David AF Sweet
When Paula Lillard was living in Cincinnati and raising four young children, a friend gave her a biography of Maria Montessori. Maria Montessori was an Italian physician who championed a theory of education little known in the United States. Lillard was skeptical of the Montessori method when she read her book.
“I thought it was all too idealistic,” she explained.
Still, she volunteered to be an unpaid assistant at the Cincinnati Country Day School’s new Montessori program for ages 3-5. And what she witnessed surprised her.
“Selection is the cornerstone of Montessori education,” says Paula Lillard. “They are taking responsibility for themselves.”
Lillard said, “I had no idea they could behave like them.” It was amazing to see how she recognizes in each child what helps to form within her. I took it and treated the children.”
Today, after completing his Montessori International Association (AMI) training in Milwaukee, Lillard founded the Forest Bluff Montessori School in Lake Bluff in 1982. It is One summer afternoon, sitting in a lawn chair at home in the woods of a lake, with geese resting nearby, with stables to the right and a pond in the distance, to embrace and spread Montessori’s revolutionary ideas shared his 60-year journey dedicated to How should children be educated?
Traditionalists who believe in school desks and memorization of facts greet Montessori with disbelief. No grades, less homework, no sports teams, a 9-year-old and his 12-year-old in the classroom? Do students make lunches at home and bring them to school?
“It’s very deep, and that’s one of the reasons people have so many problems with it,” Lillard said. She created an environment that maximizes their behavior and intelligence.We know they start with curiosity.We need an environment that encourages that.”
In the classroom, 18-month-old children work on materials such as knives for cutting vegetables. Mathematics is integrated into your world instead of appearing as numbers on paper. Teachers focus on the student’s intellect and the human spirit, not just the student’s academic work. A 7th grader and her 8th grader go on a trip that includes dog sledding in Minnesota, where she comes up with food, travel, and other arrangements, not teachers, before camping for 10 days in the cold.
7th and 8th graders go on various trips, including dog sledding in Minnesota.
result? Students develop important lifelong traits such as self-determination, concentration, love of learning, creativity and self-confidence. When alumni return to Forrest Her Bluff to talk to students and parents, they are calm and well-spoken. Many people become entrepreneurs.
“Selection is the cornerstone of Montessori education,” Lillard said. “They hold themselves accountable. It gives them a strong sense of who they are.”
Forest Bluff, which opened 40 years ago in the rented space of the now-demolished East School in Lake Bluff, welcomed about 15 students ages 3 and 4. word of mouth spread rapidly. Parents as far away as Barrington drove to Lake Bluff to drop the kids off.
“We never made a conscious effort to go out and look for people,” Lillard said. “My intention was to serve children and families interested in Montessori.”
Children gather outside Forest Bluff School. We have about 150 students.
In 1989 the school opened its own building just west of Lake Bluff station. As the school grew and the years passed, its greatest test came during the Great Recession of 2008.
“There were years when the budget was out of balance,” said Lillard. He “always believed that you shouldn’t spend money you didn’t have on a nonprofit, so you cut costs.”
Lillard, who graduated from Smith College with a degree in education, is plagued by one move recommended by AMI at the time, which has since been rescinded. From age 3 until she is 6 he finishes one of three primary classes.
“I knew it would be a mistake to load up on two classes,” she said.
Ironically for schools that did not allow students to use technology until the pandemic, Lillard said people now learn about schools primarily through the internet, often through websites. The school’s parents come from more than 20 countries, including Argentina, India and Ukraine.
Now 90 years old, Lillard still attends staff meetings and talks to teachers. Many of them are very long-lived. For example, Hailey Tate, she is 39 years old.th One year of instruction from 18 months to 3 years old. Two of Lillard’s daughters, Lynn Jessen and Paula Preschrak (who are writing a book on Montessori education due out next year), have taught at the school, along with their granddaughter Margaret Kelly (all three of them remained deeply involved in school after graduation). involved) classroom). Lillard himself taught until he was 74.
“It was definitely my best year,” she said. “For a long time I was too sad to talk about them.
“Once you enter a Montessori environment, you leave the world behind. You are surrounded by the mystery of how humans respond to their world. I have never seen a clock. I can say that.” How many people are there?”
Unsung Gems columnist David Sweet is the author of Three Seconds in Munich. His contact is his dafsweet@aol.com.
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