As the beginning of this new schood year approaches I am charting the course of concepts to layout for the children. This is always an exciting time where I get to revisit old ways of presenting material and assess if there may be some fresh angles. Having just discovered how active the Montessori community is online, I feel the strength of the Movement behind me. Allow me an explaination...
Last fall I attended a Montessori conference called Following the Child into the 21 Century. I heard some outstanding speakers throughout the weekend! Reflecting over this past year I see how the conference set into motion a whole new open mindedness for my own journey in education. I have struggled with technology ever since elementary age when my father made the computer a household appliance back in the 80's. As I heard speaker after speaker reinforce the fundamental idea that we must follow the children into this age of change where technology, computers, and instant information; I began to accept that today's child is as familiar with this "stuff" as they are with the language that is spoken in their home. I began reflecting on Maria's writings of the amazing ability of a child to use his whole mind and each of his senses to aquire the ability to learn a language in such a short time. It hit me a few months later that if I was to continue my persuit of following the child I would have to learn this language of technology and embrace all that it has to offer. Beginning this blog is a huge step in learning many things!!
The conference hosted Dr. Steven Hughs, a child neuropsychologist who happens to be a Montessori dad. He spoke in detail about the way we Montessorians speak a different language that parents don't always connect with. So in my musings this summer about the Montessori method as Movement and how I would like to see this available to all children across the globe regardless of income in my life time I began to think about the new parents I will be recieving this fall. Parent Education has always been a challenge for our school. How do we get the parents to have the faith it takes to commit to Montessori as a way of life and not just a place to provide "early childhood development" until they can enter public school. I ran across a blog yesterday which lead me back to this book I picked up at the conference A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink. I believe this is a key to getting our parents to see the big picture of the long term benefits of Montessori. Times are changing. The souls who pass through our primary classrooms will be the leaders of tomorrow and their future will not be one of number crunching and statistics. The independence of practical life, the problem solving, empathy, and humor of mixed-age community life, the design and creativity of manipulating the sensorial materials, the symphony of each area of the classroom being tied together by a beautiful golden thread woven by a brave woman willing to follow the child over 100 years ago is where our future lies!!! So it is my goal to sow some seeds this year and turn parents on to this book and get thier hands messy in the classroom so they can experience for them selves what happens when their child is allowed a sacred place for their spiritual embryo to develop.
"The fashioning of the human personality is a secret work of 'incarnation'. This child is an emigma. All that we know is that he has the highest potentialities, but we do not know what he will be. He must 'become incarnate' with the help of his own will." Maria Montessori-
Secret of Childhood
Just one more thing... today my husband was showing me a new application on his silly I-phone for a fraction, percentages, and decimals game. I have not mastered how to use my hands to make this device work as it should (talk about control of error!) and I have always struggled with numbers, so I was in a small state of frustration. He gave me another lesson on how to hold the phone, I took a deep breath and tried again. When I had to convert the fractions in relationship to percentages and decimals guess what popped in my minds eye......
the fraction insets! The sharp contrast of the red and green helped me t
o visualize what part of the whole I was working with. Even as an adult the hand helps the memory and the mind.
Last fall I attended a Montessori conference called Following the Child into the 21 Century. I heard some outstanding speakers throughout the weekend! Reflecting over this past year I see how the conference set into motion a whole new open mindedness for my own journey in education. I have struggled with technology ever since elementary age when my father made the computer a household appliance back in the 80's. As I heard speaker after speaker reinforce the fundamental idea that we must follow the children into this age of change where technology, computers, and instant information; I began to accept that today's child is as familiar with this "stuff" as they are with the language that is spoken in their home. I began reflecting on Maria's writings of the amazing ability of a child to use his whole mind and each of his senses to aquire the ability to learn a language in such a short time. It hit me a few months later that if I was to continue my persuit of following the child I would have to learn this language of technology and embrace all that it has to offer. Beginning this blog is a huge step in learning many things!!
The conference hosted Dr. Steven Hughs, a child neuropsychologist who happens to be a Montessori dad. He spoke in detail about the way we Montessorians speak a different language that parents don't always connect with. So in my musings this summer about the Montessori method as Movement and how I would like to see this available to all children across the globe regardless of income in my life time I began to think about the new parents I will be recieving this fall. Parent Education has always been a challenge for our school. How do we get the parents to have the faith it takes to commit to Montessori as a way of life and not just a place to provide "early childhood development" until they can enter public school. I ran across a blog yesterday which lead me back to this book I picked up at the conference A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink. I believe this is a key to getting our parents to see the big picture of the long term benefits of Montessori. Times are changing. The souls who pass through our primary classrooms will be the leaders of tomorrow and their future will not be one of number crunching and statistics. The independence of practical life, the problem solving, empathy, and humor of mixed-age community life, the design and creativity of manipulating the sensorial materials, the symphony of each area of the classroom being tied together by a beautiful golden thread woven by a brave woman willing to follow the child over 100 years ago is where our future lies!!! So it is my goal to sow some seeds this year and turn parents on to this book and get thier hands messy in the classroom so they can experience for them selves what happens when their child is allowed a sacred place for their spiritual embryo to develop.
"The fashioning of the human personality is a secret work of 'incarnation'. This child is an emigma. All that we know is that he has the highest potentialities, but we do not know what he will be. He must 'become incarnate' with the help of his own will." Maria Montessori-
Secret of Childhood
Just one more thing... today my husband was showing me a new application on his silly I-phone for a fraction, percentages, and decimals game. I have not mastered how to use my hands to make this device work as it should (talk about control of error!) and I have always struggled with numbers, so I was in a small state of frustration. He gave me another lesson on how to hold the phone, I took a deep breath and tried again. When I had to convert the fractions in relationship to percentages and decimals guess what popped in my minds eye......
the fraction insets! The sharp contrast of the red and green helped me t
o visualize what part of the whole I was working with. Even as an adult the hand helps the memory and the mind.
