This fall I was invited to capture some updated photos of the Montessori School of Dayton for their soon-to-be-updated website. It’s no secret that schools and the people in them are my favorite subjects. Blame it on my background in education and adoration of inquisitive mini-humans. Adding to my excitement in this case: I am a former Montessori student myself! And, for a brief moment of my adult life, I worked part-time in a Montessori school as a pre-primary and art teacher.
So, you could say that the spirit of Mighty Maria Montessori herself was calling my name to this photo shoot (or at least that’s what I believed).
There is so much to see and absorb when watching a Montessori learning environment at work (that’s a Monte-pun for those of you who know her work, and I’m not ssori about it… groan…) Once everyone got used to me sneaking around the classroom and tip-toeing over rugs and bead boards, I quickly became invisible to the gentle hum of learning. I could not stop snapping my camera, doing my best to capture all the exciting manipulatives, wide hungry eyes, and wiggly little bodies spread across the floor in the midst of hard work.
All in all, I ended up sending the school over 250 different images from my visit! It was just too hard to narrow beyond that.
Here are 20 of my favorites, in no particular order!
One thought on “Mighty Montessori”
Absolutely wonderful photos!!! I love your description of the joy of being back in a Montessori classroom! Your memories of your own Montessori roots as a child and more recent adult experiences as a teacher provided meaningful context and made a dynamic photo shoot at a beautiful school even more special!