Montessori-Inspired Bedtime Stories

During my time as Head of Wilmington Montessori School, I’ve been happy to see Montessori education grow throughout the state of Delaware and the United States. At WMS, we’ve established the Center for Montessori Advancement to support this growth in the state of Delaware and beyond.

Despite the increasing accessibility and visibility of Montessori education, there are many people who simply don’t understand what it is and how it transforms children into creative, kind, open-minded and confident adults. A simple description can’t do it justice – one has to see it in action.

Trevor Eissler, creator of the popular Montessori Madness YouTube video, brings the essence of Montessori education to life in his new children’s book, 4,962,571.

JuneBooks.com describes 4,962,571 as “the story of a boy suddenly captivated by the idea of counting to a very large number. He sets a goal for himself, and through self-discipline, creativity, insight, and hard work, he...well, you will have to see whether he reaches it or not.”

The story demonstrates the Montessori goal of nurturing children’s natural curiosity and encouraging them to find answers through their own exploration – rather than simply asking an adult for the answer. In 4,952,571, the boy’s creativity and curiosity, as well as his joy in exploring the world around him, demonstrate Montessori learning at its best.



I encourage you to share this video or a copy of the book with friends who haven’t been introduced to Montessori education, as well as the children in your life, who will be inspired by the boy’s imagination and mathematical mind.  Visit the June Books website to see other books by Eissler, all written with the goal to “delight and inspire children, while introducing families to Montessori education.”

The best way to learn about Montessori education is to visit a Montessori classroom, and I hope this book will encourage families to do so. Eissler envisions a world in which Montessori education is the norm, and I also look forward to a day when high-quality Montessori education is accessible to all.

“One day we won’t call it Montessori school,” Eissler said. “We’ll just call it school.”

Facing the 21st Century Through Labs Without Walls

Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of attending an event at which Ellen Kullman, chairwoman and CEO of E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co, gave a powerful speech with some very clear messages.

As I sat listening, I was struck by many parallels to the world of education. When she speaks about DuPont, Ms. Kullman describes a company in transformation as it moves into its third century, noting that DuPont cannot continue to function as it did 50 years ago but must respond to the changing needs and problems of the world community. One such program – and one DuPont believes it has the scientific knowledge base to address – is the need to create an adequate world-wide food supply by the year 2050.

Kullman shared personal experiences with farmers and communities with scarce access to food in an October 13 press release. “I’ve walked through fields with farmers on four continents. I now understand many of the concerns they have and their hopes for the future for their families and communities,” Kullman said.

In order to meet this lofty challenge, Ms. Kullman knows that DuPont needs to work collaboratively with others throughout the global community. She describes “labs without walls,” where we learn from each other rather than existing in competitive isolation. Ms. Kullman emphasized the need for people to think creatively and innovatively as they use science to address world problems. Collaboration, a global perspective and use of science to solve important problems were the main themes throughout the address. Ms. Kollman described the importance of this collaboration: “At the end of the day, no one country, company, government or foundation can meet the global food security challenge alone ... Together, we can accomplish what no one can do alone.”

Find out how something as small as a seed can make an enormous change in the lives of farmers, their families and communities:

So, how does this parallel the educational world?

Clearly, just as DuPont cannot function as it did 50 years ago, neither can the schools that are preparing a new generation to do the work Ms. Kullman envisions. Research shows us that schools that foster and support global thinking, cooperation and innovation are child-centered schools encouraging risk-taking and new ideas – Montessori schools fit this description perfectly. More importantly, as Montessori teachers and parents, we need to serve as “labs without walls,” sharing what works in our schools with a broader community so that more children will be prepared to solve world problems – even world hunger.

Reading Aloud: A Ritual for Children of All Ages

As I watch my school prepare for its annual book fair next week, and I prepare to co-present a workshop on the importance of reading aloud in Montessori classrooms, I've wondered why my own nightly ritual of reading aloud to my (now teenage) sons stopped.

This summer, I read The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma. Alice writes of the Reading Promise made with her father when she was nine years old. This promise, to read every night for 100 days, became the Reading Streak ending at day 3,218 which was Alice’s first day in college. Once again, I wondered why I let the ritual of reading aloud to my children fade away.

The book clearly highlights the educational benefits of reading aloud with your child even into the teen years. However, it also brings to light something equally as profound; the importance of rituals in creating strong relationships with our children. Not only was Alice developing a deep personal relationship with her father, Jim Brozina; he was demonstrating his confidence in her by supporting her growing independence.

In the forward, Brozina writes,

“If a child sees something in a parent that that child aspires to, he or she will copy that parent and be content. If children feel that a parent is living a life that shows compassion and understanding, patience and love, that child will not have to reach a stage of rebellion against that parent... A parent who has proven time and again that the growth and happiness of his or her children is priority number one does not have to worry about where those children are heading in life. They will be sensitive and productive members of society for as long as they live. This story is by and about one such girl.”

Recommended reading:

• Learn more about Alice and start a streak of your own with your child at www.makeareadingpromise.com.
• Author James Patterson tells CNN.com "How to get your kid to be a fanatic reader."

Celebrating Peace Through Montessori Education

Today, many nations and schools around the world are celebrating the U.N. International Day of Peace. Maria Montessori believed that “establishing peace is the work of education.” With this in mind, Montessori schools around the world focus on helping adults and children alike to understand the interconnectedness of all people. I especially like this quote from Maria Montessori:

“We shall walk together on this path of life, for all things are part of the universe, and are connected with each other to form one whole unity.”

Each day at Wilmington Montessori School is an opportunity for the school community to experience the interconnectedness we have with each other.

Today, Jackson Politis, an 8-year-old who is my guest Head of School for the day, shared his thoughts about this with his peers at our school-wide Peace Assembly. Jackson said,

At Wilmington Montessori School, there are many ways that we are peaceful:

We help each other – especially the older children help the younger children. People can make friends easily here because we work together very well.
When we have problems we fix them using respectful words and not our actions. We help other people outside the school. We raise money and we collect shoes, coats, and canned food for others in our community.

In sixth grade, students do a project that helps people in another country. Last year, they did “Save the Rain” to help people have clean water. The sixth graders are planning now for their trip to the United Nations and their project this year.

As a part of our Peace Day celebration, each child and adult in the Wilmington Montessori School community creates chalk drawings representing our thoughts about peace as part of the Chalk4Peace project. In our all-school gathering, we are reminded about a special jar where each community member puts a paper crane to symbolize each person in our community as a whole.

Today was a very special day; however, in actuality, as Jackson pointed out, each day at WMS is peace day as we continue to celebrate our connections within both our local and global communities.

Montessori and School Reform

This past weekend Washington D.C. played host to the SOS-Save Our Schools march to the White House. Anthony Cody organized this grass-root effort to inspire change in current narrative surrounding public education reform. One of the key messages from the march is the importance of educational policy reform that moves away from test driven environments. Rather, the group is in support of creative learning environments where students are empowered to learn and teachers are empowered to un-lock each child’s potential. In short, less educational time spent on test preparation would allow for more in-depth study and essentially, higher quality education.

As Montessorians, we know that the quality educational model Cody and his supporters seek exist everyday in our Montessori schools and classrooms. The Montessori curriculum is not test-driven. Contrarily, it is individualized and allows students freedom of choice in a dynamic, energized and free-flowing classroom. One of the rally’s keynote speakers, actor Matt Damon, emphasized the important role imagination, empowerment, and love of learning played in his education and subsequent success. Montessorians easily and readily relate to the concept of empowering the individual learner by fostering independence, creativity, and a love of the process of learning.

Click the video below to see Matt Damon’s inspiring and appreciative speech praising the importance and value of creative and empowering teachers and learning environments…

Montessori Madness

Trevor Eissler, author of Montessori Madness, is a Montessori parent and child advocate. Eissler’s mission is obvious and straightforward. Through a variety of media, he introduces new families to the Montessori revolution in education.

Enjoy this 5 minute YouTube video on one parent's perspective of the core contrast between Montessori and conventional schools:

Also read Eissler’s Montessori Life interview at the following link:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4097/is_201007/ai_n54365035/?tag=mantle_skin;content

A Connected Childhood

"A 'connected childhood' is the most reliable key to success and happiness," observes Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., in Work & Family Life (January 2011). Hallowell was a recent speaker at the American Montessori Society’s Heads of School Retreat.

The parental or familial practice of balancing unconditional love with realistic expectations is instrumental in developing connectedness in childhood. The following is a list of particularly relevant excerpts from Hallowell’s recent article.



Unconditional Love
The starting point in creating a connected childhood is unconditional love from parents or another important adult who is active in a child's life. But loving children unconditionally doesn't mean you don't have expectations for them. High expectations are fine — just not unrealistically high. When parents' love always has to be earned (when they imply "I'd love you even more if you got all A's"), children feel that they can never please their parents, no matter what.

Realistic Expectations
Have high but realistic expectations. It's easy to get caught up in the great riptide that sucks kids out of childhood and into an achievement fast-lane as early as nursery school. Be assured that by providing connectedness, above all, you're giving your child the best "leg up" on the competition. The connected child will achieve at the level he or she is supposed to and will enjoy doing so.

Balance
As with everything else, balance is key. Being a loving, connected parent doesn't mean giving kids too much, too soon and always coming to their rescue. We should remind ourselves that children don't need a lot of fancy toys or clothes. What they do need is your time, interest, love, guidance, and ability to say no.

For more insight on this topic, I highly recommend Edward Hallowell’s book,
The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness.

Montessori Education- 21st Century Solution

At Wilmington Montessori School, we strive to change the face of education! We are bold enough to imagine a world in which schools value the development of creativity, thinking skills, innovation, leadership, flexibility, and social responsibility. Even with continual changes in our cultural and global needs, many traditional program models continue to uphold their standard practices. In contrast, Montessori Education stands at the forefront of educational reform with its paradigm of integrated, developmentally appropriate, individualized, and global education for the 21st Century. Sir Ken Robinson (a featured speaker at the upcoming American Montessori Society conference) challenges us to explore new educational paradigms. I encourage you to take a moment and view the RSA animation of Sir Ken Robinson’s lecture below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U