Tag Archives: montessori philosophy

Your Educational Journey

09 Thursday Aug 2018

Posted by in Learning, Montessori Education, Wilmington Montessori School

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As we prepare for yet another school year to begin, I find myself reflecting about what school is, and why schools are the way they are. Each year brings new opportunities and new challenges. Each year has a fresh veneer on it; a veneer of expectations and wonder, perhaps mixed with some uncertainty and fear.

We all know something about school because we live in a literate society where we have the opportunity to be educated in the public or private sector. We have choices about school. We know about school. We went to school.

I challenge you to think about the school of your childhood and maybe even beyond. Think about what you learned. Reading? Check. Writing. Check. Math? Indeed. But what did you really learn? My guess is you learned to do what was asked of you in the most efficient way for the adults. My guess is you learned reading, writing and math relatively easily if you didn’t have a learning disability and were a compliant student who could sit in a desk for extended periods of time. My guess is that you could either do school well or not. Continue reading →

Food, Architecture and Montessori Education

08 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by in Learning, Montessori Education, Teachers

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One of the last places one might expect to find an article about Alice Waters, the owner and chef at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., is in an issue of Architectural Digest. She may be best known for urging us to eat local and healthy foods, but she is also dedicated to education, helping children learn where their food comes from and how to prepare it. She is a Montessori teacher.

Alice WatersI was awakened around design when I went to France when I was 19. I was living in a culture that really cared about food in a big way. They valued how it was served in all aspects, in terms of what was on the plate, what that plate looked like, and what that napkin looked like, and what things were in the room that reinforced what was on the plate. I just absorbed that sense of beauty connected to food and the aliveness of food. I also see this as a Montessori teacher. Dr. Montessori really believed that the senses need to be educated, that they are the pathways into our minds, and so the idea of something looking right and being able to touch, to be able to smell, to be able to taste, to hear, to listen, these are all ways that we can reach people and we can awaken them. I had that real experience when I was in France, and then I thought about the restaurant in that way, using that subtlety of reaching people through aroma and through their actually touching the food, engaging them and sort of winning them over.

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Montessori and Structure

04 Thursday Jan 2018

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

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Math - Bead ChainMontessori education is unfamiliar to many. Some think they know what it means, but when the topic comes up, they often say that Montessori schools are loosely structured environments in which children can do whatever they like. The teachers are in the background, and kids move freely through the environment. Where is the truth in these statements?

Dr. Maria Montessori developed this innovative educational method by carefully observing children. She created materials that allow learning to occur through students’ use of their hands to manipulate materials in ways that demonstrate a certain concept, following the children’s path. What she did not do was allow children to do whatever they liked whenever they chose to do it. She did not have a loosely structured environment. Quite the contrary.

In order for children to be free to explore, the classroom environment must be organized, and a schedule must be firmly established. Children must understand the ways in which materials are used. They need to understand the expectations and know the rules. When I first encountered Montessori classrooms, I was amazed at how tightly run they were. I did not understand this before I saw them in action. I, too, was under the misconception of the loosely run environment.

Children feel safest when they know what to expect. Being safe and cared for are foundations for learning. Learning cannot take place in an environment that is disorganized and unpredictable. Though it may be difficult to view the environment as essential to learning, upon deeper reflection it is clear that, in order to build relationships, entertain new and challenging ideas, explore and risk failure, the structure has to be there to support and encourage each child to learn. Dr. Montessori made sure that those employing this educational method partnered with their surroundings to make it the best experience possible. Take a look around a Wilmington Montessori School classroom, and it’s easy to see this concept in action!

Going Out

10 Friday Nov 2017

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

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Photo - UN

Most students go on field trips. Some go on one or two trips each year, and others, like many Montessori school students, go on many. “Going out” is an important aspect of the Montessori curriculum. As adults – teachers and parents alike – we often enjoy these trips soaking in the sights, information and wonder of what each experience has to offer. Do children feel the same way? What is the reason for field trips? Many educators wonder about this very question. Some state that field trips are simply a change of scenery, offering no “real” learning. Others feel they are a distraction, and still others contend they open the eyes and ears of their students. What makes the difference?

In order to fully consider this question, one must return to the question of the purpose of education. Is the goal to convey the same designated body of knowledge to all students or to expose students to ideas, opening doors and provoking a sense of wonder? Field trips are no different. When children visit the fire department or the orchard, the goal is to show them a little slice of life, to help them understand the world beyond their school, home or neighborhood. They are learning about others, the work they do and the place that hold in their lives. Visiting a museum or attending a play allows them to experience culture in various formats and to look beyond their everyday world. The field trips they have today are the building blocks for future experiences throughout their lives.

Education, in the classroom or in the form of a field trip, has the higher purpose of showing the world to students. Each time they visit a new place or learn more about the world, they are building their understanding of their place in the world. They explore ways to contribute to the world and ask questions about it. Our goal is not to simply have students memorize a body of facts or to recall where the pumpkins are planted or the names of the paintings viewed. It is instead to help them see the world today, tomorrow, and many different days and times throughout their years in school and beyond.

Photo - Room 15

Montessori Education: An Example of What’s Possible

29 Thursday Jun 2017

Posted by in Montessori Education, Research

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Sir Ken Robinson jokes that when he goes to a dinner party and says he works in education, the conversation stops.

“Of course,” he says, “if you’re in education, you aren’t invited to dinner parties.”

When you say that you work in Montessori education, polite looks of curiosity often follow; not many people know about Maria Montessori and her educational methodology, which was developed more than a century ago. Although there are literally hundreds of Montessori schools throughout the world – and many of those are in your town – people remain puzzled by them. They may not look like the schools of their youth. Continue reading →

Seeking Peace

21 Thursday Jul 2016

Posted by in making a difference, Montessori Education, Wilmington Montessori School

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“Establishing lasting peace is the work of education.” – Maria Montessori

Too many times over the past few weeks and months we awakened to hear of instability and injustice in our world. We are shaken to our very core with stories of violence from Orlando, Chicago, Dallas, Paris, Nice, Turkey, Baton Rouge and more. As adults, we try to make sense of these situations that make no sense to us at all; we yearn for peace and understanding. And we often ask how we can get there. What can we do?

This weekend, I had the pleasure of listening to Thich Nhat Hanh in this podcast. It is not a new episode, but one that seems particularly relevant. Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist monk who works for peace throughout the world:

“Peace always begins with yourself as an individual, and as an individual you might help build a community of peace….And when the community of a few hundred people knows the practice of peace and brotherhood, and then you can become the refuge for many others who come to you and profit from the practice of peace and brotherhood. And they will join you, and the community gets larger all the time. And the practice of peace and brotherhood will be offered to many other people….”

Establishing peace is at the core of the Montessori philosophy. Cultural studies are central to each and every lesson in the Montessori curriculum. As we share stories of the universe, the coming of life and of humans to earth, and the development of language and mathematics, we are sharing the world with children. We are not only sharing the science and the history of how life began; we are also sharing our interconnectedness and recognizing what it is that binds us. We are establishing a community – a world community. For in a Montessori classroom, we quickly realize that we are more alike than different. We have the same fundamental human needs and depend on each other to survive and thrive.

As Thich Nhat Hahn states, “When you practice looking at people with the eyes of compassion, that kind of practice will become a good habit. And you are capable of looking at the people in such a way that you can see the suffering, the difficulties. And if you can see, then compassion will naturally flow from your heart.”

Teaching compassion and peace underlies all we do at Wilmington Montessori School.