The Montessori Method and the Learning Sciences A review of Reviewed by

pretend play and the child's developing theory of mind. I was a bit surprised to see that Lillard was the author of this book, her first, because she has not previously published any education-related articles. In addition, Maria Montessori believed that pretend play was an unnecessary waste of time (pp. 183-189). However, I understood Lillard's motivation when I read in the preface that her children attended the Peace Montessori School in Portland, Oregon. Lillard brings together her own experience as a Montessori parent with her professional expertise as a developmental psychologist, and the result is a well-written and well-argued book. I agreed to review this book both because I respect Lillard's scholarship and because I am considering sending my two-year-old to a Montessori school next year. I was impressed by this book, enjoyed reading it, and learned a lot about Montessori's method. Lillard focuses on eight of Montessori's central ideas about learning, with a chapter devoted to each, and argues that contemporary research in cognitive development supports each of these eight principles: (a) Movement and cognition are closely related, (b) learning is improved when the learner has a sense of control, (c) people learn better when they are interested in what they are learning, (d