http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz-ilAQ38eY
This video gives snapshots of the Montessori method at work. Look at the faces of the children in the video. They are concentrating on work, at peace with one another, collaborating, and joyful. All of these behaviors and emotions are experienced every day in the classroom where I work. I feel so blessed to be a part of it.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Movement and Sandpaper Letters
"When mental development is under discussion, there are many who say, 'How does movement come into it? We are talking about the mind.' And when we think of intellectual activity, we always imagine people sitting still, motionless. But mental development must be connected with movement and be dependent on it. It is vital that educational theory and practice should be informed by that idea."- Maria Montessori wrote in The Absorbent Mind
This idea of movement is so vital. In the classroom where I work, every sandpaper letter is on a shelf available for use at any time. All the letters of the alphabet are visible and each have their own place. So when I do sandpaper letter lessons with a child, I ask him or her, "Please bring the /c/ to the table". The child then walks across the classroom, eager to find the /c/ sound and bring it back. I've placed a tiny control of error below the sandpaper letter on the shelf. It's a picture that starts with the sound of the letter (for example, there is a tiny picture of a cat below the sandpaper /c/). If the child cannot find the /c/, I will tell them what the picture is. Then the child is able to successfully find the sound. So, the child must MOVE to find the sound. Then the child practices tracing the sandpaper letter (MOVING his/ her fingers and hand), and I say the sound, "/c/".
All this movement and sensory integration (touch, sight and sound together) helps to create a stronger memory. It helps the child internalize this new knowledge. Plus the child is happy to do it. Children LOVE to move! They physically feel active and more attentive to this new knowledge because of it.
This idea of movement is so vital. In the classroom where I work, every sandpaper letter is on a shelf available for use at any time. All the letters of the alphabet are visible and each have their own place. So when I do sandpaper letter lessons with a child, I ask him or her, "Please bring the /c/ to the table". The child then walks across the classroom, eager to find the /c/ sound and bring it back. I've placed a tiny control of error below the sandpaper letter on the shelf. It's a picture that starts with the sound of the letter (for example, there is a tiny picture of a cat below the sandpaper /c/). If the child cannot find the /c/, I will tell them what the picture is. Then the child is able to successfully find the sound. So, the child must MOVE to find the sound. Then the child practices tracing the sandpaper letter (MOVING his/ her fingers and hand), and I say the sound, "/c/".
All this movement and sensory integration (touch, sight and sound together) helps to create a stronger memory. It helps the child internalize this new knowledge. Plus the child is happy to do it. Children LOVE to move! They physically feel active and more attentive to this new knowledge because of it.
Master of the classroom
Yesterday I did a lesson with the kindergartners in the afternoon on the animals of Africa and their biomes. I had laminated a fairly large stack of animal cards, and we were playing a ‘game’ with them. Basically, I would show them a card and ask them to place it on one of three rugs (one for desert animals, one for forest animals, and one for grassland animals). These were brand new cards, and the students didn’t know there was a small picture on the back of each card of either the desert, forest, or grassland. After going through about half the cards, a student asked me, “How do you know where all these cards go, Mrs. Scott? There are so many animals!” I was about to tell him about the control of error on the back of the cards when another student chimed in, “Are you kidding? Mrs. Scott has been in this classroom FOREVER. She is the master of this classroom.” It startled me when he said that, and then I remembered that after a student practices a lesson for a long time, there is a point when I sometimes say, “You have worked so hard on that! You mastered that lesson!”
This got me to thinking, though. How do the students view me? On one hand, I think it’s great that they might think I know everything there is to know about the classroom. They would never doubt what I say! But I don’t know if this is the image of me that I want for them. I know I have said, “I don’t know, but let’s look it up and find out” to questions they have had about various things. I think that this is a sign to me, though, that I must not be doing that enough. Maybe I should share stories about how I didn’t know something, and then researched to find the answer. I certainly never tell students the answer when they ask me a question. I always give the standard, “Well, what do YOU think?”
People often underestimate the abilities of the young child (age 3-6). They are so capable, as Montessorians know. I treat the child with respect and constantly try to provide challenging work for them, but I am certainly not master of the classroom. The classroom belongs to the children, and the only thing I want to be the master of is myself. J
Don't just stand there, think
Maria Montessori wrote in her book The Secret of Childhood, "Movement, or physical activity, is thus an essential factor in intellectual growth, which depends upon the impressions received from outside. Through movement we come in contact with external reality, and it is through these contacts that we eventually acquire even abstract ideas."
The following link to an article from the Boston Globe describes the notion that we think with our bodies and our brains:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/01/13/dont_just_stand_there_think/?page=4
The article is calling it embodied cognition, but Maria Montessori referred to it as muscle memory long ago. It fascinates me how this is called "new" science by some people. This is the part of the article that deliniates Montessori:
"While embodied cognition remains a young field, some specialists believe that it suggests a rethinking of how we approach education. Angeline Lillard, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia, says that one possibility is to take another look at the educational approach that Italian educator Maria Montessori laid out nearly 100 years ago, theories that for decades were ignored by mainstream educators. A key to the Montessori method is the idea that children learn best in a dynamic environment full of motion and the manipulation of physical objects. In Montessori schools, children learn the alphabet by tracing sandpaper letters, they learn math using blocks and cubes, they learn grammar by acting out sentences read to them.
To Lillard, the value of embodied cognition in education is self-evident.
"Our brains evolved to help us function in a dynamic environment, to move through it and find food and escape predators," she says. "It didn't evolve to help us sit in a chair in a classroom and listen to someone and regurgitate information.""
The following link to an article from the Boston Globe describes the notion that we think with our bodies and our brains:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/01/13/dont_just_stand_there_think/?page=4
The article is calling it embodied cognition, but Maria Montessori referred to it as muscle memory long ago. It fascinates me how this is called "new" science by some people. This is the part of the article that deliniates Montessori:
"While embodied cognition remains a young field, some specialists believe that it suggests a rethinking of how we approach education. Angeline Lillard, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia, says that one possibility is to take another look at the educational approach that Italian educator Maria Montessori laid out nearly 100 years ago, theories that for decades were ignored by mainstream educators. A key to the Montessori method is the idea that children learn best in a dynamic environment full of motion and the manipulation of physical objects. In Montessori schools, children learn the alphabet by tracing sandpaper letters, they learn math using blocks and cubes, they learn grammar by acting out sentences read to them.
To Lillard, the value of embodied cognition in education is self-evident.
"Our brains evolved to help us function in a dynamic environment, to move through it and find food and escape predators," she says. "It didn't evolve to help us sit in a chair in a classroom and listen to someone and regurgitate information.""
Students Propser with Montessori Method
Here is a link to an article from Scientific American that describes some examples of how children prosper using the Montessori method:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=students-prosper-with-mon
It's important to note in the article that it is not just academic successes. Children also have reasoning skills. The article says, "When confronted with social issues, such as another child hoarding a swing, they (Montessori students) more commonly resorted to reasoning".
One of the great benefits of being a child in an authentic Montessori classroom are the opportunities to make peace with one another. Children are expected to practice communication skills with their peers when disagreements occur. Teachers in Montessori classrooms help facilitate this process and give the child words when necessary.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=students-prosper-with-mon
It's important to note in the article that it is not just academic successes. Children also have reasoning skills. The article says, "When confronted with social issues, such as another child hoarding a swing, they (Montessori students) more commonly resorted to reasoning".
One of the great benefits of being a child in an authentic Montessori classroom are the opportunities to make peace with one another. Children are expected to practice communication skills with their peers when disagreements occur. Teachers in Montessori classrooms help facilitate this process and give the child words when necessary.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)