The Montessori Message

The Montessori Message

Tag Archives: questions

What do we need to know?

06 Thursday Apr 2017

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

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curiosity, education, learning, lifelong learning, montessori, questions, standards

What do students need to succeed in school and in life? That is a question that educators have struggled with since societies began offering education to its citizens. Most of us wouldn’t argue with the idea that we all need to read, write and know basic math skills. After that it gets a bit muddier. What content must be “covered” to ensure an educated populace?

If you take a moment to consider your own education, what you loved about it, what you absorbed at the time, and what you quickly forgot and relearned later in life, you will begin to understand the limitations of a singular attempt at becoming an educated person. We have all learned a body of facts about history, geography, varying sciences and more. How many of those facts do you recall? Of those you remember, why do you suppose they are easily recalled? If you happen to have loved learning about Greek mythology as a child, chances are you held onto that information and have added to it throughout your life. If you were not interested in it, the opposite may have occurred; you remembered what was needed for a report or a test, forgot most of it and can perhaps pull up one or two facts years later.

There are national standards for education in all disciplines. Schools and educators throughout our country use those standards to determine what to teach and at what age or grade they should be included in the curriculum. What standards don’t address is how to ignite the interest, curiosity and passion of the children who are the intended learners. Education is much more than sharing facts. Attending school means so much more than being presented information. It is the place where we are inspired by ideas, current and past, by questions that ignite a curiosity and passion to seek answers, and by educators who are learners themselves. It’s imperative that those who call themselves teachers continue to be learners. None of us will ever learn all that is to be learned. Each of us has the capacity to continue to seek knowledge, to ask questions and to ignite curiosity in ourselves and others. Learning for life is preparation for the future and is the best standard we can set for students in our schools.

Who are you?

05 Thursday May 2016

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

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Anita Foeman, culture, curiosity, DNA, family tree, genealogy, genes, genetics, genome, montessori, Montessori education, questions, science, TED Talk, TED Talks, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School, wonder

blog DNAYou might think of WMS as a small independent Montessori school. You might think that, because we end in sixth grade, our students don’t have access to the same breadth of knowledge of those schools that end in eighth or 12th grades. You might think we are only thinking of “little kid” concerns. You might be wrong. Continue reading →

The Whole and its Parts

21 Thursday Jan 2016

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

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cosmic education, curiosity, global citizens, Maria Montessori, montessori, Montessori education, questioning, questions, quote, teachers, wonder

Montessori quote - teacher universe
I was recently reminded of how important it is to know the “whole” and not simply its discrete parts. A fraction only makes sense when you know the whole. If offered a chance to participate in a 50-50 raffle and 10 people are putting in $1 each, many people would not join in because they can only win $4 more than they contributed. However, if 1,000 people are putting in $1, more may take a chance because they have the opportunity to win more money, even though the odds of them winning are actually lower.

The same is true in school. We live in an age when information inundates us; it is literally at our fingertips. How do we determine what children should know? How do we decide what to teach or how their time in school is structured? We could continue to do what schools did when we were young, and that is what most schools do. Or, we could look at the whole and work together with children to learn about the parts that make up that whole.

Maria Montessori said the teacher and the child must first learn to love and understand the universe. That seems like a daunting task, for the universe is enormous and multifaceted. However, learning about the universe and its enormity helps us begin to understand ourselves in context, or how we make up a part of the whole, for each of us is a critical part of the world in which we live.

It is wonderful to work alongside children who are looking at the world and realizing its vastness while simultaneously recognizing that children throughout the world are a part of the same world, a fractional part of the whole. They recognize the ways in which they are the same and embrace the differences working to fit all of it into the puzzle of the whole world. When children have the opportunity to ask questions, delve deeply into something that matters to them, manipulate ideas and wonder “what if,” they are learning. Through this discovery, they recognize their part and that they matter. One drop of water is a minuscule amount. Many drops taken together sustain life. Our children make up the whole that will create and form our future. Recognizing the importance of the whole world and not just their tiny corner matters.

21st-Century Skills (Part 5)

05 Thursday Feb 2015

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

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21st-century, 21st-century skills, curiosity, education, Maria Montessori, montessori, Montessori education, questioning, questions, research, teachers, understand by design, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

BenBiomeResearch Skills

One of the focuses of a 21st-century education is acquiring research skills. This is another skill upon which Dr. Maria Montessori built her educational philosophy – one that is evident in every classroom at WMS.

Our early childhood students are asking questions about forest animals, hibernation, prehistoric animals, rocks and minerals, and the peacemakers in our world. In the elementary classrooms, children are busy researching biomes, continents and birds in our woods. They are asking questions, finding answers, refining their questions and searching further. They are discovering the recursive nature of research. An answer is not always the end, but just the beginning. Continue reading →

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