Tags
arts integration, biology, hands-on learning, Maria Montessori, montessori, Montessori education, photosynthesis, science, tableaux, upper elementary
Much 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.
A long line of children walked by the window, each carrying a board, following their teachers like ducklings. What were they doing?
Over the past few weeks, I have had the privilege of working with some fourth- and fifth-grade students to learn more about their mathematical thinking. It has been fun and informative. I am an “old dog” and resort to my “old tricks,” so hearing some of their approaches to solving a math problem was nothing short of enlightening. 
Since Wilmington Montessori School serves children as young as 12 months old, we have an opportunity to watch them grow in every way before they graduate from sixth grade and move on to middle school. The youngest children in the school are very attached to their teachers. They depend on the same faces greeting them each day, helping them with their work, and sending them off into the arms of their parents at the end of the day. However, once these children move on to the next level at age 3, they often are shy and quiet in greeting their former teachers. They may smile or say hello if prompted. They have moved on and are creating new relationships. By the time they graduate from sixth grade, they may only recall their toddler teacher because a photo or parent reminds them of that time spent in the classroom.
Throughout our lives, we have rites of passage that reflect movement from one stage to another. In our 
The purpose of this trip is to solidify the community. Children navigate the low ropes challenges, try their hand at archery and climb a rock wall. They help set up before meals and clean up the dining hall when the meal is complete. They make sure their cabin is clean before they leave, and they lug all of their own belongings to and from their cabins and bus – there are no bellhops at camp. The students must work together to achieve success, sometimes leading while other times taking a backseat and allowing others to lead. They cheer each other on as they try new things. 
I have had the great pleasure of working with a small group of students during the past few weeks. Our focus is on math, specifically fractions. I haven’t been in the classroom full time for a few years and, although I knew that children pretty much remain the same, I wondered how I would adjust to the “new ways of doing business.” I found some constants and some things that made my “work” a bit simpler. 
The Montessori Message 