A Guide, a Director/Directress, a Facilitator 

In the Montessori classroom, you will not see your child’s teacher standing at the front of the room lecturing. The focus of learning in Montessori is on the students, not the teacher. 

The teachers are not there to provide students with information they must learn, memorize, and bring up at the time of an assessment. Instead, Montessori teachers guide and support children as they pursue learning on their own. Teachers facilitate learning by designing deliberate, well-thought-out learning opportunities and guide individual children based on their observations of each child’s readiness and interests.

In a Montessori classroom, the teacher prepares a broad array of learning activities or “lessons” well before the children arrive.

During “work cycle” children independently choose from among those “lessons” throughout the morning. The students are given an uninterrupted period of time to complete that activity and return materials to their proper place once they have finished working with it. The Montessori work cycle teaches children so much. During work cycle, children learn to focus their attention and learn how to complete a task independently or with minimal help. The outcome is children feel a sense of accomplishment with each work cycle they successfully complete.

Each area in a Montessori environment (Math, Language, Culture, Sensorial, and Practical Life) is designed specifically to provide differentiated learning with a curriculum that flows on a continuum so the learning suits the individual needs of each unique student.

In some areas of the classroom, students conduct hands-on experiments, while other areas of the classroom require children to work together as a group to solve the learning activity. Still, other areas of the classroom are designed for children who prefer to learn independently. When children come into the environment, they are free to explore all areas of the classroom and choose lessons they are most drawn to.  Since all the lessons provide valuable learning opportunities, the children learn no matter which activity they choose.

As a teacher, one of the school events I always looked forward to and really enjoyed was Parent-Teacher Conferences! I loved hearing the stories that parents would share about their children and truly appreciated the feedback that came as a result of those conversations.

Occasionally, I get questions about how we measure progress in a Montessori environment. Is there “traditional assessment”?

This is a great question! 

In a Montessori classroom from Primary through Upper Elementary, teachers are continually assessing where each student is on their own individual path of learning. We are concerned about where each child is at a specific point in time and how they are progressing, at their own pace, in their own way to meet the educational benchmarks we have set out for them. Concrete numbers often fail to provide the best perspective on the quality of a child’s true learning. It is in Middle School when our students start to receive “grades” in the traditional sense. 

Maria Montessori created a teaching methodology supported by instructive materials to help children build confidence and resilience to prepare them for their entire educational journey, not just the quiz or worksheet that is in front of them at a moment in time. I hope all of you enjoyed your conference time with your child’s teacher.

Please know I am available to talk with you anytime. I would love to hear all that you learned about your child’s experience at FWM.

As Montessori teachers we understand that each child has a natural desire to learn when given the opportunity to learn in a way that matches their strengths and learning style. Children in a Montessori classroom also learn to respect their teachers and their peers. The children quickly learn and understand that everyone (teachers and students) is part of a community  that supports one another while they learn together. Our teachers work as facilitators. Our students also work together in partnership and collaboration as they explore the learning opportunities all around them. 

“Because the teacher respects each child and refrains from interference, the children treat one another with the same respect and kindness.~ ” Maria Montessori

(Maria Montessori Speaks to Parents, p. 61)

In many traditional schools, the learning model communicates the message: “Do what you are asked to do, when you are asked to do it.” Upon high school graduation a decade or so later, the children are expected to be successful, independent adults. Does that learning model truly prepare the child?

Independence, like every other aspect of life as an adult, is learned step by step, incrementally.  Each milestone of independence supports the successful development of the next milestone. 

In a Montessori school, children learn how to be self-directed. The lessons they choose to work on are the ones most appealing to them. Students are free to explore these activities at their own pace. Will they make mistakes? Of course, but that is the beauty of independence. Our children have the opportunity to learn in a relatively risk-free environment and to grow from their mistakes. 

The result is a child who feels supported and empowered to become a creative, independent adult. Enjoy the photos!

Humanities

Grade 6 Humanities students continued to work on their organizational writing. They watched a brief TED talk by time-lapse photographer, Louis Schwartzberg who shows some of his work on a documentary about gratitude. Then students responded in writing, discussing how they can show gratitude each day. Students were encouraged to read each other’s responses and comment on their writing. This builds their written discussion skills as well as practice giving positive, specific feedback when peer reviewing writing. Next they looked at and discussed how form affects writing, using two poems by E.E. Cummings as their exemplars. Finally, 6th grade students also practiced their editing skills and completed a unit of vocabulary.

Grade 7 Humanities worked this week on their Religions of China research presentations. They completed research using guided questions to help them, and then they began Google Slides presentations that they will be giving to their classmates next week to teach them about the religion and the role it plays/played in Chinese history. Students also completed a unit of vocabulary.

8th grade Humanities classes finished reading short stories to prepare them for their irony in literature essay. This week, they read, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “Sentry” by Frederick Brown, both with excellent examples of situational irony. For Poetry Tuesday, students read “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost and discussed the notion of boundaries and tradition. When are boundaries necessary? When should traditions be preserved v. changed?  Finally, they completed an additional unit of vocabulary.

Science

6th year Earth Science students just finished their unit, Fossils and Studying Earth’s Past. This week they began their unit, Tectonic Plates. Within this unit, students will learn about the literal driving force behind what shapes our planet. Next week, students will begin planning their stop motion videos representing the effects that convection currents have on the movement of tectonic plates and formation of our continents. 

The best part of my job is spending time in each of the classrooms. Whether I am covering for a teacher who is out, or I am invited in by the teacher to observe, or I am invited in by a child to celebrate their feeling of accomplishment on a work they are doing or a work they have finished; watching the philosophy in action is always awe inspiring for me.

Here is a peek into Upper Elementary:

The Upper Elementary classroom at FWM offers students in 4th and 5th grades a customized learning environment.   

What does a customized learning environment look like?

The UE program is designed to have a smaller class size with a 1:15 teacher-student ratio. This allows for countless opportunities for individualized attention to each student’s unique learning needs and encourages self-paced learning.

In Montessori, the Upper Elementary Classroom is an extension of the students’ own world. The emotional aspects of being an elementary aged student play a fundamental role in the child’s development and in their day to day time in school. 

We help our students understand how to work, how to fit in, and how to be part of a community in a positive and productive way. At this level, we do not avoid addressing difficulties or issues; instead, we work through them.  

Our community meetings are an example of this. Led by the students with an agenda chosen by the students and supervised by the classroom teacher, the whole class works together to solve problems and discuss issues as they arise in the classroom. Everyone has a voice in making the UE environment a better place to learn and grow together. 

The Montessori Upper Elementary program encourages students to have a strong sense of connection to all of humanity. Our students develop an appreciation of the contributions of their ancestors and of the diverse cultures and countries around the world. They are working to become well prepared to be contributing global citizens. Our goal is for each student to reach their fullest potential in all areas, so they can move forward with confidence in who they are and in their individual abilities.

Reminder: Monday, October 11th  NO SCHOOL

Please mark your calendars Thursday, October 28th — for Virtual Parent conferences. You will receive an email from your child’s teacher to sign up for conferences. 

Following the excitement of Curriculum Night, several parents asked if we might recommend some books or resources on Montessori.

Now that you have chosen Montessori for your child, broadening your understanding of the philosophy and approach will help you make informed decisions about your child’s education, and strengthen your role as a participant in it.

The American Montessori Society website offers free resources in this area in a section called: Reading Material on Montessori Education and Philosophy.  Please know that regardless of the date of publication, the articles in Montessori Life are fresh and pertinent to Montessori today.

If you are interested in adding to your Montessori reading list, here are some popular titles:

• From Dr. Maria Montessori herself, The Child in the Family 
• Marin Schmidt’s Understanding Montessori: A Guide for Parents
• Paula Polk Lillard’s Montessori, A Modern Approach
• Aline Wolf’s A Parents’ Guide to the Montessori Classroom and The World of the Child.