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Tag: Montessori Philosophy

Combating Tardiness and Creating Effective Morning Routines – Parenting Connection

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

The honeymoon period for the new year may be wearing off and you may be finding that mornings are getting more and more tough.  If you find that your children are significantly less enthusiastic about bouncing out of bed and preparing for school, you are not alone.  That said, tardiness to school can have a wide range of negative outcomes for students.  Below are some ideas for young children to help bypass the drama.  Keep in mind that Montessori children are used to independence, to having a say, and to consistency.

  • Have 5 bins of the same color available for your child to plan their outfits for the week.  On Sunday nights, create time for your child to put outfits together for the entire week.  This allows your child the option to choose their clothes for the week, while also limiting the overwhelm of an entire closet or dresser full of clothes when morning time is limited.  When my kids were young, each of them had their own colored bins and they were stacked in their rooms for the week. They chose the outfit from which ever bin they wanted each day.  BONUS: this is a great way to give your child more involvement and interest in helping with the laundry.
  • Create a visual chart which shows all the tasks a child must complete in the mornings.  Pictures of a toothbrush, breakfast, lunch box, backpack, etc. can help a child feel more independent. BONUS: laminate your chart and let your child use a wipe-off marker to cross off items as they are completed. 
  • When you are about 5 minutes from having to walk out the door, play a song and remind your child that when the song ends, it’s time to leave the house.  BONUS: next favorite song?  In the car!
  • Montessori children are used to routine and predictability. Make sure everything has a place and that time for each task is figured in to your child’s routine. BONUS: backpacks, lunchboxes, shoes, etc. are placed in this space upon returning from school each day. 
  • Consider having a visual list of items your child needs to have to walk out the door placed right at the door. Ie; backpack, lunch box, blankets, etc. BONUS: create your own list so everyone’s walking out the door prepared. And, are there any things on the list that you and your child can do together? Think brushing teeth, packing lunches, or putting on shoes. 
  • Prep as many things as possible the night before.  Pack lunches, give baths, etc. BONUS: visual charts with appropriate food items help children pack their lunches independently, a great task for kids while you prep or clean up from dinner. 
  • Give your child some uninterrupted one-on-one time before leaving the house.  Take some deep breaths together, snuggle, listen to you favorite songs or do some other activity together. BONUS: if this time is set aside for after they’ve accomplished all other tasks, it can be a motivator.  However, don’t use it as a consequence for not moving quickly enough. Make this time sacred and consider that some times or some kids might need this sacred time in order to feel motivated to get going.  Do what works best for your child. 
  • In the car, talk about what happens when we get to school. Ms. So- and -so will be there to take your temperature and then we will have a hug, kiss and high five, and then I will leave.) BONUS: Keep this routine consistent but, if your child has ideas for adjusting it that are manageable, allow them to weigh in. Most people are more motivated by a plan or routine they’ve helped develop. 
  • Show your child that timeliness is important to you and it will become more important to them. BONUS: peaceful mornings with a moment to breathe before you move onto the next part of your day! 

Parenting Connection – Using Questions as a Teaching Tool

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

Questions are one of the most powerful teachers in existence. How else do we really know where someone else is coming from? And how can we possibly meet them where they are at without that information? Asking questions gives kids a chance to think critically, use their language, and reason and decide. It’s in the presence of their trusted adults they will do the most learning. Might as well use a method that involves them! Enjoy reading about how to use questions to help a child work through a mistake or problem.

 

Parenting Connection – Letting Toddlers Help

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

One of the key tenets for the Toddler department at FMSL is to foster independence. There are many ways that we help guide our students through their exploration and discovery of their environment. Toddlers love to learn by doing even when it does not look as clean and concise as we might like it to. This article from Psychology Today speaks to the idea of letting our toddlers help in a variety of ways to grow their sense of independence.

Positive Parenting with Michelle Vo, MD

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

In March we had the pleasure of hosting Montessori parent of 3, Michelle Vo, MD, for our Parent Education Event.  Michelle presented on the subject of Positive Parenting; a method that focuses on developing a strong relationship between parent and child and which is based on mutual respect and communication.  It’s purpose? To create strong emotional connections between parent and child.

Positive Parenting aligns beautifully with Montessori in that it meets a child where they are at developmentally and the adults are considered guides. This is different from some more traditional approaches where the parent is the disciplinarian.

Michelle spoke to us about parent self-regulation, with reminders to take care of our selves so that we could remain emotionally available and feel successful as parents.  As parents, we are our children’s safe space and approaching this task mindfully and intentionally is crucial to creating a safe and secure space in which our children learn and grow. Once we are on safe ground, we can work to create one of the most desired human needs; connection.  Connection is built successfully through engagement and attention.

We are very appreciative of Michelle’s time and those of us who attended her workshop were inspired by all she shared.  We look forward to the future opportunity to learn from Michelle and other FMSL parents.

Tips for a New Montessori Parent

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

A happy welcome to the new families entering Montessori Community School.  Parents, you will soon discover that being a part of a Montessori community is encompassing and the efforts you make towards supporting the Montessori approach will determine the success your child has in this environment. Below is an article by Edward Fidellow which will give you several tips to embracing your new role as a “Montessori Parent.”

And so begins your journey……

Becoming a Montessori Parent by Edward Fidellow

There are seven simple steps to becoming a Montessori parent. When we say simple we don’t mean that they are not challenging. It is a lot like the definition of bull riding. “The object is to keep the bull between you and the ground.” Simple – but challenging.

The first step to becoming a Montessori parent took place when you enrolled your child in a Montessori program. That in itself is a challenge. Most of us weren’t raised in a Montessori school. The whole concept is foreign and takes a bit of courage to step out of the norm and our comfort zone. We may have chosen the program because it wasn’t like our school experience (which is why we chose it.) Or we chose it because we saw something unique in a Montessori child we knew. Or we were just plain lucky and stumbled on to a Montessori school and were fascinated by what we saw. Even then we had to deal with the question, “If this is so great, how come the whole world isn’t lined up outside the door to enroll?” (Which is the same question Montessorians keep wondering about too!) But you made a complex and challenging decision to become a Montessori parent. And here you are. So how do you get the best out of your decision? You go to step two.

You begin to understand the core philosophy of what Montessori is all about. Fortunately, you don’t have to become a Montessori teacher to be a good Montessori parent. (You don’t have to know how to manipulate all of those materials and you don’t have to keep fifteen children from climbing the walls.) The most significant Montessori concept is to respect the child. I can almost hear the wheels turning “Of course I respect my child, I love them very much that’s why I have them in Montessori, I want the best for them.” Of course you love them – but respect is different. Respecting the child is first, to respect the nature of children. Children are not mini adults waiting to be molded. They are like tadpoles and caterpillars that have their own form and function of life waiting to become what they are intended to be. We are often impatient for them to become because we don’t realize that childhood – with its curiosity, playfulness, messiness and all – is part of the process of them transforming themselves into the adults they will become. We have to respect that process – which doesn’t mean they always get to do what they want. One of the operative words in Dr. Montessori’s writing is the word “train”. We do need to train our children but we need to train ourselves “not to destroy that which is good” in the nature of our children. The second part of respect is to respect the personality of your child. Your child is not a blank slate. They are already imbued with the unique characteristics of who they are. The artistic bent is already there. The math bent is already formed.The leader, the follower, the giver, the taker, the extrovert, the introvert are already dna’d into your child. Right or left handed, right or left brained are already formed.

So how do you cooperate with nature? You become an observer. That is the next step in becoming a Montessori parent – you train yourself to observe. What does your child gravitate to? What gives them great joy? What occupies them endlessly? These are all clues to who your child is becoming. You are fortunate that you have a trained helper in your child’s Montessori teacher. Your next parent conference should ask more than what has she done but who do you see her becoming. It is hard to cooperate with nature if you are not aware of the nature of your child.

Our third step is to become their champion. I know. I hear you say, “Of course, I’m their champion. I love them.” And so you do. But are their goals your goals? Translation: Do you have goals for them that do not take into account who they are. (There are many jock fathers who do not have jock sons.) Yes, you have many wonderful goals for them to be caring and loving, honest and faithful, upright, truthful, etc – and these are worthy, significant and meaningful goals which they should attain to. But the expression of their lives – career, vocation, work – is best met and fulfilled according to their gifts. When your five year old says, “I want to be a fireman.” He may be reflecting the latest book or television program he’s seen. However, if you continue to ask the why questions, “Why do you think that would be a good job? Why do you think that you would enjoy that?” you may discover that your child is not drawn just to the excitement but to the fact of wanting to help people or he likes the aspect of being part of a team. All are important clues to his personality. Your child needs you to champion and encourage his personality (especially, if it is different than yours.)

The fourth step is to practice what they learn at school – grace and courtesy. Please and thank you, may I, excuse me, please forgive me and a host of other considerations practiced (and modeled) at home will go a long way to giving your child every advantage in life. People respond favorably to a child with great manners.

Fifth, practice independence. Independence is the ability to be self-governing and that comes from making choices, living with the consequences and having responsibilities. As often as possible give your children choices. “What do you want for breakfast, cereal or eggs?” “Do you want two spoonfuls of carrots or one?” (Don’t offer choices where there are no choices. “Do you want carrots? They say no and you serve them anyway.) Give your children chores they can accomplish – making their beds, putting dirty clothes in the laundry, dishes in the dishwasher, etc. Chores build responsibility; responsibility builds independence; independence builds confidence.

Sixth, give them the gift of time. Give them time to accomplish their chores. Give them time to be children. Give them time to breathe. Give them your time.

Seventh, practice humility. They have a lot to learn from you. What is easy for you as an adult is mystifying and beyond challenge for them. Let your words be seasoned with grace. Look for the good in what they do. Their motives are often pure; their actions imperfect. Yet, we have a lot to learn from them also. And when you are wrong (when, not if) practice the humility of saying, “Please forgive me.” It will not destroy your authority or their respect for you. It will teach them one of the great lessons of life – when you fail, whether it’s in a relationship, school, career or life – own the failure and start over again – to succeed another day.

Becoming a Montessori parent is to become the best parent you can be.

Home – The Montessori Frontier

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

There are many parts to a Montessori education. There certainly is the beautiful materials that add so much to the enjoyment of learning. There is the educational philosophy that goes along with the materials. There is also the part that looks at your child’s gifts and abilities but the most crucial part of  a Montessori education is the part that nurtures and helps transform your child into a successful adult. Ultimately, Montessori is a philosophy of life, of a way to approach the challenges and blessings.

If you love what Montessori does for your child at school begin to implement at home those actions that will continue the transformation. We are not talking about red rods, alphabets or math but about the core value that makes Montessori dynamic and transformational. It is all about making wise choices.

It is a simple formula – learn to make wise choices – but it is a complex process made up of multiple simple actions that combined together create this outstanding outcome for your child. Montessori succeeds because it gives children the opportunity to make choices (and deal with the consequences). If you have made a bad choice, to be able to make another choice until you come to a positive outcome.

You begin the implementation of Montessori at home by creating opportunities for choice. When my son was two we began choice making with something as simple as breakfast. We would offer him the choice of two cereals. I would ask, “Do you want this or that?” And he would make a choice. (However, since I didn’t use the proper names of the cereals, cereal became known as “dis and dat”.)

Choice making has to be real. Don’t offer a choice and then negate their choice. “Do you want carrots?” “No.” “Well, here you are anyway.” Real choice would ask, “Do you want one spoonful or two?” Other examples of empowering choice might be “Do you want to wear blue pants or black”; “Do you want to brush your teeth first or a take a bath first?” There are endless choices to make each day.

Along with choice goes responsibility. When you make a choice you own the choice because with choice goes the responsibility of fulfilling it. However, a great lesson to learn is that not all responsibilities are our choice but once given to us it is a wise choice to fulfill them.

Chores at home become part of this process of wise choice making. How do I choose to fulfill my responsibilities? Doing my work well, finishing on time and finishing thoroughly are key ingredients of lifetime success. In life we are often faced with situations that offer no real choice – paying taxes, stopping at red lights etc. Teaching your child to make wise choices (even when there is no choice) is to teach them to choose their attitude when faced with less than desirable choices. They can learn this if you let them practice at home.

Article written by Edward Fidellow

www.crossmountainpress.com

 

Structuring Screen Use in the Home

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

Welcome to November; it’s cold and dark early in the day. While there is really no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes, and we’d all benefit from spending a bit more time outside, the unfortunate reality is that many of us hibernate inside for much of the fall and winter. Along with this, we may also find ourselves filling more of our time with screens. While technology enhances our lives by connecting us with family, friends and information from around the world, it is also a worthy idea to set boundaries on its use. But technology is so deeply ingrained with most of our daily lives, do we really know just how much time we spend on screens. How do we know what is too much? How do we evaluate the content of what our children are viewing aside from general rating systems? Do we have to preview everything our kids watch and play?

 

Fortunately there are numerous resources available to help parents understand how to be media savvy and to help their children develop the same skills. A helpful place to start is understanding how much screen time children should have in their daily schedule. The American Academy of Pediatrics has developmental recommendations for media use by school-age children and adolescents and media use in children under age 5. Along with these general guidelines, you can make use of an online family media use planner, which can help structure screen time within the other requirements of the day including making sure there is adequate time for the appropriate amount of sleep based upon your child’s age and screen free activities. For those with school-aged children and adolescents who may be unsupervised more often, a media use contract can be a handy tool to set guidelines around what content is viewed, how much time is spent with screen based media, and to establish other general guidelines for good digital citizenship. When it comes to content, the IMDB Parents Guide and Common Sense Media are great resources to evaluate the themes presented in various media forms (books included on Common Sense Media).

Article written by MCS parent, Dr. Melissa DeVries, P.h.D.

 

Parenting Connection 10/09/18

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

I believe wholeheartedly that our children require a great deal of practice at becoming empathetic, compassionate, contributing members of society and that they deserve a great deal of support along the way.  Feelings can be SO BIG for kids and, in a world that thrives on immediate gratification, it can be hard to work through the “stuff” that comes with those big feelings. This wonderful article from Montessori Nature discusses the elements a child needs to learn to regulate their emotions at a young age.

 

Birthday Wishes in Honor of Maria Montessori

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

Maria Montessori – Her Life & Legacy

As we are so deeply indebted to the great work and legacy of Maria Montessori, and in light of her birthday on August 31st, we would like to honor Dr. Montessori by telling her story. Born in a small town of Italy to parents, Renilde Stoppani and Allessandro, Maria forged her own educational path, even in childhood. Throughout her youth, she acquired a very ambitious taste for science and mathematics, which was extraordinary for a girl during the time. After attending a tech school, Maria Montessori decided to study medicine. Throughout an intricate and complicated series of events (including a letter of recommendation for college acceptance by the Catholic Pope himself), Maria went on to Medical School to become the very first female Doctor in Italy.

During Maria’s residency, she spent time working with children in a psychiatric hospital. She had not been working there long, when a nurse who was watching the children in the ward said to her: ‘Look, I can’t believe that they are picking crumbs up off the floor to eat! How horrible.’ Maria said to the nurse: ‘They aren’t eating the crumbs, they are studying them.’ In a bare, sterile psychiatric hospital, where the walls were white and there was not a single toy or object for a child to engage with, Maria Montessori discovered her first realized observation: the necessity of environment.

Dr. Montessori was stirred by this, and a miraculous turn of events then followed. After some time, she redirected her research to completely service children. In time, Maria’s method became world-famous. She traveled to teach it, winning many hearts with her curriculum. In 1913, Maria published her first book on children “The Advanced Montessori Method”, selling 17,410 copies. She even attended the 1915 World Fair in San Francisco to share her research and teaching method. Maria continued to share her knowledge for many years in her own country, until her teachings were banned from Italy due to world conflicts with Fascism. She was forced to leave her home, but she continued her work in Amsterdam, and later in India, where Maria would stay for over 10 years. Even after World War II broke out, Maria stayed to complete her work of the early childhood years in her study of the “Absorbent Mind, “ and her extensive study of infancy and the development of the “Cosmic Curriculum.”

By 1946, over 1,000 people had been educated by Dr. Montessori. Maria continued to travel through Europe, Africa and Asia, lecturing until the age of 81. Maria Montessori has been nominated for two Nobel Peace Prizes for her contribution to education, but also for her overall effort to improve conditions for women and children around the world.

We owe so much to this extremely brave woman, who endured conflicts of career progression, family separation, gender bias and war to bring her teaching methods to light. Maria Montessori was a leader in every step she took, and her work produced amazing outcomes. Maria sought to educate children, but she also saw a magic in them. Within each child, she saw: the need, the power, the magic… to learn.

And so we, Montessori Community School, so inspired by Dr. Montessori send great wishes of peace, kindness and joy in her honor. May we each find a moment today to spread her message with a peaceful action to benefit our whole of mankind.

The Society by Cohesion: Why Did We Have To Have All These Kids, Anyway?

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

Below you will find a beautifully written article, written by Montessori advocate and author Catherine McTamaney, about how a Montessori classroom functions.  She so concisely sums up some of the most basic and important tenants of a Montessori classroom (including why there are so many kids in a classroom) to describe their place in our environment and, most importantly, their outcome!

Enjoy!

Glance through some school brochures. You’ll notice quite a bit of language in common: whole child, child-centered, low student-teacher ratios, individualized attention. If so many school settings agree that fewer children per teacher is something to brag about, why are Montessori classrooms so large?

 

Remember the basic design principles of a Montessori classroom: multiage classrooms, specialized materials and extended time to explore them, professionally-prepared teachers and individualized curricula to match each child.

The curriculum not only complements the first three factors size: it relies on it. Because Montessori classrooms are multi-aged, with specialized materials and professionally-prepared teachers, the curricula can be truly individualized to the child.

The multi-aged classroom allows children to look to and rely on each other to get their needs met independently of an adult. Older children can offer guidance and direction to younger children. Younger children can provide practice and new questions to their older peers. Children across the age spectrum develop independent skills, learning to rely on the tools they have available to them and coming, through practice, to regulate their choices on their own. Children’s natural curiosity and intrinsic motivation to learn are protected when their reliance on adults is limited. There’s simply no space for helicopter adults in a classroom with so many children. Instead, children learn to look to each other or to find their own agency in solving problems, what Montessori called, “The Society by Cohesion.”

The materials, too, help to support the individualized development of each child. Because each lesson is self-correcting, learners need not wait for a teacher to “check their work,” or look to an adult to know whether they’ve mastered a concept. The ability to assess their own learning is fostered by the design of the materials. Meanwhile, their resilience to struggle through challenges also grows, as children work to make sure the box lid closes or to integrate the extra pieces left over while they’re first practicing new lessons. Adults are able to serve the role of facilitator instead of assessor, supporting children’s mastery of the material without devoted hours to checking their work. When materials require an adult’s expertise to “know if they got it right,” the group size necessarily has to be small enough for the adult to assess each child. Self-correcting materials mean that Montessori teachers spend most of their time observing individual children to make sure the materials available are precisely the ones they need and preparing the classrooms that best serve those needs, rather than allotting time every day to respond to children’s work as a human answer-key.

The three-hour work cycle, too, allows for a more individualized curriculum. Learners don’t have to segment their interest into predetermined content areas. They can read whenever they choose, not just during the fifty minutes or so allowed for “Reading” on a traditional classroom’s daily schedule. Extended time means children can spend as much time as they want working on the lessons that motivate them most, delving more deeply into content that’s challenging for them and having sufficient time to figure it out. The extended work cycle also allows teachers to offer lessons to multiple children over the course of a day. A shorter window of time would require fewer children, because the teacher would need to make sure each one had mastered the content she intended for that day before moving on.

None of this could happen without professionally-prepared teachers who know how to observe children, who know their materials well enough to know when to provide them, and who know children’s development well enough to make the connections between what they see and what they prepare. Understanding that the child must know how to learn and not just how to listen, Montessori teachers don’t choose a particular subject area to master; instead, they are generalists among all the areas of the curriculum, and focus their mastery on child development across the social, emotional, intellectual, academic and physical domains. Montessori teachers are not conduits of a prepackaged curriculum. Instead, they serve as scientists in the classroom. Their area of research is the individualized development of each child in the room, prepared for within a context of a larger understanding of children in general and developed to respond to the distinct development of each specific child.

While a Montessori classroom with twenty-four children and two adults in it may have a 12:1 ratio, in practice, they’re 1:1. Children are either working directly with a teacher, one at a time, or they are pursuing their own individual interests and meeting their own individual needs. A teacher’s attention isn’t given in 1/24 servings to each child, but in its entirety to one child at a time. As one teacher is focused without distraction on any one child, the other teacher is available as a resource to the rest of the classroom. The balance results in environments that serve larger groups of children with more individual attention than would be possible in a classroom in which we expected every child to be doing the same thing all day long. The systems of the Montessori classroom support the diversity of learning authentically expressed by individual children who are each unique contributors, no matter how many there are.

August 13, 2018
Catherine McTamaney