical work, like setting a table or cleaning the classroom or doing the dishes, or progress through an extremely well designed, specific, academic curriculum. There is occasional high touch direct instruction, but most of the work is done independently with very light coaching, and most work is chosen by the student from the available work in the classroom that they have learned how to do. So the vibe is 30 preschool age students all studiously or purposefully working, with the teacher wandering around and giving lessons or bits of help.

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Ah yeah I don’t have more concerns by default than I would with a very bookish child, but for any given child you might have to encourage some variety or compensation

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That aligns with Montessori theory and practice: have a curriculum, one that is largely independently usable by children, that only .001% of educators could *design*, but that 99% of educators could learn to present and coach on. If you don’t have that curriculum, the opposite tendency dominates: you absolutely want the mentor to also be a domain expert. Will be interesting to see where AI pushes things in this regard. I think right now it’s too loose and associational to substitute for a curriculum, but it does well with helping you work through a textbook, or help you advance in areas where you already fairly knowledgeable.

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Part 2 https://youtu.be/Anau5CFyeos

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Two talks give a sort of precis of book: Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCFH9MaRO4A

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https://warpcast.com/matt/0x2bf7db0b

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1. Yes. If the classroom is very good, it’s very easy to have 2 or 3 non Montessori children come in every month or so. Children adapt to established social norms amongst other children *very* quickly. If the classroom isn’t good it’s harder but there are also other problems. Also children are so variable! Some “traditional” children are effectively Montessori kids anyway—I never saw there inside of a Montessori school until I was 32, I went to very traditional public schools in the US rural south, but I think I would have thrived in one as a child at any point, like a sudden enrollment in PK or late elementary or whatever. 2. We have one or two schools in Paris (can’t remember if second is open) We’ve been flirting with Spain for years but don’t think anything has happened yet

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Not yet we can’t. I think it’s possible in principle but it’s a life project for someone(s), just like early childhood was a life project for Montessori and others. (Btw I’m not sure that high school should exist.)

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I don’t think “screen time” is a valid concept. I have a lot of concerns about time spent passively with sewage grade content or fostering worthless behaviors and pseudo-skills, no concern about time spent with quality content or mastering the modern human digital arts

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It’s about moral education. My paradigm example of an instance of moral education is not service learning or an ethics seminar or political activism etc., it’s a child peeling an orange. Very focused on the development of virtue and how those interpolate with academic learning. The four virtues are: Work, knowledge, humanism, agency Love of purpose and effort, love of thinking and truth, love of human nature, and intentionality about one’s own life and values

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Montessori tends to be good for both ASD and ADHD. Up to a point there’s no special treatment or considerations needed. If it’s running properly the hyperfocus student can just keep focusing (depending on what they are doing). Beyond a certain point I do think special routines and teacher skills are needed. Sorry, hard to be specific—feel free to follow up!

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Like… medium Most prepared part is kitchen and dining area. Lots of ways children can help us cook or prep food independently or help clean. Second most prepared are bedrooms, mostly for dressing and baths and what not. The playrooms are not that well optimized. I’d like to buy a house and have more workshop and artistic type areas, of which r have some now, but not enough and not well enough designed We do try though :)

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I’ve always been unbothered by criticism. Quirk of personality? The fact that I grew up with the internet in the early 90s and have seen it evolve in every which way? I dunno. Everything is input, I value input, even seemingly mean and worthless input

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