Tuesday, December 17, 2013

“What, No Briefcase? Montessori and Paperwork”

Montessori parents are often bewildered by the lack of paperwork coming home with their child. There's hardly any! So what does my child do all day? What can he be possibly learning? For most of us our school experience was a blizzard of paper work - spaces to fill in, lines to write, dots to connect. Pages upon the pages of busy work that hopefully conveyed to parents that we were learning.

Much of it was redundant, boring and the waste of a good tree! But that was the measure for parents that learning was happening.

You've now entered a new universe when you chose a Montessori program. You didn't choose Montessori because it resembled your learning experience but because it represented the learning experience you wished you'd been privileged to have. When you visit the environment your eyes feast on amazing materials - colors, shapes, complexities. Is this material really for my three year old or four year old - isosceles triangles, quatrefoils, reniform leaf shapes? Does he really touch it and feel it and use it? But when there is no paper trail coming home, you wonder!


Socrates said, "There is nothing in the mind that is not first in the hands." And it is the touching of these concrete materials that begins the building of the mental processes in your child. Traditional education begins with intellectual development hoping to make the abstract concrete. Montessori education begins with the development and refining of the senses, allowing your child to build this concrete knowledge one step at a time until he is ready and poised to make the great intellectual leap into the abstract. In Montessori education, it is the child's own developmental timetable that causes this explosion of solid (and unprecedented) learning to occur. It is not an artificial timetable based on age or calendar but a continual cultivation and development of the child’s growin intellectual power that is being fed day by day in a manner that allows your childto appropriate and practices the tools and skills that will form his intellectual abilities for a lifetime.

All this time the child is building within himself this intellectual capability. Montessori education is very much like the construction of a jetty. Rock after rock is submerged in the water, seemingly lost beneath the surface but then the day comes when the latest rocks begin to become visible and break the water’s plane. Your child is building a very concrete foundation for all further intellectual development one achievement at a time.

These processes and achievements, in many ways, are very private for your child. Your child often doesn't speak of them - or want to speak of them until after (sometimes long after) they have become operative and well established in your child. It is not that they want to exclude you from their developmental journey but they guard it - not jealously - but protectively, as if speaking about it would jeopardize its development.

This is why your best ally in understanding your child's development and progress is the teacher and not random pieces of paper that wend their way home. The teacher is a good guide to share with you your child's progress because much of what the teacher does in the classroom is to observe and document this progress. Montessori education is never just a question of teaching or presenting materials but of presenting and teaching at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way. Each child has a different learning style - one size doesn't fit all. And it is this different learning style of your child
that is celebrated and used to your child's advantage in the learning process.

It is not so much what is put into your child that creates this tremendous Montessori learning explosion but what comes out of your child - out from their personality, their talents, gifts, and temperament. Montessori is about aligning learning with the way your child learns. There may not be another time in his life where the whole world is bent to give him every advantage and opportunity to learn as quickly and as effortlessly as possible.

Every day your child is absorbing the whole world around him trying to make sense of it, trying to master the parts he can. And it is in his Montessori classroom that this world is made tangible and accessible. He can't always tell you when he is going to make the discoveries that will propel him on to new and even more exciting discoveries. ("Did you know that three times two is the same as two times three? The windows are rectangles and so are the tables.") Instead of being given the answers - which he would be expected to put down on paper - which could go home; he is given the questions and allowed to discover the answers for himself. This joy of discovery is hard to put on paper.

There are two ways better than paper to know what your child is learning. Ask his teacher. She has the great joy of daily watching the discoveries light up your child's eyes, of watching your child work the challenges of learning and the joy that comes to your child from mastery. She is watching the emergence of your child's personality, watching his character form and his intellect develop. When you are talking with the teacher listen to the excitement of her voice as she relates your child's progress and read in her eyes the joy she shares in your child's discoveries and accomplishments. Much better than paperwork.

Second, ask your child. But don't ask him what he learned today - he may not be able to tell you (and it still may be private but he'll share with you when he is ready.) Ask him what he sees out of the window. He may just read the street signs to you (which isn't bad for a three year old.) Ask him about his friends. Ask him about colors or dinosaurs or cars - and then listen. He will tell you all kinds of things. He will use all kinds of words - vocabulary and concepts you didn't even know he knew. And if you keep listening you'll learn not only what he learned but you will set a pattern for conversation and discussion that will take you well beyond the teenage years - much more satisfying and important than paperwork.​
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"Children First, Always"

Friday, December 13, 2013

Children are encouraged to pursue their interests, make responsible choices for themselves and direct themselves to constructive activities

At the turn of this century, Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, conceived and developed a system of educating young children based on her observations and conclusions about how children learn. She developed materials and methods based on her belief that education involved the unfolding and development of the child's innate abilities, talents and interests. Her approach was scientific and humanistic. Her ideas rapidly spread around the globe resulting in training programs and schools opening throughout the world. Montessori schools have been in existence for 82 years in the United States. There are currently over 3,000 independent and 130 public school systems using the Montessori method.
The basic idea in the Montessori Philosophy of education is that all children carry within "the adult they will become". In order to develop their physical and intellectual powers to the fullest, they must have freedom, a freedom to be achieved through order and self-discipline. The world of the child is full of sights and sounds, which at first appear chaotic. From this chaos, children must gradually create order, and learn to distinguish among impressions that assail their senses, slowly but surely gaining mastery of Self and the environment.
Dr. Maria Montessori developed what she called the "prepared" environment, which already possesses a certain order and disposes children to develop at their own speed, according to their own capabilities, and in a non-competitive atmosphere in the first school years. "Never let the children risk failure, until understanding the necessity for the acquisition of a basic skill before its use in a competitive learning situation." The years can be constructively devoted to "civilizing" children, freeing them through the acquisition of good manners and habits, to take a place in our culture.
The Goals of Montessori education are to cultivate each child's natural desire to learn, acquire and master skills, learn responsibility and cooperation and foster strong, positive feelings about oneself and others. The method addresses the total child developing social skills, emotional growth, physical coordination, and cognitive preparation, within a thoughtfully designed environment.
The classroom is prepared with a wealth of materials selected and designed to meet the needs of the individuals it serves. There is a range of materials both in variety and level of development to allow children to progress through the curriculum as their skills develop. Typical areas of a Montessori Pre-school/Kindergarten classroom include: Everyday Living, Math, Language, Art, Sensorial, Music, Geography, Science, Movement, Nature Study, Animal Care.

Some of the characteristics that distinguish a Montessori program are:
Mixed Age Groupings Called family groupings, the classes are composed of a 3 year age span for both elementary and pre-school programs. Each class includes children ages 0-2 ½, 2 ½ -6, 6-9 or 9-12. This allows for peer teaching, broad social interactions, individual differences in learning style and pace, and creates a social community of family. It provides the youngest students with a graded series of role models and the older students with peer teaching opportunities for reinforcement of learning.
Individualized Instruction Each child learns and develops at her/his own pace through the use of materials and lessons introduced by trained staff. The integrated curriculum is introduced sequentially and at the developmental level of each individual child, allowing every child to work to capacity and at their ability level.
Child Directed Program Within the structure of the classroom and curriculum, children are encouraged to pursue their interests, make responsible choices for themselves and direct themselves to constructive activities. Since children's interests vary, this opportunity results in an independent, self-motivated learner.
Designed Environment/Materials The school environment is prepared with a variety of specially designed Montessori materials - multi-sensory, sequential and self-correcting. Educational materials are carefully selected to meet the needs of range of students in each class and to meet the goals of the program.
Specialized Staff In addition to background and experience in early childhood education, teachers receive specialized training in the Montessori Method. Training programs throughout the world prepare and certify teachers in the field. The course of study includes educational philosophy, academic training in the curricula areas, early childhood development, classroom management, and use of materials for individual lessons.
Hands-on Approach To Learning The use of materials for learning in the Montessori classroom is an integral part of the program from pre-school through the elementary years. Based on a belief that children learn by doing, lessons for math, language and all subject areas include hands-on materials for use by the student.
Integrated Curriculum Especially at the elementary level, the curriculum integrates many subject areas into the lesson at hand. This enables students to use their knowledge and skills in context and to see the "whole" picture.
Whole Language Approach to Reading There is a concentration on writing and reading across the curriculum. Activities and lessons are student generated according to ability and learning style. The literature programs meets the child's individual needs.
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"Children First, Always"

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

What Do Mixed Age Groups Bring to Montessori?


A Community FOR the CHILDREN!
It opens the door for interaction and a sense of community. The Montessori environment creates an atmosphere where children learn to help and be helped by other children, because they interact consistently with children whose age and abilities are varied. Children gain an appreciation for their own achievement and the accomplishments of others. They develop a strong sense of community and stability within the classroom. This community aids the development of leadership and role modeling for one another, and social skills such as kindness, courteousness, and respect. This is exactly why we regularly share and discuss with the children our role in our community, in and outside the classroom. The month of December is extra special because the spirit of giving, generosity, peace and kindness is in the air. CalaverasMontessori School is contributing to our community by hosting a Toy Drive for foster children. In an effort to help California foster children keep the joy of the holidays in their hearts. We are hoping to collect 15 brand new toys for the children by December 20th! Any contribution would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!


“The child is both the hope and promise for mankind”- Dr. Maria Montessori