Empowering Children’s Self Regulation
The Montessori method of education places a strong emphasis on creating a prepared environment that supports children’s natural development and self-directed learning. This philosophy extends to the way Montessori teachers approach discipline and behavior management in the early childhood classroom.
In the Montessori model, the role of the teacher is not to enforce strict rules and punish misbehavior, but rather to guide and facilitate children’s learning, self-regulation, and social-emotional development. The Montessori teacher carefully structures the classroom environment and lesson plans to minimize potential conflicts and support children in making positive choices to overcome obstacles.
Below are our resources for exploring this topic in more detail.
Classroom Management: Montessori Principles to Practice
The Principles to Practice Library is a comprehensive video resource that will help you enhance your classroom management skills. These videos provide practical, applicable solutions for your most pressing classroom management challenges.
If you’ve been scratching your head about:
- why the children aren’t listening to you and what to do about it
- why they keep repeating easy work instead of choosing things they are ready for
- how to get the noise level down
- how to handle an unbalanced class (ages, abilities, etc.)
- anything else…
…you’ll find your answers in the Principles to Practice (P2P) Classroom Management video library!
Positive Discipline in the Montessori Classroom
This course by authors Chip DeLorenzo and Jane Nelsen gives you practical, Montessori-aligned tools to improve your classroom community. You’ll learn strategies to build stronger relationships with children and families, create a more peaceful environment, and foster self-discipline in your students. This is the definitive resource for bringing the Positive Discipline framework into your Montessori environment.
Redirecting Children’s Behavior
In this free webinar, Tammy Oesting shares a 5-step approach for respectfully redirecting children’s behavior. With a focus on pausing and observing between each step, you’ll learn effective non-verbal and verbal intervention techniques, as well as when a reset may be necessary. Tammy will also guide you through applying these steps to common classroom scenarios, empowering you with practical strategies to address disruptions and foster more harmonious learning environments.
Conflict Resolution
Guiding young children through conflicts and disagreements is a crucial skill for early childhood educators. In this presentation, Virginia Lozuke examines the key elements needed to cultivate a more “conflict-friendly” classroom community. You will learn a practical framework for effectively resolving classroom conflicts, including helpful phrases to use and common pitfalls to avoid. By understanding this process, you can empower children to develop essential social-emotional skills, foster mutual understanding, and promote a harmonious learning environment.
Growth Mindset
In this presentation, experienced Montessori guide Angie Ma shares practical strategies to create a classroom culture centered on a growth mindset and embracing mistakes. Building on Montessori principles, Angie offers phrases, tools, and mindsets to help you move beyond a focus on perfection and instead foster an environment where errors are welcomed as opportunities for learning and growth. Learn how to breathe more joy, vulnerability, and student autonomy into your teaching practice.
