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

Outdoor School Environment

This post from a fellow blogger really gives validity to our quest for a connection to nature at MCH.


A symphony of tones

Recently I was talking to a fellow Montessori teacher from another preschool. We were discussing our outdoor environments, which are quite different from each other. Her environment follows a more traditional approach of a manicured lawn, sandpit, steel climbing structures, and a playhouse. Our environment is more natural, with logs and rocks, shrubs and bushes, sand and mud and a "wild" area of evergreens, seedlings, and any living creature that makes itself at home there. The teacher is looking at changing her outdoor environment, taking away some of the traditional playground items and bringing in more natural elements. We started talking about the fun (or is it entertainment?) the children have with those traditional items and we asked ourselves the question what are the needs (real or perceived?) of the children?

I thought about a passage in the book "The Tao of Montessori" by Catherine McTamaney, which I am currently reading. In it she writes:

"Simple environments, few choices. Are these the qualities of a boring classroom? In Montessori, they are the cornerstones of the children's imagination. When we debate the role of fantasy in our classrooms, we come back to these real items, these few, orderly materials presented with such care. The child who absorbs everything around her, is offered only those things that are real. In doing so, have we taken all the fun out? No. Rather, we have respected the inner vision of the child. By experiencing stimuli, colors, sounds, flavors in isolation instead of cacophony, the child observes the world around her and develops a more profound understanding of it than if we offered her syrupy "fun". The world is a symphony, Begin with a single note.



I thought of this "single note", and how we expose the children at our preschool to the natural world, one step at a time. How we observe the worms when they are hiding in our worm sanctuary in the sand. How we marvel at the delicate monarch butterfly when it emerges from its chrysalis. How we protect the little black walnut seedling from being stepped upon when it sprouts from the earth in our wild corner. These little gems in our garden are one by one a single note of nature's symphony. Our children take real joy in being in our garden. They do not ask for a plastic truck or digger, they do not miss their "playhouse" which now functions as a henhouse, they do not look for steel bars as they rather balance and climb on the boulders and logs that provide a more natural challenge.

Our preschool garden is protected from bright colored, noisy, steel and plastic toys and entertainment equipment. Instead, the children have access to natural elements, real, small, simple, and beautiful. McTamaney continues:

" The child, in offering her attention to the tiniest detail, respects the wonder of her world. She does not overlook the miraculous seed. She attends to the color of the rabbit's eyes. By protecting the space from too much color, too much noise, too much distraction, we preserve in the child the ability to wonder. We offer her the ability to hear each tone, to appreciate the complexity of the symphony by understanding first each simple sound."

And isn't that what nature does so well, a beautiful symphony of tones you wouldn't want to miss?

The Tao of Montessori. Reflections on Compassionate Teaching (2005, 2007) by Catherine McTamaney, Ed.D. iUniverse Star. Lincoln, NE

Montessori Races to the Top

Montessori in the national spotlight:

May 10, 2010

WASHINGTON – The White House and the U.S. Department of Education today announced that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will deliver the commencement address at Clark Montessori Jr.& Sr. High School in Cincinnati, OH, as part of the President’s Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge. The commencement is scheduled for Thursday, May 27, 2010.

“Clark Montessori Jr. and Sr. High School shows an extraordinary commitment to encouraging their students to take responsibility for their education, get involved in their community and go to college,” said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “I look forward to congratulating them and celebrating their hard work as their 2010 commencement speaker.”

Clark Montessori Jr. & Sr. High School was one of over 1,000 applications for the Race to the Top Commencement Challenge narrowed down by the White House and Department of Education to six high school finalists. In recognition of the extraordinary achievements and outstanding efforts by each of the six finalists, the Obama Administration pledged to provide a Cabinet secretary or senior administration official to deliver the commencement address at each of the five schools not selected as the national winner.

The Commencement Challenge, launched in late February, invited the nation’s public high schools to submit applications showing their dedication to providing students with an excellent education that will prepare them to graduate ready for college and career choices.

Applications were judged based on the schools’ performance, four essay questions and supplemental data. The six finalists were selected for their dedication to academic excellence and for showing how they are helping prepare students to graduate college and career ready, and prepared to meet the President’s goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.

Voices for Children Day

We made personalized flowers to give to the governor and legislators at the State Capitol this week to support the March 1st  Voices for Children Advocacy Day. They need to know that we expect their support to fully fund early childhood education in our state.
The facts via straightforward video.

Obama's view.

Let's give quality choice to all.

Thank you, Google Guys.

What are we waiting for?

Children and Food

Children and food--especially regard the entries about children empowered to make their own school meals.
http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/back-to-the-land/

Let Me Help: Supporting the Young Child at Home

This is an excerpt from the article -- Let Me Help: Supporting the Young Child at Home - by Karin Salzmann. Reprinted from Montessori Talks to Parents, NAMTA

In primitive societies, and even in quite recent times, children always participated in the life of the home. A sense of belonging, along with pride of accomplishment, help the child to grow up strong and secure.

When we begin to draw the child into family chores, there are, of course, difficulties. But taking time to show a child how to help is actually easier in the long run than trying to keep her occupied and out of the way. Because she will keep insisting, she will forever turn up underfoot. What she is saying is, “Let me help, let me be part of your life!” Or she will pull away: “I want to do it myself!” read more

Edible Schoolyard

inspirational
 video

Parent Evening

Although it has been two weeks since our school's parent evening, the importance of this first community event of the year is still fresh in our minds. Our hope is to welcome you and encourage you to embrace the life of the school. Your interest and support has tremendous impact in aiding your child in their first steps on their journey of lifelong learning. While the journey seems to have just begun for these young students, the very first steps have, of course, been taken in the home. Preschool especially is a time of partnership between the home and the school life. It is a bridge. Many parents ask what can be done to integrate the Montessori philosophy into the home environment? This is a fairly easy thing to carry out and so gratifying and empowering for the child.

The following are five qualities that we strive to encourage in the child in the Montessori environment:

Independence- self esteem comes from being able to carry things out on one's own.

Socialization- your child learning to manage himself in increasingly greater social environments.

Communication- the human need to communicate clearly, to understand and be understood.

Order- addressing the human need for patterns and structure. Applied both to the external world (your child's world) and the internal world (your child's mind). The mathematical mind.

Curiosity- The scientific mind.

Dr. Maria Montessori viewed the child as a member of a family, not as an isolated individual, and one whose most formative life experiences take place within the family. She recognized parents as a child's first and most influential teachers.

Practical ideas for the home:

1. Independence

Care of the Person:

Teach them slowly how to dress themselves

Allow them to choose from limited outfits

Give them a drawer or space in their own closet where they can choose their own clothing from

Teach them where to put soiled clothing

A dress up box can aid in this practice for young three year olds

Let them brush their own teeth

A low cupboard in the kitchen where they can choose their own snack

They can help set the table

Let them participate in the kitchen

Provide them their own tools for kitchen use

Let them choose and make their own breakfast

Clear the table

Wash dishes

Teach them bathroom hygiene- let them do it themselves

If toilet is too high, put a step on it

Teach them how to use utensils properly, no reason why they shouldn't be able to use a knife

Care of the Environment:

Low work spaces

Tools that are accessible to them (sponges, buckets, soap, water)

Put a step up to your kitchen sink

Keep things in one place as much as possible so that they will know where to put them back

In the kitchen: measuring, pouring, stirring, spreading, cutting, peeling, grating, washing, seeding,

Watering the plants around the house

Wiping the table or counters

Washing hands

Mopping the floor

Making their own bed

Preparing their clothes for next day

Opening and closing curtains

Feeding animals

Putting dirty clothes in hamper

How to treat their toys

2. Social Relations

Practice wanted behaviors

Praise

Talk about positive things you see in them

Talk about positive things you see in others

“Catch them being good”

Let them hear you saying good things about others, including children, notice more of what you DO want them to do

Clear limits to unacceptable behavior

Talk about your values and what you find important

Model your beliefs

3. Communication

Clear precise communication with your child

Talk a lot with them, explain things

Sing

Read to them even when they can already read for themselves- they love the same books over and over

Let them see you reading

Tell them true stories

Prohibitions should be clear (and you should hold yourself accountable as well)

Give words to feelings

Introduce complex vocabulary

Stick to your own best language

Give realistic choices

Let them be a part of family meals

4. Order

Routines! Morning routines, and bedtime routines especially

Things have a place in your child's room, then he will know where to put them away

Not too many toys

Not too many activities to do- time to process the day is necessary

Limited sets of clothing to choose from

Limited work space

How to treat their toys

Tell them what happens before, and what will happen after

Make a picture schedule and talk about it

Give them real world word problems

Notice patterns with them

5. Curiosity, Creativity

Listen to what they have to say!

Outdoor provides much opportunity for exploration

Let them solve their own problems

Ask them what they think about things

Wonder with them

Read

Expose them to art

Give them tools for expression

Open ended toys

Book Lists:

Parent/Child Press       AMS       NAMTA

                                                                               

              

   

Toys and other materials that support Montessori ideas

for the home and school are available through

Michael Olaf

Little Red Robin

and

For Small Hands