Montessori Children’s Center MCC

07/07/2026

Today we had a successful meeting with New York Assemblywoman Amy Paulin to follow up on a report submitted by Civic Helpers. Paulin's office awarded a grant from discretionary funds to the Child Care Council of Westchester to examine the state of health insurance coverage for child care providers in Westchester, identify obstacles to obtaining lower-cost coverage, and offer potential solutions.

This process shows what advocacy can accomplish: especially with willing partners such as the Child Care Council of Westchester and Civic Helpers (literally -- helping is in their name!), state legislators and their teams (thank you to Assemblywoman Paulin and Mark Kissinger, NY Assembly Health Committee) who are willing to work with us on finding solutions, and a trio of dedicated advocates working overtime to keep focus on health insurance, along with the power of ESCCC and Schuyler Center who organized the advocacy day where our first meeting with Paulin and Kissinger took place -- when these efforts got started.

Pictured in the attached photo:
Dawn Meyerski (Executive Director, Mount Kisco Child Care Center, President of the Directors Association WCCC), David Buchwald (Executive Director, Civic Helpers), Janine O'Connor
(Chief Program Officer, Child Care Council of Westchester, Inc.), NY State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, Dr. K.T. Korngold (Director, Montessori Children's Center, and Co-Chair of Advocacy of NYSMontessori Alliance), Howard Milbert (Executive Director, Ossining Children's Center, Co-President of the Directors Association WCCC).

05/25/2026

A new study from Stanford shows that excessive direct parental involvement when a child is focused on an activity can lead to negative consequences. This reserach demonstrates the importance of letting children take the lead and not interrupting them when they are concentrating -- key factors in the Montessori learning environment (from infancy, through toddlerhood, and preschool) and practices that are followed by the teachers and staff at the Montessori Children's Center in West Harrison, NY.

Stanford education professor Jelena Obradović finds that excessive parental involvement during children's focused activity can undermine behavioral development.

Parents (and teachers) frequently intervene with "teachable moments," and research has shown that engaged parenting HELPS build cognitive, language, social, and emotional skills, as well as self-esteem. BUT, like anything else, too much of a good thing turns out to be not such a good thing!

According to reserach led by Jelena Obradović, Associate Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Education (published in the Journal of Family Psychology, March 11, 2026), too much parental direction can be counterproductive.

The researchers observed parents’ behavior when kindergarten-age children were actively engaged in playing, cleaning up toys, learning a new game, or discussing a problem. The children whose parents more frequently intervened (to provide instructions, give corrections, make suggestions, or ask questions), even when the children were appropriately on task, displayed greater difficulty regulating their behavior and emotions at other times.

Not only that, but these children performed worse on tasks that measured delayed gratification and other executive functions, skills associated with impulse control and the ability to shift between competing demands for their attention.

“Parents have been conditioned to find ways to involve themselves, even when kids are on task and actively playing or doing what they’ve been asked to do,” said Obradović, who directs the Stanford Project on Adaptation and Resilience in Kids (SPARK). “But too much direct engagement can come at a cost to kids’ abilities to control their own attention, behavior and emotions. When parents let kids take the lead in their interactions, children practice self-regulation skills and build independence.”

So, if you want to help your child (or grandchild) have improved executive functions, increase self-regulation, shift between competing calls for attention, boost their concentration, and expand their independence: Sit back, observe, and don't engage or interrupt when they are focused, on task, or actively participating. Follow the Montessori model: hold your hands behind your back and watch. There is so much to learn, and your kids can do it! A double bonus is enrolling them in a Montessori school to support this kind of learning!

Research led by Stanford education professor Jelena Obradović finds that too much parental involvement when children are focused on an activity can undermine behavioral development.

05/19/2026

CONGRATULATIONS TO DR. DARLA MILLER, THE NEXT AMS LIVING LEGACY! Thank you, Darla, for always reminding us that infants and toddlers are not mini-preschoolers; they have their own developmental needs. We don't prepare infants and toddlers for preschool by giving them "half" (5 cubes of the 10 tower of cubes), "watered down" (just a few sandpaper letters) or "simplified" (a dressing frame with fewer buttons) Montessori 3-6 materials, but rather we prepare them by giving them the kind of activities that meet their own needs for exploration, as well as a calm space, and time to do so! I know my mother, Carole Wolfe Korngold, was a mentor to Darla, and I am lucky to say that Dr. Darla Miller is a mentor to me, including serving on my dissertation committee at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls for my research on Infant Agency at the Montessori Children's Center. Thank you, Dr. Darla. You are an inspiration in our work with the littlest humans. I am grateful for your friendship and for sharing the joy of this important work!

05/16/2026

Our Toddler Sun Teachers are ready to welcome their parents for spring teacher conferences, always a favorite time of the year for us as we reflect, connect, and share the development milestones, social, emotional and academic growth of each child with their parents. Thank you Toddler Sun Team for kicking off the spring conferences.

05/13/2026

What’s the cause of the low reading scores in children in public schools over the last 10 years—even before Covid? Could it be the increase in hours spent on social media and playing games on cell phones —which started to increase around 2016? Or perhaps it is the shift from teaching phonics to teaching “whole language.” Parents who are concerned about this downward trend in children’s reading scores should consider a Montessori program! Montessori builds pre-reading skills as early as toddlerhood— using a multi-sensory approach that introduces letter letter sounds rather than names.

Participating in auditory and tactile activities such as sandpaper letters and the moveable alphabet, along with a wide range of practical activities to help train the eyes to track and team together, results in an explosion into reading and a love of reading!

Curious about the Montessori approach to reading and learning? Come visit us. We have openings for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

Discover what Maria Montessori discovered long ago, children can learn the science of reading through phonics and it results in a lifetime love of learning.

05/12/2026

05/11/2026

Today is “Imagine a Day without childcare in Westchester County.” This is to raise awareness about the importance of childcare programs — including Montessori Childcare—to the New York State Workforce. As we learned during COVID: if parents don’t have reliable childcare, parents can’t work! Please encourage Gov Hochul to include workforce compensation in the budget. This is a necessary step on the path to Universal Childcare.

05/06/2026

Teacher Appreciation Day celebrated by the Montessori Children’s Center! Thank you to our MCC parents for their kind and generous support of our teachers with this beautiful breakfast. We are grateful to each of our Montessori Children’s Center parents and grandparents for bringing another generation of Montessori children into the world.
The expressions of appreciation you have provided our teaching teams, including this breakfast today and lunch on Friday, are deeply felt! We love the work we do with your infants, toddlers, and preschoolers each day. Thank you for helping us do this important and foundational work.