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Tag: Montessori Curriculum

Why is Grace and Courtesy a big deal in Montessori?

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

As you may already know from your communications with your child’s teachers, MCS classrooms begin the year with a heavy emphasis on our Grace and Courtesy curriculum.  The article below, written by Edward Fidellow, will help you understand the benefits of a Grace and Courtesy curriculum and might offer some ideas how to reinforce the lessons at home!

Happy Reading!

 

Why is Grace and Courtesy a big deal in Montessori?

Edward Fidellow

 

www.crossmountainpress.com

You cannot observe a Montessori classroom for even a short time without coming away with an impression that Montessori children are by and large very polite, orderly and impressively quiet and serene. This atmosphere is created by the lessons of “grace and courtesy”. Grace and courtesy – good manners, caring about each other, putting others first – are solid virtues that make possible the extraordinary academic gains of a Montessori classroom. Grace and courtesy is one of the non-traditional academic foundations of a successful Montessori education. It is significant even beyond the academic accomplishments that your child will achieve in Montessori.

Many lessons in Montessori (and life) are learned obliquely or indirectly as a by product of other lessons. (For example, in Montessori all of the lessons of practical life are really preparations for reading and writing.)

While the exercises of grace and courtesy are tremendously valuable all by themselves they also lead to four significant outcomes.

While the Montessori environment is a classroom of individual learners, each progressing as quickly as they can, it is also a community of learners who help, encourage and teach each other. The courtesy of using an inside voice so as not to disturb their classmates; the courtesy of walking so as not to disrupt the learning going on is just the beginning of creating a unique learning environment. Sharing the learning materials, waiting your turn patiently, preferring and helping each other transforms the classroom into an oasis of peace where concentration and learning can happen. Valuing community is a significant outcome.

Second, grace and courtesy leads to the most significant lesson in life – how to love. Love is the ability (and the desire) to put someone else’s needs in front of yours – wanting the best for them. Whether it is holding a door, letting them go first, or doing what pleases them, love is a great lesson (most often demonstrated in small actions and ways.) Grace and courtesy is the doorway to love.

The third benefit of grace and courtesy is the building of self respect. Interestingly, when we are kind and courteous to others we like ourselves better. The young child cannot articulate all the conflicting emotions that are part of growing up but the structure of grace and courtesy helps them enjoy the feelings that come from a calm and orderly environment. They are much more at peace with themselves when they are at peace with their neighbor.

The fourth benefit is that grace and courtesy contributes to the development of self control. Grace and courtesy give children an external set of markers that they internalize and practice which in turn leads them to change their own behavior. This is the first step to controlling themselves. Self control will lead to focus; focus will lead to accomplishment; accomplishment will lead to success.

Not a bad byproduct for “Please” and “Thank you”.

Nature Education

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

Montessori Community School offers a unique outdoor education program at each level.  We value the opportunity for children to become stewards over the earth and explore their natural environment. You can read more about our Outdoor Classroom and Great Outdoors programs here.

Montessori Early Childhood Programs Offer Exceptional Opportunities

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

The most beautiful thing about this video is that while Jackson might be an exceptional child, his documented experience (shown below) is not the exception….it is a true example of what happens in a Montessori Early Childhood classroom!  As you watch, take note of his independence and self-direction. Pay close attention to his interaction with teachers and peers and opportunities for collaboration balanced with independent work time (and don’t forget about his community contributions.)  Watch him choose a variety of activities in a variety of areas of the classroom and notice how he cleans up every piece of material before choosing a new activity!
These are all life skills that a child in an Early Childhood Montessori Classroom has the opportunity to experience simply by being in a prepared environment with a loving guide.

MCS is still accepting applications for the 2014 – 2015 Academic Year. Schedule a tour today!

Now Enrolling Toddlers 18 months to 3 years. Read Below Why Early Education is so Beneficial!

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

Toddler students from MCS practice Yoga.
Current research and various studies support Maria Montessori’s approach to Early Education. She discovered that children 0-6 years old were in an absorbent mind, where children absorb information from their environment with little to no effort. Montessori wrote and spoke about “Sensitive Periods”, which are periods in a person’s development when they are more responsive to certain stimuli and quicker to learn particular skills. She also taught us that when these crucial stages are missed (which she referred to as “dropped stitches”, learning becomes a more difficult process.  For example, children who are exposed to a second language in their first six years have an advantage over people who learn a second language later in life, when the sensistive period for language development has passed.
Simply put, a child’s early years lay the foundation for all that is to come. In recent years, researchers have learned that the human brain develops the vast majority of its neurons, and is at its most receptive to learning, between birth and three years of age. In fact, the intake of new information is critical to the formation of active neural pathways (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000).
MCS Toddlers do scrubbing work.
The Toddler Montessori environment is carefully designed to meet the children’s needs in this critical stage of development.  Exploration of their environment through the five senses coupled with a rich socially prepared environment with children of different ages and abilities allows Toddlers the opportunity to develop the following:
  • meaningful relationships, mutual understanding, and approprite social skills
  • values and ethics
  • motor skills
  • creativity & imagination
  • self correction and overcoming fear of making mistakes
  • self expression through arts, music, dance, building and exploration of materials
  • ability to process emotions and life events in a safe and loving environment
  • cooperation
  • development of language
  • independence
  • control of body
  • sense of order
Montessori Community School is currently accepting applications for our Toddler program.  Toddler enrollment is limited to the beginning of the academic school year, August, and January.  Contact us for a tour now! 

SUPERWOMAN WAS ALREADY HERE….Is Montessori right for your child? Probably!

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

In all my years as a Montessorian, I have never met a parent who did not want the absolute best for their child.  Just as adults want to go to work in a place where they feel satisfied doing something they love, many parents are searching for the same educational experience for their children. Most parents are searching for a system that actually works (as in, educates the child) while nurturing the genuine spirit of each child individually!  The great news is…it really does exist!
The video below will show you how Montessori schools, including Montessori Community School – a private Montessori school in the Salt Lake Valley, gives children the motivation and interest to learn, allows for a productive and meaningful learning experience, and creates a peaceful learning environment.

If you think the Montessori approach might be right for your child, please contact us for a tour.  We are currently accepting applications for the 2014-2015 Academic Year.
Special Thanks to Daniel C. Petter-Lipstein, creator of “Superwoman Was Already Here.”
Cheers!

Service-Learning

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

An Early Child student is read to by a Lower Elementary student.

“If salvation and help are to come, it is from the child, for the child is the constructor of man and so of society. The child is endowed with an inner power which can guide us to a more enlightened future.”
– Maria Montessori

Service-Learning is built into a Montessori Education’s curriculum starting at the toddler age through adolescence. As per the National Service-Learning Partnership, Service-Learning is defined as a teaching method that engages young people in solving problems within their schools and communities as part of their academic studies or other type of intentional learning activity.

Montessori Community School starts this education with a simple question, “How may I help?” This simple question plants a seed within children early on in the toddler years. There, it is nurtured, and cultivated. As the years go by, this seed continues to grow. Soon a sensitivity of self-awareness and self-reflection emerge.  Not only do students begin to recognize and develop their personal talents, abilities, and interests but they are also able use them to meet the needs of others.

This academic understanding takes deeper root through our literature and writing curriculum, class meetings, informal and formal class discussions, and day-to-day interactions. Concepts such as empathy begin to intertwine and connect with not just, “How may I help?” but, “How do I recognize when another person’s fundamental needs are not being met, and how may I be of service?”

Montessori Service-Learning Education fosters respect for others, inspires children to build positive relationships and make contributions to the local community, and to the world. Emphasis is placed on taking care of the environment, self, and others.

Letter from the Montessori Education Foundation (MEF)

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

“I do not believe there is a method better than Montessori for making children sensitive to the beauties of the world and awakening their curiosity regarding the secrets of life.”

                              Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Author, Poet, Nobel Laureate, Montessori Student

Dear Montessori Community School:

 

The Montessori Foundation works tirelessly to promote the idea that education should be joyful, not a race to nowhere. The proof can be seen in Montessori classrooms, and in our Montessori graduates. Their success and satisfaction in their lives speaks volumes.

 

Since 1992, The Montessori Foundation has worked tirelessly to…

  • · Demonstrate that Montessori works
  • · Prepare Montessori school leaders
  • · Support Montessori schools through times of challenge and transition
  • · Promote Best Practices in Montessori Education
  • · Encourage collaboration and partnership throughout the Montessori community
  • · Organize national programs for Montessori schools
  • · Develop truly innovative Montessori teacher education

Every year the Montessori Foundation participates in the 24-Hour Giving Partner Challenge.

 

We only have one hour to go in this year’s 24 Hour Giving Challenge. Families and friends around the world are lending their support to the schools, museums, theaters, and other organizations that have meant so much in their lives.

 

We need your help. Please join me in making an enthusiastic donation to The Montessori Foundation.

 

Your contribution will support:

  • · The Montessori Education Research Institute
  • · The Montessori Peace Academy
  • · Tomorrow’s Child and many other parent communication tools
  • · Grassroots Montessori advocacy and support
  • · The Montessori Leadership Institute
  • · Needs-based Montessori scholarships

Invite your friends, family, colleagues and co-workers to contribute $25 or more to the Giving Challenge. Donating to the Challenge is quick, simple, and makes a real impact.

 

Whether your gift is $25 or $25,000, every gift counts towards our ability to improve the lives of children.

Make your donations online

 

https://www.givingpartnerchallenge.org/#npo/the-montessori-foundation-inc

 

The Montessori Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, and your gift will be tax deductible to the full extent provided by the law.

 

The Giving Challenge is supported by these great organizations:

 

Community Foundation of Sarasota County, The Patterson Foundation, Manatee Community Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, William G. and Marie Selby Foundation, Charlotte Community Foundation.

 

 

Service Learning via a FUN RUN!

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

Support Montessori Community School’s Fun Run Fundraiser, Wednesday, May 7th.

Proceeds go toward our sponsored girls through the Children of Ethiopia Education Fund, COEEF and our Grandmothers through the Adopt-a-Native-Elder Program.

Montessori and the Myth of Low Student Teacher Ratios

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

As parents we have to judge what makes a good educational program for our children. We ask our friends, we look at the school – is it clean and orderly and bright? We look at the children – do they seem happy? We observe the teacher – is she engaged and interested in the children? These are things that we can judge. And then we remember that we’ve heard that a low student–teacher ratio is important for a good educational approach and outcome. (It must be true because all of the governmental agencies are always trying to lower the ratios.)

But it is a myth as far as Montessori education is concerned. Traditionally, a low student–teacher ratio is desired if you are trying to make everyone do the same thing at the same time. (It is a lot like herding cats – the less you have, the easier it might be to perform.) Ratios aren’t critical in Montessori for three reasons.

  1. In Montessori education you do not teach classes (numbers) you teach children (individuals.)
  2. The goal in the classroom is not just to teach the material but to facilitate the child’s ability to learn on her own – which in effect makes the learning one on one.
  3. And because of the nature of the classroom where children are encouraged to help each other – the five year olds teach the four year olds and the fours teach the threes – you literally have more teachers than students.

Parents wonder still – “If there were fewer students wouldn’t my child get more attention from the teacher?” Interestingly, it is not just the amount of time your child needs but the amount of focused time (time spent directly on your child’s priorities and needs) that effectively contributes to her learning.

A Montessori teacher can be compared to a juggler who spins plates on a stick. She will begin spinning the first plate, then the second, third and fourth. She might go back and give the first plate a spin before she spins the fifth and sixth. She might then spin the second plate – and that first plate might need another spin before she gets the seventh plate rotating. Likewise, the teacher notes each of her students and what it takes to power up the learning gyroscope in each child – so the child can keep the learning plates spinning on her own. A low ratio is good if you are driving the learning – not as consequential if you are leading it.

Now, because the teacher doesn’t spend all of her time driving the learning, she has time to study each child(read more about observation here): to study her needs, her skills, her aptitudes and personality. All the ratios in the world are meaningless – unless you know your student.

Ironically, there are many advantages of not having a low student–teacher ratio in the classroom.

  1. Children aren’t smothered by attention. They are given the opportunity to breathe and explore. The teacher does not feel compelled to guide and fill their every moment.
  2. Because the teacher does not dominate the society, the classroom becomes a community of interaction and learning. Cooperation is a virtue (instead of “Go back to your seat and mind your own business.”)
  3. With the adult not hovering and micromanaging, the child is free to develop initiative. This initiative creates the fantastic learning that comes out of a Montessori classroom (which a teacher would be hard pressed to produce in a traditional setting.)
  4. The child develops a personal sense of responsibility over the learning she has initiated.
  5. The child develops the ability to make meaningful choices – instead of just following directions.
  6. The power to choose wisely is a growing marker of maturity.
  7. Real choice making needs the opportunity to make mistakes, to correct them, to recover from them and to learn from them. (That is hard to do when someone is hurrying you along to get to the next lesson.)
  8. All of this allows the student to build confidence in herself. When the student assumes responsibility for the learning she begins to build confidence in her ability to navigate in the world as it is being opened to her through the classroom, the classroom community and the world of knowledge.

Montessori teachers have to train themselves in the art of not interfering with the internal learning process of the student. They have to train themselves to observe the child, to know how the child learns and how to allow the child to learn.

Ultimately, they have to learn how to help the child learn for herself – which is always one on one.

Article by Edward Fidellow

www.crossmountainpress.com