Cultivating Enterprise: Business Studies in the Microgreen Room

When adolescents enter the second plane of development, their questions begin to shift. No longer content with “what” or “how,” they ask, “Why does this matter? How does this connect to the world I live in?” In true Montessori fashion, we meet those questions with opportunities for purposeful work that links directly to society.

This semester, our middle school students have embarked on a new journey: the Business Studies Microgreen Course.

Students calculate the weights, and costs, for the production of different units.

From Seed to Society

The microgreen room has become more than a growing space. It has now become a prepared environment for economic independence. Students manage every stage of the process: germinating seeds > tracking growth conditions > maintaining harvest cycles > preparing trays for distribution.

But the work does not stop at biology. As Dr. Montessori envisioned, practical life expands in adolescence to include social and economic realities. Students calculate input costs, project profit margins, design marketing materials, and keep records of sales. They are learning, through real work, the natural connections between science, mathematics, language, and economics.

Collaborative tasks allow students to understand the components of running a business

The Goals of the Course

This project is not about producing perfect business leaders at age 13. Instead, it is about nurturing skills and dispositions that empower adolescents to step into their place in society with confidence and creativity.

• Economic Awareness: Students learn the principles of cost, value, and sustainability.

• Collaboration & Responsibility: Each student has a role, yet the enterprise succeeds only through shared accountability.

• Critical Thinking: Every decision — from planting density to pricing strategy — requires thoughtful reflection.

• Social Contribution: Students see their work as part of a larger fabric of community and environment.

Theory and discussion are an important aspect of the course

A Cosmic Perspective

In Montessori terms, this is cosmic education in action. The microgreens are not just plants, and the sales are not just transactions. As parts of a larger whole, they are threads connecting ecology, human labor, ethics, and culture. The students begin to see themselves as part of an interdependent system, where their choices matter and their efforts create tangible outcomes.

Looking Ahead

As the course develops, we expect new questions to emerge: Should we expand production? How do we make our packaging more sustainable? What does it mean to be an ethical business? Each question becomes a lesson, not because it appears in a textbook, but because it arises from the students’ lived experience.

This is the heart of Montessori adolescent work: not memorizing abstract concepts, but living them through hands-on experience.

Our goal is simple yet profound. We aim to prepare young people who can think, create, and contribute with both skill and conscience.