Reading corners are coming to Montessori environments

Mel Solórzano from Leo Leo and Bianca Jiménez from INE welcome the Montessori guides to deliver their books.

The Instituto Nueva Escuela (INE) began the delivery of 380 reading corners that seek to impact all Montessori environments in public schools.

The delivery phase of the reading corners by the Academic Program (PA) of the INE, together with the Leo Leo Libros bookstore, began last March with the delivery of 151 reading corners that correspond to the environments of Infants and Walkers and Children's House.

As an organization committed to the education of children and youth, one of the priorities of our 2025–2028 Strategic Plan is to address reading and writing processes in public Montessori schools. Among the initiatives aimed at strengthening this area are continuing education workshops and, now, the creation of reading corners in schools.

Before reaching this point, there was a selection process by the PA to ensure that each book was aligned with the Montessori curriculum for each level.

In this first round, 5,772 books have been delivered.

“It was a careful, well-managed, and meticulous process of selecting high-quality children's literature with varied themes that would help our teachers in this curricular integration,” explained Annabel Martínez, director of the PA, who highlighted Leo Leo's support in making this process easy and enriching.

This process consisted of days of verification, analysis, dialogue, waiting and preparation; all under the guidance of Mel Solórzano, owner of Leo Leo Libros and Montessori guide, whose training in the methodology was key to the success of this project.

“One of the things that motivates me most, based on my experience in this field, is to continue supporting the children and the guides in the process of developing readers. We focus on choosing books by level, that address the stages of development,” Mel shared with great enthusiasm.

  The meeting was not just to receive books, but to hug and support each other on this path as Montessori guides.

As Mel and Annabel shared, the selection process was meticulous and took months. By meticulous, we mean that for Infants and Toddlers, the books ranged from cloth to hardcover, with highly realistic illustrations and, for the most part, no text. For Children's House, predictable books were chosen, with little or no text, that showcased zoology and botany.

At the elementary level, the books were designed to be informative, supporting students' research and fostering their curiosity. In secondary school, the selection was more varied, including more elaborate stories with more text and fewer illustrations, as well as novels.

Soon, Elemental's reading corners will be delivered to 98 classrooms. This means that 98 teachers will have new books to enrich the teaching process.

“These books are a gift, both for the community and the children,” said the guides and directors who attended the handover of the learning centers.