Today I’m thrilled to share an interview with one of our exceptional Children’s House guides, Melissa Long. There are some common misconceptions about Montessori circulating around social media or parent conversations, such as, “Montessori is t...

In this episode, I spoke with Villa di Maria's reading specialist, Grace Beermann, about what kind of books are best for the young, elementary (ages 6-12) reader. Many children are interested in graphic novels, and there are so many great ones ...

In this latest episode of the Villa di Maria podcast, we get to hear from a lovely Villa guide who leads one of our Young Children’s Communities, serving ages 14 months to 3 years old. Lauren Begley is an experienced YCC guide who joined the Vd...

Listen in on my conversation with Villa’s Wellness Coordinator, Sophie Argyres. Sophie is working on her Masters in social work at Washington University here in St. Louis and we are so fortunate to have her interning here at our school this yea...

Today we’ll unpack another important aspect of the Montessori classroom, “Grace and Courtesy”. I’m joined by Children’s House guides, Heather Steinman and Jessie Braud to explain this Montessori verbiage and how they use these Grace and Courtes...

I had the pleasure of sitting down with our Elementary Enrichment Coordinator, Brea Blaylock, to discuss her new role at Villa and the Montessori approach to reading and writing in general. How does the Montessori philosophy towards reading and...

 Do you love origin stories? Well, today we get to hear the  origin story of our favorite place, Villa di Maria, from two women who lived it. I sat down with head of school, Laura Ceretti-Michelman and Children’s House guide (and Vill...

I can’t wait to share this lovely conversation with Villa parent, Han Zhao. Han’s daughter has been a member of one of our Children’s House communities for over a year. Han shares why she chose a Montessori school for her child and what drew he...

Today we get to hear from more inspiring 6th year Villa students in the long-awaited conclusion of this two-part series on Montessori Model United Nations (or MMUN). The 6th years worked so hard this year to prepare for their conference in New ...

It was  such a joy to interview some of our current 6th year students about their experience with Montessori Model United Nations or MMUN. MMUN is a gathering of students from around the world who strive to reach collaborative solutions to...

Today we’re gonna talk about an extension of the Villa world, Camp Pegnita. During the summer months, Villa’s campus is far from quiet. Apart from the now two, year-round Children’s Houses and the YCC, Villa hosts the legendary summer camp on o...

Today we hear from Upper Elementary Villa guides, Tina Lavi Condratov and Rebecca Callendar. We discuss the 2nd Plane of Development, as it pertains to Upper Elementary, and why it is that some Montessori schools, such as Villa, separate 6-9 ye...

Today we dive deep into the 2nd Plane of development with Villa di Maria Lower Elementary guides, Melinda Smith and Megan Eilers. The 2nd plane of development, according to Dr. Maria Montessori, spans the ages of 6 to 12 years old and, in gener...

You're going to love this interview with Melissa Andersen, Founding Head of School at MAP St. Louis, a Montessori adolescent program serving grades 7 through 12.  Melissa is a wealth of fascinating and practical information about the 3rd P...

What a treat it was to sit down with Mary Clare and Teresa Muehlmann and hear their Montessori journey! Mary Clare started at Villa di Maria when she was 3 years old and graduated as a 6th grader in 2018. She now studies environmental science a...

Children from 0-6 years old are in what Dr. Maria Montessori called, the 1st Plane of Development. Dr. Montessori's understanding of the developmental stages of the child affects everything in a Montessori school from the materials in the class...