Montessori education has proven to be a potent predictor of future success. It is no coincidence that some of today’s most innovative and influential business leaders and creative minds attribute their success to their early roots in Montessori schools. It is where their creativity was fostered and they were encouraged to become critical thinkers and pursue interests.

Montessori students become confident, enthusiastic and self-directed learners, who can think critically, work collaboratively, and act boldly – a skill set necessary for success in the 21st century.

Montessori education offers children the opportunity to develop their potential as they step out into the world as engaged, competent, responsible, and respectful citizens with an understanding and appreciation that learning is for life.

Montessori Builds Innovators.

Montessori Builds Innovators - On Innovation, Creativity and Leadership, Harvard Business Review

Develop Leaders the Montessori Way.

Develop Leaders the Montessori Way - Harvard Business Review

What is Resilience? by Laura Flores Shaw 2019 AMI AGM

The Science behind the Genius

In her book, Montessori: The Science behind the Genius, Dr. Angeline Lillard, embarked on a mission to write a balanced assessment of Montessori, pointing out where the scientific evidence is supportive of the Montessori Methodology as well as where it is not.

In her book she presents that current scientific research provides astounding support for Dr. Maria Montessori's major theories and practices-that there is a close relationship between movement and cognition, that the best learning is active, that order is beneficial for children, and so on— are supported by a strong body of evidence in developmental psychology. Some of her main developmental ideas that did not take hold until later and are rarely attributed to her are now mainstream, such as that children go through sensitive periods in development, and that lan- guage is (in a sense) innate. None of the Montessori ideas that I would con- sider central have been “disproven.” Others are not researched.

Lillard presents the research concerning eight insights that are foundational to Montessori education and describes how each of these insights is applied in the Montessori classroom.

• Lillard, A. S. (2019). Shunned and Admired: Montessori, Self-Determination, and a Case for Radical School Reform. Educational Psychology Review.
• Lillard, A. S. (2018). Rethinking education: Montessori’s approach. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27, 395-400.
• Lillard, A.S. & Else-Quest, N. (2006) "Evaluating Montessori Education" Science, Volume 313, pp. 1893-1894.

Education for Life: Neuroscience perspective on Montessori education.

Dr Steve Hughes, pediatric neuropsychologist and director of research in AMI 'Montessori and the Future of Education.' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faYco1b-IJI 'Education for Life: Neuroscience perspective on Montessori education.' - https://vimeo.com/ondemand/drstevehughes/ (whatch the trailer and decide!) How Montessori Forms the Neurological Capabilities Necessary for the 21st Century

Creativity in education.

Sir Ken Robinson

Developing Executive functions and Self-regulation.

Executive function and self-regulation skills are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. Just as an air traffic control system, the brain needs this skill set to filter distractions, prioritize tasks, set and achieve goals, and control impulses.
Individuals with high levels of executive function have increased periods of concentration and working memory and are able to solve complex problems by implementing reasoning and good planning skills while those with low levels of executive function are impulsive, lack persistence, and have poor attention spans.
Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efCq_vHUMqs
Executive function and self-regulation skills depend on three types of brain function: working memory, mental flexibility, and self-control.

• Working memory governs our ability to retain and manipulate distinct pieces of information over short periods of time.
• Mental flexibility helps us to sustain or shift attention in response to different demands or to apply different rules in different settings.
• Self-control enables us to set priorities and resist impulsive actions or responses.

Adele Diamond, Ph.D., neuroscientist, psychologist and educational innovator, is one of the world's leading researchers in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience and Executive functions and a great advocate of Montessori Education.

• Watch her TED talk about how to aid children in the development of Executive functions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StASHLru28s
• In this video, at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, she presents how what Dr. Maria's Montessori referred to as 'normalization', the prepared environment and the prepared adult, relates very well to a school setting that promotes the healthy development of executive functions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgyUPH3a2Ss 'Montessori curriculum doesn’t mention Executive Functions but what Montessorians mean by “normalization” includes having good Executive Functions. Normalization is a shift from disorder, impulsivity, and inattention to self-discipline, independence, orderliness, and peacefulness.'-- Diamond, Adele and Kathleen Lee. "Interventions shown to Aid Executive Function Development in Children 4–12 Years Old." Science. 2011 Aug 19; 333(6045): 959–964.
• Diamond, Adele. "Activities and Programs That Improve Children’s Executive Functions." Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2012 Oct; 21(5): 335–341.

The Montessori environment is specially prepared to develop the necessary skills not only to succeed in school, but to be successful in life.

Montessori Science Articles and News: Montessori-Science.org