Recognition Speech 2026

Posted on October 1, 2026October 19, 2026 by andreaboden

By Apaar Baweja

Cobb alum Apaar Baweja (’13) and alumni speaker at Recognition 2026

Thank you, Head of School Sankaran, for the introduction. Thank you to the students, family, and faculty for allowing me to share this moment with you all. And lastly, thank you to my mother, Dr. Manpreet Baweja, and my girlfriend, Imandi Herath, who came here today to hear me speak.

To you all, I would ask that you bear with me. I believe that the last time I had to give a speech that was not technical was at my 6th grade recognition ceremony.

When I was asked to give this speech, I spent a long time trying to remember who the commencement speaker at my own graduation was or what they talked about – I could not. I realized that I also cannot recall who spoke at my high school graduation. I do, however, remember my college commencement speaker, but that is only because of how disconnected he was from reality.

During my college commencement, the speaker was protested by many of my fellow graduates. The reason for their displeasure was that the commencement speaker is a figurehead of a movement that is transforming our world into something unrecognizable and certainly more inequitable. My fellow graduates disliked his speech, not because he said something they disagreed with; they disliked it because he refused to acknowledge that the world we were about to enter was entirely different than the world he has been living in. Like my peers, I am sure many of the parents and faculty here are concerned about the world these graduates will eventually join as young adults. The world I discovered when I finished college was entirely different from the world that my parents experienced. And I believe the world that these graduates will eventually enter will be entirely different from the world we know now.

The good news is, I believe that because of their Montessori experience here at The Cobb School, these graduates have the foundation they need to succeed both at their next school and in the world in general. There are two Montessori principles about which I would like to speak. I believe that these foundations of the pedagogy helped me to succeed and will continue to help these graduates succeed.

The first is freedom of exploration. In Montessori, the student drives the learning. After a teacher introduces a student to a topic or a new material, the child is then left to explore the topic for themselves. The agency provided to the child to choose what they will work with fosters their natural curiosity. In higher education or in the workplace, it is rare to be presented with the exact tools or information that you need to succeed – those who do succeed are people who have the drive to identify what they need to learn and the resilience to seek out resources both internal and external. Moreover, the people who succeed are those who enjoy learning – the people who do not need to be told to learn something and the people who learn something without yet knowing its use.

The freedom of exploration also allows the student to explore topics deeply with no notion of how much time something deserves to be allotted. The opportunity to sit with a topic and return to it as many times as they would like is what allows a student to develop a deep understanding.

My favorite example of this, which I have thought about many times since leaving Cobb School, is the trinomial cube material. The student who works with the trinomial cube, without realizing it, has already developed a much deeper understanding of multi-dimensional expressions than the student who will eventually learn it from a chalkboard. The tactile experience of using the cubes and visualizing how they fit together has given these students an intuitive baseline upon which they can continue to build. As someone who studied mathematics and has constantly had people tell me they ‘never really got math’, I can assure everyone here that the graduates behind me today, by virtue of having worked with the trinomial cube, are far closer to a true understanding of higher-level concepts in math than the majority of students with whom I went to college and even the adults with whom I currently engage.

The second benefit of Montessori is that it treats the student like a whole person. Because teachers function as guides to the student’s education, rather than as lecturers, the student becomes an active participant in their own learning. Viewing their teachers as guides rather than authoritarian figures allows students to connect both with their teachers and themselves. Because students get to make the active choice to participate in their development, learning becomes who they are. Their memories of Cobb School will be of the things they chose to do, rather than of the things they were forced to do. As adults, they will still be able to relate to the people that they were at the Cobb school, because they were allowed to be themselves. Even in their next educational steps, the students here will have the privilege of knowing who they are and the confidence to express it and share their mind.

The biggest realization I have had since entering the workforce is that many adults, even those decades older than me, are self-deprecating and lack self-assurance. They went to schools where they were told what to learn and what to do – they were never able to consider what they wanted or who they truly wanted to become. They carry the burden of not knowing if they belong where they are or if they even want to be where they are.

My success, as well as the success of my colleagues, is not directly correlated with experience or intellect. Successful people are the ones who are sure enough in their sense of self to present their own vision for the future. They are the ones who are confident and passionate enough to engage with the world around them and to seek their own place. They are also the ones confident enough to stay quiet when they do not have anything to add. The graduates here today are prepared for success because they have already had the freedom to seek success on their own terms and have had the privilege of developing in an environment that was focused on who they were as people and what they wanted.

I know I have limited time here, so I would like to end my speech with a quick history lesson. Growing up, my grandfather, who himself attended Montessori, was told to excel at math so that he could get a ‘good job’. My parents, and many of you in the audience, were told to develop your advanced technical skills, like typing or making a spreadsheet. Growing up, I was told to learn how to code so that I could build the tools of the future. The graduates behind me are now going to be told to learn how to use AI tools. The only constant between these four generations is that the people who succeed will be the ones who are comfortable with adaptation, who are able to work independently, and above all, those with a strong enough sense of self to not buckle when faced with adversity. So, I would like to offer my congratulations to the graduates here today, and assure them and all of you parents in the audience that they will continue to succeed and, ultimately, they will be okay.

Borrowing Our Calm: Helping Children Make Sense of Big Feelings

Posted on September 17, 2026September 17, 2026 by andreaboden

By Jamie Gilbert

When I became a parent, I didn’t realize that one of my most important roles would be serving as a translator for my children’s emotional world.

As a toddler teacher, one of my greatest responsibilities is helping young children feel safe enough to express their emotions within the classroom community. Once a child feels seen and secure, we can begin building tools to support those big feelings. It may be practicing a breathing game during moments of frustration or simply naming an emotion so the child feels understood. These moments may seem small, but they are laying the foundation for emotional regulation.

From Naming to Understanding

As a mother, however, I have found that this role has evolved alongside my children. My oldest daughter is now in her final year of the Primary classroom, and our conversations naturally have more depth. Rather than simply naming basic emotions like happy, sad, or angry, I have the opportunity to introduce more complex emotional language.

Recently, we talked about guilt. Together, we explored what guilt felt like in her body and why those uncomfortable feelings might arise after making a choice she wished she had handled differently. Rather than focusing on punishment, we reflected on other choices she could have made and how those choices might have felt instead. It became a learning experience for both of us.

As I guided her through that conversation, I realized something about myself. Growing up, I often learned to push through difficult emotions rather than truly acknowledge them. Helping my daughter recognize and understand her feelings has challenged me to do the same. I believe one of the greatest gifts we can offer our children is helping them build a partnership with their own bodies: to notice what they are feeling, understand that those feelings have names, and recognize that emotions provide information rather than something to fear or avoid.

Why Naming Feelings Matters

Current neuroscience tells us that when we help children name their emotions, we are doing more than expanding their vocabulary. We are strengthening the connection between the emotional brain, where feelings are experienced, and the developing logical brain, where reflection, problem-solving, and self-regulation take place. Young children are not born with the ability to regulate their emotions independently; they borrow our calm, our language, and our presence until those skills gradually become their own.

Letting Children See Us Regulate

In Montessori, we often speak about the importance of modeling. For a toddler teacher, this means carefully considering how we move through the classroom, how we speak to one another, and how we respond to challenges. Our actions become a living lesson for the children around us.

I believe this extends far beyond the classroom.

When I was growing up, I rarely saw the adults in my life experience or work through big emotions openly. That was simply my family’s dynamic. As I entered motherhood, I knew I wanted something different for my own children. I wanted them to see that emotions are a natural part of being human and that there are healthy ways to move through them.

This doesn’t mean being emotionally vulnerable with our children in every moment or asking them to carry our emotional burdens. Rather, it means allowing them to witness healthy regulation: taking a deep breath before responding, acknowledging when we feel frustrated, apologizing when we’ve made a mistake, or saying, “I’m feeling overwhelmed right now, so I’m going to take a moment to calm my body.”

Growing Alongside Them

As our children grow, these conversations deepen. They begin recognizing emotions not only in themselves but also in others. They develop empathy, self-awareness, and resilience. They learn that emotions are not something to fix or avoid but something to understand.

To me, this is part of the magic of Montessori. While we model emotional regulation for our children, we are often growing right alongside them. In helping them build a language for their emotional world, we frequently discover a deeper understanding of our own. Emotional growth becomes not just an individual journey, but one that strengthens the entire family and creates a community where every member feels seen, understood, and supported.

Why the Little Things Matter – The Prepared Environment

Posted on August 27, 2026August 28, 2026 by andreaboden

by Subha Sankaran

Our prep week begins a good seven days before the children arrive, and one would think that would be ample time for teachers to set up, especially knowing that some schools give teachers only two days. And yet, throughout August, I saw teachers coming in here and there, puttering around their classrooms.

One teacher’s classroom looked completely set up and absolutely beautiful, but she was still unsatisfied.

She had a fish-shaped basket she wanted to place by the entrance to hold the children’s name tags. The tags themselves were handwritten in beautiful cursive on acorn-shaped cards, carefully cut and mounted on cardstock, laminated, and finished with satin ribbon, so that our newest children would be known and welcomed from the moment they arrived.

But the basket wasn’t quite right.

She needed two black buttons of a certain size for the fish’s eyes.

She had looked in store after store, often after dinner, with her husband, who by then had become equally invested in the project. For five days, whenever I checked in with her, I heard about the fish and the elusive buttons. Finally, she found exactly what she was looking for and excitedly sewed them on.

Why All This Effort?

The meticulousness with which Montessori teachers prepare their environments can seem excessive at times. The perfect little soap for handwashing. The pretty box for the beads. The small bowl in which a bell is kept. The basket that apparently cannot be complete without exactly the right pair of eyes.

But these choices are not simply about making a classroom pretty. Beauty is part of the function of a Montessori environment.

Purposeful and Inviting

There is very little in the classroom that does not serve a purpose, and often many purposes at once.

The plants are there for beauty, certainly, but also to give children meaningful work. A young child can water them, wash their leaves, notice their shapes, or compare their many shades of green to the gradations in the color tablets. An elementary child might observe how a leaf turns toward the light, learn to propagate a plant, study its adaptations, or discover the story of its origins and uses. So a variety of plants are carefully selected.

The soap on a handwashing table is chosen to fit comfortably in a toddler’s hand. The little brass figurines placed around a primary classroom are decorative, but they are also cared for by the children through brass polishing. A fossil in an elementary classroom will unravel the child’s imagination when they hear the story of the trilobite’s mass extinction.

These objects are purposeful, but they are also attractive. They invite attention. A child wants to handle them, smell them, feel them, examine them.

Beauty, in this sense, is not decoration added after an environment has been made functional. Beauty is part of what makes the environment function. It invites the child in.

The adult then connects the child to this environment, the child’s environment, and together they delight in its beauty. The teacher shows the child how to handle an object with precision, return it to its place, and care for it, almost as if it were a family heirloom.

A Place for Everything

Order matters for the same reason. Things have a place. Materials are complete and accessible. The child knows where to find what is needed and where to return it. This external order creates predictability and calm. A design that allows independence and choice, and, over time, supports the child’s developing internal order. The environment quietly says: You can find your way here.

And it says something else as well: This is your home. You belong here.

This Is Your Home

Montessori classrooms are deliberately home-like. There are plants and art, rugs and baskets, a kitchen, real dishes, placemats, napkins, and objects chosen with care. The environment is not simply a room adults have prepared for children to occupy. It is a place that belongs to the children.

Sometimes you can actually watch that transformation happen.

When a teacher acquires a new material for the classroom, whether purchased or gifted, it may be unboxed almost ceremoniously, with the children gathered around as though opening a present. They notice it. They appreciate it. They share their gratitude for it.

Even in Upper Elementary, I once opened and set up a new whiteboard while the children watched. That day, I happened to be beginning a poetry lesson, and I wrote the word “Ode” across the top.

Not knowing what it meant yet, the children immediately decided that Ode was the whiteboard’s name.

From that day forward, no matter what lesson I was giving, they insisted that I write “Ode” at the top first. It became an inside joke that connected them. By personifying this otherwise ordinary object, they had somehow made it ours.

This connection between child and environment, whether to a whiteboard, a beautiful object on a shelf, a classroom plant, or a garden, has enduring effects.

Learning to Look Closely

Children are naturally drawn to small things and interesting details. A rich environment gives them details worth noticing. They begin to look carefully. They discover that there is something to observe, some purpose to understand, some story behind almost everything.

And that habit of attention matters.

It is the beginning of the eye of a naturalist, an engineer, an artist, a biologist: Look closely. Notice what others might pass by. Wonder why.

Caretakers, Not Consumers

Primary child dusting This relationship with the environment also teaches something important about responsibility.

Twenty-five children may use the same material throughout a year. It may not be made of indestructible rubber or plastic. It may be wood, glass, ceramic, or metal. It could chip. It could break.

And yet, it can remain complete and beautiful.

Children learn to carry things carefully. They return materials for the next person. Teachers repair and restore rather than automatically replace, involving children in that process when possible. Some Montessori classrooms contain materials that have been used and cared for by children for decades.

There is a lesson in that, too.

When something is beautiful and useful, when we know where it came from and understand that others will need it after us, we begin to develop a different relationship with things. We don’t simply consume and discard them. We become their caretakers.

The care of a classroom material becomes care of the classroom. Care of the classroom extends to the garden and the school. And, one hopes, that sense of responsibility eventually extends outward to the larger world we share.

But perhaps the most immediate purpose of all this preparation is much simpler.

It draws the child to the work.

The prepared environment is an invitation: to notice, to wonder, to choose, to work, to care, and ultimately, to take ownership of one’s own learning.

Which brings me back to the fish.

The children may never fully know what went into finding those two perfect black buttons. They will simply encounter a whimsical little fish waiting by the door, holding their carefully made names.

They will notice it. They will touch it. They will learn where it belongs and care for it.

Two little black buttons can seem like an awfully small thing.

In a Montessori classroom, small things rarely are.

Loving Limits – The Toddler Brain

Posted on March 31, 2026 by andreaboden

written by Jamie Gilbert, YCC Guide

Loving Limits: Toddlers

Why do toddlers want to do everything themselves, but may completely unravel when we give them too much freedom? The toddler years are filled with these paradoxes. While toddlers may seem to be pushing boundaries at every turn, they thrive within boundaries. Loving limits doesn’t suppress a child’s independence but instead protects and nurtures it. If we understand the toddler’s brain development alongside Maria Montessori’s observations, we can see just how important boundaries are for their growth and emotional security.

Let’s dive into how we can set limits with intention and love.

The toddler brain craves order and safety

Between the ages of 1 and 3, the toddler brain undergoes massive development. In her book “The Montessori Toddler,” Simone Davis repeats that we have to be our toddlers’ prefrontal cortex as it’s still developing. This development is responsible for impulse control, reasoning, and decision making, which are still in early formation during the toddler years. During this time, toddlers are intensely emotionally reactive because they cannot regulate their emotions on their own.

In the Montessori toddler classroom, one of the most crucial roles of the teachers is to co-regulate. Toddlers may resist rules on the surface, but internally, they are comforted by clear and predictable boundaries. When adults guide them with confidence, toddlers feel safe enough to explore and push limits because they know someone will hold them steady.

As Dr. Mona Delahooke puts it, “Young children borrow regulation from the adults around them.”

Independence should be honored in the toddler years

Toddlers seek autonomy. The motto of the Montessori toddler classroom is “help me do it myself” for a reason. This is a critical developmental phase. It does not mean they want complete freedom – instead, they want just enough to feel empowered but not overwhelmed. By offering choices such as “Do you want to pour your water, or can I help you?”

Maria Montessori recognized this truth early on: “To let the child do as he likes when he has not yet developed any powers of control is to betray the idea of freedom.”

What Maria Montessori Observed

Maria Montessori was a physician and educator, and based on her philosophy, through her profound observation of the young child, she noticed that toddlers exhibited greater calm, confidence, and joy when given freedom within limits.

She created the concept of the Prepared Environment, where everything is designed to meet the child’s developmental needs. It invites the child to move freely and choose their work, but within precise limits. In the prepared environment, materials are orderly, tasks are purposeful, and the teacher’s role is to guide based on their observation of each child and the community as a whole.

Through structure, meaningful independence, and repetition, toddlers move towards a state of inner peace, concentration, and joy in their work.

Limits are loving and help toddlers feel secure.

Through tantrums or significant emotional reactions, toddlers are testing to find out whether the world is safe and predictable. Every time you set a clear, firm, and loving boundary, you answer the unspoken question: “Am I safe? Are you in charge? Can I trust you?”

These limits help toddlers begin to internalize self-regulation – a skill that takes years to develop fully. It’s your support in laying down neural pathways that allow them to pause, reflect, and make informed choices eventually.

Limits as a path to joyful independence

Toddlers want to feel capable, safe, and connected. Limits, when offered with love and clarity, are not barriers to freedom, but instead they are the foundation of true freedom.

Dr. Montessori saw this clearly, and modern brain science confirms it – structure and independence go hand in hand. When you hold a boundary with kindness and predictability, you are giving your toddler the best gift – a world they can trust and space to become their most whole self.

How to Establish Healthy Boundaries With Toddlers

Setting limits doesn’t need to be harsh. The most effective boundaries are kind, consistent, and calm. Here are some Montessori-aligned strategies:

Be clear and consistent
Toddlers feel safest when limits are predictable.
Keep expectations simple and follow through calmly each time.

Offer choices within limits
Support independence by giving two acceptable options.
“Do you want to pour your water, or would you like help?”

Use positive language
Say what to do instead of what not to do.
“Feet stay on the floor” instead of “Don’t climb.”

Stay gentle but firm
You can acknowledge feelings while holding the boundary.
“I hear you’re upset. I won’t let you hit.”

Stay calm and steady during big emotions
Your child is still learning to regulate.
When you stay grounded, you help them feel safe and supported.

Supporting Independence in Daily Routines

Posted on February 13, 2026February 13, 2026 by andreaboden

written by Karen Gavell, Primary Guide

Children are naturally driven toward independence. From a toddler’s determined “I do it myself” to an older child in the Primary classroom managing their time and responsibilities, the desire to take ownership of daily tasks is an essential part of development. In a Montessori environment, independence is not just encouraged, it’s intentionally built into the child’s everyday experience.

Dr. Maria Montessori observed that children thrive when given the opportunity to do things for themselves. She wrote, “Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.” This principle lives at the heart of our work. Rather than rushing to assist, we prepare spaces that are accessible and predictable so that children can take responsibility; pouring water, dressing, preparing food, tidying up, and choosing their own work. These daily routines are not interruptions to learning, they are the learning.

MORNING ROUTINES

One of the most beautiful places I see this unfold is in our arrival routine each morning. Children begin their day by saying goodbye to a parent, a brave beginning to the day. Then, they carry out a quiet sequence they’ve internalized over time: taking off their outside shoes, placing their lunchbox or backpack away, choosing their indoor shoes from the closet, retrieving a hanger to put away their coat or sweater, using the bathroom, washing their hands, and finally coming to greet me, their guide. Each step is done with growing confidence and self-direction. These are not just practical tasks, they are moments of self-direction and meaningful steps towards autonomy that set the tone for their whole day.

Current research reinforces what Montessori understood long ago. Studies from institutions like Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child highlight that executive functioning, skills such as planning, focus, and self-regulation, develop through real-life practice. Children who participate in consistent, meaningful routines where they are given responsibility also tend to show stronger emotional resilience and self-confidence.

In the classroom, we witness daily moments that affirm this. One child may quietly work for days to master the skill of zipping their coat. Another may help a friend to tie a knot for their sewing card, or patiently help a younger child button up their sweater. These may seem like small acts, but they carry deep significance. The look of satisfaction when a child completes a task independently reflects genuine self-belief, earned, not given.

FROM CLASSROOM ROUTINES TO HOME LIFE

Supporting independence doesn’t require grand gestures. At home, it’s as simple as involving children in real tasks like cooking, setting the table, or watering plants. It means creating an environment they can navigate with ease, child-sized tools, low shelves, and clear expectations. Most importantly, it means slowing down, allowing time for effort, and resisting the urge to step in too quickly. Struggle is part of learning, and success achieved through persistence builds true confidence.

When we support independence in daily routines, we send a powerful message to children: You are capable. You are trusted. You are needed. And from this, their confidence and competence grow.

Quick Tips for Supporting Independence at Home

Slow it down. Build in extra time for routines like dressing, packing bags, or cleaning up so your child can try without feeling rushed.
Prepare the environment. Use low hooks, child-sized tools, and accessible shelves so your child doesn’t need to ask for help to get started.
Let effort lead. If your child is trying, pause before stepping in. A little struggle is often where learning happens.
Offer choices, not commands. “Would you like to put on your shoes or your coat first?” supports autonomy while keeping structure.
Invite children into real work. Cooking, folding laundry, setting the table, or caring for plants all build confidence and capability.
Keep routines predictable. Repeated sequences (like morning or bedtime routines) help children internalize responsibility and feel secure.
Model patience. Your calm presence communicates trust and gives your child the confidence to persist.
Celebrate effort, not speed. Acknowledge persistence and problem-solving rather than how fast a task is completed.

The Gift of Boredom

Posted on December 11, 2025February 13, 2026 by andreaboden

written by Judy Maloney, YCC Guide

Why unfilled moments help children grow

In today’s world, children are rarely without stimulation. Between busy schedules, screens, and a constant stream of toys and activities, the moments of stillness that once allowed children to imagine, reflect, and simply be have become rare. Yet in Montessori education, we see those quiet, unstructured moments, those times when a child may even appear “bored”, as powerful opportunities for growth.

Boredom as an Invitation, Not a Problem

When a toddler says, “I’m bored,” it can be tempting to quickly offer a toy, turn on a song, or find something to fill the gap. But in doing so, we may unintentionally take away the child’s chance to engage their imagination and inner motivation.

From a Montessori perspective, boredom is not the absence of activity; it is the beginning of creativity. When a child experiences a lull, their developing mind begins to search: What can I do? What can I create? How can I use what’s around me? This internal searching strengthens concentration, problem-solving, and resilience.

It’s in these unhurried moments that children discover the joy of building a tower with blocks, the fascination of watching how sunlight moves across the floor, or the satisfaction of pouring water back and forth simply to see what happens. The space left by boredom becomes the stage on which imagination and curiosity come to life.

Learning to Wait: A Foundation for Self-Regulation

Alongside the gift of boredom is another equally important skill: learning to wait. Toddlers live deeply in the present moment; waiting for a turn, a snack, or a parent’s attention can feel monumental. Yet, every time a young child waits, whether for help with their shoes or for their turn to feed the class fish, they are developing patience, emotional control, and empathy.

Dr. Maria Montessori observed that children thrive when they are given the opportunity to practice waiting rather than being constantly rushed or immediately satisfied. She wrote about the importance of the child’s “inner work,” the gradual strengthening of will and self-discipline that comes from experience, not instruction.

When we slow down and allow the child to experience waiting, we communicate an important message: You are capable of handling this feeling. You can wait, and I will be here with you while you do. Over time, this becomes the foundation for self-regulation, the ability to manage impulses, delay gratification, and persist through challenge.

Supporting These Skills at Home

You can nurture boredom and waiting in simple, everyday ways:

Allow pauses. If your child says, “I’m bored,” resist the urge to immediately intervene. Stay calm and curious: “Hmm, I wonder what you’ll decide to do.”
Model waiting. Let your child see you waiting patiently – at a red light, in a line, or while someone else speaks.
Create screen-free time. Protect quiet, device-free moments in your child’s day. These are often when the richest independent play emerges.
Honor slow transitions. Give extra time for dressing, eating, or leaving the house. The process is where learning happens.
Acknowledge feelings. Waiting is hard! You can empathize (“It’s so hard to wait for your turn”) while still holding the boundary.

Age-Specific Tips for Parents

For Children 15 Months–3 Years (Toddler)

Offer just a few simple toys at a time—rotate rather than add more.
Create small “yes” spaces where they can explore freely without constant redirection.
Narrate waiting in simple language: “First I put on my shoes, then you.”
Use practical life tasks—wiping spills, carrying laundry, washing vegetables—to fill natural pauses.

For Children 3–6 Years (Primary)

Encourage independent choices: “You may choose work from your shelf.”
Keep screens out of the daily routine to protect deep, creative play.
Introduce simple turn-taking games that require patient waiting.
In moments of boredom, invite observation: “What sounds do you hear?” “What do you notice outside?”

For Children 6–12 Years (Elementary)

Provide open-ended materials—art supplies, building tools, notebooks for inventions or stories.
Talk together about the value of thinking time and daydreaming.
Let them experience longer-term projects that require persistence and pauses.
Encourage them to problem-solve: “What could you try next?” rather than giving immediate answers.

See the Magic Unfold: Come Visit Our Classrooms!

Posted on November 10, 2025November 10, 2025 by andreaboden

There is something quietly extraordinary happening inside our Toddler and Primary environments each day. A kind of magic that is hard to describe until you have seen it with your own eyes.

Tiny hands carefully pouring water from pitcher to cup
Little feet stepping into slippers before choosing their work
Joyful concentration as children trace letters, polish wood, wash a table, match sounds, build towers, or arrange flowers

These are not just activities. They are the work of becoming.
Of growing confidence, independence, and curiosity from the very start.

We warmly invite you to come observe, step into the rhythm of the classroom, and experience how children ages 15 months to 5 years learn with joyful purpose every day.

Whether your child is already with us or you are exploring next steps, a visit is the best way to see how Montessori nurtures:

Independence (“I can do it myself!”)

Social-emotional growth (gentleness, sharing space, grace and courtesy)

Hands-on learning that builds concentration and wonder

A peaceful environment where children move with intention and care

You will leave with a deeper understanding of how the environment, materials, and teachers work together to support your child’s natural development.

Come witness the magic in motion.
Schedule your visit. We can’t wait to welcome you.

Because the best way to understand Montessori is to see it.

Big Things Are Happening at Cobb School Montessori!

Posted on September 25, 2025September 25, 2025 by andreaboden

Toddler Montessori Classroom

We’re growing! This fall, we opened two new classrooms, a Young Children’s Community (for ages 15–36 months) and a new Primary classroom (ages 3–6), to meet the needs of more families in our community. We’re also launching a multi-year Strategic Plan focused on enhancing our programs, deepening our commitment to Montessori excellence, and investing in the future of our students.

We have a few spaces remaining in our Young Children’s Community program. If you’re looking for a school that fosters independence, curiosity, and joyful learning, we’d love to welcome you.

Now is the perfect time to learn more about Cobb!