The Montessori Message

The Montessori Message

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The Art and Science of Learning

13 Friday Dec 2019

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Uncategorized

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It’s the time of year that begs us to follow traditions. One of the things I do every year is make toffee. Family and friends look forward to it, so I keep doing it. Two years ago, my candy thermometer broke. And I forgot about it – until it was time to make the toffee last year – and again this year. But, I made the toffee anyway. If you know anything about making any kind of candy, you know that temperature matters. Last year I decided I would try to “remember” the consistency, color and smell of the finished product. And it worked.

If you are a baker, cook or candy maker who values the precision in cooking, this is might drive you crazy. Guessing when the butter, sugar and water reach the right temperature? Though cooking is based in science, there is an art to it as well. There is a “sense” when things are going well and when they’re not.

The same is true with teaching and learning. There is a science to instruction. There is science behind how we learn and how the brain responds to the stimuli provided in certain ways. There is lots of research on the best ways to teach various subjects, how to help students store facts in long-term memory and how to provide enough variety in instructional practices to address most learners’ needs. Much of this is addressed in teacher training programs, and some in additional professional development. It is interesting and continues to evolve as our methods of discovering just how learning takes place become more sophisticated. It is crucial for the basis of understanding learning.

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Dreams

14 Thursday Nov 2019

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Uncategorized

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dreams, famous, naomi shihab nye, possibilities, schools

Famous - Naomi Shihab Nye

No one dreams like children. They are freer than adults and dare to dream big, not allowing obstacles to inhibit their desires. Ask children what they want to do or be when they grow up and you hear things that adults don’t dare to say out loud – actors, professional athletes, presidents, astrophysicists, princesses and dragon slayers. The world and all of its opportunities are there for the taking.

How do schools keep dreams alive? What do they need to do to create both a literate populace and promote these dreams? Realistically, we know that most of the children we teach will not become famous athletes, actors or presidents. However, they will be famous to someone or something. Following their dreams will ensure fame in an arena that they may not yet be able to identify or articulate. Adults who work with children of any age, and parents of children can best identify with the last line of “Famous” by Naomi Shihab Nye:

I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous, or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular, but because it never forgot what it could do.

Educators and schools have the obligation to remind children of what is possible, what they are capable of and to help them “never forget what they can do.” That, above all else, is the way schools can support children as they grow into capable and educated adults. The dreams are theirs, not ours.

The Meaning of Numbers

19 Thursday Sep 2019

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Uncategorized

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math, numbers, palindrome, palindrome week

nullToday officially ends the palindrome days of 2019. Nothing set my mind soaring like hearing that the dates from 9/10/19 through 9/19/19 are all palindromes – numbers that are the same when written backward and forward. I love this! As we finish out these days of the palindrome, I have more questions that answers. When will this occur again? How often does it happen? Google helped me learn some of the answers and left some for me to continue to ponder. One thing was clear – the format one uses for dates drives the answer to the question being asked.

For some reason, numbers fascinate, inspire and soothe me. They are interesting and cause me to think beyond whatever fact they are describing. Recently I worked on a big project that required lots of data crunching. As our team crunched away, we asked more and more questions. We were working hard to make sure the numbers were telling the story that they appeared to be telling. It’s easy to find a numerical answer to a problem. It’s more difficult to make sure that the number being put forth is truly describing the situation clearly and accurately.

As palindrome week comes to an end, consider the patterns that are present every day. What do you notice? How are numbers influencing your thinking? What story can they tell?

Where in the world?

05 Thursday Apr 2018

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Uncategorized

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tile-tours-video-10-commitments

This year, travel guru Rick Steves was one of the keynote speakers at the American Montessori Society’s annual conference in Denver. I entered the room thinking this was going to be a litany of his travel ideas including the best things to pack for a trip abroad; my expectations were quite low. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Yes, he began by sharing how he came to love travel and what his trips entail. However, he moved far from that topic, sharing insights about why travel is important. He regaled us with personal experiences in Europe, Asia and Africa. He has been to many countries throughout the world and has positive stories about each.   Continue reading →

Photo-what???

25 Thursday Jan 2018

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

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arts integration, biology, hands-on learning, Maria Montessori, montessori, Montessori education, photosynthesis, science, tableaux, upper elementary

Photosynthesis 9-12Much of what we learn in school is memorized, tested and forgotten. Dr. Maria Montessori believed that children must experience learning through multiple senses; sensory experiences are crucial in the earliest years of development. She developed materials that you will find in most Montessori schools. These materials allow children to explore a concept through their hands, their eyes and language. They provide more than one pathway to learning.

Experiencing learning in a variety of ways provides more opportunity for learning and retaining information. Just about all of us learned about photosynthesis in science class. Some of us probably learned it more than once. Yet, if asked explain the process, could we do it?

As a school that focuses on integrating the arts AND Montessori education, Wilmington Montessori School’s Upper Elementary students had a tremendous opportunity to learn more about photosynthesis. They not only read about it and watched a movie about it; they also actually became photosynthesis. Students collaborated to demonstrate the parts of a plant (root, stem, leaf, flower) and the process of photosynthesis.

When learning about this process again in a higher level of biology in high school, do you think they’ll remember what they read or what they did? Will they know that a certain child represented the roots while another was the sun? This is learning that will last. This is how the arts impact learning. This is Montessori education at its best.

Stories

27 Thursday Jul 2017

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Uncategorized

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family, rudyard kipling, stories, story-telling, storytelling, summer

rudyard kiplingStories. They are part and parcel of all of our lives. If we are lucky, we begin our lives with stories being read to us from a very young age. The books of our youth are often worn out before we tire of them. Children never tire of hearing a favorite book or story. Stories teach us the rhythm of words, the joy of surprise and the comfort of resolution. Our family stories may not be written in a book, though are shared from generation to generation. They too teach us the elements of a good story and are sometimes embellished, though rarely forgotten.

Summers are often full of friends and family. As your family gets together with those who share some of its history, what stories will be shared? Are there new ones that will have their infancy as a result of some activity or gathering that is happening right now? How will you help your children craft the story and, ultimately, the memory that will accompany them for years to come? Ask the elders in your circle of friends and family to share more of their stories. It is the gift of a lifetime and history in the making.

Graduation

01 Thursday Jun 2017

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

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graduation, graduation speaker, graduation speeches

graduation whoopi

June is graduation month. Schools – from kindergarten to universities – await this special day. Families and friends celebrate as accomplishments are shared and futures are contemplated. Though it is a time for endings and hard work, it is truly a time to look forward to all that lies ahead. Graduation day is typically a day where congratulatory wishes are balanced with warnings of what is to come. And each year, graduation speeches are shared. Enjoy speeches from the past that continue to be relevant today. And congratulations to those of you who are graduating. Your hard work has paid off and it is now time for the next step in your journey.

Play

20 Thursday Apr 2017

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Uncategorized

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null

Play. Seems like a simple concept. We’ve all done it, and if we’re lucky, even as adults, our lives still include some play. I was reminded of its importance when a local school board passed a resolution about play, stating:

X School District believes that ample time for student-driven, unstructured play must be included among the essential learning experiences in the education of our students. Beyond physical activity, these experiences include imaginative play, creative/constructive play, and games with rules. Student engagement in undirected, freely chosen activities is an essential component of healthy human development as well as a necessity for social/emotional, physical, and cognitive growth of children.

Kudos to this school district for recognizing what we all know: Play, downtime and relaxed/unstructured time are essential for humans. Play allows children to figure out things on their own terms, without a lot of adult intervention and rules. Play frees a child’s spirit. It allows children to practice what they are learning, to try out new ideas; it encourages creativity, curiosity and problem-solving. As Albert Einstein said, “Play is the highest form of research.”

Now is a great time to get outside, conduct some of that research, and play to your heart’s content.

Do you know how to have fun?

07 Thursday Apr 2016

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Uncategorized

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Tags

easter egg hunt, family, fun, play, spring, tradition

Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.

–  Stuart Brown, MD

easter-egg-hunt

 

Last week, my family celebrated Easter. Although my children are now “grown ups,” it is a holiday we look forward to with great anticipation each year.

Years ago, we began the tradition of having an egg hunt with friends, and we continue that tradition to this very day. Now, however, there is no one under 25 in the hunt, and some of the participants are well into their 30s! Some friends come just for the hunt and egg dyeing. They gather around the kitchen table, create beautifully dyed eggs, and vote on who created the best egg this year. Then it’s outside for the hunt! The hunt ends when they get tired (20-somethings wear out fairly quickly) and someone finds the GOLDEN EGG. Continue reading →

Progress

11 Thursday Feb 2016

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

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assessment, child development, individualized learning, montessori, Montessori education, parents, progress report, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

ProgressAt Wilmington Montessori School, we have just sent out a new progress report and are in the process of conducting conferences with parents. As we worked to help parents understand the new format of the reports and think about the reasons for including each element on the report, I have been thinking about progress. Now, you may be nothing like me in this way, but in my life I have progressed and regressed many, many times – probably more times than I would like to consider. Interestingly, as we observe children and their growth, we look for and yearn for steady progress with few, if any, bumps along the way. Is this realistic?

Children grow in predictable ways. We know they generally triple their weight in the first year of their lives. They walk between 9 and 15 months of age. And, they begin to talk sometime before they are 2 years old. There are exceptions and there are children who follow these trajectories like clockwork. The same is true for their learning.

Each child in our school is unique, although they are all children of a certain age and are predictably learning in their own unpredictable ways. We recognize the standard patterns of growth and development as well as those that may be a bit less typical. We pride ourselves on being able to match lessons to the students’ needs; we don’t give lessons just to meet curricular or teacher needs. We very much want all of our students to learn at the pace that suits them best and to learn what they are ready to learn when they are ready to learn. Just as some of us run faster than others, we learn things at different rates.

Learning is a recursive process. Progress will be made in fits and starts. The way to ensure that children will want to learn more and will find the wonder in learning is to be keenly aware of who they are and how they learn, then wait for the moment to dangle the carrot that entices them to go further than we might have imagined. They most definitely won’t always progress in a straight line and they will have bumps along the way, but they, and you, will be glad they had the opportunity to do it their way with the appropriate support, opportunities and encouragement.

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