Montessori, the Brain, and the Young Adult
April 17, 2014

As technology develops and allows scientists to study the brain in new ways, Maria Montessori's theories are finally being validated by modern science. In this article for The NAMTA Journal, Paula Polk Lillard surveys the work of neuroscientists of our time and celebrates the fact that "we can now have hard evidence that human beings construct their own brains in collaboration with their environment, just as Montessori proposed one hundred years ago."


In this enthusiastic dinner presentation to the Fourth Adolescent Colloquium, Paula Polk Lillard surveyed the work of neuroscientists of our time, which concurs in every way with the developmental perspective of Montessori education. “We can now have hard evidence that human beings construct their own brains in collaboration with their environment, just as Montessori proposed one hundred years ago.” Furthermore, as Montessori education continues to expand into the frontier of the Third Plane, it is crucial to keep in mind that the forebrain, seat of judgment and self-control, is still being developed during adolescence.


Paula Polk Lillard is the founder and Head Emeritus of Forest Bluff School. She has authored several books on Montessori theory and education and is a frequent speaker and contributor to Montessori journals and publications.


Click here to read the full NAMTA article.


An elementary aged boy works with a Montessori grammar box to label parts of speech
By Margaret J. Kelley January 24, 2026
The pervasiveness of technology in our culture brings the support of technology in our everyday lives. Thanks to tools such as autocorrect, proofreading, ChatGPT, and other on-line sites, any piece of writing can be thoroughly checked and edited for grammar. They make corrections and suggestions, ensuring that documents are properly vetted before being shared in any format. These incredible and useful tools have had the secondary effect of a greater reliance on them for writing. Now, students and adults alike are inclined to depend on technology to fix their grammar rather than learning how to get it right in the first place. To a certain extent, it is helpful to have assistance in fine-tuning work. But issues arise when people simply stop learning how to utilize correct grammar. Thankfully, a Montessori education has a comprehensive and engaging curriculum for teaching the intricacies of grammar to students. It starts at age five, with concrete experiences with the function of words, and ends at age twelve, with elaborate sentence analysis. Then, in seventh and eighth grade, students have opportunities to rigorously apply the lessons they have learned in the more complicated projects they produce at this age.
Two Montessori students observe a sunflower growing in their class garden.
By Lina Bhatia December 24, 2025
A Forest Bluff School graduate reflects on her Montessori education and the skills and traits it helped her to develop as she looks to her future in the rapidly evolving workplace.