A local education advocate is in China this week to speak on the entrepreneurial aspects of a Montessori education. Jennifer Wheelhouse, head of school at Montessori Children’s House (MCH) in Redmond, will be a keynote speaker at the International Symposium on Montessori sponsored by the Chinese Montessori Society.

Wheelhouse, an advocate for “free-range learning,” has penned several articles that have been published on the concept of letting children take risks in order to better develop their education, mindfulness and personal character. Wheelhouse caught the attention of the Chinese Montessori Society through her many articles published in 425, the Redmond Reporter and other publications.

In addition to Wheelhouse, MCH’s Early Childhood Program director Crystal Doyle is speaking at the national convention in China. Her speech is about “Grace, Manners and Courtesy” in children from age 3 to 6.

Montessori, the 100-year-old teaching method first developed by Maria Montessori in 1907, has recently caught on in China. For the last decade, China has been exploring alternative educational methods to shift their society from “task-based” to a new generation of innovative thinkers. Montessori has emerged as an educational teaching method embraced by the Chinese who want to grow the entrepreneurial leadership in the next generation.

Wheelhouse and Doyle are making their presentations in China on July 28 in Qingdao. They are amongst a handful of Americans invited to speak at this prestigious, international conference bringing in attendees from countries around the world.