The Montessori Message

The Montessori Message

Tag Archives: summer

What happens when school starts?

10 Tuesday Sep 2019

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Wilmington Montessori School

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after school, back to school, recess, social curriculum, summer, time

Heather Siple-Frst Day010
The carefree days of summer are behind us. Were they as carefree as we romanticize them to be? Summer means time – time spent outdoors, long stretches of time with “nothing” to do, time spent with siblings, neighbors and other kids with minimal adult intervention. Maybe you have memories of playing baseball on summer afternoons, hitting, missing, and throwing down the bat and heading home in a huff. Or perhaps you spent hours at the pool with your friends. Or maybe you lived in a more rural location and were able to amble through the woods, fighting imaginary villains, climbing trees and building forts – all without adult help.

Things change. And one of the things that has changed is the amount of unstructured time available to children. They are enrolled in programs after school, on weekends and sometimes in the summer months. If a child really wants to excel in a sport or interest, participating in it as part of a school program may not be enough. And everyone is expected to excel.

As school is starting, there are more and more articles appearing such as this one, focusing on the increasing levels of anxiety in our children. The upshot of this and much of the research about this topic points to the same things: “Kids need recess. They need longer lunches. They need free play, family time, meal time. They need less homework, fewer tests, a greater emphasis on social-emotional learning.” And all of these things that are stated as “needs” are things less and less available in our culture today, for many reasons. We know what children need – what they’ve always needed: time to dream, imagine, play, and enjoy the company of their friends and families – just like they always have. 

Summertime

27 Thursday Jun 2019

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Learning, Teachers

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learning, summer, summertime, teachers

sweet-summertime-image

Ahhh… summertime. We all anticipate the relaxing days that summer promises. With the end of another school year comes the promise of longer days to relax and engage in the activities we enjoy. Students and teachers alike create lists – on paper or in their minds – about how they will fill long stretch of days ahead. That may mean trying new things or enjoying the comfort of those pastimes we set aside until summer comes once again. 

Most educators spend part of their summers taking classes, planning lessons and generally continuing the work they do during the school year. Teachers may have a more relaxed pace to their days, but many spend some part of their summer “break” working on behalf of the students they serve. Learning doesn’t stop when the calendar turns to the month of June. Summer is the time to take a deep breath, hit pause, and continue to learn, create and grow in ways that time may not allow during the rest of the year. Here’s to another summer of learning!

What do you do to relax?

28 Thursday Jun 2018

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Learning

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relaxation, summer, thinking

Screen Shot 2018-06-28 at 7.54.33 PM.pngSummer is upon us. As quickly as it has arrived, it will be gone. In the meantime, most of us spend a part of our summer relaxing or enjoying time away from our daily routines. I have contemplated “what I do to relax.” When most of us think about relaxing or hobbies, we automatically go to things that demand less of us – no longer working non-stop to deliver a project or product, but instead kicking back and doing less. Lying on the beach or at the pool, reading, or strolling about in a new place are often included in the “relaxation recipe.”

During the past couple of years, I realized that one thing that actually relaxes me is thinking – not worrying or planning new projects or considering what has gone wrong or right, but simply spending time in thought. I used to think this was a negative. After all, when one relaxes, isn’t one supposed to clear their mind and keep it empty of thought? Isn’t that the beauty of a break from the daily grind? Perhaps it is for most. Not so for me. As I thought of this, I was reminded of the last few years of my father’s life. As he aged, his vision was not what it had been. He spent a lot of time “in his head” composing poems for his family. We would receive birthday, anniversary, graduation and other cards with poems, specific to our lives and the occasion. It was a delight. To relax, he wrote poetry in his head because he couldn’t necessarily do the reading and revision that was needed to do it on paper. The wonder of this is that he was not a writer nor a poet prior to these years. It relaxed and entertained him, and it delighted each person who was the recipient of his efforts.

So, as you do whatever it is you do to relax this summer, honor who you are and what you find to be relaxing. Only you know the recipe needed for you to unwind and enjoy some lazy days this summer.

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.

Summertime Fun

14 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Camp Montessori, Extended Day Programs, Wilmington Montessori School

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camp, camp montessori, summer, summer slump

Photo - Kids in the Woods
This week at our school’s summer camp, there are some old familiar faces. Some campers attend other local schools and visit us only in the summer. They spend time getting reacquainted with Wilmington Montessori School, the outdoors and each other. There are others who are with us most every season of the year. It is fun to watch them all come together, enjoying their time, recalling summers past and anticipating what they will do this year: how it will be the same and how it may be different.

Summer is a time for most of us to slow down, to look around and see what’s new, and to enjoy the familiar summer routine – a routine typically quite different from the school year. We hear so much about “summer slump” and losing the hard-fought skills that were acquired during the previous nine months of school that we sometimes forget what summer is all about. It is the time to relax a bit more, catch up with friends and explore. Summer for all of us is much like the camp experience for children. What were your summers like as a kid? What did you look forward to? As you continue to read with your children, play games and perhaps practice some math facts, I hope you find some fun and relaxation in the long days of summer.

Fact or Myth: Teachers Have Summers Off

14 Thursday Jul 2016

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Teachers, Wilmington Montessori School

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fact or myth, summer, teachers, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

SchoolsOut

There is a myth that has been perpetuated over time that teachers – or actually all people who work in schools – are “so lucky because they have the summers off.” It is a commonly held belief and one that even teachers’ families sometimes believe to be true. It is time to debunk that myth. It’s true that school years end; students leave on the last day gleefully anticipating the long free days of summer. It’s also true that there are no more classes and things quiet down inside the very classrooms that were bustling with activity a few days before. And it is true that many teachers leave for the summer, looking forward to more time with their families and more freedom in their schedules.

However, what is missed in this picture is that teachers and learners are always teachers and learners. The very teacher who kicks her heels up when she is ending another school year is the same person who is traveling with her family and collecting things to share with her class the next year, reading the book about how to be a better teacher, watching the TED Talk or other video that will support her own professional development or attending a workshop that will inform her teaching in the coming year. Yes, she’s off. Yes, she’s also working because that’s what teachers do. They are passionate about their work. They are teachers because they love learning, working with children and bringing new ideas and experiences to the children in their care.

Yes, many teachers don’t go to their workplace for two months over the summer. Teaching is not a job for most teachers I have known and worked with; it is who they are. They are always teachers, always learning. So this summer when you envy that teacher you may know of who appears to be off while you are continuing to get up and go to work each day know that she is using this time to rejuvenate, reflect and prepare for the school year ahead. It is time well spent.

Where’s Monty?

07 Thursday Jul 2016

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Wilmington Montessori School

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#wmsmonty, arts integration, community, construction, Elmwood Park, flat monty, kennedy center, meerkat, summer, teamwork, travel, washington DC, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

blog monty photoThis summer we have challenged our staff and elementary students to share a bit of their summer with us. Monty the Meerkat, our school mascot, is traveling with us. So far he has been to professional development workshops at the Kennedy Center and a Washington Nationals baseball game. He has also been a part of the lobby construction and watched the workers as they installed our new gym floor. Monty has been spotted at Elmwood Park preparing to go on a zip line with a few of our students. Monty is on the move, and it’s only the beginning of July!

One of the beauties of Wilmington Montessori School is the fact that each person in our community has a voice. We can say what we think, play with ideas, accept or reject them and move on. The idea of Monty spending his summer with us in different locales was brought to us by a long-time member of our community. She thought it would be fun. The next thing you knew, Monty was being created, distributed and introduced to us, and off he went for some summer fun. The way a community grows and thrives is that it allows space for thinking, reflecting and sharing. It is open…to ideas, people, differences in thinking and more. We are better together than apart. And that is how Monty is going places this summer. Thanks to this culture and ability to adapt, he will have the best summer of all of us!

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to get updates about Monty’s whereabouts. Want your own Flat Monty to join you on your summer adventures? Email Noel Dietrich, our director of communications, at noel_dietrich@wmsde.org.

 

Summer – A Time for Renewal

02 Thursday Jul 2015

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

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lifelong learning, staff, summer, teachers

Summer is a time that school children everywhere look forward to – a time to relax, play and take part in new experiences. The same can be said for the adults in our community.

This summer has begun with an increased feeling of freedom for many of us. It has also begun with opportunities to learn and grow. In the past three weeks, we have had more than 10 staff members attend a variety of professional development workshops. Of course, each workshop has a focus. We will learn skills that help us enhance our classroom community, refine our teaching practice, understand the benefits and challenges of independent school education, network with fellow Delawareans in the nonprofit sector and more. However, what the brochures and websites for these events doesn’t tell us is that we will be re-energized and reinvigorated as a result of attending. We will leave these workshops with ideas that came from talking to other participants. We will begin to wonder anew about how to accomplish our goals. We will sit back, take in the information, participate in the dialogue and reflect… on our school, ourselves, our past and our potential.

Summer is a time for renewal. It gives us the space to wonder and learn, to hit refresh, and move forward with energy and enthusiasm.

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Camp Montessori

29 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Camp Montessori, Extended Day Programs, Teachers, Wilmington Montessori School

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alumni, camp, camp montessori, leadership, staff, summer, teachers, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

11406322_882218155184772_2541703417757660321_o 11425105_882218055184782_1028187084652779400_oWilmington Montessori School is open all year long. Summer brings Camp Montessori, and camp brings familiar and not-so-familiar faces. Each summer we have the privilege of hosting returning campers and camp staff. We renew friendships and become reacquainted as we catch up on the past year’s happenings. One thing that distinguishes Camp Montessori is our returning alumni. Former students return as campers in seventh and eighth grades, but they also come back as Leaders-in-Training (LIT) and Assistant and Lead Camp Counselors. In fact, about 75 percent of our summer-only camp staff consists of WMS alumni/past students! This is truly an opportunity for their WMS experience to come full circle. We know how important a role school plays in creating the workers of the future. At Camp Montessori, we get to see it play out each day during the summer. It’s an opportunity for alumni to see their school in a different way and a chance for their former teachers to see them as an older grown-up version of the child they knew “back when.” Everything we do at WMS prepares children as life-long learners and contributors to their world. Camp Montessori is a natural next step in this process.

Graduation

11 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Wilmington Montessori School

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alumni, class of 2015, graduation, graduation speaker, growth mind, mcarthur grant, mindset, summer, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

WMS class of 2015The dust has settled; the children have finished another school year; the sixth-graders have graduated and are moving on to middle school. As we performed all of the tasks necessary to make graduation day and the last day of school meaningful celebrations that everyone will remember with fondness, we also are thinking of next year and all that it promises.

This year I had the pleasure of attending a few graduation ceremonies at WMS and other local schools. I’ve noticed a common thread among most of these speeches. It doesn’t matter if we are sending off sixth-graders, which is the case at WMS, high school or college seniors, graduate students or anyone else completing their education at some level, the messages are similar. Go forth, do your best, have some fun while you’re at it and be confident that you can accomplish that next hurdle, no matter what it is.

As I sat through a particularly engaging high school graduation I was interested in the speaker, a McArthur Grant recipient. Her message to the graduating seniors was one of encouraging passion, hard work and embracing the joy that comes from following one’s dreams. As she is a recent grant recipient, she also identified with the students before her, saying that she is at a new crossroads and she is uncertain about what is next and where it will lead. She wasn’t even sure as to how she received this honor. After all, she was simply doing what she loves and finds so interesting.

We are all in a state of graduating for we are not certain of what lies ahead. New experiences present themselves and we need to embrace them. It is that mindset that will lead us forward and allow us to grow. Though summer is a time of rest it is also a time to pursue those things that matter the most. For it is in the space between the work we do each day that creativity is born. May your summer be filled with time to relax, explore and wonder.

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