This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Business & Tech

Local Teachers Develop Montessori iPad Application

MontessoriTech team utilizes technology to enhance education.

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 different types of technology to enhance a transition from the concrete to the abstract.

The two initially met several years ago when their children were attending Cherry Valley Montessori School in Hillsborough, and re-connected when both became colleagues teaching elementary education with the Montessori program.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

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.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

“It just clicked,” she recalled.

The second “click” came when Kochanik, who was teaching elementary education and technology at , 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 the two 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," said Mount. "We are specifically choosing materials that are intuitive and have a pretty obvious application to how children are traditionally taught."

“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 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.

But 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, she said, is a language application.

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

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?