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This month, I had the great thrill of going back to Casa. It was, personally, an experience of both great joy and utter frustration. Frustrating because Dr. Montessori
got it right, and I wasn't the beneficiary of a Montessori experience during my formative years. Joyful because I was able to watch children who will, by all accounts,
never experience the same math phobia I did throughout school.
On the morning in question, I witnessed the class engaged in math materials at all stages. Holly was working with Sonia counting beads, tens, hundreds, and thousands, learning quantity. Fox was setting up the large number cards in preparation for work on associating the concept of quantity with the accompanying symbol, and Eli was working on perfecting his symbols using pencil and paper. All of them working, confidently, with a concept that is both foreign and complex to the young student.
Another reminder of the power of Dr. Montessori's method is the materials themselves. Although they were prevalent throughout the classroom and widely used, what really struck me was seeing the same materials that our 12-, 13-, and 14-year-olds use in the adolescent environment while working with Algebraic formulas being used by Veronica while she worked on the Teen boards. The materialized abstraction that is the idea (in this case an algebraic equation or a number in the teens) being represented, clearly, in a physical form (through the use of the coloured bead bars) is used universally, across all the classrooms, and by all ages! The work that these children are doing today, familiarizing themselves with the tools of the Montessori environment, not only helps to instill the mathematical concept that a child is working on at the time, but will aid them for their entire career here at DVMS, and later at MASH.
casaeast@dvms.ca |
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The power of collaboration to connect our students to their work and community is a tenet of the Montessori environment, and this was evident during an observation in Casa North. Pairs and trios of children dotted the classroom: at mats, at worktables, in the library, and exiting through the hobbit door to their wintry garden. Two first-year girls were eagerly building words with the moveable alphabet, skipping gaily from shelf to mat with their trays of letters. Their collaboration resulted in the joyful exploration of building words by their component sounds with attention to the connection of cursive letters and phonetic spelling. At times, they chose to build different words side-by-side, but when one picked a particularly challenging word, they supported one another, and celebrated their successes together.
casanorth@dvms.ca |
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When I was in high school, I had a math teacher who said, "A day without math is like a day without sunshine." At the time, I thought this was a corny, sentimental statement coming from a math fanatic, and, of course, I made fun of it (when he wasn't listening). I completely missed his point. When you look around you, you will discover that math is everywhere. It is in the pot of coffee that you make, the baking that you do, in the architecture of your house, the design of your car and the speed at which you drive, the hours left until your day is done, and, yes, the speed at which the sunshine reaches the earth, just like my math teacher said. In the classroom, long before we even begin using math materials, your child began working in the Practical Life and Sensorial areas. There is math in the water pouring job as children divide the jugful among three glasses. When we prepare the snack for the class, we decide how many pieces of cheese each child can have, and when we bake, we measure and use fractions. The children are preparing themselves for math in less obvious ways.
There is a sequence to the materials in each curriculum area that builds on previous skills. Through repeated practice with the activities of Practical Life, the
children are increasing their ability to concentrate, building eye-hand co-ordination, and learning to follow through on a task to completion. They are learning that
there is a logical sequence to successfully completing certain activities. The logical sequencing and problem solving that happens while doing these activities lays a
foundation for mathematics. The child's ability to reason, measure, and calculate - all aspects of the mathematical mind - are developed through the child's sensory experiences within the classroom environment. When children explore the Sensorial materials, they are beginning to compare, contrast, and classify. The children are making sense of their worlds as they experience relationships and patterns - they are classifying and discovering a natural order. The math curriculum allows the child to manipulate materials that have been designed to make abstract ideas more concrete. This gives the child meaningful experiences that lead to a true understanding of
mathematical concepts.
At our parent education evening, we handed out some suggestions as to how you can help your child experience math in daily, meaningful ways. If you would like a copy of this handout, it is available at the office, or you can find it online right here. Happy counting!
Pat and Serena
casasouth@dvms.ca |
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I had the privilige of observing in the Lower Elementary East classroom last week. I was amazed at how different two environments can be, comparing Elementary to Casa. Wasn't it just 4 months ago that some of these children were busy polishing, counting chains, and forming words with the movable alphabet??
The room was a buzz of activity, but in a much more mature form than what I am used to in Casa. I watched children working on individual projects, math questions, yoga, and was also able to observe a group lesson.
There is no question that Dr.Montessori had it right when she observed and noted that the 6-9 child is on a different plane than that of the 3-6-year-old child. A strong sense of order and a need for individualization has been replaced: there is less of a need to perfect their environment as they are far more concerned with who they are going to work with at any given time. Their desire to work together was fulfilled with a group lesson on fractions. It was incredible to see the children working on materials that they had been introduced to in a sensorial way in Casa and were now learning that two halves are equal to a whole and so on.
lowerelementaryeast@dvms.ca |
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At our recent Parent Education Night, I had a conversation with some parents who shared that sometimes it is difficult to get their child to talk about their day beyond simple responses. I'm sure we've all asked "What did you do at school today?" only to receive the response, "Nothing." (See photo above of a whole lotta nothin' goin' on). I know that if I was asked how my day was, I too would respond with "fine" or "pretty good," but, when prompted with the right questions, it can be difficult to get me to be quiet about my day's events! A few things to keep in mind are timing (my children are most talkative on the drive home and at bedtime), asking open-ended questions (don't forget to ask "why" to responses), model sharing about your day, familiarizing yourself with the names of some materials in the class, and knowing their schedule (when they have art, gym, music, theatre). Also, try not to provide leading questions that are going to result in responses that they know you want to hear. Our kids love to please us (no, really, they do), and they are wise beyond both their and our years. If you ask, "You don't really like doing math, do you?" you will probably get a response of, "No, I don't." But, if you had instead asked, "You really enjoy doing math, don't you?" you likely would have received "Yes!" as a reply. Keep it simple and try to open doors that your kids can walk through on their own, rather than opening a door, carrying them through it, and telling them which way to go on the other side.
Noeleen
lowerelementarywest@dvms.ca |
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Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting the Upper Elementary class of Kathleen and Anna. I left my class at around 9:45 and observed for just over half an hour. From the moment I walked into the class to the moment I left, the children were engaged with their work. Decimal and fraction materials were being used throughout the class while other students were working with spelling, language, or writing materials. There was a certain hum within the class and the children were working with a purpose. I really think the children forgot I was there and, listening to their conversations, the majority of the talk was dealing with their work. As this was going on, lessons were being provided by Kathleen, and Anna was walking around answering questions and helping those who needed guidance.
It was great observing the students in their natural habitat. Some children didn't need material and were working in the abstract while others were using manipulates to figure out equations. As an elementary teacher who has taught both levels, it was nice to be around the older students again, and it was great to see some of the former Lower Elementary East students.
upperelementary@dvms.ca |
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"We cannot create observers by saying 'observe,' but by giving them the power and the means for this observation, and these means are procured through education of the sense," Maria Montessori.
Given the opportunity to observe the students in the Adolescent programme, I was thrilled. Due to the fact that I had taught these students for years, I was excited to sit down and watch them in their new environment.
The first thing I observed was how much they had grown and matured. They stood in front of me and looked me straight in the eye, and some had to look down. It was clearly obvious that the little children that I had cared for were now becoming young adults. There was a sense of calm in the room. There was a sense of order and a sense of purpose. Each student was working on math, but not the same math. They were working in groups to solve problems, explain answers, or learn new concepts. There was a sense of community.
While Chris and Emily worked with their students in small groups, they guided them in such a way that they were drawing conclusions and making discoveries on
their own. They were not told the formulas or the exact steps to take to solve the questions in front of them. They were asked open-ended questions and given prompts to help them come to the answers on their own.
The shelves of the classroom were not as ordered and their binders were not as organized as I remember them being in 9-12. Their environment was a true reflection of who these students are now. Young adults with a lot to do, no time to organize their binders, they know where everything is, don't they? The room was full of energy. The kitchen was ready for
lunches to be prepared. The guitars hung on the wall waiting to be played. The classroom was brightly coloured to reflect the colourful personalities of the
students who live there all day.
I miss my students when they move on. I become someone that they used to know as they move on to bigger and better things. It makes me very happy to know that these bigger and better things are just next door, at least for two years!
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email:
dvms@golden.net
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