OFMS March Newsletter

Oak Farm Montessori

When I picture the one small building and barn, nine students, and three faculty that made up the original property and ‘community’ of Oak Farm Montessori School, citizenship consisted of a very small island compared to the sprawling campus we know and love today.

Regardless of size, the emphasis on this characteristic has not changed. The roots of Montessori are established in being a global citizen; fulfilling our cosmic task, showing empathy to others, and relying on peace to resolve conflict. While these may seem like lofty aspirations, they are manifested daily, all around our growing campus community.

Many of you may have seen the story shared recently about a baby goat born at the middle school. Its hind legs were not functioning and it was unable to stand or to nurse. Students immediately began problem solving to help ensure the kid survived. A high school Ag Pathways student stopped by and asked if he could collaborate and share his knowledge. Together, these adolescents worked for the good of another, the baby goat, to be a servant and citizen to the community. No adults had to tell them to participate, they actively sought out the opportunity intrinsically.

Our elementary aftercare students volunteer to design and create the monthly themed information boards that adorn the Victorian House work and mail room area. They take such pride in this work and there is such great interest in the project that the teachers have to have a sign up to allow all to participate.

As you know, we recently all gathered at the Mirro Center to celebrate and raise money for the school and the students we serve. While the event looks seamless, includes hundreds of auction items, delicious food, entertainment, and amazing decorations…it is a yearlong dedication of thousands of volunteer hours, faculty work behind the scenes, and a fund development team that works tirelessly to create this community event.

These are just a few of the countless examples that happen organically throughout the year and exemplify the citizenship portrayed by our students, faculty, and community members that make Oak Farm Montessori one of a kind. Flip through the pages of this month’s edition to see firsthand accounts of this characteristic of our Portrait of a Graduate at each level of our school.

Candice

HEAD OF SCHOOL

Place& Purpose

April Adams, Toddler 1 Teacher

In Maria Montessori’s book, To Educate the Human Potential, she wrote, “Since it has been seen to be necessary to give so much to the child, let us give him a vision of the whole universe. The universe is an imposing reality, and an answer to all questions.” A focus of our infant and toddler education program is to instill a sense of community within our classroom, and across our campus as a whole. We start in infancy by helping the child to first gain a sense of themselves. We then show them how they fit into the bigger picture of the classroom. We empower them to then find their place in our community. We have helpers, enforcers, entertainers, introverts and extroverts all represented. They each have a place in our community, and that diversity helps the children to see the value of different personalities and perspectives. As they begin to feel comfortable in our community, they then start to venture out farther into our school and see how they can impact the OFMS community as a whole. We make gifts to say “thank you” to our helpers who make our community function so well, like our kitchen workers and our administrators. We walk carefully through our Victorian House halls so as to not disturb the primary students working in the hallways. We learn the importance of helping to keep our community clean as we pick up trash and return things found in the woods to lost and found so they can get back to the person who lost them. Knowing that there are so many people who make up our community, and how we can play a role in that, will help the children of tomorrow to begin to understand how they fit into the bigger universe as a whole.

Cultivating Citizenship

In the journey of early childhood education, nurturing a sense of citizenship is paramount. As parents and educators, we lay the foundation for our children’s understanding of community and global responsibility.

Understanding Citizenship

Citizenship extends beyond mere participation in a community - it encompasses a deep understanding of one’s role in fostering a harmonious environment. Citizenship involves recognizing the interconnectedness of individuals within a community, and the responsibility each person holds to contribute positively to that community. Through daily interactions and simple activities, we can instill values of kindness and cooperation in young learners; helping them understand that citizenship involves respecting others, caring for the environment, and actively participating in the welfare of the community. Engaging in group discussions about sharing, taking turns, and helping one another, not only teaches practical life skills, but also reinforces the intrinsic value of being an active and caring member of the community.

Connecting with the World

In practicing Montessori, we believe in broadening children’s perspectives by connecting them with the world around them. It’s important for children to learn about different cultures and global issues so they can become curious, openminded individuals. Through storytelling, music, and exploration, we spark their interest and appreciation for diversity. Reading books about different countries, listening to music from around the world, and exploring maps and globes are great ways to introduce children to the wider world. Celebrating cultural holidays like Chinese New Year, Diwali, and Thanksgiving allows children to learn about traditions and customs from various cultures. By connecting with the world, children develop empathy and understanding for people from all walks of life.

Practicing Acts of Kindness

In our Montessori classrooms, we emphasize the importance of practicing kindness in our daily lives. By modeling acts of kindness at home, and in the community, we instill in children the value of compassion and empathy. Engaging children

Melissa Witt, Primary 4 Teacher

in small acts of service helps them understand the impact of their actions on others and fosters a sense of belonging and empowerment. Here are some simple ways we encourage children to practice kindness:

• Making cards or drawings for neighbors or community helpers.

• Helping a peer clean up a spilled work or mess.

• Helping with chores at home or assisting younger siblings with tasks.

These activities not only teach children practical life skills, but also nurture their sense of responsibility and care for others. By practicing kindness, children learn the joy of giving and the importance of making a positive difference in the world around them.

Growing Together: A Practical Application for Parents

Creating a family gratitude jar provides a tangible way to acknowledge and celebrate acts of kindness. Each day, encourage your child to write or draw something they are grateful for and share

it with the family during mealtime or bedtime routines. This simple yet meaningful practice fosters a sense of appreciation and connection within the family.

As we embark on this journey of citizenship with our young learners, let us embrace the opportunity to shape compassionate and responsible members of society. Together, we nurture a future filled with empathy, understanding, and interconnectedness.

“We must revise our concepts, our attitudes, our educational systems if we wish to help man to become more cultured, more disciplined, more open to abstract ideas; if our aim is indeed to help him grow to become a citizen of the world.”

~ Maria Montessori

Abby Roughia, Lower Elementary 3 Teacher

Growing your sphere of influence

As children grow, so does their circle of trust. Think about who an infant truly finds to be their trustworthy community. This is likely mom, dad, close family members, and caretakers. As the child grows into adulthood, they begin to acquire a larger and larger circle that becomes their community. Children in Lower Elementary begin to broaden that circle of trust to include their classmates and teachers, a larger school community, as well as the communities in which they live and socialize. They begin to have a more global perspective, as their awareness grows, and they develop hearts that recognize wrongs that are happening on the other side of the world.

Citizenship, according to Britanica.com, is between an individual and their community. Citizenship implies the status of freedom, with accompanying responsibilities. Citizens have certain rights, duties, and responsibilities. This is very much modeled within the Lower Elementary classroom. Maria Montessori blessed us with the concept of “Freedom within Limits’’. This concept is what we live and breathe in the classroom everyday. Classroom teachers set up an environment with the limits that provide the children’s safety, ability to make choices that would be acceptable, and their growth in mind; among other things. When a child is demonstrating an inability to be successful within the limits that have been previously set, teachers re-evaluate the limits and make changes to scaffold the child to success.

Along with freedoms,

the students have responsibilities daily. We honor the 3 pillars: Care of Self, Care of Others, and Care of the Environment. In doing so, students learn to advocate for their own needs, they take ownership of their learning, and make wise and healthy choices for themselves. In lower elementary, children and teachers are all responsible for our daily contributions to the functionality of the classroom. Students have daily chores or jobs that they are responsible for carrying out in order for the classroom to function properly. For example, the dishwasher will need loading, running, and unloading in order for us to experience a proper lunch cycle. The napkins, cleaning clothes, and towels will need to be laundered and replenished at the start of each new day in order for them to be available when we need them. The materials that we use need to be restored orderly so that other classmates who may need that work next will know exactly where to find them. This establishes the feeling of interdependence.

We also have a responsibility to the care of others in terms of our relationships with our classmates. As a team, students and teachers work together endlessly to listen, counsel, advise, aid in conflict resolution, find a win-win for all parties involved, find restoration to relationships, and create neural pathways that recognize their responsibilities for the care of their immediate community. We do this through storytelling, role playing, direct instruction, individually, as well as among peers, so that a feeling of inclusivity and a sense of belonging remain growing within the child. When situations do arise, they work together, and with the help of trusted adults, if needed, to come to a deeper understanding and heart for the needs of others. In doing so, they grow a desire to make the world, as they know it, a better place!

The Montessori philosophy stands as a beacon of holistic development, emphasizing not only academic achievement, but also the cultivation of responsible, engaged citizens. In the center of this philosophy, there is the idea of citizenship; where students are encouraged to embrace their roles as community helpers and world changers. At the heart of our upper classrooms, there is a belief that we are all interconnected with each other in our community and beyond.

Our upper classroom environments instill a deep sense of civic duty, as well as, fostering knowledge and an awareness of the impact of one’s actions on society. Our students are encouraged to recognize their responsibilities towards their communities; nurturing a mindset of service and contribution. Whether that is through small acts of kindness, such as inspirational bookmarks, or larger-scale community initiatives, such as raising money for shelters. The goal is to make a positive change that stretches from our small community to the farthest parts of the globe.

Hope prospers as they believe in themselves as citizens who can make a difference. We work to find ways to help the world be a cleaner place by recycling and limiting our use of paper towels and plastic covered soap pods. Students are concerned with waste and try their best to limit it by taking food scraps to our barn to feed the pigs and chickens. We compost as much as we can, and this is then used to feed our gardens.

These mindful acts of citizenship can easily be transferred to our students’ home life. Teaching their families ways that they take responsibility for the environment at school shows mastery of being a responsible contributor to society, instead of just being a consumer. Doing things such as avoiding waste, recycling, composting, and helping others to feel heard and loved are just a few of the ways that stretch outside our classrooms.

Contributor or Consumer?

April VanOsdale, Upper Elementary 3 Teacher

The work at the Middle School goes far beyond the four walls of the classroom. Students are outside each day in Erdkinder tending to the barn animals, designing and creating farm products, and even pollinating flowers in the greenhouse. These are all tasks we complete outside of the traditional classroom, but there is another important work that our Middle School students undertake. Once each month, during Friday OUTREACH , students go to the Ascension Living Sacred Heart Village, in Avilla, and work with the residents in their memory support program, aiding

those suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

Our students do a variety of activities with the residents to try and ENGAGE them in any way they can. We bring tactile materials that our students carefully set up and support the residents as they work through the different tasks. One activity has the residents feel different textures of fabrics and try to match them, another has them searching through a sensory bin of rice or dried beans to find hidden objects. In partnership, students and residents

constructed small block towers, sorted materials by color and size, cared for baby dolls and stuffed animals, and played a rousing game of the card game War. There were some residents who didn’t want to engage with the materials at all, but instead just wanted to talk; and our students listened and laughed with them as they told their stories. I watched the patience, care and understanding each one of our students showed as they worked alongside the memory support residents, and I could not help but feel an overwhelming sense of pride and gratitude.

COMMUNITY SERVANTS

Sometimes we get caught up in the day to day business at school; figuring out what assignments are due or what choice project needs to be researched. But seeing our students INTERACT and be truly present for these memory care residents was a beautiful reminder that academics is not our only focus. The portrait of a graduate from our own Vision and Values document here at Oak Farm Montessori School states that, “We believe in creating graduates who are emotionally literate, lifelong learners, accountable leaders, and responsible citizens.” We witnessed that perfectly at Sacred Heart. Our students demonstrated their emotional literacy as they sympathetically navigated some of the residents expressing sadness, confusion, and anxiety. It was a gift to see the civility and grace our students showed each one of the residents, embodying the truest form of being a responsible citizen. They were dedicated community servants, who made a positive IMPACT on everyone around them. Our future is bright with the kind hearts of our students leading the way. As Dr. Maria Montessori said, “Peace is what every human being is craving for, and it can be brought about by humanity through the child.” I am truly grateful to be part of this community, encouraging our students to go out and change our world for the better.

LAURA GOULD, MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER

GL BAL Citizens

Lisa Yde and Ely Delgado, Spanish Teachers

Citizenship includes having knowledge and awareness of our world and its people.

In our Spanish classes at Oak Farm Montessori School, we learn not only the language, but also about different cultures of Spanish speakers around the world. This enables students to view the world openly, gaining a global understanding of other cultures which helps them understand people at a deeper level.

We have cooked foods from around the Spanish speaking world. During cooking lessons, we talk about the foods and their origins. When we dance and sing songs together, students are given a flavor of various cultures. We also learn about holidays like Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in November. We will discuss Carnaval in March and April. In May, for Mother’s Day, we will talk about the different dates and traditions specific to some of the 21 different Spanish speaking countries in our world. Through all of these lessons, we build up momentum among students to drive global awareness and sensitivity to others’ ways.

Through our lessons, we hope to instill curiosity for future interest in travel to other countries, Spanish speaking or otherwise. There is no better way to become more globally conscious than through travel, when one can build new relationships through amazing experiences, and return home with more insight and a broadened worldly perspective.

As Spanish teachers, we are excited to be able to help our students grow in their sense of citizenship. We want our students to be aware of what is happening around the world, to realize how they can be more understanding of others, and in turn, to contribute positively to our planet through this realization. Learning the Spanish language, and about Spanish cultures, is fun and what a great way to broaden one’s global consciousness!

Digital Citizens

Oakleigh Butler, High School Math & Business Teacher

Transitioning to the Secondary Level at Oak Farm Montessori School is a big step for young adults. They are entering a new plane of development where they are constantly searching for a sense of purpose and they are becoming socially conscious. At this age, young adults are also beginning to take risks and make impulsive decisions. The risk-taking and impulsiveness might look a little different than when we were growing up. Today, teens are living in a world where they have access to just about everything at their fingertips. This has become quite a controversial topic. Is technology negatively affecting our youth? Does it have a positive effect? There may not be a right or wrong answer to this question. However, at Oak Farm Montessori High School, teachers work diligently to teach students how to be digital citizens in a world where technology tends to only be evolving.

You may be asking what exactly does it mean to be a digital citizen and how are we teaching this to our young adults? Digital citizenship is defined as the ability to navigate through digital environments in a way that is safe and responsible. Together, the secondary teachers are working to create a safe environment for students to learn and practice safe and responsible use of technology. We discuss digital footprints, the positive and negative effects of artificial intelligence (AI), how to professionally communicate, and how to continue to be productive with the many distractions that technology brings.

At the Middle School, they have implemented GoGuardian, which is a software that helps teachers manage and support their students during their journey to becoming digital citizens. Students leave their chromebooks at school at the end of the day and during school hours, teachers are able to monitor what students are doing and help keep them on track. At the High School, students are able to take computers home and they are given more freedom with their technology. While at school, teachers are still monitoring how the students are using their computers, however, we try not to intervene as much so they are able to see the natural consequences of how technology can be distracting and how it can put them behind on their school work if it is not used productively. At both levels, students create specific guiding principles revolving around digital citizenship.

This is big work; even for adults. We stress to students that it can be challenging to manage technology and continue to be productive when there are so many distractions associated with using these new innovations. However, one thing we emphasize, and will continue to emphasize, is the importance of digital citizenship. Learning this skill, at this level, provides a safe place for students to make mistakes, develop processes, and learn how to navigate this brave new world. By the time they get to Oak Farm Montessori High School, students have been well prepared to be good citizens. Now, our work is to help them apply what they have learned about being a global citizen to establishing their digital citizenship.

Citizenship

I care about my community and the world. Am I a community servant, a world changer and optimistic? Civicminded (knowledge and awareness of the impact of one’s actions on society), Social activist (knowledge, awareness, and beneficial action on behalf of the world and its people), and Optimistic.