We hear it pretty often. “Montessori’s great and all, but what about when they get out in the real world?”

Sometimes, it’s a concern about transitioning to the desks and workbooks of a traditional classroom. Other times, the person is worrying about how their child will perform in college or the workplace, or just wondering how an unplugged education fits into a digital world.

Either way, there’s plenty of evidence that Montessori kids can do more than fit into the “real world” — they often change it in unimaginable ways.

It’s not a coincidence that so many of our most successful entrepreneurs claim some level of Montessori experience. At its core, Montessori is about cultivating self-direction, self-confidence, and a lifelong love of learning — a perfect recipe for success.

The philosophy may not have gained national traction until the 1960s, but as far back as the turn of the century, American educators were beginning to spread Maria Montessori’s ideas, and innovators were taking note.

Alexander Graham Bell established the first Montessori-based school in Canada in 1912, and Thomas Edison was also a fan of the method. More recently, Fred Rogers and Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez lent their support to the movement, to the point that now public and charter Montessori curriculums can be found across the country.

So yes…Montessori kids can do just fine. In fact, they do better than fine.