Tag Archives: Wilmington Montessori

Oh, what fun!

22 Thursday Feb 2018

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Heather Siple-writing museum-013.JPGSchools are interesting places. When I was in school, students remained many steps removed from the adults in the community. A distance was set by the adults, and it was not crossed. Not so today. Research shows time and again that building relationships between teachers, families and students is the best way to support learning.

Last week, I spent time in a number of classrooms. I raced children on a typing app, seeing who was the fastest typist. Phew! It was so much fun! Then I had the chance to work individually with a student, administering an assessment and sharing reading. I joined a current events discussion, listening to students’ ideas about the happenings in our world. Later that same day, I was invited to participate in a hands-on “museum” of writing. Children used various communication tools to write: a typewriter, feather pen and ink, small letter tiles, clay and stamps. They experienced the communication of yesterday and loved the experience. All of this happened, and it wasn’t even lunch time!

At Wilmington Montessori School, relationships are at our foundation. No matter the age of the students, they are building connections with each other and the adults in our community on a daily basis. These relationships are the foundation of what motivates students to learn more, encourage others and wonder about possibilities. What connections have you built today?

Keep Learning

25 Thursday May 2017

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Screen Shot 2017-05-25 at 10.54.26 AMAt Wilmington Montessori School, we have moved slowly but surely from mostly using Microsoft Word documents and Excel spreadsheets to using Google Docs and Sheets. Some embraced the move and did it quickly and rather painlessly. Others, not so much. Recently, I was asked how I learned to use Google Docs. My response was a simple one: “I made myself do it.” You see, if I were given a wishy-washy mandate to change from a familiar and comfortable and manageable system (for me) to one that I found time-consuming to work on and didn’t look the same or respond in the same way, I wouldn’t have done it. I would have elected to stay with the familiar. I knew the change was coming and made myself take the extra time to work in one system while not completely trusting it and also saving things in the one I knew. I doubled up for safety! But I did it.  

Making changes such as these is not easy. There will be questions, unfamiliar interfaces, mistakes and frustration. Help will be needed. It’s there for the asking. As we learn new things, whether by choice or mandate, others are there to help us along the way. There will always be new things to learn and others to guide us and answer seemingly simple questions. Take the leap. Embrace change. Keep learning. You’ll be ready for what happens next.

The Traditions that Unite Us

27 Thursday Apr 2017

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Last week, I was reminded of my family’s many traditions as we gathered to dye Easter eggs, hunt for hidden ones, and wish each other a “Happy Easter” while breaking cascarones on each others’ heads. We enjoyed brunch with extended family and friends. Some of these traditions have religious significance, arising from traditions in European countries long ago. Others are relatively new to our family, having learned of them when we visited San Antonio several years ago. Regardless, it is what we have come to expect each year when Easter weekend rolls around.

Children love traditions. Once we do something one way, it becomes an anticipated event. At Wilmington Montessori School, we have a birthday assembly each year to celebrate the school’s founding. We share a moment of silence and sing a song of peace each year on the U.N. International Day of Peace. Children stop at the front desk on the morning of their birthday to receive a ribbon and have “Happy Birthday” sung to them. They look forward to the bubbles on the first day of school and the graduation ceremony on the last day. These all have become traditions at our school. They are anticipated and adored. We keep them alive because they are an integral part of the life of the school.

In your family, you can name traditions that have been handed down to you from past generations. You have most likely begun many of your own. They unite us. They help us to appreciate each other and learn about our similarities and differences. Think about the traditions known to you and your family and those you might want to explore as your children grow. Cultural influences and traditions are an abundant source of learning, sharing and creating acceptance in our world.

Independence

30 Thursday Mar 2017

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If you are reading this blog, my guess is that you have gone to school. No matter where that school was located, or who your favorite and least favorite teachers were, my guess is also that the school you attended looked very much like the schools most children attend in 2017. Your classroom was most likely filled with desks, chalkboards or dry erase boards, books, pencils, notebooks and perhaps some art materials. There was probably one teacher who talked more than he or she listened, and even your enrichment classes were probably similar to the ones most schools offer today: physical education, music, art and foreign language. Why, you might ask, is this so? Do the cars we drove 20 or 30 years ago look and act in the same ways? Do our banks, stores and other businesses function as they did when you were a child? Chances are the answer is no.

Why is it so hard to create change in schools? Reading blog after blog and book after book, attending conferences, and learning from other educators leads me to understand it is the way of education. Change happens slowly – and it happens even more slowly in schools. You might be fortunate enough to have experienced a teacher or classroom that is at the cutting edge of what it means to create a vital teaching and learning environment. Typically, it takes decades for those changes to become what one might consider “best practice” in education and part of every child’s school experience. .

The advantage of an independent school (like Wilmington Montessori School) is that the changes we know need to happen in education are happening in classrooms on a daily basis. Independent schools are able to make changes more quickly. We are able to be more experimental, trying things, seeing if they work and incorporating change from one classroom to the next in a more responsive way than can occur in the public school system. Independent schools have thrived and continue to contribute to the education of children by doing just that.

We know the children in our schools. We understand them and work each day to build the experience those children will benefit from the most. The result is students and graduates who are themselves more independent. These young people are not only capable of upholding and exceeding the standards that are critical to ensure an educated populace; they are also able to think independently, synthesize information and effect change in our world.

Rites of Passage

29 Thursday Sep 2016

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south-mountain-mollyThroughout our lives, we have rites of passage that reflect movement from one stage to another. In our Upper Elementary classrooms, one of those milestones is the overnight trip that our students participate in each September. Each of their three years in the 9-12 Program, students travel to different locations to spend two days together outside the confines of Wilmington Montessori School. This year, the students set off for a camping experience at South Mountain YMCA Camp. They met the bus with their sleeping bags, luggage, flashlights and terrific excitement. It was time to leave their typical school days behind.

anand-rock-wallThe 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.

When this class returns from the trip, they share a common experience and wonderful memories. They have learned more about each other, how to work together and how to bring out the best in each other. They have formed a more cohesive group, which is the foundation of the work they will be doing this year as they support each other as learners and friends.

Why?

08 Thursday Sep 2016

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As another school year begins, one can’t help but think about why all of the people who work so hard to make schools places for children to grow and thrive do so. The work is challenging – the days often long. It is sometimes difficult to know if you have made a difference. Yet teachers, administrators and students everywhere eagerly anticipate the first day of school.

Years ago, I worked with women who did not have the opportunities our children have. They were marginalized due to a lack of choices and perhaps making some erroneous choices. Many of them lacked an education and did not graduate from high school. My coworkers and I worked to help them achieve that goal and move forward in their lives. This experience made me rethink school. What is the purpose of school? Why does it work so well for some and not others? What can be done to make a difference? Continue reading →

Seeking Peace

21 Thursday Jul 2016

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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.

Fact or Myth: Teachers Have Summers Off

14 Thursday Jul 2016

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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

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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.

 

Peace Education

30 Thursday Jun 2016

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Peace Day 2015 - 29“Education is the best weapon for peace.”
– Maria Montessori

 

As we continue to hear more about the shootings in Orlando and other acts of violence in our world, we question how this is possible and why it happened. We also struggle with how to talk to children about such atrocities. Many parents work hard to shield their children from these violent events. Sometimes, despite the best intentions, they learn about them anyway. This week I was reminded of the quote from Fred Rogers, of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of “disaster,” I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.

This shifts the focus from the aggressor or attacker to the fact that people are helpers. We want to help. We want to do something meaningful to contribute to those who are suffering.  We yearn for peace. A strong tenet of Montessori education is the peace curriculum. It must be taught each day if children are to grow into adults who promote peace and continue to care for our world and each other.