As I visited each classroom this week, I was struck by another hallmark of a Montessori Education- The Application of Knowledge.

Each child is provided learning opportunities that continue to organize their thinking through work with the Montessori materials. This is most easily observed in mathematics. As a student moves from the concrete to the abstract, you can see the application of their knowledge to real-world experiences. This organization of information, making sense of facts and figures and applying them to arrive at a solution, prepares the child for the world of adolescence. As children move into adolescence, thought and emotion evolve into understanding more abstract, universal concepts such as equity, freedom, and justice.

“… the child’s individual liberty must be so guided that through [their] activity [they] may arrive at independence … the child who does not do, does not know how to do.” —The Montessori Method

 

Dear Parents,

Moving Up Information Night is an important event at FWM.  It celebrates your child’s moving on to their next Montessori education cycle. Toddlers moving up to Primary will enter a three-year learning cycle. Second year primary students will move into their final or culminating year of Kindergarten. Kindergarten students moving up to Lower Elementary will enter their next three-year learning cycle, Lower Elementary students moving up to Upper Elementary will enter a two-year learning cycle, and Upper Elementary students moving up to Middle School will enter a three-year learning cycle.

The education or learning cycles of Montessori classrooms match the range of development of the children they serve. We know that children in each of these multiage classrooms will generally be in the same developmental range. We witness every day, the benefits of the interaction of children of multiple ages and multiple stages in their growth and development.

The continuity of the Montessori environment allows a child to continuously be challenged academically. While the age span in a Montessori classroom is typically three years, this does not limit a Montessori teacher’s ability to help a child reach their fullest potential.  Teachers create additional lessons, bring materials from the next program level into the environment, and arrange for children from one program level to visit the next program level to receive one on one lessons from the teacher. 

The information presented on Moving Up Information Night will prepare you for the changes that your child(ren) will experience as they transition. The teachers from the next level will explain the different elements of the programs, and will introduce you to the scope and quality of the education your child will receive at the next level.

You will receive an email from the teacher along with a Zoom link for their presentation inviting you to Virtual Moving Up Information Night.

If your child is not moving up but you would like to attend Moving Up Information Night, please email Alison Kistner at akistner@fraserwoods.com and she will be sure you receive the Zoom link.  

Please remember that I am always available to you. I sincerely welcome your conversation.

Warm regards,

Gina

Dear Fraser Woods Families,

I hope each of you had a restful winter break and spent meaningful time with family.

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

The holiday season gives all of us time to pause and reflect and to say “thank you” to the entire school community – parents, staff, and students alike. I have witnessed our FWM community come together as a true community family to celebrate and support each other, never losing sight of our purpose… the children. As we enjoy this time of family, friends, and celebrating, we want to extend our warmest holiday wishes to each FWM family in our community.  Thank you for entrusting your children into our care every day and for the support you have given our school.  

I hope you all have a festive and special holiday with plenty of time to relax and enjoy family and friends.

Warmest Wishes for a Happy Holiday and a Happy New Year!

True to Montessori, we do our best to keep the commercial “noise” of the holiday season out of our classrooms. In a Montessori classroom, children are provided with age-appropriate content about different people, places, and traditions surrounding the holidays. This gives the children an opportunity to engage in meaningful activities that teach so much more than ‘a day on the calendar’. By learning about the holidays, they learn about other cultures. They begin to develop an awareness of what is different and what is similar among people around the world. They learn tolerance and acceptance. They learn what brings joy to people all over the globe.  The Montessori approach to celebrating the holidays is a gift to the children as it expands their hearts, their minds, and their world.   

Also true to Montessori is the belief that students are involved in community service. Maria Montessori’s vision is that a peaceful world begins with the children and that children will make the world a better place. We as Montessorians know that acts of community service, help develop and educate the whole child. Students learn the joy of giving of themselves, and develop compassion because of these real, practical life volunteer experiences. These experiences can be anything from collecting donations for a family in need or preparing food for a local shelter. Students can prepare holiday cards or special decorations and art installments to bring cheer and a smile to everyone in our school community. Doing these things teaches children that although they are young, they can and do make a positive and lasting contribution to their community.

It is our hope that every child grows to become good citizens of the world. It is up to us as Montessori guides, teachers, and parents to teach and model global thinking for our children. 

As we prepare to celebrate the holidays with our loved ones, please remember that the health of our FWM community is of the utmost importance.  We need to approach the holidays very carefully, while keeping in mind state-mandated quarantine procedures and guidance from our local DPH.  Because there is increased risk of exposure when traveling to visit others or hosting others from outside of your household, we are asking that to the extent possible you avoid gathering, and that you take every precaution if you must gather.

Please review the guidelines from the CDC and the State of CT.

CDC Holiday Celebrations and Small Gatherings

CT Department of Public Health Holiday Gathering Guidelines

Wishing you and your loved ones Happy Holidays,

Gina

When a child is given a little leeway, he will at once shout, ’I want to do it!’ But in our schools, which have an environment adapted to children’s needs, they say, ‘Help me to do it alone.’

~Dr. Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood

One of the hallmarks of a Montessori Education is known as the Learning Triangle. What does that look like at FWM?

The Learning Triangle consists of the classroom, the child, and the teacher.

 

The Classroom:

The classroom environment is prepared by the teacher to encourage independence, a sense of order and freedom within limits.

The Child:

Given choice, the child takes advantage of the materials presented in the environment to develop theirself.

The Teacher:

The teacher’s role is that of a Guide, Mentor, and Model or Directress/Director.  After individual lessons are presented to students, the students interact with their teacher when support and/or guidance is needed for the student to work successfully.

We see this at work every day.

In Toddler and Primary the children are interested in real activities with an intelligent purpose. The classroom environment allows for the development of movement, language, work with small objects, toileting, order, music, grace and courtesy, senses, writing, reading, spatial relationships, and mathematics.

In the elementary classrooms, children have a desire for intellectual independence. Students explore their place within the world and come to appreciate the interconnectedness of all things. This is also the “bridge to abstraction” which is the students’ transition from concrete to abstract thinking.

In middle school, students develop self-concern and self-assessment, critical thinking and exploring social and moral values, equity, and social justice. Adolescents also have a desire for emotional independence.

I am humbled by the work of our teachers and ever impressed by the care they take in preparing their classroom environments and the lessons they teach. Observing classrooms and experiencing the engagement of each and every child as they work uninterrupted, and blossom as students and community members is wonderful to watch. Observing teachers as they guide, mentor, and model for their students assures me that The Learning Triangle is alive and well in every classroom at FWM.

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Thanksgiving, for many, marks the start of our winter holiday celebrations- a very fun and festive time of year.  For me personally, I am reminded there is so much to be grateful for: family, friends, a roof overhead, good health… and more.

This year, in particular, has shown me a new depth of gratitude. I am incredibly grateful for the role you have played in keeping our community healthy. We have all done a tremendous amount to protect each other over the last months and for that I am especially grateful.

The health of our children, our teachers, and families is of the utmost importance to us and we are committed to keeping our doors open to provide in-person learning for the children for as long as we can. In order for this to happen, we need to approach the holidays very carefully, while keeping in mind state-mandated quarantine procedures and guidance from our local DPH. Because there is increased risk of exposure when traveling or hosting others from outside of your household, we are asking that to the extent possible, you avoid gathering and that you take every precaution if you must gather.

If you do travel outside the state for Thanksgiving, we ask that you follow the Travel Advisory for the State of Connecticut and the CDC Celebrating Thanksgiving Guidelines. 

If you are staying at home for an in-person gathering, we ask that you follow the State of Connecticut Holiday Guidance and the CDC Holiday Celebrations and Small Gatherings Guidelines. 

Here is an additional resource for your information: Optimal Testing Time + Quarantine

The best-case scenario for the holidays, and what we are strongly encouraging, is that every family only gathers with the people that live in their home, inviting distant relatives by Zoom or Facetime. If  you must travel or visit, please ask all parties to isolate for 14 days prior to gathering.

Thank you for trusting FWM to do what is in the best interest of our entire community. We can’t know who is vulnerable or who lives with vulnerable people, (senior citizens, and those with underlying medical conditions) so we must protect each other!

Thank you and I wish you a warm (though different) holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gina

Children start their journey in a Montessori Primary classroom typically between the ages of almost three and three-and-a-half, and will remain in the same classroom for three (sometimes four) years and move from being the youngest to the oldest in their classroom community.

The younger children have been carefully watching the older children, asking for help from these ‘Big Kids’, not even knowing that one day they will be the ‘Big Kid’—the student asked to help a classmate, the student given big responsibilities like walking a friend down to the nurse’s office to get an ice pack or helping with zippers before recess, and becoming the ‘expert’ on almost every material in the classroom.

In a Montessori classroom, this happens if and when a child is ready. Right around the Kindergarten year we typically see that readiness:

• A growing sense of grace and empathy
• An increase in self-control
• An awareness of and care for others
• A child’s ability not only to know the right thing but to do the right thing

In Montessori we focus on each individual child, providing the right material at the right time, the appropriate opportunity to practice and grow a skill the child is demonstrating developmental readiness for. We will take our time or go ahead, at your child’s pace, always moving on from a place of mastery, so the child understands everything they’ve learned. The child’s last year in a Montessori classroom (the Kindergarten year) is the same; but what the child is ready for has grown.

As children in Kindergarten prepare for the next step–the Elementary years, our Primary program provides children Literacy lessons using Reading and Writing Workshop model.

Reading Workshop lessons promote fluency and provide time to nurture the love of reading. These lessons create a community of readers. Students get support from their peers and interact with one another to develop strong literacy skills. Reading Workshop is not just guided reading groups; it’s a sequence of mini lessons that helps achieve the literacy goals the teacher has for each student.

Writing is a daily activity. Writing Workshop lessons encourage children to write by focusing on the process. During the mini lesson, the teacher models what “good writers do” as she draws her picture and writes her words. For the youngest students, whose skills vary significantly, the goal is to elicit a story from a drawing, or allow the student to dictate a story from a drawing. We encourage the student to move from drawing to writing by guiding them to use what they’ve learned in our language lessons to sound out words.

These skills are fostered throughout a child’s entire time in a Montessori Primary classroom.  Then the skills are refined and solidified in that final Kindergarten year. Maria Montessori writes in the Absorbent Mind, that Montessori is an Education for Life.