Quiet Corner Montessori School

09/08/2026

We are excited for our parent orientation tomorrow, our new-student orientation Friday, and our staff training this week.

Year 9, here we come! 📚✏️🖌️🖍️

06/13/2026

🌎 💚

06/09/2026

Watch this for an overview of Montessori.

06/05/2026

It’s time to talk about this again!

“Why aren’t these words staples in the toddler room?”

It’s a common and important question—so here it is, plainly stated:

We don’t ask toddlers to say “I’m sorry.”

I model the words myself, but I do not expect a toddler to say them. Why? Because developmentally, they often aren’t there yet.

A toddler may feel distressed that a peer is crying, yet if that same peer reaches for their work again, the response may be another bite or push. What they’re experiencing is not remorse for the action, but discomfort with the outcome. Requiring words they don’t yet understand—or don’t genuinely mean—raises an important question: Who is this for? Politeness? Adult comfort? Cultural habit? And what message does that send to the child?

Instead, we focus our attention on the child who was hurt and name what we see. We offer clear, neutral limits and language that support future behavior, such as: “You can say, ‘Scoot back,’ next time.”

This approach addresses the behavior, supports language development, and begins to lay the groundwork for empathy—without asking for words that have no meaning.

So no, these words aren’t staples in the toddler room. My hope is that this sheds some light on why, and invites reflection on how we approach altercations with very young children.

If you’re interested in seeing more common Montessori practices—along with some that may feel a bit untraditional but are deeply rooted in child development—I share these conversations and examples inside the member space.

05/29/2026

If anyone would like to donate we will accept donations next week at school and I will get them over to The Little Bean.

🎂It’s baaaaack! Spring is here, which means it is time for our spring giving project!

Every year this project is a huge success and it is my personal favorite! We are again building our Birthdays in a Box, because everyone deserves a celebration on their birthday! We want to create ❗️25 ❗️Birthday Boxes for local families through TEEG. To help us reach this goal, please consider donating:

Boxed cake mix (allergy friendly options always welcome)

Canned cake frosting (ditto the above 😀)

Boxed birthday candles

Bag of birthday balloons

Canned soda (Cola or Lemon Lime)*

$ monetary donations are also welcome! We will do the shopping! Monetary donations in any amount can be made via PayPal or Venmo.

Donations are due June 19 and we will pack and donate the boxes as we go.

Thank you as always for your participation and for helping our littles practice the art of giving!

*the soda is new this year, since it replaces both oil and eggs in a cake mix! This is a more cost effective option, and takes up less space, too!

05/28/2026

End-of-Year Staff Luncheon at Heirloom. Holly and I are thankful for these women right here. They help us tremendously throughout the year and we share so many laughs along the way. 💕🌸💕
Heirloom Food Company

05/22/2026

We are so excited to welcome all of our families to our end-of-the-year celebration and art show.

05/17/2026

I think alot of people actually don’t know what we mean when Montessorians say “we learn to write before we learn to read.” It doesn’t mean we learn handwriting and penmanship or how to be an author. It means we can much more easily ENCODE (break a spoken word into parts (phonemes) then match each phoneme to a letter or a series of letters and then order them to spell the word) than DECODE (look at written letters, identify the sound each letter or set of letters make, blend those sounds together). ⁣
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Can some children decode easily and you can’t even tell which came first? Sure. But mostly, encoding is easier than decoding. ⁣
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We are building STRONG phonemic and phonological awareness skills and then linking them to the printed word as soon as a child is ready. Let’s tap out the sounds. Let’s chop the compound words. Let’s clap the syllables. Let’s now build the word. Ask a child to read it back? They’ll look at you like you have two heads. Many children sit here for a bit. Then.. after practice. It clicks and they can now read, or decode that word they have been encoding all along. ⁣
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Waseca drawers always paired with the Movable Alphabet. There will be NO guessing based on the first letter or looking at the pictures for context clues. We are encoding. Breaking down that word and building it back up. Reading (decoding) will come and it will be STRONGER if you “write” before you read.

05/17/2026

So funny…I thought this was a video taken from our school but nope, just another Montessori school doing what we do! Love it.

05/14/2026

The Montessori Waiting Hand ❤️

Grace and courtesy lessons teach children how to interact respectfully and kindly with others, helping them practice skills like greeting people, taking turns, resolving conflicts, listening without interrupting, and caring for their environment. These lessons build empathy, social awareness, and a sense of community, forming the foundation for peaceful and respectful classroom life.

Practice this at home too!