The Montessori Message

The Montessori Message

Monthly Archives: June 2016

Peace Education

30 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by Lisa Lalama in making a difference, Montessori Education, Parenting

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education, Fred Rogers, Maria Montessori, montessori, Montessori education, Mr Rogers, orlando shootings, peace, peace education, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

Peace Day 2015 - 29“Education is the best weapon for peace.”
– 
Maria Montessori

 

As we continue to hear more about the shootings in Orlando and other acts of violence in our world, we question how this is possible and why it happened. We also struggle with how to talk to children about such atrocities. Many parents work hard to shield their children from these violent events. Sometimes, despite the best intentions, they learn about them anyway. This week I was reminded of the quote from Fred Rogers, of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of “disaster,” I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.

This shifts the focus from the aggressor or attacker to the fact that people are helpers. We want to help. We want to do something meaningful to contribute to those who are suffering.  We yearn for peace. A strong tenet of Montessori education is the peace curriculum. It must be taught each day if children are to grow into adults who promote peace and continue to care for our world and each other.

Perspective Taking

23 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Wilmington Montessori School

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change, construction, perspective, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School, world view

Blog - ElephantThere have been several occasions over the past few days to consider perspective. Construction is occurring at WMS. Walls have been taken down, doorways moved and entrances have been shifted. Things are changing and change can be scary…or interesting. As someone was overheard saying, “Things look so open. It is going to be great.” The same is true for moving our front entrance temporarily. “Where do I go?” Conversely, “Dad, I know where to go. Follow me,” was overheard as a 4-year-old led his father through the maze that constitutes our summer entrance. Perspective.

How do you look at things? How do you see what is presented? How does your perspective impact what you see and the reception that you give a new or different event or presentation? How does your view of the world impact the world? Does it look open and full of possibilities? Or are you uncertain about which way to go?

Endings and Beginnings

16 Thursday Jun 2016

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

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alumni, education, graduation, journey, montessori, moving on, thank you, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

Graduation 3.JPGGraduation day has passed. Speeches were given, hands were shaken and accomplishments celebrated. No matter the age, graduation is a time of reflection, a time to look forward and back. At WMS, we celebrated the graduation of the sixth-graders. Tears flowed freely; smiles beamed broadly. The same children who couldn’t wait to be free and leave school, moving on to larger and potentially greener pastures were also sobbing inconsolably. At the same time I attended my niece’s high-school graduation. She loved her high-school experience, participating in every event she could from sports, to forensics, to band. She embraced the experience, and…she’s happy to be moving on. And, a cousin’s child graduated from a Montessori preschool in North Carolina, moving on to first grade next year in a different school. He’s ready to move on to new adventures, though he has no idea what that really means.

Graduation is bittersweet. The very things a graduating students can’t wait to escape are those they remember fondly. The teacher who was “mean” or “not cool” gets kinder and cooler once a student graduates. As you know if you’ve ever left a place or experience you’ve come to outgrow  – whether a school, a job or a group of another kind – it’s nice to move on and sad at the same time. It’s another stage in one’s life, which is met with discomfort and excitement, much as the leaving is met with sadness and expectation.

This time of year is a nice time to say thank you to those experiences you are moving from and look eagerly to those that await you. It’s time to recognize your growth and await the lessons you will learn as you move on. Whatever your next steps are, this is a time of year to take a moment and consider where you’ve been and what lies ahead. Enjoy the journey.

What is progress?

09 Thursday Jun 2016

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

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accomplishments, goals, progress, progress report, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

progresspuzzleJune brings the end of yet another school year. For some, it is the end of a preschool, elementary, high school or even college year. For others, it may mark the end of an era of each of those educational markers. For all, it brings with it the age-old process of documenting one’s progress. For younger students, a progress report is sent home when school ends, marking that student’s progress for the past year. It often contains comments as well as grades or check lists. For high school and college students, it typically contains number or letter grades. It is the sum of what they’ve accomplished in school for the past few months – not necessarily their progress. For younger students, it is often a summary of their challenges, as well as their accomplishments.

As I read many progress reports this school year, I paused to think. What does it mean to progress? By its very definition, progress means forward movement toward a higher goal. Somehow, though, when many parents, students and teachers review progress reports, they look for accomplishment or fulfillment of that goal – not progress. As children progress, they definitely make accomplishments. They learn many things, which are reflected on the reports. However, sometimes progress is incremental. Sometimes it is elusive. Sometimes one person’s progress is another’s end game. For example, I know someone who feels math is not her forte. However, she was able to move through the needed college math courses to reach the goal set for her degree. She progressed through them and accomplished her goal, although she may not be as accomplished as the student who consumed what was taught, asked for more and moved on to higher level math. Did she progress? Yes. Is she an accomplished mathematician? Not at all.

We each progress on our own timeline. Each learner is different, with different affinities as well as challenges. For some students, paying attention to a lesson for 10 minutes is progress, for in September they could manage only five. For others, reading a sentence is an accomplishment, while for others, reading a chapter book meets the mark. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that our progress is individual and incremental. I type quickly and run slowly and should have two different markers for each of those activities. The same is true of our children. They, and we, are works in progress. As we review yet another school year, relish the progress, delight in what has been done, and know that as they mark another year  – and then another – they will have many accomplishments in their progression of learning.

Frank Smith and the Book of Learning

02 Thursday Jun 2016

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

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education, hands-on learning, learning, Maria Montessori, montessori, Montessori education, teachers, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

In one of the blogs I routinely follow, I came across The Book of Learning and Forgetting by Frank Smith. Wow! His premise is that there are two views of learning: classic and official. The classic view of learning states:

We learn from people around us with whom we identify. We can’t help learning from them and we learn without knowing that we are learning…Just about all the important knowledge we have about our personal worlds, and the skills we have developed to navigate through these worlds, are a direct result of learning the classic way.

He acknowledges that learning is a social process that occurs naturally through collaborative activities, much as it is in a Montessori classroom. Learning is allowed to happen and it happens for each of us on a bit of a different timeline and path. We work together and learn from each other. It is how we acquire language, understand systems and, if we are lucky, how we learn in school.

Whereas the official view of learning purports:  

It is a theory that learning is work, and that anything that can be learned provided sufficient effort is expended and sufficient control enforced. The theory has gained supreme power in educational systems from kindergarten to university. It has become so pervasive that many people can’t imagine an alternative to it.

TIMG_2730he challenge with the official view of learning is that it encourages forgetting. It does not depend on the situation or the process. It simply states that if you work harder you can learn anything. It all depends on effort; if you don’t learn, it’s because you didn’t put forth the effort.

Just reading these two definitions alone is thought-provoking. How do you learn? When did you learn something others thought was incredibly challenging, but you managed to not only learn it but enjoy it? When did you “have to” learn something easy that just kept eluding you no matter how hard you tried? These are universal experiences. If we’re learning to learn and remember and use the information we’ve been taught, we must do it in the classic way. We need multiple ways for learning to occur. When I’m trying to recall something I’ve learned, I can visualize the information and perhaps recall the words or experience attached to the learning. I do not, however, memorize, which is an official link to learning. The things I’ve memorized for tests or other situations are soon forgotten unless they are used each and every day and in a variety of situations. The official way of learning doesn’t promote learning. It promotes immediate recall, if you are lucky.

Frank Smith’s book is yet another reason to pause and reflect on the learning that happens in a true Montessori classroom. Children are learning from everyone and everything in their environment. Dr. Montessori knew how to engage children in learning and to entice them to ask questions and want more. She knew that learning is a social process and that children must interact with the materials, the adults and each other. She understood the possibilities that existed in presenting the world to a child and then set out to do it. Dr. Montessori prompts us all to learn and to remember.

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