Montessori Education Creates Business Superstars
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) just published part of our tenth secret of Montessori education – the joy of creativity! It is a secret some of us have known for a long time and are extremely happy to see being told. In fact, we’d like to shout it from the rooftops!
The joy we see in children comes from the freedom to be creative and think their own thoughts. WSJ writer, Peter Sims, explains Montessori’s unique creative edge in his April 5, 2011, article, “The Montessori Mafia”:
“The Montessori educational approach might be the surest route to joining the creative elite, which are so overrepresented by the school’s alumni that one might suspect a Montessori Mafia: 
Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, videogame pioneer Will Wright , and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, not to mention Julia Child and rapper Sean “P. Diddy” Combs.”
These innovators speak about the freedom to explore and find the answers to questions rather than have teacher tell you what you need to know. Will Wright says simply, “Montessori taught me the joy of discovery.”
Academic success
But creativity is not the only fruit of the Montessori experience. Studies are showing that children entering first grade from Montessori preschool programs are ahead of their peers academically, as well. A 2006 study published in Science states that by the end of kindergarten, “Montessori students proved to be significantly better prepared for elementary school in reading and math skills than the non-Montessori children.”
Problem solving
So we have creativity and academics. But we also have problem solving. According to the 2006 study cited above, Montessori children also “tested better on ‘executive function,’ the ability to adapt to changing and more complex problems, an indicator of future school and life success.”
There is something about Montessori…. Actually, there is a lot about Montessori, and we will keep filling you in on our blog, our free White Papers and webinars. We invite you to join us for our first interactive webinar on April 14th. On the right panel of our website you can see how to register.
Follow this link to read the entire Montessori mafia article:
http://blogs.wsj.com/ideas-market/2011/04/05/the-montessori-mafia/
