For a child to reach an increasing degree of personal independence and to be a happy and well-integrated person, we allow for AND encourage freedom of movement at all levels in a Montessori prepared environment. The exercises of Practical Life specifically guide and channel a child's energies into purposeful activity, carefully calling for the coordination of the whole body. Walking on the line tests a child's equilibrium. Work with the Golden Beads dares the child to carrying a tray full of big quantities without incident. And did you know that yoga is practiced by Toddlers as well as Upper Elementary children?

This New York Times article – "Why Kids Shouldn't Sit Still in Class" – underscores the proven importance of what is happening daily, and quite naturally, at Aidan.

You've observed in your child's class – are the children motionless, immobile, stationary? No way! Each Montessori classroom is perpetually in motion. There is no need for planned or formal movement breaks; all are free to walk across to a shelf and fetch what they want to use or to invite a peer to work with them. Montessori children don't need to ask permission to circulate in search of research materials.

Sit still? Not at our school.