Thank you to everyone who offered opinions, suggestions, connections & endorsements related to Montessori education. I completely appreciate the support!

And, in this particular case, I’m already completely convinced. I’m actually a product of early-childhood Montessori education myself. And not to toot my own horn too much, I think I got alot out of it, some of which really seems related to that kind of early education.

For example:

• I’m really good with physical spatial relationships. Packing, arranging the furniture, loading the dishwasher — those practical "how will these things best fit together" skills. Montessori education has a ton of toys and activities that help kids learn to think like that.
• I’ve been independent and adventurous for as long as I can remember. Including me, at least four of the kids I was at Highland with have lived abroad, going alone, not as part of any kind of group. Two of them did it for a decade or more.
• Digging into some idea or topic intellectually interesting is fun for me, it doesn’t occur like "work." When I get to do it at work, it’s my favorite part of the job.

Who’s to say I wouldn’t have had exactly the same skills if my early childhood education had been different? Obviously, that’s impossible to know. But it aligns with the focus and values that are core to my understanding of Montessori education.

And I want those things for little Smudge.