guidepost montessori
Development takes the form of a drive toward an ever-greater independence. It is
like an arrow released from the bow, which flies straight, swift and sure. The
child’s conquest of independence begins with his first introduction to life.
While he is developing, he perfects himself and overcomes every obstacle that he
finds in his path.” MARIA MONTESSORI Founder of the Montessori Method of
education The Montessori approach Montessori helps your child develop a
fundamental, enduring love of learning and the deeply ingrained social,
emotional, and academic skills they need to succeed as an adult. Montessori
combines highly intentional learning materials, rich social development, and a
joyous approach to practiced independence. Our mission Our singular mission at
Guidepost is to guide and empower each child as she grows in her independence.
In every child lives limitless human potential. For the child to realize that
potential is to confidently grow and to joyously learn. It is to create and to
love herself while gaining the knowledge to form a unique vision of her singular
life. It is the security to live that vision, to dare greatly, to love others.
The Montessori approach to human development is based on the belief in the
potential of the child, and on the belief that it is only the child herself who
can realize this potential. To grow up well is to grow up to be increasingly
independent — to be increasingly capable, increasingly confident, increasingly
secure, increasingly able to meet one’s own needs, forming one’s own values, and
authoring one’s own life. Our job as caretakers is to understand and to love
this process as it unfolds for children in our care, and to support the child in
blazing her trail. The circumstances of children are as varied as children
themselves. The specific needs, the precise resources available, the particular
constraints faced by each child and each family are different. As times change,
there is a need to keep step and to ensure that the application is timely. But
the fundamental need is timeless: to help the child achieve her own development.
So, too, is the fundamental method: to provide the child with material,
environment, and guidance that is lovingly optimized to support her in that
work. The support a child’s caretakers can provide for her burgeoning
independence is multifaceted: We can provide materials and inspiration for her
to do the work of growing and learning. Every child learns to walk, but not
every child learns to walk in a way that feels like an exciting challenge, that
redounds upon her confidence. So it is with all of human development and
knowledge. The child achieves her own development by engagement and by practice.
From grasping an object for the first time, to eating independently, to
toileting, to putting her world to words—to the whole world of knowledge, of
nature and quantity and life and culture—the effort that children put in can be
magnified by thoughtful learning materials and guidance. We can carefully
support a child’s environment, creating a wonderful world for her in which to
grow up. Children are constantly interacting with and absorbing experiences from
their environment. One of the best things we can do for a child is to set up a
space where she can be maximally independent and efficacious, a space that is to
her comprehensible and enticing, a space that is aesthetically and pedagogically
rich. Whether it’s at school or at home, the principles are the same: a world
that is accessible, orderly, and enticing is a world that is supportive of a
child’s growth. We can prepare ourselves as caretakers of the child. Raising
children is as demanding as it is rewarding. It requires that we spend ourselves
in understanding and love, that we thoughtfully navigate the stages of a unique
child’s development, and that have the self-awareness to manage our own lives,
motivation, and energy as we do so. It is tremendously beneficial to both the
child and her caretakers to elevate a teaching and parenting philosophy to
consciousness, to take an integrated approach to the infinite texture of a
child’s growth toward independence. Finally, we can connect with others, other
parents, other teachers, other developmentalists and pedagogues, each of whom
adds their own experience and wisdom to our accumulated knowledge about child
development. Montessori is not just a philosophy of human development. It is
also an applied pedagogy, one with over a century of validation, refinement, and
grassroots international growth. Guidepost, and each member of our community,
benefits tremendously by participating in that movement and history.
