Helicopter Parenting - We Do Not Appear to be Turning the Corner

This is a great article on some of the challenges of current parenting culture and the long term effects it is having on young adults who are raised this way. And what is best, it is filled with pictographs and stats that are easy to digest, though hard to swallow.

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A Parenting Masterpiece: Three Steps to Great Children

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Montessori's Genius: Independence An Article by Jennifer Rogers

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Article for Parents and Schools: Gateway Parenting

Written by Head of School and MTIPS director, Wendy Calise, this article addresses the pitfalls of overprotective and over-involved parenting.

...How does that happen? How does a parent get to that point? I can assure you that we would not find among even the most hardened enablers a parent who would believe that he will be the one fifteen years from now to call a college professor. But some of you will. Because once you start doing for your children what they can do for themselves, there is a tragic feedback loop which receives from and expresses to both parties, parent and child. The less your child does for himself, the less you think he is able to do. The less you think he is able to do, the less he thinks he is able to do. The less he thinks he is able, the more convincing he becomes to you that he is not. I am feeling anxious just writing about it...

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Classroom Management: Lessons From Frank Kulle

Again, MTIPS staff author, Jennifer Rogers, has managed to recognize the profound in the deceivingly simple as she shares five lessons from one of her mentors.

Classroom Management: Lessons From Frank Kulle

Screen Time and Childhood by Jennifer Rogers

Great Article for Parents about the downside of screen time written by a Montessori teacher using language that every parent can relate to.

...Good parenting has never been easy.  Bad parenting has never been easier.  Screen time seems like a safe, peaceful, educational way for parents to entertain their children.  Teachers of every age group know we will have to change our approaches to remain relevant and keep kids engaged in learning.  Good teachers of the world will continue to dream of every child reaching his or her potential...   


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Sacred Second

Great article to inspire us through the occasional doldrums that mark even the best teaching careers. Primary teacher and author, Jennifer Rogers, exquisitely and uncannily captures our thoughts and reflections. Thanks to her for sharing it with us.

Sit beside a grandma with a hot drink, time, and a few good questions.  Ask her to talk about her grown children, what they were like at different ages, how they struggled, when they were frightened, confident, lost, successful.   Ask her what she loves about one of her children, and what drives her crazy.  Remembering will bring her great joy, even when the memory is sad...

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Respect More Crucial Than Love

Provocative article about love and respect in parent child relationships. I don't always agree with Peter Gray, but I do appreciate his perspective and think he is right on with this post.

In Relationships, Respect May Be Even More Crucial Than Love

Raising Successful Children

 

Great NYT article for parents. Simple, straightforward, brutally honest. Powerful combination. 

Raising Successful Children

Dear Mountain Room Parents

Hilarious Article. Thanks to  Michele Shane for passing it along.

Parents:

Some of you have expressed concern about your children celebrating a holiday with the word “dead” in it. I asked Eleanor’s mom, who’s a pediatrician, and here’s what she said: “Preschoolers tend to see death as temporary and reversible. Therefore, I see nothing traumatic about the Day of the Dead.” I hope this helps.

Emily...

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Welcome to the Age of Overparenting

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This is a well written article about some of the perils of 21st century parenting. Long, but well worth the read.

Probability Lesson for Elementary

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...This idea of likelihood is called probability. Probability is the likelihood that some outcome will occur. We decided that the chip that would most likely be picked was the blue chip. We can also say that picking a blue chip has the highest probability. What chip has the lowest probability of being picked? (white)...

Four Stages of Class Management (Keynote Address by Wendy Calise at Montessori Aotearoa New Zealand Annual Conference, 2011)

Eight Stages of Observation (Keynote Address by Wendy Calise at Montessori Aotearoa New Zealand Annual Conference, 2011)

How Children Learn by Stella Vosniadou

This article identifies twelve conditions that promote learning. Here are a few to whet your appetite:
1. "Learning requires the active, constructing involvement of the learner."
2. "Learning is primarily a social activity and participation in the social life  of the school is central for learning to occur."
3. "People learn best when they participate in activities that are perceived to be useful in real life and are culturally relevant."

The article is organized in such a way that you can read in front to back or 

just look at each of the twelve points. 

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Assessing What Matters by Robert J. Sternberg

...So what should we assess? We should assess what students need to become active and engaged citizens of the world in which they will live-in a sense, what it takes to be "expert" citizens. Oddly enough, a lot of models can prepare students for the roles they will play in their world. Traditional schooling just does not happen to be one of them. We should also assess in ways that can help students develop the skills they need for success in school and life...


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Q&A For Prospective Elementary Parents

Click here to download the transcript:  Q&A For Prospective Elementary Parents

Teaching Today's Elementary Child: Is Anything New?

By Wendy Calise

...Think for a moment when the last time was that you heard the word mettle. The word itself seems almost to be one of the past. If the language has fallen out of use, what does that mean for the idea? Has mettle become obsolete? As I consider the challenges of the future, it seems unlikely. Yet the development of sturdy constitution in our youth is waning, and the children will not likely be the better for it...

...The father did his work; his son did his. I do not suffer the illusion that we can or should recreate one culture in place of another or somehow go back in time. But there is much to be learned. These children were astoundingly competent. They could do things. I wondered about their counterparts in America...

Download the full pdf file here:  Teaching Today's Elementary Child

The Case for Inclusion

One of the primary goals at our school is a commitment to the development of character. And a Montessori classroom provides a unique environment that is rich with opportunity for growth in this area.

Have you even wondered when this development of character, so important to us all, begins at school?

On your child’s very first day and every day thereafter.

Regardless of age, the teachers are always working to help your children make good choices and learn from their bad ones. They are facilitating conversations that stimulate critical thinking and develop problems solving skills.

Response to the Case for Inclusion

By:  Carol Alver
April 8, 2010

Over the years, I have had the privilege of learning most of the worthwhile lessons about life from the special needs children that were in my classes.  Unfortunately, most schools do not openly include these children for fear that it will take too much time away from the rest of the class.  That is the first false premise.  It is the children themselves – albeit being guided by a calm and patient teacher – who learn to reach out and understand the needs of their peers.   If the adult responds every time the special needs child has an issue, the message to the class is that the adults will take care of it.  We established the following paradigm:

            Never respond to a need without taking a child who is not busy along!

This meant that a child was always present and included in helping solve a problem or figure out a need and the response to that need.  Soon, we observed that when a need arose, a child would notice and feel competent that she had the skills to go and help – without the adult.  

Video: Elementary Music

Children at Countryside Montessori School work on various musical activities including tone bars, white bars, singing in two-part harmony, and voice warm ups.

Video: Learning for Life

Countryside Montessori presents: Learning for Life. Children from birth to six have limitless motivation to learn. See how teachers spend their time guiding, not disciplining.