Montessori from the Start: Foundations for Independence
April 17, 2014

In "Montessori from the Start: Foundations for Independence," Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen describe the ways in which the Montessori approach, particularly as it applies to infants and toddlers, is unique. Traditional education views babies and young children as "empty vessels" to be "filled" by an adult. Instead, "in Montessori education the adult must do an about-face. From the continual dispenser of knowledge, he or she has to learn to accompany and serve the child on a journey of self-formation, to an independent and fully functioning being."


Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen co-founded Forest Bluff School in 1982. Additionally, Lillard and Jessen co-authored Montessori from the Start: The Child at Home, from Birth to Age Three.


Two adolescents canoe down a river with trees in the background

Montessori Adolescent Program FAQs

By Abbey Dickson & John Dickson • April 23, 2025
At Forest Bluff School, the Secondary Level is a two-year program for adolescents, in which they continue their self-formation through more rigorous academic study as well experiential learning that includes service and wilderness trips. The Secondary Level has all the hallmarks of a Montessori adolescent program, with a focus on independence, responsibility, self-directed learning, community and collaboration, and practical life skills.
Three Montessori Elementary students socialize while working together on a math material.

The Social Life of the Elementary Student: Part II

By Margaret J. Kelley • March 5, 2025
Adapted from a presentation by Upper Elementary teacher Regina Sokolowski See Part I for a discussion of the social goals and unique abilities and characteristics of the elementary child.