Tomorrow's Child - The Montessori Family Magazine - September/October 2021

$8.00

SEPTEMBER 2021

Vol. 28 No. 1

Practical Life for Grown-Ups Encouraging Risk Taking Meditations On Parenting a High Schooler

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NOW AVAILABLE ON MONTESSORI.ORG! Montessori 101: What Every Parent Needs to Know This 80-page full-color publication is a wonderful resource for anyone seeking to de-mystify Montessori. It addresses topics such as the history and philosophy of Montessori; offers a guided tour of the Montessori classroom; and serves as an illustrated guide to dozens of wonderful Montessori materials. This mini-encylopedia of Montessori is newly redesigned and contains new sections on Infant/Toddler and Montessori Secondary programs. It is a must-have resource for anyone interested in Montessori, and one that parents will surely refer back to throughout their child’s Montessori experience.

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“A child’s needs are simple, and a happy childhood needs only simple surroundings.”

—MARIA MONTESSORI

Tomorrow’s Child (ISSN 10716246), published four times a year, is the official magazine of The Montessori Foundation, a non-profit organization. The opinions expressed in Tomorrow’s Child editorials, columns, and features are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the magazine or The Montessori Foundation. Acceptance of advertising does not represent the Foundation’s endorsement of any product or service.

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Practical Life for Grown-Ups

Graduation Photos

by Scott Osborne

Courtesy of JB Photography

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Encouraging Risk Taking

by Peter Pizzolongo

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Grace & Courtesy: From Early Child to Beyond

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What You’ll See In A Great Montessori School

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Meditations On Parenting a High Schooler

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Top 10 Things Your Montessori Guide Hopes You Remember

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Learn to Read in a Montessori Classroom

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7 Practices to Develop Character

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Celebrating Financial Independence

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How can I get involved with my child’s school?

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The Fundamental Needs of Human Beings

by Robin Howe

by Julia Volkman

by Christine Chapman

by Cheryl Allen

by Amanda Riccetti

by Cassi Mackey

Nathan Dungan, Share, Save, Spend

by Montessori Foundation Staff

by Cheryl Allen

34 BOOK REVIEWS

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Practical Life for Grown-Ups

By Scott Osborne

You Can Be a Montessori Adult You are now graduating from a Montessori High School: prepare yourself for questions.

For the rest of your life, this will be a curiosity to other people. They will ask you about it, and they probably won’t understand it. Embrace this! If you were lucky enough to be in a Montessori school in your early years, you’ll be able to tell them about the Pink Tower or the Checkerboard or perhaps the big bang lessons.

Or maybe you were here at NewGate for weeklong Opera planning or research trips or theater immersion weeks. But whatever you remember about your Montessori years, embrace them.

These experiences have helped make you who you are today.

JB Photography

Commencement NewGate High School May 28, 2021 | Sarasota, Florida

But you’re no longer a Montessori child. So, tonight, I’m going to give you a few brief suggestions for keeping Montessori in your life – for being a Montessori adult. I want to encourage you to think of your Montessori education not as something that’s done, something that’s over, but as something that is now in your hands to continue.

About 15 years ago, I was teaching NewGate middle and high school students not so different from yourselves. We used to have many

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discussions about what they would need going forward – what would help them be the adults they wanted to be. These conversations about credit cards and college roommates and cooking skills and driving led me to develop what is now called The Competencies Project.

It’s like Practical Life for grown-ups.

You undoubtedly know that “Practical Life” is an actual curriculum area in Montessori early childhood classrooms. It’s that time when tiny humans learn table washing and silver polishing, line walking and water pouring. Some of you – especially parents – undoubtedly wondered why three-yearolds were learning silver polishing and table washing, activities they were most certainly not doing at home. But Maria Montessori knew what she was doing when she created these lessons. So, in her honor, I am going to suggest that you continue this Practical Life journey, that you set your sights on new Practical Life skills – adult ones. It’s like the Pink Tower for grown-ups.

These suggestions I am going to offer you today might someday turn your life around. I wager they will have far more impact than the college you (do or do not) attend or the career path you are (or are not) successful in following. These offerings are much like the Montessori Method itself: obscure to outsiders, deceptively simple, yet profoundly significant.

Be forewarned. These first suggestions will make you think I’m crazy, but hear me out.

Take up juggling. Play poker. Compose flower arrangements.

In addition, learn how to: 1. Iron a shirt 2. Sharpen knives 3. Hold a baby with confidence 4. Play pool and billiards (and, yes, poker) 5. Write a condolence note and attend a funeral in a tradition not your own 6. Make a free-standing fire, outdoors, with available materials 7. Eat with chopsticks 8. Tie a Windsor knot tie 9. Orient with a compass 10. Unclog a toilet 11. Open an IRA 12. Use a clock face for telling direction

13. Open a bottle of wine with a traditional wine opener 14. Call someone you do not know on the actual telephone!

15. Drive a manual-shift automobile Okay, you think. But why? What’s the big deal?

Well, how about some more nuanced Practical Life skills? Can you: 16. Make socially appropriate introductions in any setting 17. Cook a meal in an unfamiliar kitchen, like someone else’s home, figuring out how to navigate neatly and effectively 18. Set up a simple outdoor tent 19. Bargain in markets where prices are not stated – which is most of the world 20. Entertain a group of six-year-olds for an hour 21. Recite a least one poem by heart 22. Make change in another currency 23. Play a portable musical instrument Those are very hands-on. But what about things you should know? For example: do you know, without looking them up or consulting an app: 24. Five major star constellations 25. The significant forms of economic production in four other countries 26. The most prevalent health indicators in those other countries 27. The basic principles and vocabulary of a few world sports 28. The fundamental principles of the major world religions 29. The sounds of individual instruments in the orchestra Before I go on, let’s pause and think about some of these. If you’re like most people, you will have identified a few of these skills you have mastered. And for most of the rest of this list, you’ve thought: why bother? You might say: I’ll never need to tie a Windsor knot. And you would be right. You might also say, And if I do need to tie a Windsor knot, I’ll look it up! You would also be right.

So what good do these do? Are these just nice party tricks or things that will turn your life around?

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I would argue these competencies, and others like it — I currently have a list of almost 200 — form your foundation, the same way that the Pink Tower and table washing in early childhood provided your foundation then. Remember, three-yearolds don’t really need to know how to stack a Pink Tower or wash a table! In a way, those too were just cute party tricks for a small child. Yet those lessons opened the door to everything that followed. And you need to continue to open doors — to make your own Practical Life lessons — for a fulfilling and productive adult life.

Continuing to expand your competencies does two things.

First, it provides opportunities for continued mastery. You need to keep making opportunities to say to yourself, Hey, I can do that! Just resting on your laurels, on the skills you’ve learned, is not enough. You need an active means of stepping outside the familiar, stepping outside your comfort zone of abilities, and mastering the new and challenging. You can’t wait until important, major life challenges come your way. You continue with these small skills — the ones you don’t need — because mastery of those will help give you the confidence to face the real challenges of life.

And second, the experience of learning new skills creates the brain and body architecture you need to master the next big challenges — to be able to do and know the things that are important to you. Someday you’re going to need to learn something hard, or overcome a huge challenge, or just enjoy something new.

It is this diverse architecture of experiences — this foundation — that will permit you to do just that.

So I’m telling you to actively continue to develop Practical Life skills, not just career or academic skills (you’ll be faced with those anyway). These are the Montessori Practical Life lessons you’re going to create for yourself.

Let me give you some examples.

One day you’ll see a co-worker busy working on a project, but she’s juggling a baby and a keyboard (because that seems to be what a lot of women do). Because you know how to hold a baby, you can walk over and say, How

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about I take that little one while you finish working? In that one moment, you will make a new friend for life, you’ll have the amazing sensation of ethereal, soft baby skin next to yours, and you’ll feel like a hero.

Or when you know the major tenets of four world religions and the major export products of a few other countries, think about the insights you’ve gained! You will have a window into entire populations, plus foreign policy, culture, economics, and you’ll probably know a lot more about why your phone or t-shirt costs what it does, just from those few facts.

And when you can distinguish between the different sounds of an oboe and a clarinet and a flute, you’ll be creating pathways in your brain, you’ll be using your senses in new, unexpected ways — and those pathways and senses will be there when you need them.

These competencies – these Pink Towers for grown-ups – give you the stepping stones for where you want to go, just like that first Pink

Tower led you to further learning. Only now, you’ll be creating the lessons for yourselves.

So okay, you think, I’ll learn to juggle.

I’ll open bottles of wine and start fires and hold babies.

Great. Go for it. But that’s just the warm-up.

Here are the big Practical Life skills you’ll want. Even if you ignore all the first ones, you really need these. And they are competencies, skills you can develop, not innate immutable characteristics. There are five.

One, learn to make friends at every stage of life. You’d be amazed at the number of adults who do not feel skilled at this; they literally don’t know how and they don’t talk about it. They just stagnate. You’re very fortunate to come from this supportive school community, this family, if you will.

And many of us will always be here for you.

But you’re going to change, you’re going to move to new towns, and you’re going to want new friends who are not provided for you, ready-made, at school or work. And you may even outgrow some old friends. You’ll have

new interests. How do you find these new people who are right for you? Where would you start? Do you know? That’s a critical life competency and you can develop it. It will put you in good stead all your life.

Two, identify and manage your social anxieties. Can you keep up a reasonable conversation with a totally new person?

You’ll want this on your first day of college or your first new job – in person or online – and for much of life thereafter. You need to be able to walk into a room of new people, calmly, solid in yourself. Social anxiety is everywhere – if you experience it, do not think you’re the only one! The sooner you figure this one out, the sooner you will have removed a huge impediment in life. You show me the college student who drinks far too much every weekend, and I’ll show you the college student with serious social anxieties. This is a competency; the absence of it is not a character flaw. It is a Practical Life skill for grown-ups.

Three, be able to speak up to defend your personal values. I do a lot of advocacy work

WWW.NEWGATE.EDU

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for causes I care about. Among other things, I do a lot of advising about gender equity – making the world better by helping everyone see past gender. There’s one issue I get asked the most: how to confront something offensive. People will describe a setting, usually a social setting, where they were told or overheard an offensive remark: perhaps it was openly sexist or homophobic or racist. It made them cringe. And the listener didn’t know what to say or do.

We are trained to be polite in social settings, yet how do we bring about changes in attitudes if we remain silent in the face of offensive or unjust comments? Learning what and how to state your own beliefs, appropriately, so you don’t cringe inwardly and don’t alienate people you love — that is a skill you will need.

Whatever your strongly held beliefs might be, you’ll need to learn to talk about them outside the controlled setting of the classroom.

And now, the gold star of Adult Practical Life Competencies: Can you articulate personal vulnerabilities safely and honestly?

Because you know why? Stuff happens!

Someday, if you’re like the average person, you’re going to have some personal issues.

When you’re in college, or later, at some point, you will have serious problems you’ll need to articulate and navigate through. We all have problems that come up: mortgages that can’t be met, marriages that dissolve.

People find themselves drinking too much.

Or maybe a family member is struggling with an eating disorder. This is life! How are you going to cope – with your own issues and those of your friends and family? Have you cultivated people in your life with whom you can share those issues? And this is not just about the dramatic, the cataclysmic. If you’re in the fifth week of college calculus and you have no idea what’s going on and are getting increasingly anxious about failing, can you speak up? You would be amazed at how many people struggle with this. This is a Practical Life competency.

You develop it by learning to find people you trust, by starting with small topics.

for yourself; being open to vulnerabilities; and listening to them from others. They are competencies — not character traits — and they will, over time, be huge determiners of your life.

And those ‘smaller’ skills? Those little ‘unnecessary’ skills, like juggling, using a compass, hearing the oboe? Keep building them. They will give you the confidence to do what you want in life, and they will give you the mind and body architecture to make all the other things possible.

So take up knot tying. And fires. And learn new currencies. And practice talking with openness and vulnerability. These skills can be developed and practiced. You can start from exactly where you are. You just have to be willing to be the learner, the skill developer, the Montessori child all your life. I know you’ll do wonderfully.

Let’s be honest, America is a competitive society. People don’t want to reveal perceived weaknesses – they feel it is stigmatizing and will reduce their value, competitively. But that’s not life. For life, you want to practice articulating some problems. It’s a skill you’re going to need and yes, it could have huge ramifications on your future.

And, finally, number five and closely related to four, can you receive vulnerabilities from others? When your roommate turns to you and says, I don’t have any friends, or I can’t make my car payment, will you be ready?

Will you be able to be a listener? Will you understand when to help solve a problem and when to just listen — without making the problem about yourself? Or shying away? Or stigmatizing the person? It takes two to be open. Be the other person.

To sum up, the big five are key: finding new friends; handling social anxiety; speaking up

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Scott Osborne is a certified Montessori teacher. She is a lawyer, a nonprofit director, writer, and a gender equality advocate. Her first teaching experience was with the Peace Corps in West Africa, and she has worked primarily with international development organizations, living in seven countries on four continents. Most recently, she lived for three years in India working with small NGOs and teaching English to orphaned teenage girls. Scott is the Chair of Through Women’s Eyes, an international film festival now in its 23rd year. She is president of the United Nations Women-USA, Gulf Coast Chapter.

She raised two terrific Montessori children, who graduated from NewGate School and are both now young adults. Scott is also an avid amateur athlete. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She received her Juris Doctorate degree from New York University, and an MBA from Princeton University, but (according to her) Montessori certification was the most difficult educational experience she ever had.

This speech was given at the NewGate Montessori High School Commencement in May of 2021. It is part of a forthcoming book: The Competencies Project - How You Can be a Montessori Adult.

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ENCOURAGING RISK TAKING

By Peter Pizzolongo

Facing risks is an unavoidable part of life for most adults. So, why do we choose to take risks? Is it for the sensational thrill of trying something new or the tenacious hope that new opportunities will present themselves?

Sometimes, maybe, we choose to take a risk just to exhibit a show of confidence. Whatever the reason, the lessons we learn from taking a risk have the potential to lead us on a new path (Rolison 2013) (Zeilinger 2017).

Learning to assess a risk is an essential skill for living.

The ability for adults to take calculated risks has its roots in early childhood. Yet we are in an era of limiting risk taking by children.

Most parents (and caregivers of young children) worry about children, wanting them to stay safe—so they resort to limiting the risks that children take. “We are a nation of pushy helicopter parents, . . . waiting below our children on the monkey bars in case they should slip” (Bilinco 2015). By keeping our children ‘safe,’ are we inadvertently preventing them from learning how to calculate risks on their own?

The benefits of taking safe risks.

It is important for children to learn how to take safe risks, i.e., “situations that a child can

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perceive and choose whether or not they want to participate” (Keeler 2020). Risks that are not safe, aka hazards, are “truly dangerous for a child: situations or objects that the child does not see, cannot make a logical choice about, and that have a definite chance of hurting them.” As Rusty Keeler reminds us in Adventures in Risky Play: What is your yes?

Risk is good… Risk is a natural part of life.

In fact, learning to assess risk and deciding if you want to take a risk are essential skills for living” (Keeler 2020).

Children engage in play that involves taking risks to experience positive emotions, including: fun, enjoyment, thrill, pride, and self-confidence (Sandseter 2011). In risky play, children “dose themselves with manageable quantities of fear and practice keeping their heads and behaving adaptively while experiencing that fear” (Gray 2014).

When a child takes a risk and attempts something outside her comfort zone, she uses the higher-order thinking skills of application and synthesis—applying what she knows to new situations (Church 2020).

The ability to calculate and take risks supports children’s learning in many ways.

Taking risks develops and enhances a child’s self-confidence and ability to manage and overcome fear. Risk-taking promotes the kind

of play that involves children’s use of problemsolving skills, self-regulation, and reflection. I would consider what helped me succeed. If the experience did not end as I expected, I would try to figure out what failed.

The ability to calculate and take risks supports children’s learning in many ways.

In “The Role of Risk in Play and Learning,” Joan Almon notes, “play means taking risks . . .

Children are constantly trying out new things and learning a great deal in the process.” This is most evident in the risk-taking that children engage in as they use their muscles and senses in physical activities. When children are encouraged to take safe risks, they learn to assess what they can do and match that with activities that have an element of risk.

Children think about how high they can climb, from what height they can jump, and so on. They might find that what they were attempting is not possible and use problemsolving skills to try an alternative. These children are developing and using resilience; they will determine what they need to do to succeed or decide to abandon the task.

Through taking safe risks, children “acquire better motor control and learn what is dangerous and what isn’t” (Sandseter 2011). A preschooler encountering a pile of logs might

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begin mastering balance. They can climb up the slide, rather than only using the steps.

Preschoolers can figure out how to get across a shallow creek using rocks and logs. With adult supervision, they can also begin to take risks at the fine-motor level, for example, slicing fruits with a sharp paring knife.

What is your risk tolerance?

investigate how secure the logs are on the ground and decide whether she can climb on the pile or not. She is learning how to manage risk and develop an understanding of safety (Knight 2011). Taking risks while building physical skills is an important component of development and learning for young children.

The Role of Teachers Recognizing the general processes of children’s development and learning in all areas is vital.

It is the parent’s and teacher’s responsibility to identify the safe risks vs hazards and to set clear and reasonable limitations so that children understand what they may and may not do in the play environment.

Taking risks while building physical skills is an important component of development and learning for young children.

Understanding Developmentally Appropriate Practice is Key Understanding developmentally appropriate practice is key: recognizing the general processes of children’s development and learning in all areas. In addition, they must consider the strengths, interests, and limitations of each child and be aware of the social and cultural contexts in which each child lives (NAEYC 2020). They must also “up the ante” when they discern children are ready for bigger challenges.

The two examples below show the difference between what is appropriate for a toddler and what is appropriate for a preschool child.

Eighteen-month-old Darius is beginning to use depth perception in his play. Today he demonstrated how he scans for obstacles and moves based on that information. He has gained control of a variety of movements: stooping, going from sitting to standing, running, and jumping. Darius shows an understanding of what size openings are needed for his body to move through, and today he successfully crawled through the tunnel.

Toddlers develop their physical abilities by continuously stretching themselves. Darius has learned (probably through trial and error) what size opening he can fit through. As toddlers freely navigate their relatively safe and supervised environment, they begin to figure out what are reasonable risks to take.

Four-year-old Ximena enjoys balancing on one leg and on the balance beam. Today she walked the entire length of the balance beam and ended by jumping off and standing on one leg for a few seconds. She coordinates her movements when jumping, hopping, and running. Ximena has mastered several largemuscle skills, and after her jumping-hoppingrunning experience, she climbed the ladder and slid down the slide—several times.

Preschoolers are adept at responding to physical challenges when such experiences are promoted. They can reach great heights on the climber, dangle upside down, and move from rung to rung with increasing ease.

They can climb trees, cycle at fast speeds, and engage in ‘play fighting’ without actually hitting each other. They can balance on a beam, set increasingly higher as children

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As a parent and/or teacher, you will need to determine your own tolerance to risk. What type of risky behaviors are you willing to let children engage in? If you have low risk tolerance when it comes to children’s play, it would be helpful to review expectations for young children at various stages of development and think about what children would like to do to ‘up the ante’. Then, recognizing that children are stretching themselves, your primary role “is to enable the stretching process to be manageable and safe enough . . . to help [children] to take reasonable risks” (Almon 2013).

Finally, the role of the teacher is to help children be aware of their actions and encourage safe risk-taking. Here are some examples, adapted from NAEYC’s Developmentally Appropriate Practice:

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Encourage children to choose their own learning activities: “We have several activities set up in the outdoor area today. You can choose what you want to do first.”

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Acknowledge children’s activities: “You’re building with a lot of loose parts today!”

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Encourage them with specific feedback: “Wow, you are certainly climbing higher today than I’ve seen you climb before!”

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Ask open-ended questions: “If you want to cross the creek, what will you need to step on so you stay dry?”

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Pose problems and ask questions, providing just enough assistance so the child can attempt a task at a skill level just beyond what she can do on her own (scaffolding): “You’ve been somersaulting down this hill. How else can you get from the top to the bottom of the hill?”

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Supporting children as they explore ways to take safe risks which sets them on the path to becoming adults who develop the confidence that comes from assessing risks and determining a course of action they learn from taking risks and who explore the opportunities to which risk-taking can lead. ¢ References Almon, J. 2013. “The role of risk in play and learning.” Community Playthings.

Online: http://www.communityplaythings. com/resources/articles/2013/ the-role-of-risk-in-play-and-learning.

Blincoe, K. 2015. “Risk is essential to childhood—as are scrapes, grazes, falls and panic”. The Guardian. Online: https://www. theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/ oct/14/risk-essential-childhoodchildren-danger?fbclid=IwAR0CZE vfmAN0udIDxWrI9xQHfob4QYM DT_R4eDpdLBvUInIkQutU0LNCapc Church, E.B. n.d. “When to challenge children.” Early Childhood Today.

INFANT/TODDLER

Gray, P. 2014. “Risky play: Why children love it and need it”. Psychology Today.

Online: https://www.psychologytoday. com/us/blog/freedom-learn/201404/ risky-play-why-children-love-it-and-need-it.

Rolison, J.J., Y. Hanoch, S. Wood, & P. J. Liu. 2013. Risk-taking differences across the adult life span: a question of age and domain. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 69(6), 870–880, doi:10.1093/ geronb/gbt081. Online: https:// academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology/ article/69/6/870/545646.

Keeler, Rusty. 2020. Adventures in Risky Play: What Is Your Yes? Lincoln NE: Exchange Press.

Sandseter, E. 2011. “Children’s risky play in early childhood education and care”.

ChildLinks. 3.

Knight, S., 2011. “Why adventure and why risk in the early years?” ChildLinks.

3. Online: https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/275039981_children’s_ risky_play_in_early_childhood_education_ and_care.

Zeilinger, J. 2017. “7 reasons why risk-taking leads to success”. The Huffington Post.

Online: 08/13/2013 03:15 pm ET Updated Sep 25, 2017

Online: https://www.scholastic.com/ teachers/articles/teaching-content/ when-challenge-children/.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). 2020.

Developmentally Appropriate Practice.

Washington DC: NAEYC. Online: dap-statement_0.pdf (naeyc.org)

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Peter Pizzolongo is President of Early Education Consulting and former Vice-President of the Delaware AEYC Governing Board. He has held the positions of Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator of the National Center on Early Childhood Education, Teaching, and Learning (NCECDTL) at Zero to Three; Associate Executive Director for Professional Development at NAEYC; and Director of the Analytical Support and Technical Assistance Services Division of CSR, Incorporated—a social sciences research and management support firm. He has over 30 years of experience as an author; training and technical assistance provider; program evaluator; Head Start and childcare agency administrator; teacher; and human services program manager. Mr. Pizzolongo has authored or co-authored more than 30 publications, digital programs, and other resources. He has conducted training programs on numerous topics, including child development; early childhood education; developmentally appropriate practice, ethics; developmental assessments; health and mental health; nutrition; parenting; and program evaluation. Mr. Pizzolongo has been a member of the University of Delaware (UD) College of Education and Human Development Dean’s Advisory Council since September 2015. He received his B.A. in psychology in 1972 and his M.S. in human resources with a child development major in 1974, both from the University of Delaware, and coursework in the use of technology in education programs from the University of Maryland.

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Isn't it about time for an online school that works?

Bridgemont International is a new online Montessori high school beginning this year with 7th and 8th grade students.

Over the last year we have seen schools struggle to bring their students online. While there have been some notable successes, many schools have been caught up in old methods and ways of thinking.

Watching this, the education leaders from The Center for Guided Montessori Studies have envisioned a new dynamic paradigm for online adolescent education.

Bridgemont International School has been designed from the ground up to blend authentic Montessori practice with: • a modern understanding of teenagers' developmental needs • a heavy focus on collaboration and online learning blended with real world experiences

Not just college prep.

Life prep.

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Grace & Courtesy: From Early Childhood to Beyond

By Robin Howe

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Each preceding phase prepares the one that follows, forms its base, nurtures the energies that urge toward the succeeding period of life. (From Childhood to Adolescence, 134)

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n early childhood (3 years to 6 years), there is a component of the Practical Life curriculum that is called “Grace and Courtesy.” It is a proper noun in that it has its own place in the early childhood curriculum.

Some might say that it is the foundational piece, setting the expectations for behavior and interaction that lay the groundwork for successful work in the classroom; it is essential for the normalization of the class and the students in the class.

As students progress through the early childhood and then elementary classrooms, Grace and Courtesy is acknowledged as an essential piece of Montessori, a continuum through which Montessori can effectively be implemented. As students get older, however, there seems to be a greater emphasis and division

between a student’s behaviors (ability to demonstrate grace and courtesy) and their academic abilities. This does not mean that these two skills are mutually exclusive, but the importance or emphasis may change from the teachers’ perspective.

In working with adolescents and adults, I consider myself lucky to have maintained contact with many past students, whom I have known through their childhood and into their adult lives. This has given me the opportunity to get to know these students as adults.

Sometimes I wonder, though, if we have adequately prepared children for adulthood, and whether we allowed Grace and Courtesy to dissolve into a memory from our early childhood years, when children were learning how

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to walk carefully through a classroom while balancing a tray or how they politely interacted with others.

Some questions I have been considering more and more are:

• Does a four-year-old-child having a tan-

trum in the middle of a grocery store have more leniency than a 17-year-old or a 25-year-old having the same level of tantrum in the same grocery store?

• Does a flippant remark from a six-yearold affect people differently than that of a 16-year-old?

Of course the answer is yes! Even the most balanced four-year-old may have a moment when they lose control and it doesn’t matter why. Parents may be judged by bystanders on how they handle the situation but, ultimately,

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when the child is back in the car and eventually falls asleep to the motion of the vehicle, supporting a notion that the cause of this uncharacteristic outbreak was exhaustion, the situation is over.

A young adult may not have this luxury. The threshold of understanding is much less for adults than it is for children and that is perfectly appropriate, based on our assumption that with age comes a level of self control and maturity that would prohibit them from behaving in this way.

So, my questions as a Montessori adolescent teacher are:

have the patience of educators. The assumption is that if students behave outside of a span of “acceptable” behavior, they will be asked not to come back.

12th grader in a high school, this experience is incredibly powerful for both the student in a leadership role as well as the younger students who are observing.

Entrepreneurship

Each of these examples warrants entire courses and discussion, but is that enough?

Whether the students are participants in an Erdkinder program or other entrepreneurial experiences, they are learning about financial independence and being valued as part of the Montessori idea of “valorization.” A goal of any adolescent entrepreneurship experience is the appropriate appreciation for money, their own role in earning it, and an understanding of how their participation is something of value.

• Are we adequately preparing our young Field Experiences adults for the succeeding period of life?

Many Montessori secondary programs have

• Are we preparing them for the expecta- opportunities for students to work both in tions of existing in an adult world, even as they just enter adulthood?

I feel that Montessori does this better than other educational pedagogies in many ways.

A few of them are outlined below.

Internships and Work Experiences We encourage our students to explore careers and be amongst professionals, who may not

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their communities and the greater world beyond. The importance of a student experiencing other cultures and realizing that drinking water and plumbing are not guaranteed rights are incredibly important lessons.

Leadership A tenant of any Montessori experience is the opportunity to be a leader. Whether the 6-year-old in the early childhood class or the

On a recent trip with adolescent students, I passively listened to the conversations and observed behaviors, trying to demonstrate my own Montessori ability of knowing when and how to interact, while also trying not to be the misunderstanding adult, who (just a few years ago) might have been more understanding.

While none of the behavior was egregious, in this heightened world of accountability, I found myself torn. Jokes that might have been accepted or even funny five years ago, may now be means for expulsion or even legal action.

Flippant and loose language can be captured and reposted on a phone and can lead to the loss of scholarships and enrollment.

Teachers do a lot, and some of these questions are the responsibility of the parent! Agreed!

But, if we accept Montessori’s belief that “each preceding phase prepares for the one that fol-

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them for the post-secondary world where the expectations are higher than those of the four year old in the supermarket?

The world we (the adults in the room) grew up in is not the same as that of our current students. Physiologically, science suggests that we are not different; however, earlier civilizations did not have cell phones and Instagram™.

If our goal is ultimately to prepare students for the next stage of their life, whether it be university, a trade, etc. they have expectations as adults (even if they are not) that they need to be prepared for and the learning curve is not as long as it once was.

In closing, while we consider Grace and Courtesy as a fundamental component of the Early Childhood curriculum, is it time to re-examine the importance for students in the third plane (12- to 18-year-olds)? As we prepare them for the succeeding experience, should this emphasis carry a capital G and C for our older students? ¢ lows,” are we doing enough? Should Montessori’s Grace and Courtesy curriculum more specifically prepare our young men and women for today’s world?

Thinking back to that four-year-old who had the tantrum in the supermarket, do we have

the expectation that young adults will have a much higher degree of control? But what if they don’t?

How can we as Montessori parents, teachers, schools, and systems, support the changing expectations of young adults and prepare

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Robin Howe, EdD is a Montessori kid, a Montessori certified teacher (at all levels except infants), and a Senior Consultant for the Montessori Foundation.

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WHAT YOU’LL SEE

In A Great Montessori School

By Julia Volkman

So, you’re considering a Montessori school.

Maybe you’ve read about the growing evidence that supports the long-term benefits of Montessori education. Maybe someone you know enrolled their child in a program and is always pestering you to put your child there.

Maybe it’s just an accident (as happened with me) that when you feel your child is ready for school, the closest one to you happens to be a Montessori school. Whatever the reason, when you show up, you want to know that this particular school is a good school.

THE PHYSICAL SPACE Now we can’t all live in the Taj Mahal, so the school may not be housed in the most modern building (we all have to start somewhere), but what you should see is that the space has something lovely about it. You’ll have a feeling that someone cared about the entryway, the hallways, the offices, the rooms, and, oh yes, the bathrooms. The walls will not be cluttered or overwhelming. Overall, it will feel calm, inviting, and maybe even elegant.

It may also make you feel like a bit of a giant because the whole school should be adapted to fit the smaller physical bodies of the students it serves. You should see benches, chairs, and/or tables that are quite small.

Sinks will likely be lowered or the ground raised with solid stools. At all points, there will be a sense of order, care, and intelligence in the physical design.

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OBSERVING Once you’ve walked through the door, the staff at a good Montessori school will make you feel welcome. They will greet you and, even though they will be exceptionally busy, they will make you feel like your visit matters.

At some point, they will invite you to see the classrooms in action. They’ll call this “observing” and in Montessori, scientific observation by the adult is essential.

You see, Montessori teachers are actually all scientists. We are trained to carefully and objectively notice what is going on with each child. We observe how the children use their hands and feet, how they articulate words, how they interact socially with others, how persistent they are in getting what they want, etc. All of these observations are then used by the teacher to customize each child’s curriculum. Every child is allowed to go at their own pace, repeating as often as they need to in order to figure something out.

On your first visit, you will receive some basic instructions on how to observe. You’ll be asked to enter the classroom very quietly so as not to interrupt the class. You’ll be shown to a chair where you can sit and maybe given a note pad, so you can write down your reflections. You are asked to be polite with the children but not to engage with them excessively.

Instead, you are to put yourself busily to the task of seeing what’s happening.

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Sometimes the school will even give you a sheet with written observation instructions.

I think every school should put a big caution statement on the top of the observation instruction sheet. “WARNING: Sitting quietly and observing Montessori children without chatting or interfering is sometimes associated with excessive discomfort. Particularly gregarious people may experience mild dizziness, vertigo, or a twitching jaw.”

That’s meant to be a joke, but I’m actually serious. Our culture does not teach us to sit back and let children be children. Our culture teaches us that good parents/adults jump in and engage with children and direct them towards doing ‘important things.’ And at this moment, the Montessori school is asking you to go against our culture, sit down, and be quiet. Isn’t that the opposite of what good education is all about?

Actually, when it comes to education, what we really want is for the students to be active and for the adults to be in a support role. It’s like each child is the super hero, and the teacher is the sidekick. We’re the wingman.

There you have it; the next humbling truth of Montessori. The grown up is the least revered thing in the room.

When you finally find the adult in the room, you should notice someone who:

§ Precisely and objectively watches the children

§ Dynamically engages the children with the hands-on materials

§ Models the most gracious, welcoming, and kind behavior you have ever seen

§ Demonstrates an insane amount of

patience in waiting for the children to speak and get to where they need to go

The Children In the midst of all this patience rooted in scientific observation, you’ll see a mixed-age group of children doing all kinds of things. In a normalized classroom, the children will be quite busy. Some of them will be working by

The important things to look for in the children is that they seem to be interested in what they are doing and that the work seems to have some logical purpose. They won’t be playing with dolls or toys but will be using real-life materials (like real glasses, pitchers, and bowls) to do intelligent things. You will also usually see a sense of order in what they are doing.

You will also see a mixed-age group, generally with a three-year span. So for a primary or preschool/kindergarten class this would mean around ages three to six. Now the really important thing to notice is that the younger children will look to the older children for guidance and the older children will be happy to offer it. Let me repeat that last part… the older children will be happy to offer help. I’m not kidding. That is the coolest part of the three-year mixed-age group. The older kids get to be leaders. They really flex their “I’m the one who knows how to do this and who can teach others” muscles. It’s gorgeous to watch.

Of course the younger children also benefit tremendously because all humans learn more easily from peers than from authority figures.

So, when the new children start coming to school, they will have a whole community of people who can help them learn the ropes, most of whom are about their same size.

Concentration Okay, so all of these things are going on all around us as we take our seat in our observation chair. And, despite the observation instructions, usually the first thing we want to do is start talking with some child or children so we can see what they are doing. We want to strike up a nice little dialogue with one of these perfect Montessori students we’ve heard so much about. I mean, this is our chance to get the inside scoop from the ones who really know what’s going on, right? If we can just talk to the right child, we’ll find out what we really need to know.

The Teacher The children will most likely be utterly accustomed to having observers visit. A few children may come over to greet you and welcome you to their room. Most will ignore you.

Yes, that’s right, you will be less interesting to them than the school work they are doing.

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themselves at a table or on a rug. Some will be walking about gathering things or tidying things. Some will be chatting with another child or doing some activity together. Some will be tending to their physiologic needs.

And, of course, some will be on the edge of mischief.

Now, resist the urge, step back for a moment, and consider this. In the 21st century, one of the primary goals of education is to develop the capacity to pay attention to what is important and ignore what is not. Every day, we are immersed in an ocean of information overload. Somehow, we adults have to figure out what doesn’t matter, what does, and then maintain our attention on what does,

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so we can see a task through to completion.

So school isn’t just about teaching factual knowledge anymore (although that’s fun and has its place). It’s much more about creating executive function or higher thinking capacities.

So if we succumb to our little bout of curiosity and interrupt a child so we can find out the real dirt on the school, we are actually interfering with the development of that child’s attention span. This is the cardinal sin of Montessori. The big teaching in Montessori is to prepare the environment so children can get what they need, teach the children how to engage with the environment, and then let them have at it! At this point, the adult is careful to fade and observe. If the child needs help, we offer it. If not, we disappear because we know that it is their effort that makes the difference, not ours.

Sit down, relax into your observation chair, and just enjoy what you see. Are the children happy? When there is a conflict or challenge, is it handled compassionately by the teacher and/or the children? Is there a light buzz of

meaningful dialogue? Does everyone seem to know what they are doing?

You’ll know if it’s a good school or not because it will make you think…what if the world were like this?”

Really, everything I’ve said above is a distraction. You’ll know if it’s a good school or not, because it will make you think…what if the world were like this? What if everyone knew that they had something valuable to do and that they could do it on their own or with others, at their own pace, and get help if they needed it? What if everyone could apply themselves to work that matched their interests and strengths? What if everyone helped to care for the physical environment and helped those in need? These are the questions you will find yourself pondering while you relax into the observation chair of a good Montessori school. ¢ This article was originally published in the July 2016 issue of Tomorrow’s Child.

Julia Volkman is the president/founder of Maitri Learning, a teaching fellow in the Neuroscience of Learning course at Harvard University (Extension School), a Montessori mentor (AMI primary/early childhood), and a mother of two. Julia learned her first second language during high school, where she participated in a student exchange program to France. After two weeks, she had her first dream in French, and everything became easy after that.

She completed her Montessori studies in Montreal (a bilingual program where she was always asked to team up with the French speakers), studied German in college, and taught herself survival Russian to prepare for her two-month adoption journey through Kazakhstan. She has taught English to students from China, Cameroon, and Russia.

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School of Education

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Meditations On PARENTING A HIGH SCHOOLER

by Christine Chapman

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As I lay in savasana at yoga this morning, my teacher shared a quote that landed and resonated deeply for me as I reflected on parenting and guiding a high schooler to think about life after high school: Awakening and enlightenment are accidents; but practice makes one accident prone. Author unknown As a parent, I’ve spent countless hours literally awakening (and, hopefully, enlightening) my children. In fact, I think that’s especially true now, as my first-born, Celia, progresses into her second year of high school, begins to grow independent, and starts to consider her future. Juggling my own work as an educational consultant and entrepreneur, along with managing all that comes with raising two kids in a COVID landscape, I often close my eyes, cross my fingers and hope that I am helping them attain their highest potential with what I am able to provide.

I first witnessed the aha moments I associate with awakenings and enlightenment when Celia was a student at a Montessori School on Cape Cod. She began at the Sandwich Montessori School at two years and nine months. She had always been that kid who insisted she could “do it myself!” and understanding that she had that spirit of exploration and that yearning to discover sensorily, I read everything I could about Montessori.

In Montessori, I believe Celia developed a solid foundation in math, language, and problem solving, both academically and socially. But there was something more practical that drew me to the Montessori educational model; it was the life skills and sensory aspect to the program that I loved. Upon reflection, I believe these skills set Celia up for the awakenings and enlightenments she experienced in her early childhood. She practiced the work—whether it was learning to zip a garment, unbuckle a belt, sweep and mop, or pour and scrub.

Through these Practical Life exercises, Celia learned to strengthen motor skills, navigate practical tasks in the world, and care for herself. She also learned about Grace and Courtesy in her interactions with her peers and adult guides. As a mom, I remember feeling a wave of emotion overcome me as I saw her developing in confidence and growing into independence, even as a three-year-old.

Flash forward a decade ...

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Celia was thirteen and in eighth grade when she approached me about educational alternatives for high school. I remember the morning well when she dropped ‘the bomb’ on me (her college counselor mom). She had decided she wasn’t really interested in attending our very highly ranked local public high school, and she was seriously considering our local vocational tech school to possibly major in cosmetology… unless I had other ideas or options I thought she should consider.

The vocational tech world was completely foreign to me, and the ignorant, college counselor snob in me just wasn’t ready to accept that pathway as a possibility for my very bright, capable, and talented first-born child. I threw myself into researching other options; digging into the different vo-tech programs and doing my due diligence by talking to parents, students, and alums. Celia ultimately applied to two vo-techs, understanding that our very strong public high school would serve as her backup option. We were thrilled and relieved when she received admissions to her first choice school: The Norfolk County Agricultural High School, with the intent to study animal science.

My daughter challenged my very traditional educational consultant viewpoint and approach, and she became my greatest educational experimental case. So far, the experience has exceeded my expectations in so many ways: Celia is life-ready, equipped with

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so many of the kinds of life skills that I marveled about when she was barely three and in Montessori. As a student in an agricultural vo-tech school, she’s learning about animals and plants, stewardship of the environment, woodworking, welding, and is even getting a little primer to mechanical engineering.

I’m beyond proud; she’s acquired skills that I may never possess and, as her mom, I’m

pursue multiple career paths in their lifetime as working humans.

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Don’t be afraid of asking the big, seemingly daunting question: What do you want to do with your life? Don’t be alarmed when you face the big question mark in your child’s eyes. Instead, engage them in digging into the question by asking them

“Remain open-minded. Don’t allow for any of your preconceived notions of what a postsecondary path should look like…” super grateful. Most importantly, she’s confident, happy, and not afraid of hard work.

The vocational route has opened my eyes and challenged my own preconceived notions of what a post-secondary path should look like.

It’s also spurred many discussions about my daughter and her future plans. If my own experience as a mom and as an educational consultant/college coach can help inform some of your discussions with your children, as you embark on their post high school plans, I’ll be pleased. But in order to write this piece, I’ve also had conversations with numerous parents who’ve been my predecessors on the journey to raising successful, introspective, and, ‘awakened’ adults.

So how do we, as parents, committed to the highest good of our children, engage our children in the practice of impactful communication about our futures? Talk to your kids.

Remain open-minded. Remember, it’s theirs to own. Honor your child’s unique identity, experiences, and characteristics as you help them plan and navigate their own pathways.

Here are some additional tidbits of wisdom I’ve compiled that might help inform your practice of communication with your teen:

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Be transparent about issues around money and funding post-secondary education.

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Ask your children what brings them happiness and joy.

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Be open-minded and aware that our children (unlike our generation and previous generations) will have opportunities to

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what they imagine doing to make a living, what their goals are, and what their ideal work environment might look like. Do they imagine sitting at a desk? Working with their hands? With people? Behind the scenes?

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Ask them if they feel ready for college?

If they’re not sure, give them the permission and guidance to look at other opportunities and jump in together. It might be a magical family experiment.

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Listen to them, poke and prod a bit at their responses to your questions, encourage them to both daydream and to be practical.

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Remind them that it takes time, inquiry, and a whole lot of practice to come to the awakenings/enlightenments and epiphanies that bring them the clarity they seek; and that they’re not alone.

Life’s road is not always a direct pathway to success. And taking the road less traveled may be exactly what your child needs permission to do. Remember that it’s often messy, muddy, and requires patience, space, and introspection.

As we started to come out of savasana this morning, my teacher shared a last tidbit that resonated with me on so many different levels.

After class, I asked him for the full quote from the Tao Te Ching, or “The Way” by Lao Tzu: Do you have the patience to wait until the mud settles and the water is clear?

For me, as a parent, the answer is a resounding yes. But the part of the extended quote that I

didn’t hear in yoga class, but found even more relevant and resonated deeply with me as a parent, who is constantly trying to influence my children’s decisions and solve their problems for them was this line: “Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself?”

As a fellow parent, I challenge us to honor these deep pieces of wisdom, and hope that we can help cultivate the practice of helping our kids become more “accident prone” towards awakenings and enlightenment. As parents, all we can hope for, after all, is to guide our children towards becoming awakened towards their true paths and to honor their journeys as we walk alongside them: supporting, advising, challenging, and loving them along the way. ¢ Christine Chapman is an educational consultant, and cofounder of Personalized Educational Solutions, Inc (www.pesglobal. org) and Education Station (www. educationstationhopkinton.com) She is grateful to do meaningful work that supports and empowers students from all over the world in finding their best educational matches in private schools and universities. She is a team builder, community contributor, and educational entrepreneur with almost 30 years of experience as a business owner involved in helping students develop and implement successful educational plans.

She is a serial volunteer, lover of the arts, and committed to social and emotional wellness and youth empowerment.

Christine is a musician, an aspiring yogi, lover of animals, and committed single mother of two amazing children.

As a committed, passionate college coach, Christine just started a new nonprofit called The College Axis Project (www. thecollegeaxisproject.org). She is grateful to be pursuing her vision and passion to make educational enrichment and college counseling available to everyone, regardless of race, socio-economic status, or gender/sexuality.

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Peacing it all together.

This updated edition of the popular course, The Parenting Puzzle, led by Lorna McGrath, shares the secrets of Family Leadership—the Montessori way. Over the course of five weeks, Lorna provides strategies and practical examples that you can use right away to bring peace and ease into your home, creating a haven for the whole family, where power struggles fall away and give rise to joy.

Discount for MFA members. Now offering a monthly payment plan.

REGISTER OR LEARN MORE tinyurl.com/parenting-puzzle-2

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Top 10 Things Your Montessori Guide Hopes You Remember And Five Things Your Montessori Teacher Might Hesitate to Tell You (in descending order)

by Cheryl Allen

Make sure your child can dress themselves in the clothes worn to school. High top sneakers look so cute, but if your child can’t put them on and tie them, they need to be only for out-of-school days and times.

Communicate with your child’s guide, but consider the time. Let your child’s guide know if there is something that may affect the day, but try not to have a longer conversation just as class starts.

Let your child walk to the classroom.

Carrying your child tells your child they can’t do it on their own, and we want to encourage independence.

Help your child to “do it themselves.”

Take the time to teach and then give the extra time it will take to allow your child to do whatever they can, from putting on shoes to preparing their lunch.

Make sure your child can manage their lunch items. Practice at home can help make lunch smoother for your child. If your older child will be cooking something in the microwave, let them try it at home first.

Limit the electronic babysitter, especially around school time. Screens certainly have their place, but try to use the time before and after school for music, audio books, conversation, or reading. This helps your child transition to and from school more easily.

Focus on specifics rather than giving a consistent “good job.” Share what you noticed (“I saw you running around the whole field.”)

Come to school on time. Make getting out the door on time a team effort by having your child complete some morning jobs. Getting to class on time allows your child more comfort when beginning their school day.

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Ask “tell me more” before complaining about any information you hear from your child. Often, clarification makes a concern a funny story. For example, a child told her teacher that another child, “Said the f-word.”

When the child was asked to whisper what was said, he leaned into me and said, “He said fat.” Crisis averted.

Always know that we are all on the same team: Team Your Child. Even when any of us have concerns, our goal is always to support your child to success.

And now…

Five Things Your Montessori Teacher Might Hesitate to Tell You: Watching TV shows on the way to school does affect the way your child settles into class. Frankly, we do not move as fast

and engage the brain the same way electronic screens do, so making that change can be difficult for many children.

Asking your child, “Why did you do that?” is not helpful and will probably not get a real answer. Try asking them to tell you the story of what happened, and ask how they were feeling before the incident; rarely do people know why they did something.

Have times when you are off your phone while you are with your child. Multitasking is sometimes necessary and so seductive, but some time without your child needing to compete with your phone is beneficial for both of you. Drop off and pick up from school are great times to be off your phone.

Be careful about what you say about school, your child’s teacher, or your child’s classmate. Your child is probably listening.

Vent to family or a friend at an appropriate time and place, or consider if it needs to be said at all.

When you talk about your child, as if they are not there, when they actually are there, they will hear you. Consider how children will take the information if it is new to them, and how they will feel about you sharing the information if it is not new. And, by the way, nobody appreciates being labeled. ¢

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HELP FOR CHILDREN WITH DIFFERENCES LEARN TO READ IN A MONTESSORI CLASSROOM

by Amanda Riccetti

The many different philosophies of childhood education foster children’s learning in their own unique ways. The Montessori philosophy nurtures independence, confidence, selfregulation, and learning in children from doing and experiencing, offering and actively involving them in direct learning experiences.

In a Montessori environment, students are encouraged to follow their curiosity and learn at their own pace. They are exposed to lessons, activities, and materials that build upon their skill set and help them develop as an individual.

The teacher in a Montessori classroom does not give class lectures, but instead spends time with individual students guiding their learning experiences. This allows the children to take the time they need to fully understand a concept and meet individualized learning goals. Although this concept makes for a stimulating learning environment for most children, some may struggle, especially when faced with learning differences and other similar challenges.

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The Montessori reading curriculum has three essential components: a strong foundation in phonics; comprehension based on visualization; and a whole-language approach of learning to read for meaning using context clues. Montessori reading is based on the first of these components, a strong foundation in phonics so that children can sound out or “decode” words. This approach is unique in that children first learn how words are constructed through phonemes, or letter sounds. Once they are aware that words can be broken down into smaller units of sound, children can then independently learn to decode new words. They can read what they see and enjoy what they read. Why, then, might a child struggle with learning to read in a Montessori classroom?

When I was three years old, my mother enrolled me in a Montessori school. In the 1960s, neither my Montessori teachers nor my parents were aware that I had a learning difference. I was a well-behaved little girl who kept very busy learning from the environment.

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My school was very relaxed, with inviting small tables, rows of shelves filled with activities, and warm lunches of soup and crackers. I remember exploring and discovering things entirely on my own. One of the things I loved most were the Metal Insets—flat metal squares with different shapes inside. I enjoyed tracing and coloring the shapes inside with colored pencils. By the time I was ready to move on to the next level, I had full confidence in myself.

When I entered the first grade (lower elementary), I understood a great deal, but when the reading lessons started, I felt confused and alone. I am sure others felt this way, but all I could see were my classmates who understood the lessons and could read out loud with no effort.

When my mom used the Montessori reading curriculum to tutor me, she spent the time to break down the components of language into smaller parts, eventually I learned how to decode words. This experience not only helped me learn to read, but it also showed me how to teach others. Comprehension can still be difficult for me at times and I tire easily, especially if the topic is not terribly interesting to me.

In a traditional Montessori class, most children simply absorb reading skills as easily as they learn to walk. However, children and

During the summer between first and second grade, my mother enrolled in a Montessori teacher education program.

The Montessori teacher training center was in Palo Alto, and since we were living in San Francisco, I had to change schools.

My second-grade experience was a more positive one, as I had a lovely teacher who had wonderful and creative ways to teach and never asked any student to read out loud. Instead, we were put in smaller groups of children who were learning at the same level. Observing my reading challenges, she asked my mom to have me tested. After a series of tests at UCSF, it was finally discovered that I had a high IQ as well as dyslexia, a common learning difference. I couldn’t understand sound components the way it was traditionally taught; visually, I wasn’t able to memorize which letters produced which sounds.

My mother and I realized that we would have to do extra work outside of school to help me learn how to read.

After sharing what she learned about me with her Montessori trainer, she simply suggested that Mom should teach me in the same way she taught her students in her class. Each night, my mother would give me a reading lesson from materials she brought home from her Montessori classroom. At first it was slow, but we pushed on day by day, lesson by lesson.

At the end of second grade, I could read at a first-grade level. Although I still struggled in school, I could at least keep up.

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adults who have dyslexia struggle with visual memory tasks such as learning letter sounds.

Often teachers overlook these children in early childhood programs (3-6 years old).

This can happen even in a Montessori classroom because not all Montessori teachers have the experience or knowledge to recognize a child who may later be diagnosed with a learning difference.

These children require a great deal of repetition and time to get a breakthrough just to recall a few letter sounds, but they want to learn, can learn, and need to learn during those early years during the sensitive period for language development, when their minds are most open to learn reading skills. These children cannot afford to wait and see, an

approach that often leaves them struggling with learning to read later in their elementary years. My first-hand experience led me down the path to becoming a Montessori teacher, reading tutor, and later creating the Reading with Miss Amanda Book Series.

After 35 plus years of coaching and lending materials to the parents at my school, I began to search for another solution. That is when I set a goal to create my own solution to this problem. Along the way, I recruited some wonderful and talented people who supported my vision. They are Steven Gomez, my illustrator; Kimberly Lopez, an alumnus from my school, who became my proofreader and editor; and two parents from my school, Jessica Lam and Maya Bourdeau, who gave me their professional support and parent perspectives. After five years of hard work, the Reading with Miss Amanda Book Series was completed.

The series adapts the Montessori reading curriculum into a simpleto-use book format that provides children with the ability to practice sounds and make words. Then they will begin to decode words and gain the confidence to read at their own pace. This approach makes it a fun and accessible tool for parents and teachers to use when working with young children on their reading skills. Children receive intuitive step-by-step lessons simply by following the dialogue of the teacher in the books. Each of the five levels in this color-coded series offers books for all levels of readers, including: pre-readers (3 years and up); beginning readers (4 years and up); and advanced readers (5 years and up). Each level offers a set of lessons that shows young children the skills required to reach the next level.

These books teach reading phonetically over the course of 32 books, each of which is about 75 pages. The curriculum mirrors the lessons a Montessori teacher would present to a student in their class. The classroom materials have been masterfully adapted into engaging and intuitive lessons with simple dialogue for the adult to follow as they assist their child.

Through the child’s imagination, they are transported into a Montessori classroom with their very own Montessori teacher to guide

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them. The books also offer tips for the adults and are designed to be read over and over until the child masters the lesson. When the child successfully completes a book, they will encounter a page that offers its congratulations and shows children their progress Level one focuses on using basic letter sounds through the use of Sandpaper Letters. The lessons in this level are broken down into three parts in order to teach children the phonetic sound associated with each printed letter. Each book within this level focuses on three letters, two consonants and one vowel. Over the course of the five books in the ‘Yellow Level,’ a total of fifteen letter sounds are taught and learned.

Level two moves on from practicing singleletter sounds to bridging the sounds together to form three-letter words using the Moveable Alphabet. Each of the five books in this level isolates the task of understanding the sound of one vowel in a word, in the order of a, e, i, o, u.

Level three focuses on sounding out three-letter words and reading them individually as well as other words. Each book offers lessons in the following sequence: matching words to pictures; flashcards; three-letter word lists; short sentences; and a short story.

Level four focuses on four- and five-letter short-vowel words as well as simple sight words and blends. This level offers the same curriculum as the previous level in order to adapt children to reading and identifying larger words.

Level five is the longest of the series, with twelve books instead of five books in each of the previous levels. This level focuses on phonograms, long-vowel words, silent vowels, and more. The children are introduced to a more advanced vocabulary, additional English language rules, and the knowledge of how to decipher words. Each of the twelve books offers flashcards, a list of words, short sentences and a short story.

Early intervention is the key during the sensitive period of learning to read. Children are traditionally taught to read between first and third grade, but with the use of this series, children form a solid foundation for reading at an early age. Children may not show

immediate progress, but that is completely normal. They often forget how to do something new, and it may take a child anywhere from one week to as long as a month to master a new book. Follow the child, and if you feel that your child is not engaging with the book, stop for a little while and reintroduce it at another time. Remember, children who are not learning with ease will require a great deal of support and patience. These children want to learn to read but may tire more easily and need baby steps. Once these children feel safe and start to feel success, they will pick up the lessons more rapidly. Keep it fun, always encouraging your child’s effort and progress. The lessons are designed to offer information, so always give your child the answer when they can’t retrieve it themselves.

Visit Amanda’s website to learn more. www.readingwithmissamanda.com

Be patient and remember: “practice makes permanent.” Children love repetition, and it drives learning the more the child practices. For example, the popular book Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown might seem so repetitious to an adult, but children love the repetition of phrases. So, if you use these books and think, “that’s repetitive,” remember—it has been designed that way. Only move to the next book when your child can recall the information easily. ¢

Amanda Riccetti is the Director and Owner of Big City Montessori School in San Francisco. She has been a teacher, reading tutor, and mentor for over 40 years. Founded by her mother, the school gave Amanda the opportunity to observe from an early age the benefits of a strong and connected educational journey. As a child, she struggled with the traditional learning process, and later discovered it was because she had a learning difference, dyslexia. Amanda learned to identify a pattern among children who struggled to visually recognize lower case letters and who did not understand the relationship between the letter and the sound that the letter made. This led her to develop the Montessori-based reading series described in this article. Contact Amanda at: amanda.riccetti@gmail.com

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7 Practices to Develop Character

by Cassi Mackey, M.Ed.

We want to raise our children to be great human beings, but how do we develop strength of character in our children? According to Dr. Montessori, “Character formation cannot be taught. It comes from experience and not from explanation.”

Centering strong character traits in your family through modeling, experiences, and conversations is the foundation of developing strength of character. Practicing character is a daily decision that needs to be made, time and time again. Practice brings permanence, if it is purposeful and deliberate.

What follows are seven practices in helping children start to develop strong character.

Practicing Integrity

• Model integrity. Live your values. Do your actions and words reflect your family values?

• Articulate your family values so they become a natural way of thinking and behaving.

• Develop a moral vocabulary. Children

need to understand words, such as honesty, trust, fairness, integrity, etc. Teach children behaviors that embody these words.

• Acknowledge children when they are

Practicing Kindness

• Model kindness. Children learn how to

relate with others by observing the adults around them and how they treat other people. Show them what it means to be kind and name the action as kindness.

Try to always speak kindly to your children, especially when you are tired, frustrated, or angry. personal stories, stories in books, stories on the news, etc. Stories are a wonderful way of building an understanding of kindness.

• Discuss and give examples of the effects

• Assess the teasing in your household. Is

• Respond to children’s behavior with calm-

ness and consistency. Be open to listening to your child’s reasoning for an action before instinctually admonishing and correcting, then remind them of the expectations and decide on a natural consequence that is consistent and clearly understood.

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• Expect kindness when your child speaks

to you. When your child speaks to you rudely, simply state how you would like to be talked to. Do not get into an exchange with them, just simply state your preferred specifics of communication. Be consistent.

Do not let poor tone or attitude slide.

• Share stories of kindness, whether Practicing Positivity

demonstrating integrity, not rewarding them but acknowledging them by telling them how much you value their behavior. your child’s actions have on themselves and on others.

hello, and thanking the cashier, are all demonstrations of kindness.

it demeaning, provoking, or humiliating?

Remember, children learn how to play and interact with peers by their own experiences at home.

• Discuss how their behavior affects those around them, whether it is positive or negative.

• Give your children opportunities to serve others. Show them that holding a door open for someone, smiling and saying

• Model being positive. Take the time to

monitor how you present your life experience to your children. Do they hear you regularly speaking positively or negatively?

Try to point out the good side of events and experiences.

• Address failure as an opportunity for

growth. Help your children self-evaluate situations. Ask the questions: What went well and what would you change if you could? Encourage your child to develop a plan of action to effect change for the next time around.

• Challenge your children when they

are personalizing (“It was all my fault”),

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globalizing (“I always make mistakes”), or catastrophizing (“I will never do anything right”). You do not have to contradict your children’s explanation, but encourage them to come up with positive outcomes to the situation.

• Encourage children to set their own goals

and think through how they plan on achieving them. This process gives them agency and a sense of competence that often leads to success. Encourage them to focus on the best possible outcomes and, as such, they will align their thoughts in that way and work toward achieving the outcome they want.

Practicing Gratitude

• Model gratitude. Make it a habit to notice and verbalize the things for which you are grateful.

• Ask your children questions to help

them start to notice things that deserve gratitude: What have you noticed today that you were given that you are grateful for? and, Are there things in your life that you are grateful for that aren’t gifts or material things?

• Create space for conversations regarding

how they feel when they receive something (including non-material things).

Help them associate positive feelings with someone else’s actions. As often as possible, highlight the idea that people and events can give us good feelings.

• Teach gratitude through action. Ask your

children if there is a way that they would like to show how they feel about a gift, an event, or a person. Children can use their special talent or interest, for example, and make up a song and/or paint a picture to express their gratitude.

Practicing Flexibility

• Model flexibility. Tell children when and

how you are being flexible as things come up throughout the day, whether as part of a minor or major event. Explain how you are being flexible and, when appropriate, involve children in the new plan.

• Create opportunities for children to expe-

the routine at home every once in a while, helping them become accustomed to managing change.

• Change the rules to board games; start out

with small changes, so they can see how they can adjust. Then, make more changes.

• Give positive reinforcement when your

• It is important that your children know

exactly what is expected of them and the consequences of not meeting expectations.

They also need to know what is non-negotiable and what is open for discussion and mutual agreement.

• Allow your children to be responsible for

and

their actions. Even a three-year-old can clean up a spill; spilling is normal, but cleaning up the spill is also normal.

• Teach your child strategies to take when

• Parents should not point fingers or make

children demonstrate flexibility change course of action.

a change occurs. Teach them to stop and breathe, state the problem, consider at least three possible solutions, then select one to try.

Practicing Effort

children feel defensive about behavior.

They should acknowledge when a child owns up to a mistake, and help them come up with a solution on how to make amends; and do something differently next time.

• Model effort. Show your willingness to • Give children age-appropriate choices take risks and try new things, even when they are hard.

• Acknowledge effort, bravery, risk-tak-

ing, open-mindedness, and keeping a positive outlook.

• Teach children to monitor their effort.

Help them reflect on whether they gave their best in an activity.

and chores.

• Encourage children to participate in decision-making to develop accountability.

The road to strong character is paved with practice. It is a journey, and it is going to have ups and downs. The term practicing is not inadvertent. Have patience and remember what your ultimate goal is for your child. ¢

• Help children recognize and celebrate

their effort by asking them, What was something you did today where you felt proud of how hard you tried?

• Make it easy to work hard by preparing the

environment with the tools they need to succeed with a task.

• Help your children work through challenges by modeling self-talk. Children can learn how to persist if they talk out the problem, coupled with positive self-talk.

• Show your children the progress they have made. Remind them of where they started and how far they have come.

Practicing Accountability

• Model personal accountability. Demon-

strate accountability by apologizing and making amends when necessary. You will show your children you are responsible for the consequences of your actions.

Cassi Mackey, M.Ed. is passionate about helping families create sacred spaces where love, joy, and honest connections are nurtured.

Cassi has witnessed the transformational power when families engage in Montessori philosophy as an imputable practice. It is a promise of more meaningful relationships, greater depth of experience, and a broader, more compassionate view of oneself and the world. Cassi has lived, learned, and taught the Montessori pedagogy for the last 30 years as a Montessori 9-12 teacher, a school principal, and consultant. She consults with (and provides advice to) Montessori communities and families that are intent on providing safe harbors for children. Contact Cassi via email at: cassimackey11@gmail.com.

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Celebrating Financial Independence Raising a child to be financially independent is a significant accomplishment.

by Nathan Dungan, Share, Save, Spend

Parents can begin early to help their child build important financial capabilities and in turn, set them on a path to financial independence.

Equipping them to make thoughtful financial decisions over time, and coaching them with those decisions (what went well and what could have been better) will prepare them for their financial future and help them:

Ages 14–16

•

Ages 17–22

Develop healthy money habits. Cultivate a work ethic. Set age-appropriate money goals. Gain resilience to endure financial hardships; Gain confidence that comes from making financial decisions; Enhance their wellbeing, which may include lower stress and the improved health that follows; and Financial independence means learning to make financial decisions on your own.

• • •

Here are three important skills to help young people launch successfully into life on their own.

Ages 12–13 Children should gain experience using cash. Show your child how to periodically track all their income and expenses over a timeframe of a few weeks or months. Watch how they manage their money, and start conversations around their choices in sharing, saving, and spending.

64%

of Americans aged 18 to 36 DO NOT own a credit card.

MONEY TALKS : What steps will you take in the next 30 days to help your child(ren) become more financially independent?

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Younger teens should master a debit card. Help your son or daughter build on skills they demonstrated with cash by transferring funds to a debit card. Give them increased financial responsibility, including helping them map out a budget of needs and wants.

Older teens and young adults should learn to use a credit card. If your son or daughter has earned this right through the lessons of earlier stages, layer in learning about how to use a credit card and how to monitor their credit score. Communicate the additional responsibility that goes with this new privilege.

Let your child make mistakes, and talk openly about your own money mishaps (avoid freaking out your child in the process). Your son or daughter will learn the pain of unwise spending, running out of money, or not paying off a credit card bill on time. As you shift more and more responsibility to them, remember that now is the time for them to gain firsthand experience, while the stakes are still low.

Nathan Dungan is the founder and president of Share Save Spend®. He speaks and consults with organizations and families on the topic of financial wellbeing. Nathan uses a Wellbeing Framework to help individuals and families build capabilities that are most relevant for them and the goals of their family.

He is the author of three books and numerous resources for organizations and families. Nathan’s newest resource, Money Sanity U®, is a subscription-based virtual learning library for organizations that addresses a variety of money topics in a simple and interactive format—all designed to help improve financial wellbeing. You can learn more at sharesavespend.com.

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How can I get involved with my child’s school?

Here are a few ways in which you might be able to help your school.

There are some things that even money can’t buy, and one of the most valuable contributions that families make to a school is the gift of their time and expertise. Parents, grandparents, and friends of the school are often found helping in the office, assisting in the classrooms, serving as field-trip drivers, offering a special class, planning the next special event, coaching, or serving on parents’ associations or school committees.

Parents play a crucial role in Montessori. Our schools are communities of parents and educators (many of whom will also have children enrolled at the school). Our ideas and input often help to shape the school. Montessori schools are normally very responsive to suggestions and concerns.

Most Montessori schools encourage families to participate in the broader life of the

by Montessori Foundation Staff

school through social and educational activities. Although many parents spend considerable amounts of time as volunteers, except for parent-cooperative schools, there is normally no expectation for a set-time commitment.

Parents and grandparents who give of their time and talent share with their children special memories of experiences and friendships that endure well beyond their graduation.

Volunteer a few hours a week to help in the office.

Serve as a class parent.

Lend your time and support to our fundraising efforts.

Help to organize a reunion for former students and their families.

Help out in the library.

Help put together the school newsletter.

Join in at open houses to meet prospective families.

Teach a special course.

Volunteer to be an Ambassador Family to parents new to the school.

Help the teachers organize field trips or special lessons.

Help organize special events.

Help students work in the garden.

Serve on one of the school’s committees.

Share your talents and special interests, such as playing a musical instrument, speaking a language, or making a craft.

Volunteer your time to help the school prepare major mailings.

Volunteer your time to coach a team or after school club.

Like all schools, Montessori schools blossom when parents are generous with the gift of time, talent, and expertise.

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The Fundamental Needs ofHuman Beings

by Cheryl Allen

The Fundamental Needs of Human Beings is a story that has many versions, as stories often do; yet, the idea stays the same. Teaching Montessori children about our basic human needs prepares them for Montessori’s important concept of what we refer to as ‘Peace Education.’

Image courtesy of montessoriservices.com

In the late 1930s, Dr. Montessori spent several years in India. A young Indian child proudly proclaimed the wisdom of his very old culture, possibly even hinting that this European visitor (Dr. Montessori) from a much younger culture, might not have wisdom to share with him.

Dr. Montessori took that thought and kept it with her as she observed her surroundings. Possibly she saw telephone cables being strung overhead, thought of railroads, motor cars, and perhaps other signs of Western technological progress. Certainly the Great Lessons that she had been working on continued to be a part of her thoughts.

With the help of others to create and demonstrate for her, Dr. Montessori created what she called “A Lesson In Humility”.

Possibly, she gathered the children again, making sure to invite her questioner. She also had two teachers on bicycles to assist in her demonstration. These adults carried a wooden dowel with a piece of black cloth

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wrapped around it. Maybe she invited a child to hold the end as the adults rode off.

Those gathered around watched three hundred meters (984 feet) of black fabric unwind.

Probably, it gently billowed in the breeze before settling down on the dust of the road.

As the bicycle riders became specks in the distance, a white strip of cloth ended the nearly three hundred meters of black cloth.

Possibly, Dr. Montessori explained, as Montessori guides do today: “This white strip represents the entire time humans have been on Earth. This black cloth represents the entire time of Earth.”

The thoughtfulness of this lesson, and the humility and awe that come with it, are examples of the strength and honesty of the Montessori cultural curriculum.

Montessori practitioners have spent more than ninety years building on that black part of the strip, having an understanding and appreciation of the work of the universe and planet before humans were a part of it, before looking at the ways humans have become a part of and affected the Earth.

A Montessori elementary cultural curriculum uses the Fundamental Needs of Humans to explore different cultures. The Fundamental Needs are often introduced by asking the

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This method of exploring different empires, countries, and even towns allows us to see that we all have the same fundamental needs, but over history, and even around the world today, they have been met in different ways.

Exploring these needs through materials in the classroom, online opportunities, biographies, art, laws, clothing, architecture, speeches, and various other ways to explore history is encouraged in the elementary classroom, both acknowledging and appreciating differences and similarities.

Montessori schools look at the world in search of similarities, differences, beauty, and consideration for all. In following the child and child development, Montessori teachers have always championed the beauty of all people and will continue to do so.

As Dr. Montessori reminded us in her 1937 address in Copenhagen, “An education capable of saving humanity is no small undertaking; it involves the spiritual development of man, the enhancement of his value as an individual, and the preparation of young people to understand the times in which they live.”

Using Fundamental Needs of Humans to explore history gives us a great tool to see that little white strip of humankind with greater understanding.

children what is needed to survive as a society. found around the world today and explore Students are quick to recognize most of our how they may have evolved over the centuries. shared material needs: food, shelter, communication, transportation, and notice the needs Once this looking glass has been created, for protection (defense), the arts, and our there are between nine and thirteen fundaconnections to one another. mental needs of humans. They can be used to notice similarities and differences between all Children learn to look at societies, past and societies, places, and times. present, through these lenses. It gives them truly useful examples of how people orga- One can notice that the ancient Empire of nize their lives and use the tools, resources, Mali used the rivers and boats to trade the and technology available to them to meet gold and salt mined within its borders and their needs. For example, children explore today, many countries now use ships to carry the history of houses over human history, things across the ocean and then planes or or how they gathered, herded, or grew food. trucks to transport and trade goods.

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Cheryl Allen is a senior consultant with the Montessori Foundation and a parenting educator with the Montessori Foundation’s Family Network. Cheryl attended a Montessori school in Northern Virginia from age two to age nine. She graduated from Georgetown University with a major in history and a minor in women’s studies. She has many years of Montessori teaching experience and holds AMS early childhood certification and both AMS and IMC elementary teacher certification. Cheryl is a teacher educator, workshop presenter, and member of IMC accreditation teams. Cheryl’s two children attended Montessori school from age two through high school graduation.

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BOOK REVIEWS

Reviewed by NewGate Secondary Students

are when they each go back and forth, trying to control the situation together, but not having enough trust in each other to do any one thing.

These comas last for days and make him look dead. After being diagnosed, he starts to look into cases where somebody was buried alive. The more he researches cases, the more his paranoia grows. He starts to prepare, just in case he is mistaken for someone deceased.

This fear of being buried alive starts to limit what he does. Will he ever overcome his fear?

Edgar Allan Poe Classic Stories Written by Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe had an incredible talent when it came to turning the truly disturbing into something beautiful. This book shows some of his more famous works. Personally, Edgar Allan Poe appeals to me because of the more poetic aspects of his stories. I decided to choose two of his works, but if I could have, I would have done a review on the entire book.

The Premature Burial Although there are many unfortunate events that occur in our world (often romanticized by the media), being buried alive is one of the most terrifying. In the 1800s, they didn’t have as much technology as we do now.

Seeing if somebody had died was based on appearances, and there were a few problems with that. When someone is extremely ill, they can sometimes resemble a corpse. Take a coma for instance. We now have ways to tell if a person in a coma is alive, but back then, all they saw was a pale, sunken face, the lack of warmth, and the faltering pulse.

The narrator of “The Premature Burial” has a medical condition that puts him in danger of being buried alive. This rare condition puts him into comas at random.

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The Cask Of Amontillado In “The Cask Of Amontillado,” the narrator, Montresor, has a secret. Although, on the outside, he seems to always smile around his friend, Fortunato, he only smiles when fantasizing about killing him. He truly despises, Fortunato, and he starts to plan his murder.

Fortunato is a man very proud of his ability to taste wine. Using that fact, Montresor plans to lure Fortunato to a place where it will be just the two of them. “I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts,” said Montresor.

Hearing that, Fortunato, flattered that Montresor would go to him for help first, follows him back to the Montresor House.

Of course, Fortunado, who can’t see past the smile on his dear friend’s face, could never predict that the real reason that Montresor is smiling is because the plan is going perfectly.

Edgar Allan Poe has many more works than just these two, each one unique but fitting his overall gothic theme. I would recommend this book to anyone who is at least 13 years old and has an interest in poetry or horror.

Reviewed Spring 2021 by Mia Morales, 8th grade, NewGate Montessori School, Sarasota, FL

Five Total Strangers Written by Natalie D. Richards Mira is traveling home to Pittsburgh to see her mother over the holidays. Since her Aunt Phoebe passed away, her mother has been trying to keep herself together, and Mira knows she needs her now more than ever. But there’s been an unexpected setback; her plane must land due to turbulence and forces Mira to find other means of travel: hitching a ride with four complete strangers. It was fine at first, but after many of their things go missing along the ride, it becomes evident that someone is sabotaging their plans. Mira’s panic makes everyone seem more sinister, yet she must put all her trust into them, because there is no other way home. Five Total Strangers, shows the phrase “stranger danger” at its finest.

This suspense/mystery/thriller is one of my favorites for many reasons. I love how the whole story is told from Mira’s point of view. You only know what she is thinking, and you are never really sure whose side to take because of it. The book is mostly dialogue. I thought it would be hard to keep track of who is talking, but each character has such a clear personality that it was a very enjoyable read. Some of my favorite parts of the book

Richards has a way of keeping you on edge in the best way possible. It’s a fairly quick read, but it just made it all the more exciting and fast-paced. I don’t want to give too much away, but the reveal at the end will definitely change your perspective.

This book is great for teens, but a slightly younger audience can read it, too. If you find yourself intrigued when you read the first paragraph, you may want to give Five Total Strangers a try.

Reviewed Spring 2021by Veda DiPiero, 7th grade, NewGate Montessori School, Sarasota, FL

The Giver Written by Lois Lowry In 1994, Lois Lowry won the John Newbery medal for the book, The Giver. Ms. Lowry has won this award twice in her career.

The Giver is the first book of a four-part series, called The Quartet. The collection includes: The Giver, Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son. In this book, the reader will quickly connect to the characters and want to read more. The writing style

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BOOK REVIEWS flows, is easy to read, creates a vivid picture within the mind, and is filled with suspense.

However, the book is not just for entertainment. It is written to show the importance of human connection with one another and the planet. At the end of the book, the reader feels as if something has been gained and will want to read the next book in The Quartet.

Calling all teachers, parents, & children!

The protagonist in The Giver is a twelve-year-old boy named Jonas. He lives in a community in the future. Everything around him is controlled, monitored, and is called the “Sameness.”

There is no choice, and people are drugged to keep them from feeling certain emotions.

The people in the community do not recognize this as being wrong. They are told this living environment is ideal because all unpleasantness has been eliminated from society.

The Ceremony of Twelve occurs annually and involves all twelveyear-old children receiving their life assignments. As this event nears, Jonas worries about what role he will be appointed. The reader experiences a feeling of anxiousness for Jonas. When he is given his role, everyone is shocked, even Jonas. The rising action of the story is Jonas’ training, which quickly leads to the story’s conflict. This is when he discovers the dark truth behind his community’s happy façade.

The Giver is an award-winning book that will not disappoint.

It is appropriate for upper elementary through adulthood.

The reader will, more than likely, finish this book in one sitting. It is truly that good!

Reviewed Spring 2021 by Collin Carpino, 9th grade, NewGate Montessori School, virtual student in Stuart, FL

We would love to publish reviews of your favorite books.

Send book reviews to Lorna at: lornamcgrath@montessori.org

Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

Neil Gaiman

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BOOK REVIEWS

Reviewed by Lorna McGrath

There are many philosophical and moral issues to think about as one reads this novel. There was one question very close to the end of the book that really struck me as relevant to the current pandemic situation as well as the gun violence in America.

I took the liberty to change the verbs to present tense.

“Which is better: being safe or having freedom? And do you have to choose?”

A Wish in the Dark

I would definitely recommend this book for secondary students at home or at school. You can find it at most sellers.

Written by Christina Soontornvat A Wish in the Dark is this year’s winner of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, from the Jane Addams Peace Association (www.janeaddamschildrensbookaward.org).

This novel was a page-turner novel for me. There is adventure, suspense, mystery, and magic along with friendship, injustice, and mind-changing experiences throughout the entire story. The setting is in an imaginary city and an outlying village in a land much like many in East Asia. It felt like long ago to me, even though the governor has magical powers with which he creates energy for lights, motorized vehicles, and cooking.

The main characters included Pong and Somkit, orphans in prison, whose mothers were incarcerated, and then died in childbirth; Nok, daughter of the well-to-do prison warden; Father Cham, a wise man from the village temple; Ampai, a woman in the city who was a champion for the poor and a rebel rouser for social justice; and the Governor, a magical being with the power for good or evil.

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Something Happened in Our Town Written by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, Ann Hazzard Illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin This is a child’s story about racial injustice. I was trying to decide how old a child should be to either read the book themselves or to have it read to them. Honestly, I’m still not sure about the answer. What I do know is that parents know their own children best, and they know their values and beliefs. As with many subjects, such as death, sexuality, injustice, or divorce, parents need to decide when and how to tackle sensitive or disturbing

subjects. Most importantly, parents need to make it safe for their children to ask questions, answer truthfully, and answer age appropriately.

We know that young children often hear about things that we wish they did not; from television, the internet, older siblings, or adults talking. We don’t want them to hear about violence, hate, pandemics, or injustice.

But the truth is – they do.

adults answer their children’s questions about racial injustice.

My grandson will be five years old in June. He and his family live in City Center, Philadelphia, PA. He’s bright, curious, and is very aware of things that happen in his city. This story could (and does) take place where he lives. I’ll send this book to him after I’ve reviewed it for you.

Sometimes, we don’t answer because we don’t want them to lose their innocence or to worry about things that we think they can’t understand. In reality, it can be more upsetting to a child if their questions go unanswered, because we don’t know how to or are uncomfortable about answering them.

The good news is that this book will help parents with the very difficult subject of racial injustice. It looks at a situation that involves a police shooting of a black man and how two families of different races explained the incident to their lower elementary age children. These families were honest and emotional when answering their children.

They also helped their children see that there are things they could do to make changes in how people treat each other.

Both children put the lessons from their parents into practice at school the next day. It reminded me of the famous quote from Mahatma Gandhi, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

The illustrations are realistic.

They depict a town/city and the children at home with their families and at their school.

They do not show the shooting itself. The authors also included eight pages of “Notes to Parents and Caregivers” to help

Jada Jones: Sleepover Scientist Written by Kelly Starling Lyons Illustrated by Nneka Myers This is one in a series of Jada Jones early readers. The print is quite large, and the illustrations are fun! This series is a great way to bridge the gap between easy readers to confident readers. The stories are engaging and relatable.

This book is about Jada planning her first sleepover party with her friends. She planned what she thought would be so much fun for everyone – lots of science experiments, because Jada loves science! Unfortunately, not all her friends feel the same way, and the party was almost a bust! In the end, the girls decided on a fun game

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BOOK REVIEWS that they all liked, built a fort for all of them to sleep in, and had a dad-made pancake breakfast in the morning. All went well and they had a blast! I would definitely recommend this series for lower elementary age children.

figure out how she could make things go right on Girl’s Day. The special project in this book is making an origami paper doll.

Recommended for lower elementary age children.

Our Peaceful Classroom Written by Aline D. Wolf Illustrated by Children from Montessori schools worldwide

Jasmine Toguchi: Super Sleuth Written by Debbi Michiko Florence Illustrated by Elizabeth Vukovic Here is another good reading series. The print is a bit smaller than in the Jada Jones books and there are still quite a lot of illustrations to keep the confident reader engaged. Each book in this series has a Table of Contents, and there is often a special project for readers to try in the back of the books.

This story is fun, culturally diverse, and has some mysteries in it. Jasmine is a JapaneseAmerican girl, and she has plans to include her friend, Linnie, in her Girl’s Day celebration, a special Japanese holiday. However, as the two girls start to gather clothing for the celebration, Jasmine has the feeling that something was wrong. Her older sister didn’t want to participate, and her friend, Linnie, decided to go home early. Jasmine had to pay attention to the clues and

This book is not new. It has been around for years because it is a classic book about Montessori early childhood classrooms around the world, told and illustrated by the children who attend them. It is an all-time favorite book because it captures the essence of Montessori classrooms; the learning materials; the atmosphere of friendship and caring; the sense of ownership the children have for their classroom; the respect that the teachers show to the children; and the community that the adults and children create together. If your child is about to begin a Montessori early childhood program, this book will help your child feel comfortable as they transition from home (or another more conventional childcare center) to a Montessori classroom.

The Little Montessori Me Picture Book Written by Inez Bunclark This is an interesting book for children whose parents choose to create a Montessori-inspired home. In it, the author takes the young child through his day at home. She includes many Practical Life activities, such as food prep, helping with the laundry, gardening, and more. She also shows how a bedroom could be set up, an eating area, an art area, shelving for activities, and equipment for indoor climbing. She chose to write the story in rhyme. Children will enjoy the flow of the language.

The illustrations are lovely, realistic drawings. The Little Montessori Me Picture Book would be helpful for parents and children who don’t have a toddler Montessori program in their area or who choose to keep their children at home because of age or health-related concerns.

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Jack Goes to Montessori School Written byAllyson Collins Illustrated by Lindsey R. Smith This book is written by a Montessori mom who wanted other families to know how terrific Montessori school is. I think it would be a good way to help prepare three- and four-yearold children for the three-to-six (or primary) classroom.

It’s about a boy who loves his classroom, his friends, and his lessons. In the story, the author has pointed out quite a few of the basic materials, which are illustrated well. There are many, many more activities and lessons in an actual Montessori classroom. Reading this book to children who have never been in a Montessori classroom will give them a sense of how the day goes and some of what’s in store for them. It could be a real help with the transition from home to school or from the toddler level to primary.

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CLASSIFIEDS Montessori schools are clearly on the grow. Here is just a sampling of schools that are looking for guides and leaders for the next school year. For a complete listing (and it changes day to day), go to www.montessori.org/classified-ads/ If your school has a position to fill, we’re here for you, all summer long IMC members get one free advertisment, and that is just another great reason to join the International Montessori Council.

Visit www.montessori.org/the-international-montessori-council-imc/ to find out about IMC membership.

For everybody else, a classified ad costs $2 per word ($50 minimum). To place a classified ad in this publication, and/or online contact, Don Dinsmore at dondinsmore@montessori.org.

MONTESSORI TEACHING POSITIONS LOWER ELEMENTARY TEACHER (TREVOSE, PA) Neshaminy Montessori is a private, not-for-profit school seeking an experienced full time elementary teacher for the 2021-2022 school year. Located in beautiful Bucks County, PA, and a commuter’s dream – we are just thirty minutes outside of downtown Philadelphia and Princeton, NJ, about an hour from New York City and two and a half hours from the Maryland/ DC areas.

The position requires a thoughtful, nurturing, conscientious teacher, who can foster positive relationships with students, parents, and coworkers, and contribute to a close-knit community. We are seeking someone with excellent verbal and written communication skills, who embraces the value of observation and record-keeping.

The applicant should possess leadership qualities and a passion for education. They should demonstrate initiative and have experience teaching elementary school students.

Qualifications include current PA certification in Early Education, AMS, AMI, MACTE, IMC or any accredited Montessori Certification/ Training as an Elementary Teacher.

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In addition to your resume, please include a letter of interest that shares your teaching philosophy and an explanation of what inspired you to become a teacher.

It will be required to provide transcripts, copy of certification, FBI clearance (Registration number); State police clearance; and Department of Public Welfare Child Abuse clearance, and an Act 168 form for present employer, and prior employers, as indicated on the form along with two letters of professional reference.

Please include salary requirements in your letter of interest, as well as verification of the following: · Bachelor’s Degree or higher · At least 3 years’ experience · Ability to teach multiple grade levels simultaneously For more than 45 years, Neshaminy Montessori has inspired educational excellence, innovation, and collaboration in an environment of warmth, trust, and respect.

Our children develop and pursue their academic curiosities under a dynamic curriculum embodying experiential learning, mindful social engagement, cultural diversity, confident creativity, environmental sustainability, and technological advancement. The dedicated faculty nurtures and challenges each student to become a responsible citizen in a changing world, and an

open-minded leader with a lifelong passion for learning. We offer a rewarding teaching experience and attractive financial package, including benefits of health insurance.

Job Type: Full-time Contact: Lee Katzoff info@neshaminymontessori.org

oversee appropriate socialization and interaction. The lead teacher will communicate with parents, administration, and staff regarding daily, monthly, and yearly activities.

The lead teacher needs to have a love of the young child and meet the physical demands of working with the young child.

LEAD TODDLER TEACHER (NASHVILLE, TN)

· Must have a warm and friendly

New Children First Montessori in Nashville, TN is expanding and seeking a Lead Toddler Teacher (23-42 months old) with preferably 2+ years experience in a Montessori classroom. Must have a high school diploma and a Montessori Infant/Toddler Certificate from a MACTE accredited program.

New Children First, a Montessori community, is a year-round fulltime Montessori school with infants 2 months old through elementary, certified by the TN Dept. of Education, and a member of the International Montessori Council. We are looking for teachers dedicated to Montessori philosophy, who love children and teaching, who are enthusiastic and have great communication skills with both adults and children, as well as strong classroom management skills. Come join our team in a warm, supportive work environment in the heart of Green Hills. Salary based on experience. Please send your cover letter, resume, and references to sam@childrenfirstmontessori.org.

Requirements:

· · ·

personality, be sensitive to the feelings and needs of others, be able to relate well to children Fulfill responsibilities per Montessori philosophy, while using a quiet voice in the classroom BA or BS, four-year degree or higher; early childhood education preferred Early Childhood Montessori Certification; 3-6 AMS

Send resumes to: Amilda Clark mmschool@millhopper.com

Need a classified ad?

MONTESSORI LEAD EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER (GAINESVILLE, FL) Millhopper Montessori School, is looking for a teacher responsible for designing and implementing daily curriculum and schedules while working with the assistant teacher to provide a stable, gentle, safe Montessori environment. The teacher will present lessons with the Montessori materials and will

Write your ad and send it to dondinsmore@ montessori.org.

He will return a quote and it will go online as soon as it is paid.

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LIMITED IN-PERSON REGISTRATION IS STILL AVAILABLE Can't join us in person? Consider signing up for virtual registration or get a school site license for all your staff to attend virtually.

All registrants will receive a certificate for 15 hours of professional development and the complete collection of recordings of the live workshops, keynotes, and handouts.

WWW.MFCONFERENCES.ORG

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