I worked for a directress who was educated in Montessori schools in Holland. She said that these schools were run under Mario Montessori’s branch, or what we would call AMI today. Her insight of how Montessori theory worked was profound because of her Montessori experience as a student from preschool to adulthood.

One of things she did constantly was praise the students. This directress would lavishly praise the children with comments such as, “Oh, how nice you look today, or I like how quietly you did that.”
Praise is a big part of our everyday life. Positive spoken words are powerful. Her positive words made everyone around her upbeat and cooperative. It gave everyone a warm feeling. Kids, teachers and parents all pulled together in the right direction.
It was such a wonderful experience to work in this Montessori environment.

Praise is a great way to tell children what we expect from them.