Montessori Learning in the 21st Century
M. Shannon Helfrich
Paperback Original ISBN 978-0939165-60-5
216 Pages, $20.00 Includes Photos, Diagrams,
Index, Footnotes, Bibliography, Study Guide
E-Book ISBN 978-0939165-61-2
Montessori teacher trainer, examiner, and consultant Shannon Helfrich has written an important book that fills a growing demand for contemporary books on Montessori education and how it applies to childhood learning and education in the 21st Century. Dr. Maria Montessori developed her theories and methods for educating young people more than a hundred years ago. Today, much of Dr. Montessori’s empirical findings on how the childhood brain develops and works has now been proven accurate by recent neurological/ psychological studies on childhood learning.
M. Shannon Helfrich shares many experiences from her nearly 40 years as a Montessori teacher and teacher’s trainer to help parents and Montessori teachers understand the factors that influence understanding and learning for children throughout their years of development. In a lay person’s terms, the author explains how the brain develops and why interaction with the environment is essential at specific points in a child’s development. Helfrich provides diagrams and photographs throughout the book to illustrate her explanations.
The author also links Montessori’s findings with the latest neuropsychological research, weaving back and forth between the centuries, making a strong case for the ongoing viability of a Montessori education in this brave new world. Helfrich offers many anecdotes from classroom experiences with children that support these findings.
In the beginning of her book, Helfrich asserts that Dr. Montessori was one of the great thinkers in the 20th century who changed the understanding of a child’s nature regardless of race, class or culture, and ultimately, an evolved understanding of our humanness. This book confirms Dr. Montessori’s pivotal role in the history of childhood education internationally.
Read and download the Study Guide from the book.
Praise
Montessori Learning in the 21st Century is a landmark commentary and parent education tool that makes Montessori education more accessible to a greater audience. Shannon Helfrich's book is an important achievement for Montessori theory and practice because it is integrated with current neuroscientific findings. It demonstrates the validity of Montessori child psychology and methodology combined with an undeniable conclusion that Dr. Maria Montessori's century-old assumptions anticipated current brain research.
Many books have been written about Dr. Montessori’s method— this one is about living with it. … Throughout the book, Shannon Helfrich offers many insights, stories, and simple explanations about how children grow and how Montessori education facilitates their development. In short, Shannon invites us to take a fascinating journey, accompanying our child from birth to maturity from the perspective of the Montessori philosophy.
This thought-provoking and informative book encourages parents to reflect how best to interact with their children, as well as understand and offer a variety of ways to assist with their development. Shannon’s book represents her extensive knowledge and observations of how children develop, drawing on her many years of experience working with children of all ages and backgrounds. Her anecdotes are entertaining while also being insightful, and every parent – new or not – will gain inspiration and fresh perspectives from reading them.
This is a hugely needed book. It is a valuable resource for teachers and a guide for parents in understanding the factors that influence learning and development. It is full of facts, explanations for how the brain develops and why interaction with the environment is essential at specific points in development. Perhaps the author’s ability to then link this to Dr. Montessori’s work and feed it back to us with another level of understanding is the real genius of this book. This weaving back and forth between neuropsychological research, the impact of the environment and the work of Dr. Montessori provides the reader with what feels like story telling… a spell-binding way to learn.
About The Author
M Sʜᴀɴɴᴏɴ Hᴇʟꜰʀɪᴄʜ is an AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) teacher trainer, examiner and consultant. Most recently, she trained Montessori teachers at the International Training Center of Montessori Education of China in Hangzhou, China from 2007 through 2011. She has also trained international teachers in Thailand, Hong Kong, and Australia.
Helfrich has been an AMI Montessori teacher since 1972. She worked in Montessori Children’s House classrooms in Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She then founded two Montessori schools, one in Bismarck, North Dakota and the other in Gresham, Oregon. In 1989, Shannon completed the AMI Training of Trainers program and was appointed the Director of Training at the Montessori Education Center of Oregon, which soon became the Montessori Institute Northwest.
Since then, she has also directed courses at the Australia Montessori Teacher Education Foundation, helped found a training center in western Bangkok, Thailand and trained teachers in Hangzhou, China. Shannon is based in Tucson, Arizona, and lectures throughout the United States and internationally on Montessori education. This is her first book.
