Young Music Makers at Camp

What a lovely week of music making it has been at Montessori Children's House. Thank you to Shana and Anika Hodel for their joyful and thoughtful preparations for each day of happy camping.

making sandpaper blocks

wind chimes

shakers

bell bracelets

stringed instruments

 

 guest artists

make a pretty sound

instrument exploration

  

all together now

we love music!

Redshirting

After reading this article in the New York Times The Littlest Redshirts I was more interested (as usual) in the reader comments that followed online. The social scientist in me loves reading all the varied opinions and "solutions" of  our citizens. I had to scroll pretty far down before I found one from a Montessori parent. I appreciated her sense of calm in respect to her child's age at entering school:



I think the cause of the redshirting problem is two-fold:

1. Kindergarten has become way too academic. Kids who are 5 should not be sitting at desks doing worksheets. They should be learning through exploration of the world around them.


2. The rigidity of the traditional public school system is ill suited to meeting children's unique needs because it places them in an artificial age-based box. My 3 year old son, for example, is very academically gifted and is far ahead of his chronological peers intellectually but his emotional and social skills age are at or below his chronological age. Because of that disparity we decided to place him a Montessori school where the class age levels overlap and where multiple ages are in the same classroom. He has really blossomed because he is able to play with children his own age while doing the more challenging work that he is ready to do.

I've found that the parents at his Montessori school aren't stressed about the redshirting problem at all because they know that the school will be able to place their children where they fit best.

Letter to the Strib

Of course, I appreciated this letter to the editor by Northfielder Gayle Collins. Check out the reader comments, though.Why is this topic so contentious?

Letter of the day: Stop criticizing teachers and invest in more early education

Summer Browsing

Now is the time when surfing the internet can be an inspiration not just a method of procrastination. Summer is a perfect time for us teacher types to search for new ideas and connect with the outside world for a bit while the day to day school world takes a break.
Most of the time I find something and then forget where I saw it. Below is a list of sites I've visited recently while looking for classroom materials. These ideas are really great, and if I had the time I would try them all and relax into a state of creative bliss. Maybe I will be able to make a couple of things before September rolls around...

Child Made Ideas

Paint + Cut + Paste blog

Polar Bear Creations

Fair Trade Family blog

On the Shelf

Creative Jewish Mom

Childhood Magic

Rosy ~ Posy

Sew Mama Sew!

Sew Natural