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28 Nov

It’s All Science

Christine Carrillo by Christine Carrillo | Montessori Blog
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“What is a scientist?…We give the name scientist to a man who has felt experiment to be a means guiding him to search out the deep truth in life, to lift a veil from its fascinating secrets…” -Maria Montessori

He was crying pretty hard. No, he was weeping. His face of was red and his eyes were swollen. He was angry, confused and overwhelmed. Despite the successful orientation just a few days earlier, it has not been easy to say goodbye to mom and dad and make the journey down the hallway to our classroom. In addition to the difficult separation, there was a bit of a language barrier. He spoke another language at home and was not yet fluent in English. I helped him wipe his tears, and took him gently by the hand. I showed him the cylinder blocks. He was immediately interested, although still hesitant. Using a friendly smile and gestures, I invited him to sit beside me as I began to work with the material.

As soon as I began to remove the cylinders from the block, his eyes lit up. He locked his eyes on mine and reached for the next cylinder, clearly showing me that he wanted to go for it. After I finished my presentation, he went right for it, tears forgotten and enthusiasm in full swing. I watched him for a long while, mesmerized, as I often am, at the draw, pull, enticement and attraction, as well as the calming quality of these beautiful materials in my environment.

I observed him as he mulled over the holes, working with purpose until finding the right one in which to gently slide the cylinder. He tried one cylinder in several of the holes before finding just the right fit. I could practically see the gears turning in his mind. Through trial and error, observation, testing and testing again, he was able to return each cylinder to its correct space. He sighed with contentment as he finished, and then started the process all over again.

Montessori materials allow the child to teach himself. Through trial and error, these didactic materials give feedback, this case both visual (he can see that it doesn’t fit) and mechanical (some cylinders just do not fit in some holes), which allow the child to work independently. The child in the prepared environment tests his hypothesis (this one goes here) again and again. He records data in his mind as to which cylinder goes where. He tests and retests. The child finds contentment in his exploration. He feels a calm sense of accomplishment when finished. He desires to repeat the process again from the beginning.

Maria Montessori, herself a scientist and a physician, created her pedagogy through following the interests of children and did not name the approach after herself. We call it “The Montessori Method”, but she called it “The Scientific Method” or “The Child’s Method.” Our approach to education is the only pedagogy based in science, and based on one woman’s dedication of over 50 years of research and practice to create a developmentally based approach to education that follows the child’s natural growth process.

In our classrooms, children teach themselves concepts through trial and error, using didactic materials. These didactic materials provide a child with a sense of purpose and are repetitive and calming. Children are unhurried and can practice, err, correct themselves and explore deeper at their own pace.

When I look around my classroom, I see twenty-seven scientists. They are making mistakes, making observations, testing and retesting, repeating, recording data and engaging in that process over and over again. Once they are confident with one material, they are likely to desire to work with another. This sense of calm, self- assuredness builds wonderful members of our community who are, in turn, a gift to our society because calm, confident, self-assured children become calm, confident, self-assured adults. In the words of Dr. Montessori, “The child is the maker of man.”

As for the little boy who was tearful on his first day, he has happily been working his way through many of the materials on the shelves, with a special love for the sensorial. He does not cry in the morning. Though he continues to be the strong, silent type, this morning he raced across the room to me with a grin, grabbed my hand and led me to the beautiful pink tower he had built. The little girl working next to him shared in his joy and said, “YOU DID IT!” And my heart sang with joy for him and gratitude for this wonderful scientific approach to education that allows children to become the best versions of themselves.

Filed Under: Montessori Blog Tagged With: calm, children, classroom, didactic, materials, montessori, science, scientist, sense, work

05 Dec

The Spiritual Life of Children: A December Story

Jennifer Rogers by Jennifer Rogers | Montessori Blog
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“We know how in well-led Montessori classes the children often have a remarkable susceptibility to holy and divine things. . . .we often find ourselves with unexpected revelations.” -Maria Montessori, God and the Child, 10

picture of girl watering a tree
©MariaMontessori.com

Sami had just finished reading the introduction to our Parts of the Frog booklet. Definition booklets are usually challenging for our five-year-old readers. Some of the vocabulary was new to Sami, but he sailed through the reading with ease. He paused once at the end of the first page, to comment and ask a question.

“This is really interesting,” Sami said. “I’d like to be a scientist when I grow up. Do you think I could be a scientist?” he asked.

“Of course I do.” It was a too-easy response from his teacher, but it was true and honest. “You are interested in the things scientists are interested in.”

“I think so too,” Sami said, thoughtful and sincere. “I don’t believe God would let a little boy like me want to be a scientist if I couldn’t really be one.”

Sami resumed his reading. I continued listening, balancing tears on my eyelids. There are layers of beauty, confidence, faith, and trust in Sami’s comments. I will remember his words, I thought, through the darkest days of December.

“God prods and transforms the adult through the child.” -Maria Montessori, God and the Child, 22

In the two years we have had together, Sami has learned to tie his shoes, add and subtract, and read. In these skills, I have guided him. He was a chronic worrier when we met. We have cultivated the calm confidence he now demonstrates. His comment reminded me, though, that I have learned as much as I have taught. Many of our best teachers would make similar comments, I think. We learn as much as we teach.

Several days after his first wonderings, Sami told one of his friends he thought he would be a scientist. “I want to learn about everything in the world,” he said. “I know I can’t learn everything, but I think I can try.”

Sami’s comments were simple but full expressions of his faith and his curiosity. They were also an absolutely ordinary part of his dialogue with his world. As he was reading about frogs, Sami was thinking about God. He assumes God cares about his learning. Sami’s God pays attention to the desires of a child. For Sami, God is strong and nurturing, present and loving, involved in the work of his hands and the life of his mind.

“We then see in the humble ability to love, which we sometimes look upon as weakness, the true measure of maturity. The means by which the child influences us—the respectful and trusting love – will then be our great power in the educational sphere.” -Maria Montessori, God and the Child, 49

Ours is not a parochial school. Sami is Hindu. His classmates are Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. Maria Montessori was a devout Catholic. Her writings on faith quote liberally from the Bible. She refers to specific moments in the life of Christ. Yet, in the classrooms that bear her name and the mark of her genius, expressions of faith from children of different traditions are noteworthy only because they are so normal. Children offer glimpses of their souls as they polish, scrub, read, and calculate.

In the long months of winter, especially when daylight is scarce, conversations with children can be treasures. Even people of great faith struggle as demands to spend time and money challenge our capacity to give. December days sometimes feel spiritually empty and dark.

But most days a healthy child like Sami looks up from work he loves and shares his faith in a way that is both brilliant and, for him, absolutely ordinary. Montessori often reminded adults to cooperate with the normal patterns of human development.

She also believed that “spiritual education is nothing if not simple cooperation with the grace of God” (God and the Child, 36).

Filed Under: Montessori Blog Tagged With: child, children, faith, god, maria, montessori, science, scientist, spirituality

18 Jun

Keep Learning Going All Summer – Ideas for Children Ages 9-12

John Snyder by John Snyder | Montessori Blog
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The Most Important Thing You Can Do To Get Smarter & Stronger

  • Whenever you feel like turning on the TV or playing computer games, first come get this list of ideas and pick something from it to do before you spend any time in front of a screen.  Then, if you still want to sit in front of a screen, set a timer for 30 minutes and make yourself turn off the electronics when the timer goes off.  Be sure to limit yourself to no more than one hour of combined screen time per day.
  • If you really want to get smarter and stronger, turn off the TV and computer for a month.  Yes, you can do it.  You won’t die.  I promise. After the initial shock, most people find they even like it.
  • If you do use the computer, use it as a tool for making yourself smarter and stronger:  write with it, do math with it, do art with it, or explore thte Enchanted Learning website with your mom or dad.  So far nobody has ever gotten smarter and stronger playing computer or video games, and you’re probably not going to be the first.
©MariaMontessori.com

Creative Arts / Construction

  • Knit, crochet, spin, weave, sew, quilt, hook rugs, embroider, tie-dye, beadwork, paint, sculpt.
  • Make pottery at a local clay studio.
  • Learn new art projects by reading in books or taking an art class.  Prepare an art project to teach to the class in the fall.
  • Take weaving classes at a local weaver.
  • Work with a knowledgeable adult to build a fence, a doghouse, a bike ramp, a bookcase, a bench, etc.
  • Find an adult who has a lot of tools and likes to build or repair things.  Learn the names of all the tools the adult has.  Learn to write the names as well as say them.  Learn what each tool is used for.
  • Learn photography – how to take a really good picture.
  • Learn how to operate a video camera.  Make your own movies.  Document a week in the life of your family using a camcorder or camera.  Write a paragraph about each family member and what they will be doing for the summer.  Mail the package to your grandparents or some other relative or friend who would like to receive the update.
  • Practice your musical instrument or learn new songs to sing.  If possible, take private music lessons on your musical instrument.
  • Learn a new song to teach the class in the fall.  Bring a copy of the words when you teach it to us.
  • Learn to dance.
  • Get a copy of Curve Stitching by Jon Millington and work your way from front to back.  You’ll be ready to invent your own curve stitching designs next year!
  • Visit one of the art museums in town.  Visit the gift shop after you’ve toured the museum.  Buy postcards of your favorite works, and try to copy them at home with colored pencils or watercolors.

Language / Words / Literature

  • Schedule a weekly trip to the public library.  Plan to spend at least an hour looking through books, looking up things in the catalog, reading magazines, etc.
  • Take regular trips to bookstores.  Make a list of all the good bookstores in town and try to visit each one at least once so you can learn what sorts of book each store offers.
  • Read books from your school’s reading list.  Keep a list of the books and the number of pages you read over the summer.
  • Consider joining a summer reading program at the public library.
  • Write a description of a friend, a friend’s house, a pet, a favorite place, a vacation spot, etc.
  • Interview your family and relatives.  Start a family newsletter.
  • Enter an essay, story, or poetry contest.  Submit your work to magazines that publish student work.
  • Practice telling stories.  At the library, look for books of folktales from around the world.  Pick a few to learn by heart.  Plan to tell them to us on the fall camping trip.
  • Find a newspaper article you want to read and discuss with your family.  Set aside a specific time and place for the discussion.
  • Have a family reading time.  Everybody reads whatever they want in the same room.  Start small:  perhaps for 15 minutes after dinner.  Gradually increase the time.
  • Have a read-aloud time.  One person could read while the others clean up from dinner or do some other simple task.  Family members take turns being the reader.
  • At the bookstore, look for books of crossword puzzles, anagrams, and other word games.  Keep a book of word puzzles in the car to work on whenever you are riding around.
  • Play great board games such as Scrabble, UpWord), Boggle, or Word Thief.
  • Write with your family.  Start a family journal.  In the journal, keep lists of things to do around the house, descriptions of special events such as hosting houseguests, notes about phone calls to family friends and relatives, anything you want to record from your everyday life.  See Peter Stillman’s book Families Writing for more ideas and inspiration.
  • Listen to books on tape while driving around on errands or on vacation.  Your public library and major bookstores are good places to borrow or buy books on tape.
  • Read and write poetry.  Memorize a poem a week.
  • Choose a story to practice reading aloud.  Practice the pronunciations of all the words.  Try giving each character a different voice when you read.  Try to use your voice to make the story more interesting to your audience.
  • Put on some calming music (Bach, Mozart, Satie, Gregorian chant are nice) and practice making the most beautiful cursive or italic letters you can.
  • Instead of phoning, write letters to your friends and relatives.  Try starting a round robin letter to your friends or relatives.  First, make up a list of 3 – 5 people and their addresses; put your name and address last on the list.  Write a letter to the first person on the list, and enclose a copy of the list of addresses.  The person you wrote to writes a letter and sends it, your original letter, and the list of addresses to the next person on the list, and so forth.  Eventually, all the letters will come back to you!
  • Write a review of a book you read or a movie you saw.  Tell the basic idea of the book or movie and what you liked and didn’t like about it.  What did the author do well?  What did they not do so well?
  • Learn to touch type (that is, type without looking at the keys or your fingers).  You might want to use a software package such as Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing.
  • If you want to practice spelling in a very structured way, check out the books at the Neuhaus Educational Center website.

Math / Numbers / Geometry

  • Comparison shopping:  figuring price per pound, calling various stores, etc.  When you shop at the grocery store, take along a pad and pencil; keep a running total of the cost of items you buy.  Check your answer against the cash register receipt you get when you pay for your items.
  • Read The Number Devil by H. M. Enzensberger.  This an especially good book for people who have not yet learned to love math, but those who have will enjoy the book, too.  Every Upper El student should read this book.
  • Keep statistics.  Graph when you go to bed, how many pages you read each day, how far you walk each day, how many ounces of water you drink per day, how often you have friends over, how long it takes you to eat breakfast, how many meters per day you swim, how fast you can jog around the block, how many multiplication facts you can do in a minute, etc.
  • Measure things around the house and calculate their surface area and volume.  Take trips to the park, etc., to measure things there.
  • Help with the family budget.  Record the family expenditures for a week.  Help your parents write the checks when they pay the bills (they’ll have to sign the checks).
  • Play good “thinking” games such as chess and go.  Learn how to notate chess games.  Learn to play chess by mail with your friends (that’s where you mail your moves back and forth on post cards or in letters).
  • Make up math problems for yourself to work.  Consider making a “Math Workout” for yourself once a week.  This will help keep your math skills strong and will allow you to spend your next school year on new, interesting math, instead of re-learning all the math you forgot over the summer!
  • Work on memorizing all your multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction facts, if you haven’t already done so.  Once you’ve mastered your math facts, work on speed.

Nature / Plants / Animals

  • Check out your area’s nature summer camps.
  • Whenever you travel to a new city, visit the local zoo and aquarium or the local natural history museum.
  • Before you travel to another part of the country or to a different country, read about the biomes there.  Read about their climate, animals, and plants.  While you’re there, look for things you read about.
  • Go camping with your family or friends.
  • Learn more about nutrition.  Visit The Harvard School of Public Health website to learn about the Harvard Food Pyramid.  For a week, keep a journal of what you eat.  See if you are in balance with the Harvard Food Pyramid.  Pick one or two things you can do to start moving your diet closer to the recommendations of the pyramid.
  • Make a botany map of your back yard.  Place each plant in its place on the map and label each plant with its common name and scientific name. (You might need some help from a library book or a knowledgeable adult gardener.)
  • Go berry picking on a local farm.

History / Geography

  • Help plan the family vacation.  Research the landmarks, geography, culture, special attractions of the area you’ll be visiting.  Map out the route you’ll take. 
  • Make a map of your house and gardens.  Make a detailed map of your room.
  • Study world religions.  Pick a religion you don’t know much about.  Read about it in books you check out from the public library.  See if you can find a local group that practices that religion.  Plan with your parents to visit their church, temple, synagogue, mosque, or other place of worship.  Good religions to start with:  Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant), Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Unitarianism.
  • Pick a continent you’d like to know more about.  (If you can’t decide, work on Europe first.)  Using an atlas, make flash cards of all the countries in that continent.  On one side of the card have the country’s name; on the other side, the country’s capitol city.  Memorize all the countries and capitols in that continent, then do the same for another continent. 
  • Interview someone from another country.  Ask them about their country’s history, landmarks, cities, agriculture, industries, religions, festivals, form of government, famous scientists, famous artists and writers, etc.  Ask them for permission to tape the interview.  From the tape, makes notes.  From the notes, write a summary of what you learned about the person’s country.

Science

  • Check out the astronomy programs in your area.
  • At the library, look through the children’s books on science.  Choose one that has experiments you can do at home, such as the books by Janice Van Cleave.  Try some experiments at home with your parents.
  • Consider the books and kits available from Terrific Science
  • Try some of the activities from the San Francisco Exploratorium website.
  • Explore the Life on Earth site at the University of California – Berkeley. This is pretty advanced stuff, but, boy, is it cool!

Sports / Exercise

  • Play on a team.  Practice a sport or physical skill.
  • Hiking, biking, skating, swimming, walking, caving, climbing, canoeing, snorkeling, running, gymnastics, basketball.
  • Spend as much time outdoors as possible.  If your body gets used to staying indoors in the air conditioning all the time, you will be at risk for heat stroke if you do need to do something physical outdoors.
  • Work on developing the habit of drinking enough water each day.  To find the minimum amount of water your body needs to avoid dehydration, use the following formula:  (your body weight in pounds ÷ 10) ´ 2 = minimum ounces of water you need each day.  You’ll need to drink more than that if you are exercising in the heat.
  • Download a free book of cooperative games at The Freechild Project .  Try these with your friends.
  • Check out the rock climbing at a local fitness center or elsewhere.
  • Go canoeing or kayaking on a local lake.
  • Check out activities sponsored by your local nature center:  caving, canoeing, rock climbing, etc.
  • Learn to skate at a nearby skating rink.

Community Service / Activism

  • Keep a scrapbook of newspaper articles on issues you care about in the community or world.  Write letters to elected officials (congresspersons, senators, the President, city councilors, etc.) expressing your opinions about issues you’ve read about.
  • Participate in an environmental cleanup.  This might be as simple as going to the park with your family or friends and filling up a big trash bag with all the trash you can pick up.  Save recyclable bottles and plastic in a separate bag to recycle later.
  • Help younger children learn to do something they want to do.
  • Visit an elder.  Look for opportunities to assist the elderly.  Some children call out bingo at a retirement home every other week.
  • Volunteer at a local animal shelter or zoo.
  • Volunteer at Meals on Wheels.
  • Offer to help neighbors with pet sitting, picking up their newspaper when they’re out of town, etc.

Household Service

  • Help out more with the household chores since you have more time at home.  Learn to do some new things such as washing clothes, ironing, folding laundry, polishing furniture, vacuuming, mowing the lawn (if your parents agree).  Work alongside another family member whenever possible.
  • Cook together with your family.  It can be more fun than cooking by yourself.
  • Be responsible for one or two meals per week.  Plan the menu with your parent(s).  Make a shopping list.  Do the shopping.  Cook the meal with your parent(s).  Try not to use a microwave oven when you cook!
  • If you do not know how to make your own lunch, use this summer as the time to learn.  Ask your mom or dad to help you learn.  Learn how to make one complete, nutritionally balanced lunch.  Then start learning how to make other foods to substitute for the foods you know how to prepare.  No Upper Elementary student should have to rely on parents to make lunches.

Filed Under: Montessori Blog Tagged With: activism, animals, chores, community service, creative, geography, geometry, History, language, learning, literature, math, montessori, nature, science, smarter, sports, stronger, summer

22 Oct

Weaving the Cosmos

Seth Webb by Seth Webb | Montessori Blog
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Imagine a time when our ancestors’ senses were so finely tuned as to keep them constantly alert and watchful and curious; a time when our fossil human relatives had not the distractions or conveniences of today’s world, but lived in and for the moment.

The knowledge housed in their active animal minds was not, could not, be built from experiences held in isolation. Their very survival demanded that they were constantly learning, always making connections between their natural surroundings, their companions, and the rhythms of their own bodies. For these early humans, they were both of the universe and truly in it – that is, living parts of the flowing and changing cosmos.

And then, somewhere in our recent history, these closest of ancient human ancestors developed the intellect and desire to learn more beyond what was necessary to satisfy their most immediate physical needs.

They became conscious.

When a being can cogently reflect upon its own thinking, really exciting things begin to happen: questions emerge, experiments occur, and a sense of place and purpose develop.

Now, some two hundred thousand years or so since our own species first appeared on the planet, we have the chance to purposefully rekindle that ancient way of interacting with the world in our schools.

In how and what we teach, we can share with children their part in – and connection to -the cosmos.

Maria Montessori believed that to teach children was to share with them the fullness of the universe; that it is not solely separate chunks existing independently. Though we are most often housed in linearly designed buildings, we do not have to think, create or teach in boxes. It does not preclude us from creating deeply resonant learning experiences for our students. If anything, such containers highlight the importance of reaching way back, to a way of knowing that involves making connections, and seeing the whole from its parts. Montessori’s approach to teaching, and the integrated curriculum she promoted, is designed to allow for such interplay.

 

That we guide children through truly separate content is an illusion.

 Each strand is connected to the others.

The cultural lessons help to frame and connect the classroom community.

Science…

 …as described by Math and Geometry.

Social Studies…

…as described by Language Arts.

Children recognize the connections between subject areas as avenues are opened to them that allow for self-directed inquiry and exploration, as well as opportunities to demonstrate understanding. Knowledge gained from one set of experiences serves as an asset as the children move on to explore parallel studies. Deliberate exposure to distinguishable works, connected to greater themes, deepens the children’s integration of this holistic perspective.

Juxtaposing content awakens new meanings.

We can create an intentional interplay between the disciplines. We can build authentic learning environments through demonstrating the interconnectedness of it all, teachers and students alike living a thirst and quest for understanding.

 

 

Many strands…

…woven together…

taken as one.

Filed Under: Montessori Blog Tagged With: cosmos, geometry, language arts, maria, math, montessori, science, social studies, weaving

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