The Montessori Message

The Montessori Message

Monthly Archives: October 2015

What is learning?

29 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Learning, Montessori Education, Wilmington Montessori School

≈ 1 Comment

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arts, arts integration, brain development, connections, curiosity, education, experiential learning, GCAP, Great Lessons, hands-on learning, Maria Montessori, montessori, Montessori education, pathways, tai chi

Great Lesson with Arts Integration
What do tai chi, an interpretive arts performance of the Big Bang, pumpkin picking, and a visit to the Permanent Mission of Cyprus to the United Nations have in common? On the surface nothing. In reality everything. Students at Wilmington Montessori School experienced all of these things in the past week. None of them are in the “official” school curriculum, yet each is vital to the education of the children at our school.

When Maria Montessori developed this method of educating children what she realized is that children learn by doing; the hands are the pathways to the brain. She also urged children to “go out” and explore their world; field trips are an essential component of a Montessori education. As children participate in these and so many more activities, they learn more about the world and how it works. They broaden their experiences and ask even more questions. Their curiosity and wonder are awakened; their love of learning continues to be sparked.

Education is not about a specific content or book or exercise. It is about questions, exploration and wonder. It is built each day through experiences in and outside of the classroom. It’s created from opportunities presented and shaped by the child and all who help to guide these experiences. And it never ends.

“Making”

22 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Wilmington Montessori School

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arts, code, engineering, hands-on learning, kindergarten, maker movement, maker space, maker studio, makerspace, mathematics, montessori, Montessori education, preschool, primary, science, STEAM, STEAM studio, stem, teachers as guides, technology, toddler, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

3-6 Maker Faires17What does it mean to “make” something? The maker movement encourages us to invent, design and tinker with things. At Wilmington Montessori School, our Maker (STEAM) Studios are hubs of activity. Children are learning about their brains and how they work. Toddlers are working with new tools, learning to operate locks and lights, and creating ramps and tunnels for balls to move through. Primary students are creating music using a banana and electrodes. Others are writing code and giving directions to a robot, watching it move haltingly across the floor. They are hubs of activity. Ideas are being explored, mistakes are made, experiments occur (intentionally and not), and learning is happening.

As children participate in their learning, there must be time to think and follow their own ideas. They are encouraged to try new things or do familiar things in different ways. They are privy to others’ ideas, asking questions to build on their own. Our Maker Studios are extensions of our classrooms. The same Montessori principles that apply to the classroom apply here. Children are given the opportunity to design and create their own learning, guided by an adult who observes and offers just what is needed at the right time.  

Purpose of Education

15 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Learning, making a difference, Montessori Education, Wilmington Montessori School

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21st-century, 21st-century skills, alumni, chris lehmann, cosmic education, education, first plane of development, global citizens, Maria Montessori, montessori, Montessori education, primary, to educate the human potential, toddler, wonder

GCAP Web 1Last week, I had the incredible opportunity to hear two speakers who shared ideas that cause me to reflect on the value and purpose of education today. There is inspiration in learning from others.

Chris Lehmann is the founding principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. He is a bundle of energy and dares us all to think more deeply about what we need from schools. He shared his “biggest” idea early in his presentation. He views the primary goal of education as creating citizens of the world, people capable of making informed decisions that benefit others. Where have we heard that before?

In To Educate the Human Potential, Maria Montessori says, “Children in the first plane of development (birth to 6 years old) have already absorbed the immediate environment and the restricted society they and their families have dealings with. You must try to give the child what he now longs for: the understanding of the world, how it functions and how it affects the life and behavior of humanity.”

The purpose of cosmic education, which she proposes is the task of the child in the second plane of development (6 to 12 years old), is to help us understand ourselves and relate to the world in which we live. We do this by learning about and understanding others; this prepares children for the future.

Schools, educators, parents and the general public worry about the skills being taught in schools. Public education began as a way to make sure that we had a literate populace. That continues to be the general goal of school today. However, it is not the primary goal. Our children have access to facts in more ways than ever before. They can learn and practice skills in so many ways that we could never have imagined. What they need is to learn to think, to wonder, to question, and to consider what has been done and what is possible. They need to understand facts that are presented and consider how they have evolved over time.

If, as Chris Lehmann and Maria Montessori propose, fostering engaged citizens to make responsible decisions for our world is the purpose of education we are well on our way at WMS.

39.803863 -75.482658

“Joyful Discovery of Self”

08 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Learning, Montessori Education, Teachers, Wilmington Montessori School

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Finland, joy, joyful discovery of self, lifelong learning, Maria Montessori, montessori, Montessori education, teachers, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

scienceisawesomeJust the other day I was sent this article about kindergarten in Finland with a note saying that it reminded the sender of Montessori education. I have read many articles about the Finnish education system and look to it as an example of what we can strive for in America’s education system. One of the most interesting things is that children are given ample opportunities to play and explore. They are acknowledged for who they are and presented with opportunities to learn in subtle ways that they can then hold onto and take further as their interest and ability allow. As children enter school learning is presented in playful and joyous ways. In fact, according to an old Finnish saying,”Those things you learn without joy you will forget easily.” Joy is an important aspect of learning in Finland.

At WMS our mission statement includes “the joyful discovery of self.” What we know and what we strive to do is engage children fully in learning and in making it their learning, not the teacher’s learning or the learning mandated by particular standards for a child of a particular age. We recognize that children come to us with various experiences and interests. We work to provide experiences that will allow them to learn with joy and to continue to ask questions and wonder what else there is to consider, grapple with and learn.

It is the space between activities that often leads to learning and gives one pause for thought. It is the time that is unscheduled and unplanned that gives our brains time to play with ideas. It is the Montessori three-hour work time that lays the foundation for learning – for Maria Montessori knew what others are coming to understand: Children are naturally born explorers who want to make sense of the world and will do so given an environment that is prepared for them and allows exploration and exposure to more than one teacher’s idea of learning. The materials, the prepared classrooms, the other students and ample time to explore provide the impetus to learn in a joyful manner. Joy is a critical component of learning if we want children to learn for life.

Montessori classrooms foster lifelong learners.

Arts Integration Enhances 9-12 Students’ Study of Animals

01 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Learning, Wilmington Montessori School

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arts, arts integration, national zoo, pathways, science, upper elementary, visual arts, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

9-12 classroom artAs you know, Wilmington Montessori School is embarking on integrating the arts more fully into our students’ learning experiences. This effort will take various forms and several years to fully accomplish. If you walk throughout the building today, at the end of the third week of school, you will notice lots of student work hanging in the hallways outside of the classrooms. Though some of this is art, it is not technically integration, which seeks the blending of content and skills between a given art form and another curricular subject. Continue reading →

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