Local Teachers Develop Montessori iPad Application

Where do new ideas come from? For Grace Kochanik and Tamara Mount, it was a matter of several things “clicking” at the right time.

Bridgewater resident Kochanik and Mount, a Hillsborough resident, are the founders of MontessoriTech, which develops applications and curriculum that “use technologies to enhance the transition from the concrete to the abstract.”

They initially met several years ago when their children were attending Cherry Blossom Montessori School in the Flagtown section of Hillsborough and re-connected when both had become colleagues teaching elementary education with the Montessori program.

MontessoriTech’s first application is a version of the Stamp Game, one of the materials developed by Maria Montessori more than 70 years ago to teach youngsters basic decimal place value math through manipulating physical objects. Over the years the game has evolved from using Victorian-era postage stamps to mosaic tiles and now wooden blocks.

For Kochanik, a Seton Hall University graduate with a degree in computer science, utilizing technology was the logical next step in the game’s evolution. When she watched Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs introduce the iPad during a podcast, she immediately saw the potential to transfer the logic of the Stamp Game and place values to the iPad.

“It just clicked,” she recalled.

The second “click” came when Kochanik, who was teaching elementary education and technology at Raritan Valley Montessori School in Bridgewater, shared her insight with Mount, who was an elementary teacher at Cherry Valley. It was Mount, whose mother was a Montessori teacher and administrator, who connected them to a programmer who turned the concept into an iPad application.

MontessoriTech was “born” in April 2010.

“One of our main goals is to help get Montessori materials to children who are not going to a Montessori school and to provide manipulatives and visual reinforcement. We are specifically choosing materials that are intuitive and have a pretty obvious application to how children are traditionally taught,” said Mount.

“We want to virtualize true Montessori materials,” Kochanik added. “Our goal is to create educational applications that integrate with whatever the curriculum, including more traditional school systems.”

Feedback to the Stamp Game app has been very good, with positive comments coming parents from parents of students being homeschooled as well as those already enrolled in Montessori programs.

The Stamp Game app was launched in the iTunes store in November 2010 and was soon followed by a Place Value app. MontessoriTech doesn’t plan to stop there.

“We want to create more apps that are Montessori-based and look into other opportunities with other private schools,” said Kochanik. Next on their “to do” list is a language application.

For more information about MontessoriTech and its applications, visit www.montessoritech.net.