I’m Back!

Hello!  I’m sorry I’ve been away from the blog for so long.  We’ve had so much going on, but I am going to try to update more often.  I’m glad to have this mode of communication with you.

So much has happened since the last time I posted in the summer.

• We are successfully into our second year of more fully implementing the Montessori program in our K-5 classrooms, and we’re adding 6^th graders into the mix this year.  We have one Kindergarten of 20 students in a double sized classroom,  two Lower Elementary classrooms, (1^st -3^rd ) and two Upper Elementary classrooms (4^th -6^th).

• We have one middle school classroom of 7^th and 8^th graders together, and are just beginning some exciting changes in there with a look ahead to creating a Montessori adolescent program starting next fall.

• We have new families at the school and some new staff members as well, and have a wonderful team dedicated to making this a school where learning is meaningful and effective and where children grow in social skills as well.

More soon.

Something Different

We gave 2 tours of the school last week. These parents are looking for something different for their children’s educational environment. One parent didn’t know much about Montessori, but heard from a current parent that this is a good place for her children.  The other couple already knew a lot about Montessori and were surprised and pleased that we are here!  They value the environment which has more freedom of movement and lessons suited to the child’s readiness rather than the average of the group. They made the point that any school can call themselves Montessori, but there are many things to look for when deciding if it is a quality Montessori school.  They seemed pleased with our focus and what we’ve accomplished in our first full year of implementation.

I had just returned from a visit to the private Traverse City Children’s House which is an exemplary model of a Montessori school.  They have been in existence for 30 years and have worked hard to create their vision of a quality school, following Montessori’s vision.

Will it take us 30 years to reach the same point? Perhaps. But even in three years I expect we will have come a very long way.  This year we have accomplished a lot, and we see it in the children’s work and eagerness to learn. I am excited for all the gains we will make next year as well.  I am excited for more parents to come seek us out as an alternative educational environment for their children, and discover how pleased they are that we are here!

Open House & Observations

I’d like to start off by inviting all of you to join us at our Carnival and Open House this Friday. If you are currently a Morey PSA family, or a family who is interested in touring the school and meeting the staff members, we hope to see you there!  The Open House is taking place at Morey, and is from 5pm – 8pm.

Now, I would like to share some things I recently observed take place in one of our Kindergarten rooms.

I was chatting with one of our kindergarten teachers who shared this observation:

One child was asking another to spell the words on the word wall in their room, without looking.  Each time the child spelled a word correctly, the first child’s face lit up with happiness for her friend!  She was so pleased that her friend was being successful. What a beautiful thing.

Today I saw another kindergarten child present one of his work projects to the rest of the class. He had composed the equivalent of $1.00 out of each kind of coin, from pennies to quarters. On his work rug he had carefully counted and placed rows of 100 pennies, 20 nickels, 10 dimes, and 4 quarters. Just before clean up time, the others gathered to hear his explanation.

It was nice to see his work and to see him share with the others who appreciated his effort and explanation.

A Conversation Today

I’m thinking about a nice conversation I had in one of our lower Elementary classrooms today. A few students were watching a friend work on the trinomial cube. When he finished the cube, he said, “I saw the videos on our Facebook page!”  (referring to the three videos that have been on our Morey PSA website for a while which are now linked to our Facebook page). Others chimed in with some excitement. Then the same child asked, “Why did our school switch to Montessori?” The others looked at me expectantly. I said there were basically two reasons:

1. Many educators know that Montessori classrooms are really good for children.
2. When we were told we should offer something different than the area schools, it was decided that Montessori would be the best thing to offer.

I asked, “Did you know there have been Montessori schools for over 100 years?” They were very impressed, and started giving their opinions about what was good about Montessori. They talked about being able to use lots of materials instead of just sitting and listening. One shared the fact that he feels sorry for his buddy who goes to another school because he is so bored. He doesn’t have these great tools to use. “They don’t even have maps!” (referring to the puzzle maps we use to learn political geography). Another said he likes that he can do math, then reading when he chooses, but not all at the same time like everyone else. It was interesting and inspiring to have that impromptu conversation with the children. It reminded me to get their input more often – not to mention give them more information about the story of Montessori and her schools all over the world.

Event Wrap Up

Thursday’s “Show What You Know” Family Night at Morey was a great night! So many families came, and the students were so proud of their work. The science projects and bridges constructed of dry spaghetti were amazing. Younger children were able to show family members the materials and work they do in the classroom. We had plenty of food, and the live jazz music was a lovely touch for our dining room. Mr. Johnston put together a video of still pictures taken by teachers throughout the year with a soundtrack, which we all enjoyed viewing.

Thanks to all the families for attending, and to the staff and students for putting together a great evening for our Morey families. The middle school students were a huge help! They set up and put away all the tables for the event, as well as put up our community art project, and helped haul all of the bags of groceries and supplies from the cars of Mr. Henry’s and I.

Don’t forget our next big event on May 13^th. This will be a Carnival, Open House, and Kindergarten round-up, which are all open to the public.

Show What You Know

Hello Morey Families!  Please come to school this Thursday from 5 -7 for our family event: “Show What You Know”. See projects by the 4-8^th graders, and visit the PreK- 3 classrooms where your child can show you work, or give you a lesson on a material they know. Enjoy dinner and music in the gym.

We have another event open to anyone and everyone coming up on May 13^th. It’s a School Carnival and Open House from 5-8. More information on that to come!

Upcoming Events

We have two events coming up that I wanted to make people aware of.

1- Morning Coffee with Margie Meeting:  Thursday, March 17th from 8am- 9am.  This meeting is for all Morey Parents, or other interested parties. We will have a snack and a chat about the Montessori classrooms.  There will be plenty of time to answer any questions you may have. Please come!

2- Show What You Know: April 14th from 5pm-7pm.  We are having an evening of celebration of your child’s work at Morey this year, which we are calling “Show What You Know”.  Students from 4^th to 8^th year will have projects on display. Students from preschool through 3^rd year will be able to show their families materials and work in their classrooms – even give you a lesson on a Montessori material. We will also have dinner and music in the gym, and a some other fun things going on! Please come!

Looking Ahead

At this stage of the game, we are planning for the last stretch of the school year as well as looking ahead to next year.

It’s funny how quickly the end of the year comes once you approach the end of February. Suddenly, it’s Conference time, then Spring Break, then 3 weeks of April, a busy month of May, and the last week or two of school.

This is the time to assess to see what basic skills still need some work, and focus on those, while trying to keep things interesting by introducing new material as well. In all of the classrooms we are looking to see how reading levels and basic math skills are progressing. If there are any gaps, then the focus is there for those students. Parents can help by reinforcing this at home. If you have any questions about the last report card, be sure to ask your child’s teacher, and get advice for helping your child at home. That way, conferences can be used as a time to check in on that progress, and get more feedback.

We are also looking to see how much growth there has been in independence, work habits, and social skills. These are skills which will serve your child well for life, and have an equal weight of importance in the Montessori environment.

Videos

It’s a snow day today for Morey and all of the surrounding schools. I’m taking advantage of some time at home to reflect and write again for this blog. I can’t believe I haven’t written since before the holiday break.

Please watch the new videos on the Morey homepage. They provide good information about the Montessori program at Morey, with input from parents, students, and staff.

I’d like to elaborate on a couple of the points mentioned in the videos. One of the greatest benefits of having concrete materials to manipulate and learn math and language concepts is that the learning is more likely to be deep and long-lasting, rather than shallow and quickly forgotten.  The results are meaningful, if not always fast. A child may spend a while on a material practicing addition with exchanging before he or she is able to do the operation abstractly – with pencil and paper only, not using the material.  But when they do move to pencil and paper, they really know what they are doing – they know it solidly. On the other hand, sometimes the materials do help some children understand a concept very quickly.  In any case, the results are what we want – that children learn the concepts behind the pencil and paper work.

The other point I want to emphasize is to keep in mind the goals we (you and we at Morey) have for your children/our students. The goals are for them to be academically and socially skilled individuals who are interested and active learners, as well as people who care about themselves and others, who can work well with others and solve problems that come up in everyday life. These skills and traits will serve them well throughout their lives.

Work at Morey

The below pictures show Kindergarten students using the moveable alphabet to write words for the items in the pictures. The moveable alphabet can also be used to write words and phrases from the child’s own mind. It is a tool that allows writing before reading – one of the ideas in the Montessori approach to literacy, and which many early childhood experts have come to support. Well before a child learns to read, they have an extensive spoken vocabulary. If we give them a chance to express their own thoughts through writing, they then want to read what they’ve written, and this leads to reading words of other writers.  When the children write the names of objects on picture cards, they are sounding out the words and finding the letters that make the sounds.  All of these activities build literacy skills.

Want to know more about the Moveable Alphabet? Check out the “What is it Wednesday” post we did about it in September by clicking here.